State of Missouri

State of Missouri
Marie Watkins Oliver · Public domain · source
Name	Missouri
Motto	Salus populi suprema lex esto
Seat	Jefferson City
Largest city	Kansas City, Missouri
Admitted	August 10, 1821
Population	6,154,913 (2020)
Area total sq mi	69,707
Nickname	The Show-Me State

Contents

State of Missouri is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern and border regions of the United States, bounded by the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. It is historically a crossroads of Lewis and Clark Expedition, Oregon Trail, and Santa Fe Trail routes and has produced notable figures such as Mark Twain, Harry S. Truman, T.S. Eliot, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Missouri's urban hubs include St. Louis, Kansas City, Missouri, Springfield, Missouri, and Columbia, Missouri, while its landscape ranges from the Ozark Mountains to the Missouri Bootheel.

Etymology and Nickname

The name "Missouri" derives from the Missouri River tribe of the Siouan family, recorded by Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet during exploration of the Upper Mississippi River. The state's nickname, "The Show-Me State," became popularized through Willard Duncan Vandiver's 1899 speech and was later entwined with images of Mark Twain and regional pride associated with St. Louis World's Fair and frontier resilience.

Pre-contact and colonial history include settlements by Missouri people, Osage, Illinois, and interactions with French explorers such as Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, founders of St. Louis. Missouri was part of French Louisiana and then Spanish Louisiana before the Louisiana Purchase transferred control to the United States. Admission occurred amid the Missouri Compromise of 1820, negotiated by Henry Clay and debated in the Congress, which balanced slave and free states and influenced sectional tensions preceding the American Civil War.

During the Civil War Missouri was a border battleground with events tied to Nathaniel Lyon, Sterling Price, the Battle of Wilson's Creek, and guerrilla warfare including William Quantrill's raid on Lawrence. Reconstruction and the Gilded Age saw growth linked to railroad expansion by companies like the Missouri Pacific Railroad and industrialization around St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri. The 20th century featured figures such as President Harry S. Truman, civil rights struggles involving James Meredith and local activism, cultural developments exemplified by Chuck Berry and Miles Davis, and events like the 1904 World's Fair in Saint Louis and the 1993 Great Flood of 1993.

Missouri occupies a transitional zone between the Great Plains and the Appalachian Plateau, containing physiographic regions like the Ozark Plateau, the Dissected Till Plains, and the Bootheel adjacent to the Mississippi Delta. Major waterways include the Missouri River, the Osage River, and the Mississippi River, which define borders and waterways used by Lewis and Clark Expedition and modern navigation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Protected areas include Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Mark Twain National Forest, and numerous state parks such as Ha Ha Tonka State Park and Elephant Rocks State Park. The state faces environmental issues tied to agricultural runoff, tornadoes associated with Tornado Alley, and flooding influenced by climate change patterns described by researchers at institutions like University of Missouri.

The population mix reflects descendants of French colonists, African American communities with origins in antebellum slavery and Great Migration settlement in St. Louis, German Americans concentrated in towns like Hermann, Missouri, and newer immigrant groups including Hispanic and Latino Americans and Sudanese Americans. Metropolitan areas include St. Louis metro, Kansas City metro, and Springfield metro. Census trends tracked by the United States Census Bureau show urbanization around Jefferson City, Columbia, Missouri (home to University of Missouri), and changing demographics impacting electoral maps and social services.

Missouri's economy historically centered on agriculture—notably soybean and corn production in regions such as the Bootheel—and expanded with manufacturing in St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri including meatpacking firms like Swift & Company and transportation hubs for companies like Union Pacific Railroad. Key modern sectors include aerospace with firms tied to Boeing suppliers, healthcare institutions like Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Saint Luke's Health System, higher education economies around Washington University in St. Louis and University of Missouri, and financial services including Edward Jones Investments and regional headquarters for Express Scripts. Tourism leverages attractions like Gateway Arch National Park, Branson entertainment venues, and outdoor recreation in the Ozarks.

Missouri's state government is organized under a constitution originally ratified in 1820 and revised in subsequent conventions; its capital is Jefferson City. Politically, Missouri has shifted from a swing state reputation in the 20th century—with presidents such as Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower winning its electoral votes—to a more conservative alignment in recent presidential cycles. The state legislature meets in the Missouri State Capitol and interacts with institutions such as the Missouri Supreme Court and county administrations in places like Jackson County, Missouri and St. Louis County, Missouri. Prominent political figures include governors like Bob Holden, Matt Blunt, and Eric Greitens, and U.S. senators such as Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt.

Missouri's cultural contributions span literature by Mark Twain and T.S. Eliot, music traditions from Blues in St. Louis to Kansas City jazz icons like Count Basie, and culinary staples such as Kansas City barbecue. The state hosts performing arts institutions including the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Kansas City Ballet, museums like the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Missouri History Museum, and festivals such as Kansas City Renaissance Festival and St. Louis PrideFest. Higher education includes University of Missouri, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis University, Missouri State University, and Hannibal–LaGrange University, producing research in fields represented at labs like Oak Ridge National Laboratory collaborations and fostering alumni such as Nikos Kazantzakis—influence on literature—and public figures across sectors.

Transportation networks include interstate highways Interstate 70, Interstate 44, and Interstate 35, rail services by Amtrak and freight carriers like BNSF Railway, and major airports such as St. Louis Lambert International Airport and Kansas City International Airport. River commerce remains vital via the Mississippi River and the Missouri River with lock-and-dam systems overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Energy infrastructure features coal plants, natural gas supplied by companies like Ameren Missouri, and growing wind installations promoted by state incentives and utilities. Public transit agencies include Metro Transit (St. Louis), Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, and local systems in Springfield, Missouri and Columbia, Missouri.