 Iowa
Information
Capital
City: Des Moines
Economy: Agriculture-related
manufacturing, agriculture and tourism.
Population: 2,862,447
Time Zone: 6 hours
behind Greenwich Mean Time (-6 GMT). Daylight Saving Time is observed
from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October
Iowa's Flag:
Having three vertical stripes blue, white and red the Iowa flag
resembles the flag of France. On the white stripe is a bald eagle
carrying a blue streamer in its beak. The state motto " Our
Liberties We Prize, and Our Rights We will Maintain" is written
on the streamer. The name of the state is emblazoned in red letters.
History of Iowa: The
first Europeans to visit the area were the French explorers Father
Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet in 1673. The U.S. obtained control
of the area in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. During the
first half of the 19th century, there was heavy fighting between
white settlers and Indians. Lands were taken from the Indians after
the Black Hawk War in 1832 and again in 1836 and 1837. When Iowa
became a state in 1846, its capital was Iowa City; the more centrally
located Des Moines became the new capital in 1857. At that time,
the state's present boundaries were also drawn. Although Iowa produces
a tenth of the nation's food supply, the value of Iowa's manufactured
products is twice that of its agriculture. Major industries are
food and associated products, non-electrical machinery, electrical
equipment, printing and publishing, and fabricated products. Iowa
stands in a class by itself as an agricultural state. Its farms
sell over $10 billion worth of crops and livestock annually. Iowa
leads the nation in all corn, soybean, livestock, and hog marketings,
with about 25% of the pork supply and 6% of the grain-fed cattle.
Iowa's forests produce hardwood lumber, particularly walnut, and
its mineral products include cement, limestone, sand, gravel, gypsum,
and coal. Tourist attractions include the Herbert Hoover birthplace
and library near West Branch; the Amana Colonies; Fort Dodge Historical
Museum, Fort, and Stockade; the Iowa State Fair at Des Moines in
August; and the Effigy Mounds National Monument, a prehistoric Indian
burial site at Marquette.
Other Iowa Links:
Iowa Association
of Business and Industry
Iowa Department of Education
Iowa Division of Tourism
Iowa League of Cities
Iowa State Library |
