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Iowa is the 29th state of the United States, having joined the union on December 28, 1846. The official name of the state is "State of Iowa", and the U.S. Post Office abbreviation for the state is IA. The state is named for the Native American Iowa people.

History

Main article: History of Iowa.

Highlights:

French explorers Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette are believed to be the first Europeans to visit Iowa. They described Iowa as lush, green, and fertile.
Iowa has been home to approximately 17 different tribes. Today, only the Mesquaki tribe is left in Iowa and live in Tama County.
The first white settlers officially moved to Iowa in June 1833. They primarily came as families from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Kentucky, and Virginia.
Iowa became the 29^th state in the union on December 28, 1846.
The Chicago and Northwestern railroad reached Council Bluffs in 1867. Council Bluffs was designated the eastern terminus for the Union Pacific railroad. The completion of five major railroads across Iowa brough major economic changes as well as travel opportunities.
During the American Civil War, more than 75,000 Iowans participated in the war, 13,001 of whom died. No fighting reached Iowa soil.
The Iowa General Assembly passed a women's suffrage amendment in 1870.
Iowa saw a large increase in farming of beef, corn, and pork during World War I, but farmers saw economic hardships after the war. These hardships were the result of the removal of war-time farm subsidies. Total recovery didn't happen until the 1940s.
Iowa had been a large supporter of alcohol prohibition.
Although Iowa's primary industry is agriculture, it also produces refrigerators, washing machines, fountain pens, farm implements, and food products that are shipped around the world.

Law and government

The state capital is Des Moines. The current Governor is Tom Vilsack (Democrat) and the two U.S. Senators:

Chuck Grassley (R)
Tom Harkin (D)

The five U.S. Congressmen:

The Code of Iowa contains the statutory laws of the State of Iowa. The Iowa Legislative Service Bureau is a non-partisan governmental agency that is responsible for organizing, updating and publishing the Iowa Code. The Iowa Code is republished in full in odd years (i.e., 1999, 2001, 2003, etc..) and is supplemented in even years.

See List of Governors of Iowa, Iowa General Assembly, and Iowa State Capitol

Iowa caucus

The state gets considerable attention every four years because of its presidential caucus, a gathering of voters which, along with the New Hampshire primary a week later, has become the starting gun for choosing the two major-party candidates for U.S. president. The caucus, held in January of the election year, involves people gathering in homes or public places and choosing their candidate, rather than casting secret ballots, as in done in a primary election.

U.S. senators from Iowa

List of United States Senators who have represented Iowa: (Seat 1):

Chuck Grassley, Republican, 1981–present
John Culver, Democrat, 1975–1981
Harold E. Hughes, Democrat, 1969–1975
Bourke B. Hickenlooper, Democrat, 1945–1969
Guy M. Gillette, Democrat, 1936–1945
Richard Louis Murphy, Democrat, 1933–1936
Smith W. Brookhart, Republican, 1927–1933
David W. Stewart, Republican, 1926–1927
Albert B. Cummins, Republican, 1908–1926
William B. Allison, Republican, 1873–1908
James Harlan, Republican, 1867–1873
Samuel J. Kirkwood, Republican, 1865–1867
James Harlan, Free Soil and Republican, 1855–1865
Augustus C. Dodge, Democrat, 1848–1855

(Seat 2):

Tom Harkin, Democrat, 1985–present
Roger Jepsen, Republican, 1979–1985
Dick Clark, Democrat, 1973–1979
Jack R. Miller, Republican, 1961–1973
Thomas E. Martin, Republican, 1955–1961
Guy M. Gillette, Republican, 1949–1955
George A. Wilson, Republican, 1943–1949
Clyde L. Herring, Republican, 1937–1943
L.J. Dickinson, Republican, 1931–1937
Daniel F. Steck, Democrat, 1926–1931
Smith W. Brookhart, Republican, 1922–1926
Charles A. Rawson, Democrat, 1922–1922
William S. Kenyon, Republican, 1911–1922
Lafayette Young, Democrat, 1910–1911
Jonathan P. Dolliver, Republican, 1900–1910
John H. Gear, Republican, 1895–1900
James F. Wilson, Republican, 1883–1895
James W. McDill, Republican, 1881–1883
Samuel J. Kirkwood, Republican, 1877–1881
George G. Wright, Republican, 1871–1877
James B. Howell, Republican, 1870–1871
James W. Grimes, Republican, 1859–1869
George W. Jones, Democrat, 1848–1859

