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Missouri ( or ) is a state in the Midwest region of the United Statesmarker bordered by Iowamarker, Illinoismarker, Kentuckymarker, Tennesseemarker, Arkansasmarker, Oklahomamarker, Kansasmarker and Nebraskamarker. Missouri is the 18th most populous state with a 2008 estimated population of 5,911,605. It comprises 114 counties and one independent city. Missouri's capital is Jefferson Citymarker. The four largest urban areas are Columbiamarker, Kansas Citymarker, St. Louis, and Springfieldmarker. Missouri was originally acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became defined as the Missouri Territory. Part of the Missouri Territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state in August 10, 1821.

Missouri mirrors the demographic, economic and political makeup of the nation with a mix of urban and rural culture. It has long been considered a political bellwether state. With the exception of 1956 and 2008, Missouri's results in U.S. presidential elections have accurately predicted the next President of the United States in every election since 1904. It has both Midwestern and Southern cultural influences, reflecting its history as a border state. It is also a transition between the eastern and western United States, as St. Louismarker is often called the "western-most eastern city" and Kansas Citymarker the "eastern-most western city." Missouri's geography is highly varied. The northern part of the state lies in dissected till plains while the southern part lies in the Ozark Mountainsmarker a (dissected plateau), with the Missouri Rivermarker dividing the two. The confluence of the Mississippi and Missourimarker rivers is located near St. Louis.

Etymology and pronunciation

The state is named for the Missouri Rivermarker, which was named after the Siouan-language tribe, whose name in Illinois was ouemessourita (wimihsoorita), meaning "those who have dugout canoes". The etymology lies behind Bob Dyer's tribute song, "River of the Big Canoes".

The pronunciation of the final syllable of "Missouri" is variable, with some insisting on a relatively tense vowel (as in "meet"), while others prefer a lax vowel ("mitt" or "mutt"). The most thorough study of the question was done by dialectologist Donald Max Lance. From a linguistic point of view, no one pronunciation is considered correct; rather, there are simply patterns of variation, diachronic as well as synchronic, according to divisions such as geography, age, education, and/or rural vs. urban location. In general, the schwa vowel correlates with proximity to Kansas City, older speakers (born before 1945), lower levels of formal education, and rural location. Lance notes less controversial but also systematic variations in pronunciation: the second consonant is most often voiced ("misery") but unvoiced by some speakers ("missive"), and the medial vowel is variously raised and unrounded ("lurk") or rounded ("lure").

Geography

Missouri, showing major cities and roads
Missouri borders 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 Iowamarker; on the east, across the Mississippi River, by Illinoismarker, Kentuckymarker, and Tennesseemarker; on the south by Arkansasmarker; and on the west by Oklahomamarker, Kansasmarker, and Nebraskamarker (the last across the Missouri River). The two largest Missouri rivers are the Mississippi, which defines the eastern boundary of the state, and the Missourimarker, which flows from west to east through the state, essentially connecting the two largest metros, Kansas City and St. Louis.


Although today the state is usually considered part of the Midwest, historically Missouri was sometimes considered a South state, chiefly because of the settlement of migrants from the South and its status as a slave state before the Civil War. The counties that made up "Little Dixie" were those along the Missouri River in the center of the state, settled by Southern migrants who held the greatest concentration of slaves.

Residents of cities farther north and of the state's large metropolitan areas, where most of the state's population resides (Kansas Citymarker, St. Louismarker, and Columbiamarker), typically consider themselves Midwestern. In rural areas and cities farther south, such as (Cape Girardeaumarker, Poplar Bluffmarker, Springfieldmarker, and Sikestonmarker), residents typically self-identify as more Southern.

In 2005, Missouri received 16,695,000 visitors to its national parks and other recreational areas totaling 202,000 acres, giving it $7.41 mil. in annual revenues, 26.6% of its operating expenditures.

Topography

A physiographic map of Missouri
North of the Missouri Rivermarker lie the Northern Plains that stretch into Iowamarker, Nebraskamarker, and Kansasmarker. Here, gentle rolling hills remain behind from the glaciation that once extended from the north to the Missouri River. Missouri has many large river bluffs along the Mississippi, Missourimarker, and Meramecmarker Rivers. Southern Missouri rises to the Ozark Mountainsmarker, a dissected plateau surrounding the Precambrian igneous St. Francois Mountains. This region also hosts Karst topography characterized by high limestone content and the formation of sinkholes and caves.

The southeastern part of the state is the Bootheelmarker region, 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, as the economy is mostly agricultural. It is also the most fertile, with cotton and rice crops predominant. The Bootheel was the epicenter of the four New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811–1812.

