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() is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the current population is just 1,063 (2000 census), and it is difficult to reach over secondary highways in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its religious significance to members of both the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), other groups stemming from the Latter Day Saint movement, and groups such as the Icarians. See History of Nauvoo, Illinois, for further details.
The city was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saints, and named by him from the traditional Hebrew language with an anglicized spelling. The word comes from Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains...” It is notable that “by the winter of 1845 it was bigger than Chicago.”
Nauvoo is located at (40.544567, -91.380317). Situated on a wide bend in the Mississippi River, Nauvoo has most of the historic district in the lower flat lands (called the
) that are no more than a few feet above the water line. A prominent hill rises as one moves further east, at the apex of which stands the rebuilt Nauvoo Temple. Beginning with the temple, this elevated land (called the
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 4.8 square miles (12.5 km²). 3.4 square miles (8.8 km²) of it is land and 1.4 square miles (3.7 km²) of it (29.88%) is water.