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Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area referred to as the "American Heartland." It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration.

The state’s name was taken from the Iowa River, which in turn was named for the Iowa people, the Native Americans who lived in the region during early European exploration. Iowa is called the Hawkeye State. The name is believed to be a tribute to Chief Black Hawk, a leader of the Sac people who were relocated to Iowa after unsuccessful resistance to white settlement. When the first white settlers located in Linn county the Native Americans still occupied the land, and even after treaties had been fully ratified, Indians were slow to give up these choice hunting places along the Red Cedar and the Wapsie. It is needless to say that the rights of Indians were not protected and they invariably were set aside and driven away as fast as possible. Still nearly all of the early settlers were very friendly toward the Native Americans, and in return received many favors from their hands. Of course, the Native Americans were jealous of the whites, who gradually kept coming in and drove the Indians away. The Indians who most frequented this part of Iowa after the settlement by whites were the Sac and Fox and Winnebagoes. The Winnebagoes were a remnant of a warlike tribe, and at one time in Wisconsin were very powerful. These joined with the Sac and Fox in the Black Hawk war and were driven across the Mississippi river after the signing of the treaty of peace. the Winnebagoes had fought in the war of 1812 under Tecumseh and had sided with Black Hawk, perhaps reluctantly, in the war of 1832, they were rather friendly toward the whites, although they very much objected to disposing of all their lands east of the Mississippi river by the treaties of 1825 and 1837, when they were removed to Iowa. In Linn county they remained for a longer or shorter period of time along the rivers such as the Cedar and the Wapsie, and especially around Cedar Lake, along the Palisades, in Linn Grove, Scotch Grove west of Cedar Rapids, and in other places where there was much timber. The Sac and Fox were also the early neighbors of the whites in this county. The Fox was an Algonkian tribe, first found on the lakes, and who were driven south by the Ojibwa where, for self protection, they united with the Sacs and have been since known as Sacs and Foxes. William Abbe and Robert Ellis were the agents for the government in supply ing the Winnebago Indians at Ft. Atkinson with food, thus these men were well acquainted with the Winnebagoes, who, in turn, were on terms of friendship with the Sacs and Foxes. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New France. After the Louisiana Purchase, settlers laid the foundation for an agriculture-based economy in the heart of the Corn Belt. Iowa is known as the "Food Capital of the World,” but Iowa’s economy, culture, and landscape are diverse. Des Moines is Iowa's capital and largest city. When American Indians first arrived in what is now Iowa more than 13,000 years ago, they were hunters and gatherers living in a Pleistocene glacial landscape. By the time European explorers visited Iowa, American Indians were largely settled farmers with complex economic, social, and political systems. This transformation happened gradually. During the Archaic period (10,500-2,800 years ago), American Indians adapted to local environments and ecosystems, slowly becoming more sedentary as populations increased. More than 3,000 years ago, during the Late Archaic period, American Indians in Iowa began utilizing domesticated plants. The subsequent Woodland period saw an increase on the reliance on agriculture and social complexity, with increased use of mounds, ceramics, and specialized subsistence. During the Late Prehistoric period (beginning about A.D. 900) increased use of maize and social changes led to social flourishing and nucleated settlements. The arrival of European trade goods and diseases in the Protohistoric period led to dramatic population shifts and economic and social upheaval, with the arrival of new tribes and early European explorers and traders. There were numerous Indian tribes living in Iowa at the time of early European exploration. Tribes which were probably descendants of the prehistoric Oneota include the Dakota, Ho-Chunk, Ioway, and Otoe. Tribes which arrived in Iowa in the late prehistoric or protohistoric periods include the Illiniwek, Meskwaki, Omaha, and Sauk. The first known European explorers to document Iowa were Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet who traveled the Mississippi River in 1673 documenting several Indian villages on the Iowa side. In 1810 Fort Madison was built to control trade and establish U.S. dominance over the Upper Mississippi. Following Manifest Destiny about 1839, the U.S. encouraged settlement of the east side of the Mississippi and removal of Indians to the west. The first American settlers officially moved to Iowa in June 1833. Iowa had not yet celebrated its 15th year of statehood when the American Civil War broke out. Iowa supported the Union during the Civil War, voting heavily for Abraham Lincoln. Following the Civil War, Iowa's population continued to grow dramatically, from 674,913 people in 1860 to 1,194,020 in 1870. Depression, World War II, and the rise of manufacturing. The transition from an agricultural economy to a mixed economy happened slowly. The Great Depression and World War II accelerated the shift away from smallholder farming to larger farms, and began a trend of urbanization that continues. Reemergence as a mixed economy, 1985-present After bottoming out in the 1980s, Iowa’s economy began to become increasingly less dependent on agriculture, and now has a mix of manufacturing, biotechnology, finance and insurance services, and government services, with this has come diversity of population. One of the initial acts of the first Iowa Legislature in 1847 was to create the Great Seal of Iowa. The two-inch diameter seal pictures a citizen soldier standing in a wheat field, surrounded by farming and industrial tools, with the Mississippi River in the background. An eagle is overhead, holding in its beak a scroll bearing the state motto, "Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain." The motto was the work of a three-man Senate committee and was incorporated into the design of the seal at their suggestion. The Great Seal cannot be used without the permission of the Governor. The state seal is retained in the custody of and under the control of the Governor, who uses the seal for official documents and functions. Iowa was almost 75 years old before the state banner was adopted by the Legislature. Creation of a state banner had been suggested for years by patriotic organizations, but no action was taken until World War I, when Iowa National Guardsmen stationed along the Mexican border suggested a state banner was needed. The Guardsmen said regiments from other states had banners and they felt one was needed to designate their unit. This prompted the state's Daughters of the American Revolution to design a banner in 1917. The Legislature officially adopted the design in 1921. The banner, designed by Mrs. Dixie Cornell Gebhardt of Knoxville and a member of the D.A.R., consists of three vertical stripes of blue, white and red. Gebhardt explained that the blue stands for loyalty, justice, and truth; the white for purity; and the red for courage. On the white center stripe is an eagle carrying in its beak blue streamers inscribed with the state motto, "Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain." The word Iowa is in red letters just below the streamers.

 The Iowa Legislature designated the Wild Rose as the official state flower in 1897. because it was one of the decorations used on the silver service which the state presented to the battleship USS Iowa that same year.

The Iowa Legislature designated the Eastern Goldfinch, also known as the Wild Canary, as the official state bird in 1933. It was chosen as the state bird because it is commonly found in Iowa and often stays through the winter.

The Oak was designated as the official state tree in 1961 because it is abundant in the state and serves as shelter, food, and nesting cover for many animals and birds.
Iowa is well known for the presence of the Geode, it was chosen as the official rock in an effort to promote tourism in the state.

Iowa is bordered by the Mississippi River on the east; the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River on the west; the northern boundary is a line along 43 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude. The southern border is the Des Moines River and a line along approximately 40 degrees 35 minutes north, as decided by the U.S. Supreme Court after a contentious standoff between Missouri and Iowa known as the Honey War. Iowa has 99 counties, but 100 county seats because Lee County has two. The state capital, Des Moines, is located in Polk County. Iowa's natural vegetation is tallgrass prairie and savanna in upland areas, with dense forest and wetlands in floodplains and protected river valleys, and pothole wetlands in northern prairie areas. Iowa, like most of the Midwest, has a humid continental climate throughout the state with extremes of both heat and cold.

 Information gathered from Wikipedia.com