Chicago Portage

The Chicago Portage is a water gap connecting the watersheds (BrE: drainage basins) and the navigable waterways of the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. It cuts through the Valparaiso Moraine, crossing the continental divide that separates the Great Lakes and Gulf of St. Lawrence watersheds from the Gulf of Mexico watershed, making it one of the most strategic points in the interior of the North American continent. The saddle point of the gap is within the City of Chicago, and the Chicago Portage is the reason Chicago exists and has developed to become the immensely important city that it is, ranking 7th in the world in the 2012 Global Cities Index. The official flag of the City of Chicago is a stylized map of the Chicago Portage, with four red stars symbolizing the city, separating two blue stripes symbolizing the two great waters that meet at the city.