Iowa is the 29th state of the United States of America, admitted to the Union on December 28, 1846.

It lies in the heart of the North American continent, in the region known as the MidWest.

Iowa, with its fertile prairie lands and heavily agricultural economy devoted to raising grain and livestock, is often considered the typical MidWestern state.

Iowa is, in large part, an efficient, large-scale production line for the nation’s food. From rich black earth to waving corn to fattened hog and steer foodstuffs, the entire process is carried out on a grand scale.

Most of the corn and other grains are fed to Iowa’s hogs and cattle. Then, factories take over to pack the meat, process any grain that remains, and produce the equipment to till the soil, harvest the corn, run the farms, and process the farm products.

Other factories produce goods that have little or nothing to do with agriculture, such as ball-point pens, washing machines, and office furniture.

In value of annual economic production, Iowa is primarily an industrial state, but much of its industrial output remains based on farm production.

The state’s name was taken from the Iowa River, which in turn was named for the Iowa people, the Native Americans who lived in the region during early European exploration.

Iowa is called the Hawkeye State. The name is believed to be a tribute to Chief Black Hawk, a leader of the Sac people who were relocated to Iowa after unsuccessful resistance to white settlement.

Following are Iowa’s principal cities, in order of population.

• Des Moines, the seat of Polk County, is the state’s capital and largest city. In addition to serving as the seat of government, Des Moines is a major Iowa manufacturing city and a center of the insurance business and of much of the state’s printing and publishing activities.
• Cedar Rapids, the seat of Linn County, is an important food-processing center noted for the manufacture of breakfast cereals.
• Davenport, the seat of Scott County and the largest of the four Quad Cities bordering the Mississippi River, is a railroad and manufacturing center.
• Waterloo, the seat of Black Hawk County, is a manufacturing city that specializes in meat-packing and in the manufacture of farm machinery.
• Iowa City, the seat of Johnson County, is the home of the University of Iowa.
• Council Bluffs, the seat of Pottawattamie County in SouthWestern Iowa, is a major railroad center that lies within the metropolitan area of Omaha, Nebraska.
• Dubuque, the seat of Dubuque County on the Mississippi, was one of the earliest settlements in Iowa, and is an industrial and commercial city.
• Another principal city is Ames, in Story County, the site of Iowa State University.
• Cedar Falls, in Black Hawk County, is the home of the University of Northern Iowa.
• Mason City, the seat of Cerro Gordo County, serves as the principal commercial center of Northern Iowa.
• Along the Mississippi River lie the old river ports of Clinton, the seat of Clinton County, and Burlington, the seat of Des Moines County.
• Fort Dodge, the seat of Webster County, is the center of Iowa’s gypsum industry.
• Ottumwa, the seat of Wapello County, is a trade center and a manufacturing city.
• Sioux City, the seat of Woodbury County, serves as a commercial center for NorthWestern Iowa. It is a major railroad junction and specializes in the manufacture of food products.