Introduction:
Missouri (IPA: /mɪˈzʊ.ɹi/) is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. It is bordered by eight states Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Missouri was originally purchased from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The Missouri Territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state in 1821. The state has 114 counties and one independent city.

St. Louis, a large city in Missouri is known as the "Gateway to the West" because it served as a departure point for settlers heading to the west as well as the starting point and the return destination of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It is a state with both Midwestern and Southern cultural influences, reflecting its history as a border state between the two regions. The state is named after the Missouri Siouan Indian tribe whose Illinois name, ouemessourita (wimihsoorita), (meaning "those who have dugout canoes". The confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers is located in Missouri.



Capital: Jefferson City

Geography: Missouri's borders physically touch a total of eight different states, as does its neighbor, Tennessee. No state in the U.S. touches more than eight states. 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 across the Missouri River.) The two largest Missouri rivers are the Mississippi which defines the eastern boundary of the state and the Missouri that flows west to east through the state connecting the two largest cities, Kansas City and St. Louis. 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, part of the Upland South, 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 today the state is usually considered part of the Midwest, Missouri is also occasionally and historically considered a South state, the institution of slavery in the state contributing in no small part to this. Residents of cities father north and the state's large metropolitan areas, including those where most of the state's population resides (Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia), typically consider themselves Midwestern, while in rural areas and cities farther south (Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Springfield, and Sikeston), people typically consider themselves more Southern.

See also: Climate of Missouri, Missouri National and State Parks



Economy - overview:
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, ranking 27^th 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 rapidly 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 percent to 6.0 percent. Missouri's sales tax rate for most items is 4.225 percent. 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.