Claim: The Ozarks are in North America.

Greater St. Louis is the metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis -LRB- the principal city -RRB- . It includes parts of both the U.S. states of Missouri and Illinois . The city core is on the border to Illinois and collectively the two regions form the combined metropolitan area . St. Louis is the largest metro area in Missouri , and is the second largest in Illinois . St. Louis County is independent of the city of St. Louis and their two populations are generally tabulated separately .   Depending on the counties included in the area , it can refer to the St. Louis , MO-IL metropolitan statistical area -LRB- MSA -RRB- or the St. Louis-St . Charles-Farmington , MO-IL combined statistical area -LRB- CSA -RRB- . As well as the city St. Louis , the area serves the Southern Illinois counties of Bond , Calhoun , Clinton , Jersey , Macoupin , Madison , Monroe , and St. Clair -LRB- known collectively as the Metro East -RRB- ; the Missouri counties of Franklin , Jefferson , Lincoln , St. Charles , St. Louis County -LRB- separate from and not inclusive of the city of St. Louis -RRB- , Warren , Washington , and a portion of Crawford County . The CSA includes all of the MSA listed above and the Farmington , MO micropolitan statistical area , which includes Washington and St. Francois Counties . The CSA was the 19th largest in the United States in 2015 , with a population of 2,916,447 , while the MSA was the 20th largest in the country that year with a population of 2,811,588 .   The region is home to nine Fortune 500 companies : Express Scripts , Emerson Electric , Monsanto , Reinsurance Group of America , Centene , Peabody Energy , Ameren , Graybar Electric , and Edward Jones .   The area received the All-America City Award in 2008 .