Introduction

Although it is sometimes called the "Corn State", Iowa really is a breadbasket for the U.S., with 90 percent of its land devoted to farming. Named for the Iowa River, which was named for the Iowa, or Ioway. The wild rose is the state flower and the capital is Des Moines.

Although Iowa produces a tenth of the nation's food supply, the value of Iowa's manufactured products is twice that of its agriculture. Major industries are food and associated products, non-electrical machinery, electrical equipment, printing and publishing, and fabricated products. Iowa stands in a class by itself as an agricultural state. Iowa leads the nation in all corn, soybean and hog marketings and comes in third in total livestock sales. Iowa's forests produce hardwood lumber, particularly walnut and its mineral products include cement, limestone, sand, gravel, gypsum and coal.

Tourist attractions include the Herbert Hoover birthplace and library near West Branch; the Amana Colonies; Fort Dodge Historical Museum, Fort, and Stockade; the Iowa State Fair at Des Moines in August; and the Effigy Mounds National Monument, a prehistoric Indian burial site at Marquette.

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