Iowa

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State of Midwestern USA, bordered to the south by Missouri, to the west by Nebraska and South Dakota, to the north by Minnesota, and to the east by Wisconsin and Illinois, with the Mississippi River forming the state boundary; area 144,700 sq km/55,869 sq mi; population (2000) 2,926,300; capital Des Moines. It is nicknamed the Corn State owing to its prodigious yields of the crop, and the Hawkeye State probably in honour of Black Hawk, an American Indian chief. Iowa lies in the Central Lowlands and has large, fertile prairies intersected by tributaries of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. There are glaciated plains in the south, and high, rocky lands in the northeast. There are many lakes in the northwest. Iowa is a leading agricultural state in the USA, contributing approximately 7% of the nation's overall food supply. Iowa is a major part of the Corn Belt, and other produce includes soybeans, apples, and livestock, especially hogs. Food processing and service industries, such as finance and healthcare, are also economically significant. Major cities include Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, Waterloo, and Iowa City. The temperance movement was particularly influential in the state, its effects lasting from the 1830s to the 1960s. Iowa was admitted to the Union in 1846 as the 29th US state.

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