ENCYCLOPÆDIA Britannica DISCOVER AMERICA Iowa The Hawkeye State CHICAGO LONDON NEW DELHI PARIS SEOUL SYDNEY TAIPEI TOKYO
4 IOWA INTRODUCTION Located in the north-central area of the United States known as the Midwest Iowa is a major farming state that plays an important role as one of the nation’s main breadbaskets Vast cornfields and massive hog farms have supplied the country with food for decades Iowa is often described as one giant farm with businesses that handle all aspects of the agricultural process from harvesting crops to packaging foods Roughly rectangular in shape the state has rolling prairie farmland that stretches from the Mississippi River on the east to the Missouri River on the west Its rich soils nourish some of the most abundant crops in the world Iowa is one of the most productive agricultural states in the country More than nine tenths of its land is farmable Iowa ranks among the leading states in number of farms In 2002 Iowa had more than 90,000 farms Iowa is a Native American word meaning This Is the Place or The Beautiful Land The state and the Iowa River were named after the Iowa people Iowa entered the Union on Dec 28 1846 as the 29th state The state motto is Our Liberties We Prize and Our Rights We Will Maintain Iowa’s state bird is the eastern goldfinch
INTRODUCTION 5 Iowa shares its borders with Minnesota to the north Wisconsin and Illinois to the east Missouri to the south and Nebraska and South Dakota to the west Traveling through Iowa is simple thanks to the state’s many roadways and airports The state’s rural road system connects its sparse population which is spread over 56,275 square miles Some 114,000 miles of roads make it easy for Iowa’s farmers to get their goods to market Iowans and visitors also use these roads to explore the state by car For those traveling by air Iowa has more than 100 public airports Most of the state’s major cities provide air service but Iowa’s busiest airport is the Des Moines International Airport The Des Moines and Cedar Rapids airports are busy with freight cargo as well as passenger traffic Railroads serve most of the counties in Iowa A great deal of commercial traffic uses the Missouri and Mississippi rivers Together these two rivers provide almost 500 miles of navigable waterways along the state’s eastern and western borders Iowa Location Map Capital Des Moines Interstate highways Mi 0 30 60 0 48 96 Km Population 2,926,324 Size 56,275 square miles Highest peak Hawkeye Point 1,670 feet In 2003 Des Moines International Airport had a record year of activity with some 911,000 passengers boarding planes there The state flag has three vertical stripes red white and blue The central white stripe contains a bald eagle carrying a blue streamer with the state’s motto written on it Although Iowa has been a state since 1846 its present boundaries were not drawn until 1857 The Great Seal of Iowa pictures a soldier standing in a wheat field in front of the Mississippi River Above the soldier an eagle carries the state motto Iowa is known as the Hawkeye State a tribute to Black Hawk leader of the Fox and the Sauk in the early 1800s Scale