Climate

Missouri generally has a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa), with cold winters and hot and humid summers. In the southern part of the state, particularly in the Bootheel, the climate borders on a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa). Located in the interior United States, Missouri often experiences extremes in temperatures. Without high mountains or oceans nearby to moderate temperature, its climate is alternately influenced by air from the cold Arctic and the hot and humid Gulf of Mexico.

Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Missouri Cities
City Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Columbia 37/18 44/23 55/33 66/43 75/53 84/62 89/66 87/64 79/55 68/44 53/33 42/22
Kansas City 36/18 43/23 54/33 65/44 75/54 84/63 89/68 87/66 79/57 68/46 52/33 40/22
Springfield 42/22 48/26 58/35 68/44 76/53 85/62 90/67 90/66 81/57 71/46 56/35 46/26
St. Louis 38/21 45/26 55/36 66/47 77/57 86/66 91/71 88/69 81/61 69/49 54/38 42/27
Temperatures for St. Louis only


History

Indigenous peoples inhabited Missouri for thousands of years before European exploration and settlement. archaeological excavations along the rivers have shown continuous habitation for more than 7,000 years. Beginning before 1000 CE was the rise of the complex Mississippian culture, whose people created regional political centers at present-day St. Louismarker and across the Mississippi River at Cahokiamarker, near present-day Collinsville, Illinoismarker. Their large cities included thousands of individual residences, but they are known for their surviving massive earthwork mounds, built for religious, political and social reasons, in platform, ridgetopmarker and conical shapes. Cahokia was the center of a regional trading network that reached from the Great Lakesmarker to the Gulf of Mexicomarker. The civilization declined by 1400 CE, and most descendants left the area before the arrival of Europeans. St. Louis was at one time known as Mound City, because of the numerous surviving mounds, since lost to urban development.

The first European settlers were French, mostly French Canadian who migrated to the area of present-day Ste. Genevieve, the first European settlement, about 1750. They came from colonial villages on the east side of the Mississippi of the Illinois Country, where soils were becoming exhausted and there was insufficient river bottom land for the growing population. St. Louis was also founded by French settlers. St. Louis became the center of a regional fur trade, that dominated its economy for decades. Ste. Genevieve was a thriving agricultural center, producing enough surplus [[wheat, corn and tobacco to ship downriver to Lower Louisiana for trade.

Part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase by the United States, Missouri earned the nickname "Gateway to the West" because it served as a departure point for settlers heading to the west. The St. Louis area was the starting point and the return destination of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which explored the western territories to the Pacific Oceanmarker. The territory was admitted as a slave state in 1821 as part of the Missouri Compromise. River traffic and trade along the Mississippi were integral to the state's economy. To try to control regular flooding of farmland and low-lying villages, by 1860 the state had completed construction of of levees on the Mississippi.

The state was site of the epicenter of the 1812 New Madrid earthquake, possibly the most powerful earthquake in the United States since the founding of the country. Casualties were light due to the sparse population.

Originally the state's western border was a straight line, defined as the meridian passing through the Kawsmouth, the point where the Kansas Rivermarker enters the Missouri River. The river has moved since this designation. This line is known as the Osage Boundary. In 1835 the Platte Purchase was added to the northwest corner of the state after purchase of the land from the native tribes, making the Missouri River the border north of the Kansas River. This addition increased the land area of what was already the largest state in the Union at the time (about to Virginia's 65,000 square miles (which then included West Virginia.)

As many of the early American settlers in western Missouri migrated from the Upper South, they brought enslaved African Americans for labor, and a desire to continue their culture and the institution of slavery. They settled predominantly in 17 counties along the Missouri River, in an area of flatlands that enabled plantation agriculture and became known as "Little Dixie." In the early 1830s, Mormon migrants from northern states and Canada began settling near Independence and areas just north of there. Conflicts over slavery and religion arose between the 'old settlers' (mainly from the South) and the Mormons (mainly from the North and Canada). The 'Mormon War' erupted. By 1839 settlers expelled the Mormons from Missouri.

Conflicts over slavery exacerbated border tensions among the states and territories. In 1838–1839 a border dispute with Iowa over the so-called Honey Landsmarker resulted in both states' calling up militias along the border. After many incidents with Kansans crossing the western border for attacks (including setting a fire in the historic Westport area of Kansas Citymarker), a border war erupted between Missouri and Kansasmarker.

From the 1830s to the 1860s, Missouri's population almost doubled with every decade. Most of the newcomers were Americans, but many Irish and German immigrants who arrived in the late 1840s and 1850s. Having fled famine, oppression and revolutionary upheaval, they were not sympathetic to slavery.

