Missouri is a constituent state of the United States of America. To the north lies Iowa; across the Mississippi River to the east, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee; to the south, Arkansas; and to the west, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. With the exception of Tennessee, Missouri has more neighbouring states than any other U.S. state. The area of Missouri is 69,697 square miles (180,516 square kilometres). Slightly more than half of the population lives in the two major cities, St. Louis and Kansas City, and their surrounding counties. Jefferson City is the capital. The Missouri River cuts across the state from Kansas City in the west, through Jefferson City in the centre, to just above St. Louis in the east, where the river joins the Mississippi. Missouri was the name of a group of Indians who lived in the area; the French gave the name to the river, and it was later transferred to the state.
Located near the centre of the coterminous United States, Missouri is the meeting place of the timberlands of the East and the prairies of the West, of the cotton fields of the South and the cornfields of the North. It has represented the political and social sentiments of a border state since its admission as the 24th member of the Union on Aug. 10, 1821. The question of its admission as a slave or free state produced in Congress the Missouri Compromise (1820), which regulated the spread of slavery in the western territories. Missouri was the westernmost state of the nation until the admission of Texas in 1845, and for decades it served as the eastern terminus of the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. For the West, St. Louis, Missouri's largest city, long was the closest contact with the more settled society and the culture of the East, and for the East the state had a reputation as the chief gateway to the West.
Missouri ranks high in urbanization and industrial activity, though it maintains a vigorous and diversified agriculture. The rugged Ozark Plateau is a scenic beauty, and many lively folk traditions persist among its communities. Missouri retains numerous conservative characteristics of the rural life that predominated prior to the 1930s. Its nickname, the Show-Me State, suggests a tradition of skepticism regarding change. In Missouri the Democratic Party does not necessarily represent more liberal political philosophies than does the Republican, and the latter has made inroads into the traditional Democratic orientation. Continuing low tax bases prevent the elaboration of social services, a problem felt most acutely in the two major cities, which have had an increasing loss of wealth to the suburbs, coincident with greatly expanding needs of the cities.
North of the Missouri River, in the glaciated section, Missouri's landscape is characterized by gently rolling hills; open, fertile plains; and well-watered prairie country. South of the Missouri, except in the extreme southeastern corner of the state and along the western boundary, the land is rough and hilly, with some deep, narrow valleys and clear, swift streams. It is a region abounding with caves and extraordinarily large natural springs. Much of the land is 1,000 to 1,400 feet (300 to 425 metres) above sea level. Near the western border, however, the elevation rarely exceeds 700 to 800 feet, and in southeastern Missouri, a part of the alluvial plain of the Mississippi, it is less than 500 feet. The St. Francois Mountains in the eastern Ozarks exhibit igneous granite and rhyolite outcroppings, while the rest of the state is underlain by sedimentary rocks, mainly limestones, dolomites, sandstone, and shale. Missouri is tectonically stable except for the southeastern portion, where small earth tremors occur. The possibility of another devastating earthquake of a magnitude comparable to those centred at New Madrid in 1811–12 cannot be discounted.
Although agriculture has remained important as an income-producing activity, services, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail trade have forged ahead since World War II. Missouri has become the commercial and industrial leader among all its adjacent states except Illinois and Tennessee. In some types of manufacture, particularly in the production of aerospace and transportation equipment—including automobile assembly—Missouri ranks among the leading states in the nation. Recreation and tourism have surpassed agriculture in economic importance. Much of this growth has been in the larger towns and cities and near the large Ozark lakes. The state Department of Economic Development includes several divisions and commissions that have had a significant influence upon the state's economic development. Local chambers of commerce and private financial groups also have stimulated economic growth.
High school, college, and professional sports are popular. Kansas City is the home of the professional baseball Royals and the gridiron-football Chiefs. St. Louis is the home of the baseball Cardinals and the football Rams. Increased leisure time and mobility have stimulated an enormous interest in recreation, and Missouri has developed a superb system of state parks and historic shrines and memorials that are attractive to residents and visitors alike. Numerous man-made lakes afford fishing and waterskiing, while the clear, cool rivers of the Ozark Plateau offer pleasure to canoeists, fishers, and campers. The Mark Twain National Forest provides ideal habitat for game animals and songbirds. The Current and Jacks Fork rivers are protected and managed as wild and scenic waterways by the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
The major flows of traffic within the state are from the east to west along the Missouri valley and southward along the Mississippi. Missouri is served by several interstate highways. Its railroads are linked with most of the nation's major trunk lines, and St. Louis, Kansas City, and Jefferson City are served by Amtrak passenger service. Since 1910 the gradual abandonment of competing parallel lines and short lines built by mining and lumbering companies has led to a considerable reduction in Missouri's railroad mileage. The Mississippi and Missouri rivers, providing more than 1,000 miles of navigable waterways within the state, connect waterborne traffic with New Orleans. St. Louis and Kansas City are regional air hubs.
