Iowa

(i'o-waw,) a N. central State of the American Union, b. N. by Minnesota, E. by Wisconsin and Illinois, S. by Mi ouri, and W. by Nebraska and Dakota; bet. N. Lat.40° 30′-43° 30′, and W. Lon. 90°-97°. In shape, I. presents an almost perfect parallelogram; has a length, N. to S., of abt. 300 m., by a pretty even width of 208 m., and embraces an area of 55,045 sq. miles, or 35,228,800 acres. The surface of the State is generally undulating, rising toward the middle into an elevated plateau which forms the " divide " of the Mi ouri and Mi i ippi basins. Rolling prairies, especially in the S. section, constitute a regnant feature, and the river bottoms, belted with woodlands, present a soil of the richest alluvion. I. is well watered; the principal rivers being the Mi i ippi and Mi ouri, which form respectively its E. and W. limits, and the Cedar, Iowa, andDes Moines, affluents of the first-named. Mineralogically, I. is important as occupying a section of the great N.W. coal-field, to the extent of an area estim. at 25,000 sq. miles. Lead, copper, zinc, and iron, are also mined in considerable quantities. The soil is well adapted to the production of wheat, maize, and the other cereals; fruits, vegetables, and esculent roots; maize, wheat, and oats forming the chief staples. Wine, tobacco, hops, and wax are other noticeable items of the agricultural yield. Cattle-raising, too, is ab ranch of rural industry largely engaged in. The climate is healthy, although liable to extremes of heat and cold. The annual gro product of the various manufactures carried on in the State, approximate, in round numbers, a sum of $20,000,000. I. has abt. 1,700 m. of railroad in operation and course of completion, besides over 500 m. of water-communication by means of its navigable rivers. The State is politically divided into 99 cos., with the following prominent centres of population: Des Moines (cap.), Iowa City (former cap.), Dubuque, Davenport, Burlington, Council Bluffs, Keokuk,Mus ca tine, and Cedar Rapids. The State executive is vested in a governor elected quadrennially; and its legislature consists of a senate of 50 members, chosen for a like term, besides a house of 100 representatives, elected biennially. The State institutions of I.- religious, scholastic, and philanthropic-are on a par, as regards number and perfection of organization and operation, with those ofher N.W. sister States, and education is especially well cared for, and largely diffused. I. formed a portion of the American territorial acquisitions from France, by the so-called Louisiana purchase in 1803, and was politically identified with Louisiana till 1812, when it merged into the Mi ouri Ter.; in 1834 it came under the Michigan organization, and, in 1836, under that of Wisconsin. Finally, after being constituted an independent Territory, it became a State of the Union, Dec. 28, 1846. Pop., in 1860, 674,913; in 1870, 1,191,792. [s. 490]