Most Missouri farmers practiced subsistence farming. The majority of those who held slaves had fewer than 5 each. Planters, defined by historians as those holding 20 or more slaves, were concentrated in the counties known as "Little Dixie", in the central part of the state along the Missouri River. The tensions over slavery had chiefly to do with the future of the state and nation. In 1860 enslaved African Americans made up less than 10% of the state's population of 1,182,012.

After the secession of Southern states began in 1861, the Missouri legislature called for the election of a special convention on secession. The convention voted decisively to remain within the Union. Pro-Southern Governor Claiborne F. Jackson ordered the mobilization of several hundred members of the state militia who had gathered in a camp in St. Louismarker for training. Alarmed at this action, Union General Nathaniel Lyon struck first, encircling the camp and forcing the state troops to surrender. Lyon then directed his soldiers, largely non-English-speaking German immigrants, to march the prisoners through the streets, and they opened fire on the largely hostile crowds of civilians who gathered around them. Soldiers killed unarmed prisoners as well as men, women and children of St. Louis in the incident that became known as the "St. Louis Massacremarker."

These events heightened Confederate support within the state. Governor Jackson appointed Sterling Price, president of the convention on secession, as head of the new Missouri State Guard. In the face of General Lyon's rapid advance in the state, Jackson and Price were forced to flee the capital of Jefferson Citymarker on June 14, 1861. In the town of Neosho, Missourimarker, Jackson called the state legislature into session. They enacted a secession ordinance, recognized by the Confederacy on October 30, 1861.

With the elected governor absent from his capital and the legislators largely dispersed, Union forces installed an unelected pro-Union provisional government with Hamilton Gamble as provisional governor. President Lincoln's Administration immediately recognized Gamble's government as the legal government. This decision provided both pro-Union militia forces for service within the state and volunteer regiments for the Union Army.

Fighting ensued between Union forces and a combined army of General Price's Missouri State Guard and Confederate troops from Arkansasmarker and Texasmarker under General Ben McCulloch. After winning victories at the battle of Wilson's Creekmarker and the siege of Lexington, Missourimarker and suffering losses elsewhere, the Confederate forces had little choice but to retreat to Arkansas and later Marshall, Texasmarker, in the face of a largely reinforced Union Army.

Though regular Confederate troops staged some large-scale raids into Missouri, the fighting in the state for the next three years consisted chiefly of guerrilla warfare. "Citizen soldiers" such as Colonel William Quantrill, Frank and Jesse James, the Younger brothers, and William T. Anderson made use of quick, small-unit tactics. Pioneered by the Missouri Partisan Rangers, such insurgencies also arose in other portions of the Confederacy occupied during the Civil War. Recently historians have assessed the James brothers' outlaw years as continuing guerrilla warfare after the official war was over. The activities of the 'Bald Knobbers' of south-central Missouri in the 1880s has also been seen as an unofficial continuation of hostilities long after the official end of the war.

In 1930, there was a diphtheria epidemic in the area around Springfield which killed approximately 100 people. Serum was rushed to the area and stopped the epidemic.

During the mid-1950s and 1960s, St. Louis suffered deindustrialization and loss of jobs in railroads and manufacturing as did other major industrial cities. At the same time highway construction made it easy for middle-class residents to leave the city for newer housing in the suburbs. St. Louis has gone through decades of readjustment to developing a different economy. Suburban areas have developed separate job markets, both in knowledge industries and services, such as major retail malls. In 1956 St. Charles was the site of the first interstate highway project.

Demographics

Missouri Population Density Map


In 2007, Missouri had an estimated population of 5,878,415; an increase of 283,204 (5.1 percent) since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase of 137,564 people since the last census (480,763 births less 343,199 deaths), and an increase of 88,088 people due to net migration into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 50,450 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 37,638 people. Over half of Missourians (3,145,584 people, or 56.2%) live within the state's two largest metropolitan areas–St. Louis and Kansas City. The state's population density 81.2 in 2000, is also closer to the national average than any other state.

The U.S. Census of 2000 found that the population center of the United States is in Phelps County, Missourimarker. The center of population of Missouri itself is located in Osage Countymarker, in the city of Westphaliamarker.

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

The five largest ancestry groups in Missouri are: German (23.5 percent), Irish (12.7 percent), American (10.5 percent), English (9.5 percent) and French (3.5 percent). "American" includes some of those reported as Native American or African American, but also European Americans whose ancestors have lived in the United States for a considerable time.

