All About Iowa
Iowa is a constituent state of the United States of America. As a north central state, it forms a bridge between the forests of the east and the grasslands of the high Prairie Plains to the west. Its gently rolling landscape rises slowly as it extends westward from the Mississippi River, which forms its entire eastern border. The state is bounded on the north by Minnesota, on the east by Wisconsin and Illinois, on the south by Missouri, and on the west by Nebraska and South Dakota. Its area is 56,275 square miles (145,753 square kilometres). Iowa, named for the Iowa (or Ioway) Indians who once inhabited the area, was admitted as the 29th state of the Union on Dec. 28, 1846. Des Moines has been the capital since 1857.
The popular image of Iowa - one of corn (maize) and hogs, flat prairies, and conservative people - is not altogether incorrect, but it masks both a subtle variety and the fact that Iowa and its people are very much in a middle position economically, politically, and geographically. With 90 percent of its total land area devoted to farming, Iowa is a major breadbasket of the United States and of the world. In addition, a large part of its industry is directly related to agriculture, and the rural population is still considerable. Iowans are strongly Republican in most years, but they exhibit a lively independence when they feel that the times dictate a different tack. Iowa has not shared the full benefits that have accrued from economic and demographic expansion elsewhere in the nation. Economic downswings that have afflicted other regions affect Iowa to the extent that they involve agriculture.
Iowa's terrain and rich soils are the products of the continental ice sheets that periodically covered the state during the Pleistocene epoch, between about 1,600,000 and 10,000 years ago. Glacial drift deposited by the earliest ice sheets filled the preglacial stream valleys, and little evidence of them remains. The Illinoian ice sheet covered a small area of southeastern and extreme eastern Iowa, and in so doing it diverted the Mississippi and created a valley along its western front that can still be seen.
Countless species of wildflowers once covered the prairies; and, though most of Iowa's virgin timber was cut long ago, almost 1,500,000 acres (600,000 hectares) are still forested. The only native evergreen is the red cedar, once found in profusion along the Cedar River. The state's streams are well stocked with dozens of species of fish, and trapping of muskrat and raccoon for furs is still widespread. The ring-necked pheasant - imported early in the 1900s - and quail are the major game birds, replacing the nearly extinct wild turkey. Small animals and a variety of other birds are also found.
The state attempts to aid industrial development and improve the economic situation in Iowa in a number of ways, particularly through trade missions and the activities of the Department of Economic Development. Corporate income taxes contribute a small part to revenues. The government's debt is low, and the overall labour picture is relatively bright. Unemployment rates and work stoppages tend to lag behind national trends. Iowa ranks at about the median for the United States in family income, but this is largely due to the fraction that is derived from agriculture. The cost of living is generally less than that in metropolitan centres of the East and Far West but above that of the South and Southwest.
In a region generally lacking large urban centres, sporting events furnish much of the cultural life. The University of Iowa has long been one of the national leaders in basketball and gridiron-football attendance. In every college town in the state, football weekends form the centre of the autumn social season. High school basketball and wrestling tournaments evoke great community enthusiasm near the end of the long, cold winters. Outdoor sports of all types are extremely popular, with hunting, fishing, boating, and camping especially prevalent. Folk traditions are maintained in the Amana colonies, with their Oktoberfest; in the Dutch community of Pella, with its annual tulip festival; among the Czechs of Cedar Rapids; and in other localities.
In the 1920s Iowa developed an extensive rural road system designed for the low population density. It now has an excellent system of surfaced roads. The amount of the state's network of railroad track in active use has decreased over the years, and many Iowa towns have lost all railroad service. The state also has more than 240 public airports. Inland waterway traffic is important along the Mississippi River, and a channel nine feet deep runs up the Missouri to Sioux City.
