Portal:Iowa
The Iowa Portal

Iowa (/ˈaɪ.əwə/ ⓘ EYE-ə-wə) is a state in the upper Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the east and southeast, Missouri to the south, Nebraska to the west, South Dakota to the northwest, and Minnesota to the north.
Iowa is the 26th largest in total area and the 31st most populous of the 50 U.S. states, with a population of 3.19 million. The state's capital, most populous city, and largest metropolitan area fully located within the state is Des Moines. A portion of the larger Omaha, Nebraska, metropolitan area extends into three counties of southwest Iowa. Other metropolitan statistical areas in Iowa include Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Ames, Dubuque, Sioux City, and the Iowa portion of the Quad Cities. Iowa is home to 940 small towns, though its population is increasingly urbanized as small communities and rural areas decline in population.
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, Iowa was a part of French Louisiana and Spanish Louisiana; its state flag is patterned after the flag of France. After the Louisiana Purchase, pioneers laid the foundation for an agriculture-based economy in the heart of the Corn Belt. In the latter half of the 20th century, Iowa's agricultural economy began to transition to a diversified economy of advanced manufacturing, processing, financial services, information technology, biotechnology, and green energy production.
Politically, Iowa is notable for the Iowa Caucuses, an influential event in national politics, as well as its high levels of voter turnout and foundational leadership in civil rights including early adoption or support of black suffrage. Iowa's standard of living is ranked highly on metrics such as governance, education, infrastructure, and safety. (Full article...)
Selected article -
The Ames Project was a research and development project that was part of the larger Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bombs during World War II. It was founded by Frank Spedding from Iowa State College in Ames, Iowa as an offshoot of the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago devoted to chemistry and metallurgy, but became a separate project in its own right. The Ames Project developed the Ames Process, a method for preparing pure uranium metal that the Manhattan Project needed for its atomic bombs and nuclear reactors. Between 1942 and 1945, it produced over 1,000 short tons (910 t) of uranium metal. It also developed methods of preparing and casting thorium, cerium and beryllium. In October 1945 Iowa State College received the Army-Navy "E" Award for Excellence in Production, an award usually only given to industrial organizations. In 1947 it became the Ames Laboratory, a national laboratory under the Atomic Energy Commission. (Full article...)
Did you know? -
- ... that a tornado estimated to be one of the strongest on record planted maize crops in Greenfield, Iowa?
- ... that an Iowa TV station's prior decision to disaffiliate from the Fox network meant that The Simpsons were originally unseen in the Quad Cities?
- ... that years after it closed, the studios of an Iowa TV station became the headquarters for the state police radio network?
- ... that Iowa government social worker Catherine G. Williams started out as a tap dancer?
- ... that S. H. M. Byers not only coined the phrase "Sherman's March to the Sea", but also wrote Iowa's state song?
- ... that during the 1984 Democratic presidential primaries, Alan Cranston scheduled his advertisements in Iowa around airings of The Day After?
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State Facts
- Date admitted to Union: December 28, 1846 (29th State)
- Demonym: Iowan
- Capital: Des Moines
- Elected state officers:
- U.S. Senators:
- Chuck Grassley (R)
- Joni Ernst (R)
- U.S. Representatives:
- Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R)
- Ashley Hinson (R)
- Zach Nunn (R)
- Randy Feenstra (R)
- Total area: 56,272 square miles (145,744 km2) (23rd most extensive state)
- Highest elevation: Hawkeye Point 1,670 feet (509 m) (42nd highest state)
- Mean elevation: 1,100 feet (335 m) (22nd highest state)
- Lowest elevation: Mississippi River 480 feet (146 m) (37th lowest state)
- Population (2022 estimate): 3,200,517 (32nd most populous state)
- Number of counties: 99 counties
- Number of municipalities: 947 municipalities
- Time zone: CST=UTC-06, CDT=UTC-05
- USPS code: IA
- ISO 3166 code: US-IA
- Adjacent states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota
- State government website: Iowa.gov
State Symbols
State flag: | ![]() |
State seal: | ![]() |
State motto: | Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain |
State nickname: | The Hawkeye State |
State bird: | Eastern Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) |
State flower: | Wild Prairie Rose (Rosa pratincola) |
State grass: | Bluebunch Wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) |
State tree: | Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) |
State rock: | Geode |
State soil: | Tama |
State song: | The Song of Iowa |
State tartan: | Iowa State Tartan |
Commemorative U.S. coin: |
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- Cam Sanders (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Yankees10 (talk · contribs · new pages (24)) started on 2025-08-06, score: 36
- Dutchtown, Iowa (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Firsfron (talk · contribs · new pages (2)) started on 2025-08-05, score: 40
- Chaplain Schmitt Island (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Quxyz (talk · contribs · new pages (13)) started on 2025-08-05, score: 36
- Donald Nieman (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Particleshow22 (talk · contribs · new pages (9)) started on 2025-08-05, score: 36
- 2025–26 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Bremerton98310 (talk · contribs · new pages (12)) started on 2025-08-04, score: 24
- Todd Winkler (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Grahaml35 (talk · contribs · new pages (3)) started on 2025-08-04, score: 20