German Americans are an ancestry group present throughout Missouri. African Americans are a substantial part of the population in St. Louis, Kansas City, and in the southeastern Bootheel and some parts of the Missouri River Valley, where plantation agriculture was once important. Missouri Creoles of French ancestry are concentrated in the Mississippi River Valley south of St. Louis. Approximately 40,000-50,000 recent Bosniak immigrants live mostly in the St. Louis area.

In 2004, 6.6 percent of the state's population was reported as younger than 5 years old, 25.5 percent younger than 18, and 13.5 percent was 65 or older. Females were approximately 51.4 percent of the population. 81.3 percent of Missouri residents were high school graduates (more than the national average), and 21.6 percent had a bachelor's degree or higher. 3.4 percent of Missourians were foreign-born, and 5.1 percent reported speaking a language other than English at home.

In 2000, there were 2,194,594 households in Missouri, with 2.48 people per household. The homeownership rate was 70.3 percent, and the mean value of an owner-occupied dwelling was $89,900. The median household income for 1999 was $37,934, or $19,936 per capita. There were 11.7 percent (637,891) Missourians living below the poverty line in 1999.

The mean commute time to work was 23.8 minutes.

Religion

Of those Missourians who identify with a religion, three out of five are Protestants. There is also a moderate-sized Roman Catholic community in some parts of the state; approximately one out of five Missourians are Roman Catholic. Areas with large Catholic communities include St. Louismarker, Jefferson Citymarker, Westplex, and the Missouri Rhineland (particularly that south of the Missouri River). The St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas also have important Jewish communities who have contributed much to the culture and charities of the cities; more recent, those same areas have Indian and Pakistani immigrants have created Hindu and Muslim congregations as well.

The religious affiliations of the people of Missouri according to the American Religious Identification Survey:

The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Roman Catholic Church with 856,964; the Southern Baptist Convention with 797,732; and the United Methodist Church with 226,578.

Several religious organizations have headquarters in Missouri, including the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, which has its headquarters in Kirkwoodmarker, as well as the United Pentecostal Church International in Hazelwood, both outside St. Louis. Kansas City is the headquarters of the Church of the Nazarene. Independencemarker. Outside of Kansas City, is the headquarters for the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), and the group Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This area and other parts of Missouri are also of significant religious and historical importance to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), which maintains several sites/visitors centers, and whose members make up about 1 percent, or 62,217 members, of Missouri's population. Springfieldmarker is the headquarters of the Assemblies of God and the Baptist Bible Fellowship International. The General Association of General Baptists has its headquarters in Poplar Bluffmarker. The Pentecostal Church of God is headquartered in Joplinmarker. The Unity Church is headquartered in Unity Villagemarker.

Economy

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Missouri's total state product in 2006 was $225.9 billion. Per capita personal income in 2006 was $32,705, ranking 26th 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, sorghum, cotton, rice, and eggs. Missouri is ranked 6th in the nation for the production of hogs and 7th for cattle. Missouri is ranked in the top five 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 Texasmarker. Missouri actively promotes its rapidly growing wine industry.

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

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. Most personal property is exempt, except for motorized vehicles. 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 is the only state in the Union to have two Federal Reserve Banks: one in Kansas City (serving western Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado, northern New Mexico, and Wyoming) and one in St. Louis (serving eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, western Kentucky, western Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and all of Arkansas).

Transportation

Air

The state of Missouri has two major airport hubs: Lambert-St. Louis International Airportmarker and Kansas City International Airportmarker.



Rail

Two of the nation's three busiest rail centers are located in Missouri. Kansas Citymarker is a major railroad hub for BNSF Railway, Norfolk Southern Railway, Kansas City Southern Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad. Kansas City is the second largest freight rail center in the US. Like Kansas Citymarker, St. Louismarker is a major destination for train freight. Amtrak passenger trains serve Kansas Citymarker, La Platamarker, Jefferson Citymarker, St. Louismarker, Lee's Summitmarker, Independencemarker, Warrensburgmarker, Hermannmarker, Kirkwoodmarker, Sedaliamarker, and Poplar Bluffmarker. The only urban light rail/subway system in Missouri is the St. Louis MetroLinkmarker which connects the City of St. Louis with suburbs in Illinois and St. Louis County. It is one of the largest (track mileage) systems in the USA. In 2007 preliminary planning was being performed for a light rail system in the Kansas City area, but was defeated by voters in November 2008.

The Gateway Multimodal Transportation Centermarker in St. Louis is the largest active multi-use transportation center in the state. It is located in Downtown St. Louis next to the historic St. Louis Union Stationmarker complex. It serves as a hub center/station for the city's rail system St. Louis MetroLinkmarker and regional bus system MetroBus, Greyhound, Amtrak and city taxi services.

