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Missouri, one of the midwestern states of the United States. It is bordered by Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee, across the Mississippi R. (E), Arkansas (S), Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska (W), and Iowa (N).
Area, 69,686 sq mi (180,487 sq km).
Pop. (2000) 5,595,211, a 9.3% increase since the 1990 census.
Capital, Jefferson City.
Largest city, Kansas City.
Statehood, Aug. 10, 1821 (24th state).
Highest pt., Taum Sauk Mt., 1,772 ft (540 m);
lowest pt., St. Francis River, 230 ft (70 m).
Nickname, Show Me State.
Motto, Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto [The Welfare of the People Shall Be the Supreme Law].
State bird, bluebird.
State flower, hawthorn.
State tree, dogwood.
Abbr., Mo.; MO
The capital is Jefferson City, and the largest cities are Kansas City, Saint Louis, Springfield, and Independence. Places of interest include the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, in St. Louis; George Washington Carver National Monument, in Diamond; Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, near Springfield; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, in Kansas City; the Harry S. Truman Memorial Library, in Independence; and the Museum of the American Indian, in St. Joseph. A 185-mi (300 km) bicycle trail stretches from near St. Louis to Sedalia.
| World War I to the Present |
| Although during World War I general prosperity prevailed in the state, the depression years of the 1930s sent farm values crashing, and many banks, especially in rural areas, failed. Prosperity returned during World War II, when both St. Louis and Kansas City served as vital transportation centers, and industrialization increased enormously. In the postwar period, Missouri became the second largest producer (behind Michigan) of automobiles in the nation. Although most industry remains based in the two metropolitan centers, smaller Missouri communities, especially suburbs, have since attracted much light and heavy industry, as well as former city dwellers. St. Louis lost half its population between 1950 to 1990, and out-migration has continued; what was once the fourth largest U.S. city is now barely in the top 50 in size. |
*Colombia Encyclopedia, sixth edition, copyright (c) 2003 |
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