Missouri State Guide

Missouri named after the Missouri Siouan Indian tribe whose Illinois name, ouemessourita, means « those who have dugout canoes », is a central state in the United States. It is a state with both Midwestern and Southern cultural influences, reflecting its history as a border state between the two regions. The state's nickname is the Show-Me State, first recorded in 1894; the state's name is also occasionally pronounced "Missoura", a term often used by former U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who was born in the state. The Mississippi and Missouri rivers are the two large rivers which flow through the state.

Missouri State Guide - Geography

Missouri's border physically touches a total of eight different states (as does its neighbor, Tennessee. No states in the U.S. touch more than eight states). It 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 across the Missouri River.) The Mississippi and Missouri rivers are the two large rivers which flow through this state.

North of the Missouri River lie the Northern Plains that stretch into Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Here, gentle rolling hills remain behind from a glacier that once had extended from the north to the Missouri River.

Little Dixie is an area of Missouri that lies along the northern side of the Missouri River. The area is so named because of its settlement by people from the American South, also called "Dixie." It was settled before and following the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

The Ozark plateau begins south of the Missouri river and extends into Arkansas, southeast Kansas, and northeast Oklahoma. Springfield in southwestern Missouri lies on the Ozark plateau. Southern Missouri is the home of the Ozark Mountains, a dissected plateau surrounding the Precambrian igneous St. Francois Mountains. It is in the Ozarks that a distinct dialect, often compared to that of residents in certain areas of Kentucky and Tennessee, still exists.

The southeastern part of the state is home to the Bootheel, part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain or Mississippi embayment. This region is the lowest, flattest and wettest part of the state, and among the poorest. It is also the most fertile. Cotton and rice production are prominent in this area. The Bootheel area was the location of the epicenter of the New Madrid Earthquake of 1811–1812.

Although now generally considered part of the Midwest, Missouri was once thought of as Southern, the institution of slavery in the state contributing in no small part to this. For example, Mark Twain, who grew up in Hannibal, in Life on the Mississippi described his upbringing as in "the South". Nonetheless, residents of the state's large metropolitan areas, including those where most of the state's population resides (St. Louis, Columbia, Kansas City) consider themselves Midwestern; rural areas and cities farther south (Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Springfield, and Sikeston) consider themselves more Southern.

Missouri State Guide - History

Originally part of the Louisiana Purchase, Missouri was admitted as a state in 1821 as part of the Missouri Compromise. It earned the nickname "Gateway to the West" because it served as a departure point for settlers heading to the west. It was the starting point and the return destination of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. During the Civil War, Missouri, a slave state, seceded from the Union, on October 31, 1861 by "An act declaring the political ties heretofore existing between the State of Missouri and the United States of America dissolved;" and joined the Confederate States of America the same day by enactment of "An act ratifying the Constitution of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America." Missouri's request for admission in the Confederate States of America was ratified by the Confederate Congress on November 26, 1861 in proceeding were recorded in the Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume I] on pages 479-483. Sentiment was split with a portion of the populace supporting the Union. Union and Confederate forces fought in Missouri throughout the Civil War. As a result of Union successes the in the Civil War, the State of Missouri formed a government in exile in Marshall, Texas in 1863 under Governor Reynolds who replaced Governor Claiborne F. Jackson following his death in exile in Arkansas. In 1865 rather than surrendering to Union forces, Major General Sterling Price, Missouri's highest ranking military officer led his army to Mexico where he became leader of a colony of Confederate exiles at Carlota in the state of Veracruz. Missouri, however rejoined the union.

Missouri State Guide - Demographics

As of 2005, Missouri has an estimated population of 5,800,310, which is an increase of 40,778, or 0.7%, from the prior year and an increase of 203,627, or 3.6%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 115,403 people (that is 401,148 births minus 285,745 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 69,669 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 42,690 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 26,979 people.

The center of population of Missouri is located in Osage County, in the city of Westphalia.

As of 2004, the population included 194,000 foreign-born (3.4% of the state population).

The five largest ancestry groups in Missouri are: German (23.5%), Irish (12.7%), American (10.5%), English (9.5%), French (3.5%). 'American' includes those reported as Native American or African American.

German-Americans are a large ancestry group present in most of Missouri. In southern Missouri, most residents are of British/American ancestry. The northern edge of the state also has a high proportion of residents of British and American ancestry. Blacks are populous in the City of St Louis and central Kansas City as well as in the southeastern bootheel and some areas of the Missouri River Valley, places where plantation agriculture was once important. Missouri Creoles of French ancestry are concentrated in the Mississippi River valley south of St. Louis.