Springfieldmarker remains an operational hub for BNSF Railway.


Rivers

The Mississippi River and Missouri Rivermarker are commercially navigable over their entire lengths in Missouri. The Missouri was channelized through dredging and jettys and the Mississippi was given a series of locks and dams to avoid rocks and deepen the river. St. Louis is a major destination for barge traffic on the Mississippi River.

Roads

Missouri state license plate as of 2009
Several highways, detailed below, traverse the state.

Following the passage of Amendment 3 in late 2004, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) began its Smoother, Safer, Sooner road-building program with a goal of bringing of highways up to good condition by December 2007. From 2006-2008 traffic deaths have decreased annually from 1,257 in 2005 ... to 1,096 in 2006 ... to 974 for 2007 ... to 941 for 2008.

Interstate freeways



United States Routes

North-south routes East-west routes


Law and government

Framework

The current Constitution of Missouri, the fourth constitution for the state, was adopted in 1945. It provides for three branches of government: the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. The legislative branch consists of two bodies: the House of Representativesmarker and the Senate. These bodies comprise the Missouri General Assembly.

The House of Representatives has 163 members who are apportioned based on the last decennial census. The Senate consists of 34 members from districts of approximately equal populations. The judicial department comprises the Supreme Court of Missouri, which has seven judges, the Missouri Court of Appeals (an intermediate appellate court divided into three districts, sitting in Kansas Citymarker, St. Louismarker, and Springfieldmarker), and 45 Circuit Courts which function as local trial courts. The executive branch is headed by the Governor of Missouri and includes five other statewide elected offices. Following the Election of 2008, all but one of Missouri's statewide elected offices are held by Democrats.

Status as a political bellwether

Missouri is widely regarded as a state bellwether in American politics. The state has a longer stretch of supporting the winning presidential candidate than any other state, having voted with the nation in every election since 1904 with two exceptions: in 1956 when they voted for Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinoismarker over the winner, incumbent President Dwight Eisenhower of Kansasmarker, and in 2008 when they voted for Senator John McCain of Arizonamarker over national winner Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, both by extremely narrow margins.

Past Presidential Elections Results
Year Republican Democratic Third Parties
2008 49.39% 1,445,814 49.25% 1,441,911 1.36% 39,889
2004 53.30% 1,455,713 46.10% 1,259,171 0.60% 16,480
2000 50.42% 1,189,924 47.08% 1,111,138 2.50% 58,830
1996 41.24% 890,016 47.54% 1,025,935 11.22% 242,114
1992 33.92% 811,159 44.07% 1,053,873 22.00% 526,238
1988 51.83% 1,084,953 47.85% 1,001,619 0.32% 6,656
1984 60.02% 1,274,188 39.98% 848,583 0.00% None
1980 51.16% 1,074,181 44.35% 931,182 4.49% 94,461
1976 47.47% 927,443 51.10% 998,387 1.42% 27,770
1972 62.29% 1,154,058 37.71% 698,531 0.00% None
1968 44.87% 811,932 43.74% 791,444 11.39% 206,126
1964 35.95% 653,535 50.92% 1,164,344 0.00% None
1960 49.74% 962,221 50.26% 972,201 0.00% None
1956 49.89% 914,289 50.11% 918,273 0.00% None
1952 50.71% 959,429 49.14% 929,830 0.15% 2,803
1948 41.49% 655,039 58.11% 917,315 0.39% 6,274
1944 48.43% 761,524 51.37% 807,804 0.20% 3,146
1940 47.50% 871,009 52.27% 958,476 0.23% 4,244
1936 38.16% 697,891 60.76% 1,111,043 1.08% 19,701
1932 35.08% 564,713 63.69% 1,025,406 1.22% 19,775
1928 55.58% 834,080 44.15% 662,562 0.27% 4,079
1924 49.58% 648,486 43.79% 572,753 6.63% 86,719
1920 54.56% 727,162 43.13% 574,799 2.32% 30,839
1916 46.94% 369,339 50.59% 398,032 2.46% 19,398
1912 29.75% 207,821 47.35% 330,746 22.89% 159,999
1908 48.50% 347,203 48.41% 346,574 3.08% 22,150
1904 49.93% 321,449 46.02% 296,312 4.05% 26,100
1900 45.94% 314,092 51.48% 351,922 2.58% 17,642


Laissez-faire alcohol and tobacco laws

Missouri has been known for its population's generally "stalwart, conservative, noncredulous" attitude toward regulatory regimes, which is one of the origins of the state's unofficial nickname, the "Show-Me State." As a result, and combined with the fact that Missouri is one of America's leading alcohol and tobacco-producing states, regulation of alcohol and tobacco in Missouri is among the most laissez-faire in America.

