| |||||
| State motto: Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law | |||||
| Capital | Jefferson City | ||||
| Area - Total - Land - Water - % water | Ranked 21st 180,693 km² (69,709 mile2) 178,590 km² (68,898 mile2) 2,101 km² (811 mile2) 1.16% | ||||
| Population
- Density | Ranked 17th
31/km² ( 80.27 mile2 ) | ||||
| Admittance into Union
- Date |
24th August 10, 1821 | ||||
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 | ||||
|
Lattitude
|
36°N to 40°35'N
| ||||
|
Width
|
385 km (240 miles)
| ||||
Missouri , named after the Missouri Indian tribe, is a midwestern state of the United States with Jefferson City as its capital. The state public university's main branch is located in Columbia. The Mississippi and Missouri rivers are the two large rivers which flow through this state.
History
- See Missouri History
Population
As of the 2000 census, the population of the state is 5,595,211. Major cities include St. Louis and Kansas City.
Geography
Missouri is bounded on the north by Iowa; on the east, across the Mississippi River, by Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; on the south by Arkansas; and on the west by Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska (the latter two across the Missouri River.)
Government
The current constitution of Missouri was adopted in 1945 and provides for 3 branches of government, the legislative, judicial and executive branches. The legislative branch consists of two bodies, the house of representatives and the senate. These bodies comprise the General Assembly of the State of Missouri.
The house of representatives has 163 members that are apportioned based on the last decennial census. The senate consists of 34 members from districts divided such that the population of each district is approximately equal.
The judicial department consists of a supreme court consisting of 7 judges. Superior and inferior courts are also provided.
The executive branch is headed by the Govenor.
(see: List of Missouri counties)
Industry
The major industries include aerospace, transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, printing/publishing, electrical equipment, light manufacturing.
The agriculture products of the state are beef, soybeans, pork, dairy products, hay, corn, poultry, and eggs. Missouri is ranked 6th in the nation for the production of hogs and 7th for cattle.
Missouri has vast quantities of limestone. Other minerals mined are lead, coal, portland cement and crushed stone.
Tourism, services and wholesale/retail trade follow manufacturing in importance.
 |
| Modified USGS/University of Missouri map Note: Modified map released under the GNU FDL. |
Cities and Important Towns
- Saint Louis
- Kansas City
- Springfield
- Columbia -- the University of Missouri at Columbia.
- Branson
- Cape Girardeau
- Sainte Genevieve -- oldest European settlement west of the Mississippi River.
- Saint Joseph -- the Pony Express began here.
- Hannibal--where Mark Twain, or Samuel Clemens, lived.
- Independence
- Saint Charles -- the beginning of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
- Rolla
- Jefferson City--the state capital--otherwise unimportant.
- Sedalia--home of the Missouri state fair.
See also: United States, Missouri River, Missouri tribe.
Colleges and Universities
- Avila University
- Baptist Bible College
- Central Bible College
- Central Christian College of the Bible
- Central Methodist College
- Central Missouri State University
- Cleveland Chiropractic College
- College of the Ozarks
- Columbia College
- Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
- Culver-Stockton College
- DeVry University, Kansas City
- Drury University
- Evangel University
- Fontbonne College
- Forest Institute of Professional Psychology
- Greenleaf University
- Hannibal-Lagrange College
- Harris-Stowe State College
- Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine
- Lincoln University
- Lindenwood University
- Logan College of Chiropractic
- Maryville University of St. Louis
- Missouri Baptist College
- Missouri Southern State College
- Missouri Valley College
- Missouri Western State College
- Northwest Missouri State University
- Ozark Christian College
- Park University
- Rockhurst University
- St. Louis College of Pharmacy
- Saint Louis University
- Southeast Missouri State University
- Southwest Baptist University
- Southwest Missouri State University
- Stephens College
- Truman State University
- University of Missouri
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Webster University
- Westminster College
- William Jewell College
- William Woods University