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Iowa
Iowa Facts • Map
Photo: Iowa
The capitol's glittering dome can be seen for miles around Des Moines. The steel-and-brick construction is gilded with 23-karat gold leaf.
Photograph by Ryan/Beyer/Getty Images
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Iowa Information and History

Bracketed by the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, the territory that became Iowa was part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Today 92 percent of this heartland state, blessed with fine prairie soil, is under cultivation. Farm income suffered during most of the 1980s, forcing many Iowa farmers out of business. Yet in 2002 the state still led the nation in corn and soybean production and hogs.

ECONOMY

Industry: real estate, health services, industrial machinery, food processing, construction.
Agriculture: hogs, corn, soybeans, oats, cattle, dairy products.

Text source: National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition, 2004
Iowa Flag and Fast Facts
Flag of Iowa
Area
145,743 square kilometers
(56,272 square miles)
Population
2,944,062
Capital
Des Moines; 198,076
Per Capita Income
U.S. $28,141
Date Statehood Achieved
December 28, 1846
Iowa Features
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Map: Iowa
State: Iowa
Country: United States
Region: U.S., Canada, and Mexico
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