With a large German immigrant population and the development of a brewing industry, Missouri always has had among the most permissive alcohol laws in the United States. It never enacted statewide prohibition. Missouri voters rejected prohibition in three separate referenda in 1910, 1912, and 1918. Alcohol regulation did not begin in Missouri until 1934. Today, alcohol laws are controlled by the state government, and local jurisdictions are prohibited from going beyond those state laws. Missouri has no statewide open container law or prohibition on drinking in public, no alcohol-related blue laws, no local option, no precise locations for selling liquor by the package (thus allowing even drug stores and gas stations to sell any kind of liquor), and no differentiation of laws based on alcohol percentage. Missouri had no laws prohibiting "consumption" of alcohol by minors (as opposed to possession), and state law protects persons from arrest or criminal penalty for public intoxication. Missouri law expressly prohibits any jurisdiction from going dry. Missouri law also expressly allows parents and guardians to serve alcohol to their children. The Power & Light Districtmarker in Kansas City is one of the few places in the United States where a state law explicitly allows persons over the age of 21 to possess and consume open containers of alcohol in the street (as long as the beverage is in a plastic cup).

See also: Smoking laws of Missouri
As for tobacco, as of June 2009 Missouri has the second-lowest cigarette excise taxes in the United States (behind only South Carolinamarker) at 17 cents per pack, and the electorate voted in 2002 and 2006 to keep it that way. In 2007, Forbes named Missouri's largest metropolitan area, St. Louismarker, America's "best city for smokers." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2008 Missouri had the fourth highest percentage of adult smokers among U.S states, at 24.5%. Although Missouri's minimum age for purchase and distribution of tobacco products is 18, tobacco products can be distributed to persons under 18 by family members on private property. No statewide smoking ban ever has been seriously entertained before the Missouri General Assembly, and in October 2008, a statewide survey by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services found that only 27.5% of Missourians support a statewide ban on smoking in all bars and restaurants. Missouri state law permits bars, restaurants which seat less than 50 people, bowling alleys, and billiard parlors to decide their own smoking policies, without limitation.

Additionally, in Missouri, it is "an improper employment practice" for an employer to refuse to hire, to fire, or otherwise to disadvantage any person because that person lawfully uses alcohol and/or tobacco products when he or she is not at work.

Counties

Missouri has 114 counties and one independent city (St. Louismarker).

The largest county by size is Texas Countymarker (1,179 sq. miles) and Shannon Countymarker is second (1,004 sq. miles). Worth Countymarker is the smallest (266 sq. miles). The independent city of St. Louismarker has only of area. St. Louis City is the most densely populated area (5,724.7 per sq. mi.) in Missouri.

The largest county by population (2008 estimate) is St. Louis Countymarker (991,830 residents), with Jackson Countymarker second (668,417 residents), St. Louismarker third (354,361), and St. Charles fourth (349,407). Worth County is the least populous with 2,039 residents.

Important cities and towns

Jefferson Citymarker is the state capital of Missouri.

The seven largest cities in Missouri are Kansas Citymarker, St. Louismarker, Springfieldmarker, Independencemarker, Columbiamarker, Lee's Summitmarker, and O'Fallonmarker.

St. Louismarker is the principal city of the largest metropolitan area in Missouri, comprising seventeen counties and the independent city of St. Louis; eight of those counties lie in the state of Illinoismarker. As of 2007, Greater St. Louis was the 18th largest metropolitan area in the nation with 2.81 million people. However, if ranked using Combined Statistical Area, it is 16th largest with 2.87 million people. Some of the major cities making up the St. Louis Metro area in Missouri include St. Charles, St. Petersmarker, Florissantmarker, Chesterfieldmarker, Creve Coeurmarker, Maryland Heightsmarker, O'Fallonmarker, Claytonmarker, Ballwinmarker, and University Citymarker.

Kansas Citymarker is Missouri's largest city and the principal city of the fifteen-county Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Areamarker, including six counties in the state of Kansasmarker. As of 2008, it was the 29th largest metropolitan area in the nation, with 2.002 million people. Some of the other major cities comprising the Kansas City metro area in Missouri include Independencemarker, Lee's Summitmarker, Blue Springsmarker, Raytownmarker, Libertymarker, and Gladstonemarker.

Bransonmarker is a major tourist attraction in the Ozarksmarker of southwestern Missouri.

