The Iowa Portal
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Iowa (/ˈaɪ.əwə/ EYE-ə-wə) is a landlocked state in the upper Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the east and southeast, Missouri to the south, Nebraska to the west, South Dakota to the northwest, and Minnesota to the north.
Iowa is the 26th largest in total area and the 31st most populous of the 50 U.S. states, with a population of 3,190,369, according to the 2020 census. The state's capital, most populous city, and largest metropolitan area fully located within the state is Des Moines. A portion of the larger Omaha, Nebraska, metropolitan area extends into three counties of southwest Iowa. Iowa has been listed as one of the safest U.S. states in which to live.
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, Iowa was a part of French Louisiana and Spanish Louisiana; its state flag is patterned after the flag of France. After the Louisiana Purchase, people laid the foundation for an agriculture-based economy in the heart of the Corn Belt.
In the latter half of the 20th century, Iowa's agricultural economy began to transition to a diversified economy of advanced manufacturing, processing, financial services, information technology, biotechnology, and green energy production. As of 2018, 22.6 million hogs outnumbered Iowans by more than 7 to 1 in 8,000 facilities large enough to require manure management plans. (Full article...)
Selected article -
Interstate 380 (I-380) is a 73-mile (117 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in eastern Iowa. The route extends from I-80 near Coralville to Waterloo. I-380 connects the cities of Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, the state's second- and sixth-largest cities, respectively, to the Interstate Highway System. Except for its last 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of U.S. Highway 20 (US 20), I-380 runs concurrently with Iowa Highway 27 (Iowa 27), which represents Iowa's portion of the 560-mile (900 km) Avenue of the Saints highway connecting Saint Louis, Missouri, with Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Construction of I-380 took 12 years to complete, ending in 1985. After the Interstate opened, US 218 was moved onto the new freeway south of Cedar Rapids. In the 1990s, the I-380 corridor was selected as part of the Avenue of the Saints corridor, which Iowa designated as Iowa 27 in 2001. I-380 has been affected by two major floods, the Great Flood of 1993 and the Iowa flood of 2008, both of which closed the road at the Iowa River for two weeks. (Full article...)Did you know? -
- ... that women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony spoke twice at the now defunct Academy of Music in Sioux City, Iowa, during the 1870s?
- ... that Vivian Smith was the first black student to earn a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Northern Iowa?
- ... that "The College Chimes" by American composer Daisy Wood Hildreth was chosen by the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts as their alumni song?
- ... that an Iowa TV station operates from a former McDonald's restaurant?
- ... that Alice Ilgenfritz Jones was one of "Two Women of the West" from Iowa who wrote the 1893 feminist utopian novel Unveiling a Parallel?
- ... that during the 1984 Democratic presidential primaries, Alan Cranston scheduled his advertisements in Iowa around airings of The Day After?
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State Facts
- Date admitted to Union: December 28, 1846 (29th State)
- Demonym: Iowan
- Capital: Des Moines
- Elected state officers:
- U.S. Senators:
- Chuck Grassley (R)
- Joni Ernst (R)
- U.S. Representatives:
- Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R)
- Ashley Hinson (R)
- Zach Nunn (R)
- Randy Feenstra (R)
- Total area: 56,272 square miles (145,744 km2) (23rd most extensive state)
- Highest elevation: Hawkeye Point 1,670 feet (509 m) (42nd highest state)
- Mean elevation: 1,100 feet (335 m) (22nd highest state)
- Lowest elevation: Mississippi River 480 feet (146 m) (37th lowest state)
- Population (2022 estimate): 3,200,517 (32nd most populous state)
- Number of counties: 99 counties
- Number of municipalities: 947 municipalities
- Time zone: CST=UTC-06, CDT=UTC-05
- USPS code: IA
- ISO 3166 code: US-IA
- Adjacent states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota
- State government website: Iowa.gov
State Symbols
State flag: | ![]() |
State seal: | ![]() |
State motto: | Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain |
State nickname: | The Hawkeye State |
State bird: | Eastern Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) |
State flower: | Wild Prairie Rose (Rosa pratincola) |
State grass: | Bluebunch Wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) |
State tree: | Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) |
State rock: | Geode |
State soil: | Tama |
State song: | The Song of Iowa |
State tartan: | Iowa State Tartan |
Commemorative U.S. coin: |
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