Geography

See List of counties in Iowa and List of Iowa rivers

Iowa is bordered by Minnesota on the north, Nebraska and South Dakota on the west, Missouri on the south, and Wisconsin and Illinois on the east. The Mississippi River forms the eastern boundary of the state. The boundary along the west is formed by the Missouri River south of Sioux City and by the Big Sioux River north of Sioux City. The topography of the state is gently rolling plains. Loess hills lie along the western border of the state. Some of these are several hundred feet thick. There are few natural lakes in the state, most notably Spirit Lake, West Okoboji Lake, and East Okoboji Lake in northwest Iowa (see Iowa Great Lakes). In the northeast along the Mississippi River is a section of the Driftless Area, which in Iowa consists of low rugged hills covered with conifers - a landscape not usually associated with this state. The point of lowest elevation (146 m) is Keokuk in southeast Iowa. The point of highest elevation (509 m) is Hawkeye Point, located in a feedlot north of Sibley in northwest Iowa. The mean elevation of the state is 335 m. Considering the size of the state (145,743 km²), there is very little elevation difference. Iowa has 99 counties. The state capital, Des Moines, is located in Polk County (#60). National parks, etc.

Interstate highways

These are the interstate highways that go through Iowa:

US highways

These are the United States highways that go through Iowa:

Animals

These are some of the wild animals that can be found in Iowa:

Iowa is home of 49 endangered & 35 threatened animal species as well as 64 endangered & 89 threatened plant species http://www.iowadnr.com/education/wldresbs.html.

Economy

The state's total gross state product for 1999 was $85 billion placing Iowa 30^th in the nation. Its per capita income for 2000 was $26,723. Iowa's main agricultural outputs are hogs, corn, soybeans, oats, cattle and dairy products. Its industrial outputs are food processing, machinery, electric equipment, chemical products, publishing and primary metals.

State income
Major industries/products: agriculture, insurance, manufacturing.
state taxes

Demographics

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2003, Iowa's population was estimated at 2,944,062 people. The racial makeup of the state is:

92.6% White non-Hispanic
2.1% Black
2.8% Hispanic
1.3% Asian
0.3% American Indian
1.1% mixed race

The 5 largest ancestry groups in Iowa are German (35.7%), Irish (13.5%), English (9.5%), American (6.6%), Norwegian (5.7%). 6.4% of Iowa's population were reported as under 5, 25.1% under 18, and 14.9% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.9% of the population.

"Rural flight"

Iowa, in common with five other Mid-West states (Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North and South Dakota), is feeling the brunt of falling populations. 89% of the total number of cities in those states have fewer than 3000 people; hundreds have fewer than than 1000. Between 1996 and 2004 almost half a million people, nearly half with college degrees, left the six states. "Rural flight" as it is called has led to offers of free land and tax breaks as enticements to newcomers.

Religion

Iowans' responses in 2001 to the question "What is your religion, if any?" were as follows:

23% "Catholic"
16% "Lutheran"
13% "No religion"
13% "Methodist"
6% "Other"
5% "Refused"
5% "Baptist"
5% "Christian"
3% "Presbyterian"
2% "Protestant"
2% "Pentecostal"
2% "Congregational/UCC"
1% "Church of Christ"
1% "Non Denominational"
1% "Assemblies of God"
1% "Evangelical"

Important cities and towns

100,000 (urbanized area)>

lign="left" colspan="3"\|Population > 10,000 (urbanized area)
align=top\| Des Moines, state capital Davenport, home of Saint Ambrose University Cedar Rapids Waterloo Sioux City	valign=top\| Iowa City, home of University of Iowa Dubuque Ames, home of Iowa State University Clinton Carroll Burlington Mason City	valign=top\| Marshalltown Fort Dodge Ottumwa Muscatine Newton Keokuk Indianola	valign=top\| Boone Oskaloosa Fort Madison Spirit Lake Spencer Storm Lake
lign="left"\|Other Cities
olspan=4\| Bettendorf (Davenport suburb among the Quad Cities) Cedar Falls, home of the University of Northern Iowa (part of Waterloo metropolis) Council Bluffs (part of Omaha, Nebraska, metropolis) Fayette, home of Upper Iowa University

Education

Iowa has a strong emphasis on education, which is shown in standardized testing scores. In 2003, Iowa had the second highest average SAT scores by state, and tied for second highest average ACT (examination) scores in states where more than 20% of graduates were tested. The national office of ACT is in Iowa City, and the ITBS and ITED testing programs used in many states are provided by the University of Iowa.