Image:09-01-06-bransonmaindrag.jpg|BransonmarkerImage:Cape dec29-07 (23).JPG|Cape GirardeaumarkerImage:CoMoSkyline3.jpg|ColumbiamarkerImage:Jefferson City.jpg|Jefferson CitymarkerImage:KCSkylineLibertyMemorial.png|Kansas CitymarkerImage:St Joseph Missouri skyline.jpg|Saint JosephImage:St Louis night expblend.jpg|Saint LouismarkerImage:Springfield, Missouri skyline, lightning.jpg|Springfieldmarker


Education

Missouri State Board of Education

The Missouri State Board of Education has general authority over all public education in the state of Missouri. It is made up of eight citizens appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Missouri Senate.



Primary and secondary schools

Education is compulsory from ages seven to sixteen in Missouri, commonly but not exclusively divided into three tiers of primary and secondary education: elementary school, middle school or junior high school and high school. The public schools system includes kindergarten to 12th grade. District territories are often complex in structure. In some cases, elementary, middle and junior high schools of a single district feed into high schools in another district. High school athletics and competitions are governed by the Missouri State High School Activities Association or MSHSAA.

Homeschooling is legal in Missouri and is an option to meet the compulsory education requirement. It is neither monitored nor regulated by the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

A supplemental education program, the Missouri Scholars Academy, provides an extracurricular learning experience for gifted high school students in the state of Missouri. The official MSA website describes the goals of the Academy to be as such: "The academy reflects Missouri's desire to strive for excellence in education at all levels. The program is based on the premise that Missouri's gifted youth must be provided with special opportunities for learning and personal development in order for them to realize their full potential."

Colleges and universities

The University of Missouri System is Missouri's statewide public university system, the flagship institution and largest university in the state is the University of Missourimarker in Columbiamarker. The others in the system are University of Missouri–Kansas Citymarker, University of Missouri–St. Louismarker, and Missouri University of Science and Technologymarker. Truman State Universitymarker, Missouri's "premiere liberal arts and sciences university," is the only public institution in the state with highly selective admissions standards. A.marker T.marker Still Universitymarker was the first osteopathic medical school in the world. Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, originally the University of Health Sciences, was the first medical school in Kansas City.
Notable highly rated private institutions include Washington University in St. Louismarker and Saint Louis Universitymarker.

Lincoln Universitymarker in Jefferson City is one of a number of historically black colleges and universities. Founded in 1866, it was created by members of the 62nd and 65th United States Colored Troops as "Lincoln Institute", to provide education to freedmen. It was created on a model of combining academics and labor. In 1921, the state officially recognized the growth of Lincoln's undergraduate and graduate programs by classifying it as a university. The institution changed its name to "Lincoln University of Missouri." In 1954, the university began to accept applicants of all races.

To develop new teachers for needed public schools, in 1905 the state established a series of normal schools at colleges in each region of the state. This was based on the widely admired German model of public education. Normal schools were for the training of teachers of students in primary/elementary schools. The initial network consisted of Southeast Missouri State Universitymarker in Cape Girardeaumarker, Missouri State Universitymarker (formerly Southwest Missouri State University) in Springfieldmarker, Truman State Universitymarker (formerly Northeast Missouri State University) in Kirksvillemarker, Northwest Missouri State Universitymarker in Maryvillemarker, and University of Central Missouri (formerly Central Missouri State University) in Warrensburgmarker. Within several years, the normal school curriculum expanded to a full four years of academic subjects.

There are numerous junior colleges, trade schools, church universities and private universities in the state.

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

The 19th c. border wars between Missouri and Kansas have continued as a sports rivalry between the University of Missourimarker and University of Kansasmarker. The rivalry is chiefly expressed through football and basketball games between the two universities. It is the oldest college rivalry west of the Mississippi River and the second oldest in the nation. Each year when the universities meet to play, the game is coined "Border War." An exchange occurs following the game where the winner gets to take a historic marching band drum, which has been passed back and forth for decades.

Sports



Minor leagues





Former professional sports teams

Teams in Kansas City and St. Louis.

Miscellaneous topics



State nickname

The use of the unofficial nickname the Show-Me State has several possible origins. The phrase "I'm from Missouri" means I'm skeptical of the matter and not easily convinced. This is related to the state's unofficial motto of "Show Me," whose origin is popularly ascribed to an 1899 speech by Congressman Willard Vandiver, who declared that "I come from a country that raises corn and cotton, cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I'm from Missouri, and you have got to show me." However, according to researchers, the phrase was in circulation earlier in the 1890s. According to another legend, the phrase was a reference to Missouri miners brought to Leadville, Colorado to take the place of striking miners and being unfamiliar with the mining methods there required frequent instruction.