6.6% of its population were reported as under 5, 25.5% under 18, and 13.5% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.4% of the population.

3.4% of Missourians are foreign-born, and 5.1% speak a language other than English at home.

81.3% were high school graduates (higher than the national average) while 21.6% had a bachelor's degree or higher.

The mean commute time to work was 23.8 minutes. The homeownership rate in 2000 was 70.3% with the mean value of the owner occupied dwelling being $89,900. There were 2,194,594 households with 2.48 people per household. The median household money income for 1999 was $37,934 with the 1999 Per Capita Money Income of $19,936. There were 11.7% (637,891) Missourians living below the poverty line in 1999.

Missouri State Guide - Economy

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Missouri's total state product in 2003 was $195 billion. Per capita personal income in 2003 was $29,464, 27th in the nation. Major industries include aerospace, transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, printing / publishing, electrical equipment, light manufacturing, and beer.

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 is ranked in the top 5 states in the nation for production of soy beans. As of 2001, there were 108,000 farms, the second largest number in any state after Texas. Missouri also actively promotes its quickly-growing wine industry.

Missouri has vast quantities of limestone. Other resources mined are lead, coal, Portland cement and crushed stone. Missouri produces the most lead of all of the states in the Union with most of these mines in the central eastern portion of the state. Missouri also ranks first or near first among the production of lime.

Tourism, services and wholesale/retail trade follow manufacturing in importance.

Personal income is taxed in 10 different earning brackets, ranging from 1.5% to 6.0%. Missouri's sales tax rate for most items is 4.225%. Additional local levies may apply. More than 2,500 Missouri local governments rely on property taxes levied on real property (real estate) and personal property. Some personal property is exempt, including household goods, inventories, wearing apparel and items of personal use and adornment. Exempt real estate includes property owned by governments and property used as nonprofit cemeteries, exclusively for religious worship, for schools and colleges and for purely charitable purposes. There is no inheritance tax and limited Missouri estate tax related to federal estate tax collection.

Missouri State Guide - Law and Government

The current constitution of Missouri, the fourth constitution for the state, was adopted in 1945 and provides for three 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 governor.

* The Governor of Missouri is Matt Blunt (Republican).
* The Lieutenant Governor of Missouri is Peter Kinder (Republican)
* The Missouri Attorney General is Jay Nixon (Democrat)
* The Missouri Secretary of State is Robin Carnahan (Democrat)
* The Missouri State Auditor is Claire McCaskill (Democrat)
* The Missouri State Treasurer is Sarah Steelman (Republican)
* The Senior United States Senator is Christopher S. "Kit" Bond (Republican)
* The Junior United States Senator is James M. Talent (Republican)

Although neither major party has traditionally been dominant in Missouri, the Republican Party has been gaining strength in recent years. Missouri has a longer stretch of supporting the winning presidential candidate than any other state, having chosen with the nation in every election since 1904 with the exception of Adlai Stevenson in 1956. In 2004, George W. Bush won the state's 11 electoral votes by a margin of 7 percentage points with 53.3% of the vote. Missouri has a very notable urban-rural split, as Democrat John Kerry only won four of the state's 115 counties—St Louis City, St Louis County, Ste Genevieve, and Jackson County. Missouri has previously been considered a Democratic state, with its most prominent Democrat being Harry S. Truman. However, since the late 1970s the state has trended to Republicans.

Missouri State Guide - Education

Missouri's public school system includes kindergarten to 12th grade and requires all children between the ages of 7–16 inclusive to be enrolled in a school.

The University of Missouri is Missouri's statewide public university system, having campuses in Columbia, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Rolla. In 1905 the state established a series of normal schools to teach "teaching norms" at colleges in each region of the state. The initial network consisted of Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University) in Springfield, Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Truman State University (formerly Northeast Missouri State University) in Kirksville, Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, and University of Central Missouri (formerly Central Missouri State University) in Warrensburg.

There are numerous junior colleges, trade schools, church universities and private universities in the state including Saint Louis University and Washington University in St. Louis.

The state also funds a $2000, renewable merit-based scholarship, Bright Flight, given to the top 3% of Missouri High School graduates who attend a university in-state.

Missouri State Guide - Professional Sports Teams

* Baseball: Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals
* Football: Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams
* Hockey: St. Louis Blues
* Soccer: Kansas City Wizards
* Indoor Soccer: Kansas City Comets and St. Louis Steamers
* Arena Football: Kansas City Brigade and River City Rage
* Tennis: Kansas City Explorers, Springfield Lasers and St. Louis Aces

Article Source: Wikipedia