Iowa Geography

Basic Facts

• Geographical Region: Midwest
• Size: 56276 sq.mi., 26th rank overall.
• Admitted to Statehood: December 28, 1846
• Population: 3,007,856;30th rank overall.
• Capital: Des Moines
• Other Major City: Cedar Rapids
• Abbreviation: IA

Fun Facts

• Nickname: Hawkeye State
• State Flag: Click Here (opens window to 50states.com)
• State Bird: Eastern Goldfinch (opens window to 50states.com)
• State Flower: Wild Prairie Rose (opens window to 50states.com)

Geographical Description

• Most of northern and central Iowa is covered by the flat and fertile Young Drift Plains. Retreating glaciers at the end of the Ice Age left sand, gravel, clay and rocks.
• The Driftless Area features hills and cliffs with soil not suitable for farming in the northeastern section of Iowa.
• The Dissected Till Plains extend across the southern area of Iowa with its low rolling hills and ridges.
• Major rivers include the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Iowa, the Des Moines and the Cedar Rivers.

Map: Relief Map of IA

Industry

Food processing, Farm products, machinery, electric equipment, chemical products, tires, appliances, printing and publishing, primary metals, minerals.

Agriculture

corn, hogs, soybeans, hay, oats, cattle, dairy products

Other Information

Fun Facts:

• The National Register of Historic Places lists the entire campus of Cornell College.
• The only state name that starts with two vowels is Iowa.
• Dubuque: 60' incline, 296 feet is the shortest and steepest railroad in the U.S.
• The town of Fort Atkinson was built to protect one Indian tribe from another. It is the only fort ever built by the U.S. government for this purpose.
• Burlington's Snake Alley was named by Ripley's Believe It or Not as the most crooked street in the world.

More Fun Facts: http://www.50states.com/facts/iowa.htm