- 2005 Eastern Washington Eagles football team (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Patriarca12 (talk · contribs · new pages (42)) started on 2025-08-04, score: 20
- Marlene Perez (writer) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Tassedethe (talk · contribs · new pages (584)) started on 2025-08-03, score: 40
- Lake Peosta Channel (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Quxyz (talk · contribs · new pages (13)) started on 2025-08-03, score: 20
- Ichneumon annulatorius (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Unenthusiastic (talk · contribs · new pages (4)) started on 2025-08-02, score: 20
- International Harvester Truck Sales and Service Station (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Farragutful (talk · contribs · new pages (5)) started on 2025-08-02, score: 20
- Tornado outbreak of May 7–9, 1927 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by EF5 (talk · contribs · new pages (17)) started on 2025-08-01, score: 20
- Dotdash Meredith (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Timtjtim (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2025-07-31, score: 34
- Brian Coon (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Vycl1994 (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2025-07-31, score: 34
- Zaneta (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by 79lives (talk · contribs · new pages (49)) started on 2025-07-31, score: 20
- George Pierson (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Vycl1994 (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2025-07-31, score: 20
- George Nelson Pierson (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Vycl1994 (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2025-07-31, score: 40
- Nic Shimonek (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by BullDawg2021 (talk · contribs · new pages (8)) started on 2025-07-30, score: 34
- William R. Sullivan (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Vycl1994 (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2025-07-30, score: 36
- Trucano (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Vycl1994 (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2025-07-30, score: 20
- List of parks in Polk County, Iowa (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by ActuallyElite (talk · contribs · new pages (2)) started on 2025-07-29, score: 70
- Jo Ann Trucano (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Vycl1994 (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2025-07-29, score: 54
- Frank S. Shaw (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by IowaHistorian1997 (talk · contribs · new pages (4)) started on 2025-07-29, score: 36
- Glenn C. Haynes (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by IowaHistorian1997 (talk · contribs · new pages (4)) started on 2025-07-28, score: 32
- Virginia Knight (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Gribelin (talk · contribs · new pages (2)) started on 2025-07-28, score: 20
- 2025 Atlas 150 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Brycenrichter (talk · contribs · new pages (19)) started on 2025-07-28, score: 47
- 2025 Hy-Vee PERKS 250 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Brycenrichter (talk · contribs · new pages (19)) started on 2025-07-28, score: 47
- James E. Thomas (Iowa auditor) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by IowaHistorian1997 (talk · contribs · new pages (4)) started on 2025-07-28, score: 52
- Larry Disney (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Vycl1994 (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2025-07-28, score: 56
- James C. McClune (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by IowaHistorian1997 (talk · contribs · new pages (4)) started on 2025-07-28, score: 34
- Dennis Renaud (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Vycl1994 (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2025-07-28, score: 54
- Edgar Bittle (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Vycl1994 (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2025-07-28, score: 34
- Iowa Senate File 496 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Nahida (talk · contribs · new pages (7)) started on 2025-07-27, score: 47
- John Garber (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Tassedethe (talk · contribs · new pages (584)) started on 2025-07-26, score: 20
- Gerhard Grössing (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by FrankBierFarmer (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2025-07-22, score: 20
- Nojus Indrušaitis (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Pofka (talk · contribs · new pages (18)) started on 2025-07-26, score: 40
- Ben Davis (singer) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Blueflash4 (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2025-07-25, score: 20
- Margaret Boylen (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Miraclepine (talk · contribs · new pages (45)) started on 2025-07-25, score: 30
- James W. Cownie Soccer Park (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by ActuallyElite (talk · contribs · new pages (2)) started on 2025-07-25, score: 34
- Charles J. Uban (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Vycl1994 (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2025-07-25, score: 40
- Harold O. Fischer (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Vycl1994 (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2025-07-25, score: 37
- 2025 Iowa Senate District 35 special election (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Atriskofmistake (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2025-07-24, score: 40
- List of historical societies in Iowa (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by M2545 (talk · contribs · new pages (6)) started on 2025-07-23, score: 47
- Walter T. Federer (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Lexiconaut (talk · contribs · new pages (0)) started on 2025-07-22, score: 28
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