Iowa Summary

Iowa’s vast tall-grass prairies, born of ancient glacial forces and covered with the luxuriant growth of densely rooted prairie grasses, give this state a quarter of all the Grade A land in the United States, making it the breadbasket of the Midwest. The state’s agricultural statistics are as big as they come: 90 percent of its land area is farmed, and the Iowa State Fair is the largest in the nation. Iowa ranks first in the United States in the production of pork, corn, and soybeans.

The state was settled largely by immigration from the eastern states and northwestern Europe. A significant proportion of the population is Caucasian, with German, Irish, or English heritage; German Protestants — the Amana colonists — migrated to Iowa from Buffalo, New York, in 1855. The Amana Colonies are Iowa’s main tourist attraction. Des Moines (population 191,000) has been the state capital since 1857, when the capital was moved there from Iowa City.

Winter temperatures can fall to 14\260F in the north and to below -25\260F in the extreme southeast. Although total snowfall is relatively small, the severity of the winters is often heightened by high winds that produce blizzard conditions and by prolonged periods of very low temperatures. Spring and fall are mild, but summers can be very hot and humid.

In the heartland of North America, Iowa is the only state to be bordered by two navigable rivers, the Missouri to the west and the Mississippi to the east. Its quaint “Main Street USA” towns (those that have taken part in a program of historic preservation) and politically conservative communities certainly reinforce the popular image of the state that is exemplified by the Grant Wood painting American Gothic. In recent years, it seems the now-famous question asked by “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in the movie Field of Dreams has become the question most proud Iowans love to answer : “Is this Heaven?” “No, it’s Iowa.”