It has also been known as the Puke State, perhaps on account of an 1827 gathering at the Galena Lead Mines. George Earlie Shankle "...so many Missourians had assembled, that those already there declared the State of Missouri had taken a 'puke.'" Within the state, “pukes” referred before the Civil War to impoverished citizens who nonetheless supported slavery, the equivalent of “poor white trash.” Walt Whitman has listed “pukes” as a nickname for Missourians.

Missouri is also known as "The Cave State" with over 6000 recorded caves (second to Tennesseemarker). Perry Countymarker has both the largest number of caves and the single longest cave in the state.

Other nicknames include "The Lead State", "The Bullion State", "The Ozark State", "Mother of the West", "The Iron Mountain State", and "Pennsylvania of the West".

There is no official state nickname however the official state motto is "Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto,", Latin for "Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law."

See also



References

  1. Missouri. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
  2. http://www.census.gov/const/regionmap.pdf
  3. Missouri QuickFacts, U.S. Census Bureau (July 1, 2008)
  4. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/ua/ua2k.txt
  5. Topic Galleries - chicagotribune.com
  6. Introduction to Missouri - The Show Me State Capital Jefferson City
  7. McCafferty, Michael. 2004. Correction: Etymology of Missouri (restricted access). American Speech, 79.1:32
  8. American Heritage Dictionary: Missouri
  9. http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/midwestus_nl.pdf
  10. Midwest Region Economy at a Glance
  11. UNC-CH surveys reveal where the ‘real' South lies
  12. http://www.mostateparks.com/karst.htm
  13. Income Inequality in Missouri
  14. New York Times, "Louisiana: The Levee System of the State", 10/8/1874; accessed 11/15/2007
  15. Hoffhaus. (1984). Chez Les Canses: Three Centuries at Kawsmouth, Kansas City: Lowell Press. ISBN 0-913504-91-2.
  16. MISSOURI V. IOWA, 48 U. S. 660 (1849) - US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez
  17. Meinig, D.W. (1993). The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Volume 2: Continental America, 1800–1867. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-05658-3; pg. 437
  18. Historical Census Browser, 1860 Federal Census, University of Virginia Library, accessed 21 March 2008
  19. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/rw96h.cfm First interstate project
  20. http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo200/religion/catholic.gif Valparaiso University
  21. 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, City University of New York
  22. http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/reports/state/29_2000.asp
  23. http://www.federalreserve.gov/OTHERFRB.HTM
  24. http://www.missourinet.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=6E21CB5D-BFAD-2701-8B2D3DFAD9B9ED54
  25. Missouri Secretary of State - State Archives - Origin of "Show Me" slogan
  26. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 67.305
  27. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 311.170
  28. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 311.310
  29. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 311.086
  30. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, State Excise Tax Rates and Rankings, May 29, 2009
  31. "A burning issue," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 12, 2006
  32. "Best Cities for Smokers," Forbes Magazine, November 1, 2007
  33. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System - Adults who are current smokers", September 19, 2008
  34. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 407.931.3
  35. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, County Level Survey 2007: Secondhand Smoke for Missouri Adults, October 1, 2008
  36. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 191.769
  37. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 290.145
  38. http://www.dese.mo.gov/schoollaw/HomeSch/
  39. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/kirksville-mo/truman-state-2495
  40. http://governors.truman.edu/images/Chapter%20174%20Missouri%20Revised%20Statutes.pdf
  41. http://www.dhe.mo.gov/mdhe/boardbook2content.jsp?id=296
  42. http://www.princetonreview.com/TrumanStateUniversity.aspx
  43. “ America's Best Colleges 2008: National Universities: Top Schools.” USNews.com: . January 18, 2008.
  44. "I'm from Missouri -- Show Me." http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/summary3
  45. Origin of "Show Me" Slogan. Secretary of State, Missouri. http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/history/slogan.asp
  46. State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols, 1938,
  47. http://www.netstate.com/states/intro/mo_intro.htm
  48. William G. Cutler, A History of the State of Kansas, Ch 6. (1883).)
  49. A note first published by William White, W. L. McAtee and A. L. H. in American Speech, Vol. 36, No. 4 (December, 1961), pp. 296-301.
  50. "Introduction to Missouri", Netstate http://www.netstate.com/states/intro/mo_intro.htm>
  51. http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/history/slogan.asp
  52. The Great Seal of Missouri, Secretary of State, Missouri. http://www.sos.mo.gov/symbols/symbols.asp?symbol=seal


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