Makanda is a village in Jackson County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 547, down from 561 in 2010. In the early 20th Century it used the slogan "Star of Egypt."

Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois with a population of 52,974 at the 2020 census. Its county seat is Murphysboro, and its most populous city is Carbondale, home to the main campus of Southern Illinois University. The county was incorporated on January 10, 1816, and named for Andrew Jackson. The community of Brownsville served as the fledgling county's first seat.