COAT OF ARMS: Two grizzly bears stand on a scroll inscribed with the state motto and support a shield portraying an American eagle and a constellation of stars, a grizzly bear on all fours, and a crescent moon, all encircled by the words “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.” Above are a six-barred helmet and 24 stars; below is the Roman numeral MDCCCXX (1820), when Missouri’s first constitution was adopted.

MOTTO: Salus populi suprema lex esto (The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law).

SONG: “Missouri Waltz.”

FLOWER: White Hawthorn blossom.

TREE: Flowering dogwood.

BIRD: Bluebird.

INSECT: Honeybee.

FOSSIL: Crinoid.

MINERAL: Galena.

ROCK OR STONE: Mozarkite (chert or flint rock).

LEGAL HOLIDAYS: New Year’s Day, 1 January; Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., 3rd Monday in January; Lincoln’s Birthday, 12 February; Washington’s Birthday, 3rd Monday in February; Harry S. Truman’s Birthday, 8 May; Memorial Day, last Monday in May; Independence Day, 4 July; Labor Day, 1st Monday in September; Columbus Day, 2nd Monday in October; Veterans’ Day, 11 November; Thanksgiving Day, 4th Thursday in November; Christmas Day, 25 December. Though not a legal holiday, Missouri Day, the 3rd Wednesday in October, is commemorated in schools each year.

TIME: 6 AM CST = noon GMT.

1 Location and Size

Located in the western north-central United States, Missouri ranks 19th in size among the 50 states. The total area of Missouri is 69,697 square miles (180,516 square kilometers), of which land takes up 68,945 square miles (178,568 square kilometers) and inland water 752 square miles (1,948 square kilometers). Missouri extends 284 miles (457 kilometers) east-west and 308 miles (496 kilometers) north-south. The total boundary length of Missouri is 1,438 miles (2,314 kilometers).

2 Topography

Missouri is divided into four major land regions: the dissected Till Plains, lying north of the Missouri River; the Osage Plains, covering the western part of the state; the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, in the southeastern corner; and the Ozark Plateau, which comprises most of southern Missouri and extends into northern Arkansas and northeastern Oklahoma. The Ozarks contain Taum Sauk Mountain, which at 1,772 feet (540 meters) is the highest elevation in the state. Along the St. Francis River, near Cardwell, is the state’s lowest point, 230 feet (70 meters).

Missouri has more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of navigable waterways. The Mississippi and Missouri rivers, the two largest in the United States, form the state’s eastern border and part of its western border. The White, Grand, Chariton, St. Francis, Current, and Osage are among the state’s other major rivers. The largest lake is the artificial Lake of the Ozarks, covering a total of 93 square miles (241 square kilometers).

Missouri’s exceptional number of caves and caverns were formed during the last 50 million years through the erosion of limestone and dolomite by melting snows.

3 Climate

Missouri has a continental climate with considerable local and regional variation. The average

Missouri Population Profile

Total population estimate in 2006:	5,842,713
Population change, 2000–06:	4.4%
Hispanic or Latino†:	2.6%
Population by race
One race:	98.5%
White:	84.5%
Black or African American:	11.2%
American Indian /Alaska Native:	0.4%
Asian:	1.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander:	0.1%
Some other race:	1.0%
Two or more races:	1.4%

Population by Age Group

Major Cities by Population
City	Population	% change 2000–05
Notes: †A person of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race. NA indicates that data are not available.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey and Population Estimates. www.census.gov/ (accessed March 2007).
Kansas City	444,965	0.8
St. Louis	344,362	-1.1
Springfield	150,298	-0.8
Independence	110,208	-2.7
Columbia	91,814	8.6
Lee’s Summit	80,338	13.6
St. Joseph	72,661	-1.8
O’Fallon	69,694	51.0
St. Charles	62,304	3.3
St. Peters	54,209	5.5

annual temperature is 50°f (10°c) in the northwest, and about 60°f (16°c) in the southeast. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Missouri was -40°f (-40°c) at Warsaw on 13 February 1905. The hottest temperature, 118°f (48°c), was recorded at Warsaw and Union on 14 July 1954.

The heaviest precipitation is in the southeast, where rainfall averages 48 inches (122 centimeters) per year. The northwest usually receives about 35 inches (89 centimeters) of rain per year. Annual snowfall averages 20 inches (51 centimeters) in the north and 10 inches (25 centimeters) in the southeast. Springtime is the peak tornado season.

4 Plants and Animals

Common trees of Missouri include the shortleaf pine, scarlet oak, peachleaf willow, pecan, and dogwood (the state tree). Various types of wild grasses proliferate in the northern plains region. Missouri’s state flower is the hawthorn blossom. Other wildflowers include Queen Anne’s lace, meadow rose, and white snakeroot. The American elm, common throughout the state, is considered endangered because of Dutch elm disease. In 2006, there were eight threatened or endangered plant species, including the decur-rent false aster, running buffalo clover, pond-berry, Missouri bladderpod, and western prairie fringed orchid.

Native mammals include the common cottontail, muskrat, and white-tailed deer. The state bird is the bluebird. Other common birds are the cardinal and solitary vireo. A characteristic amphibian is the plains leopard frog. Native snakes include garter, ribbon, and copperhead. Bass, carp, perch, jack salmon (walleye), and crayfish abound in Missouri’s waters. The chigger, a minute insect, is a notorious pest. In 2006, 17 species were listed as threatened or endangered in Missouri, including three species of bat (Ozark big-eared, gray, and Indiana), bald eagle, pallid sturgeon, gray wolf, and three varieties of mussel.

5 Environmental Protection

Missouri’s principal environmental protection agencies are the Department of Conservation and the Department of Natural Resources. The State Environmental Improvement and Energy Resources Authority, within the Department of Natural Resources, is empowered to offer financial aid to any individual, business, institution, or governmental unit seeking to meet pollution control responsibilities.

An important environmental problem is soil erosion. The state loses 71 million tons of topsoil each year.

In 2003, Missouri had 503 hazardous waste sites listed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s database, 26 of which were on the National Priorities List in 2006. In 1996, it had 643,000 acres (260,000 hectares) of wetlands, or about 1.4% of the state’s lands.

6 Population

In 2005, Missouri ranked 18th in population among the 50 states with an estimated total of 5,842,713 residents. The population is projected to reach 5.7 million by 2005 and 6.3 million by 2025. In 2004, the population density was at 83.5 persons per square mile (32.2 persons per square kilometer). The median age in 2004 was

Missouri Population by Race

Census 2000 was the first national census in which the instructions to respondents said, “Mark one or more races.” This table shows the number of people who are of one, two, or three or more races. For those claiming two races, the number of people belonging to the various categories is listed. The U.S. government conducts a census of the population every ten years.

	Number	Percent
Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Census 2000: Redistricting Data. Press release issued by the Redistricting Data Office. Washington, D.C., March, 2001. A dash (—) indicates that the percent is less than 0.1.
Total population	5,595,211	100.0
One race	5,513,150	98.5
Two races	77,339	1.4
White and Black or African American	15,566	0.3
White and American Indian/Alaska Native	27,998	0.5
White and Asian	9,387	0.2
White and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	1,192	—
White and some other race	12,957	0.2
Black or African American and American Indian/Alaska Native	3,161	0.1
Black or African American and Asian	1,109	—
Black or African American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	243	—
Black or African American and some other race	2,678	—
American Indian/Alaska Native and Asian	271	—
American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	57	—
American Indian/Alaska Native and some other race	507	—
Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	920	—
Asian and some other race	1,166	—
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and some other race	127	—
Three or more races	4,722	0.1

37.3. In 2005, about 13% of all residents were 65 and older while 24% were 18 and younger.

More than half of all residents live in urban areas. The largest cities and their 2005 populations were Kansas City, 444,965, and St. Louis, 344,362.

7 Ethnic Groups

According to the 2000 census, Missouri had 629,391 black American residents. There were also 118,592 Hispanics and Latinos, including 77,887 of Mexican ancestry. The total Asian population was 61,595, including 13,667 Chinese, 7,735 Filipinos, 6,767 Koreans, 3,337 Japanese, and 12,169 Vietnamese. Pacific Islanders numbered 3,178. The Native American population included 25,076 residents. Of those Europeans claiming descent from one specific ancestry group, 1,313,951 were German, 528,935 English, and 711,995 Irish. The state had 151,196 foreign-born residents in 2000.

8 Languages

Northern and North Midland speakers settled north of the Missouri River and in the western border counties, bringing the Northern terms pail and sick to the stomach and the North Midland terms fishworm (earthworm), gunny-sack (burlap bag), and sick at the stomach. South of the Missouri River, and notably in the Ozark Highlands, South Midland dominates with a few Southern forms, especially in the cotton-growing floodplain of the extreme southeast. Wait on (wait for), light bread (white bread), and pully-bone (wishbone) are terms specific to this area, as are redworm (earthworm), towsack (burlap bag), and snap beans (string beans). In the eastern half of the state, a soft drink is generally called soda or sody. In the western half, a soft drink is called pop.

In 2000, some 94.9% of state residents five years old or older spoke only English at home. Of those who claimed to speak another language at home, the leading languages and number of speakers were Spanish, 110,752; German, 30,680; and French, 30,680.

9 Religions

The first permanent Roman Catholic church was built about 1755 at St. Genevieve. Baptist preachers crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri in the late 1790s. The state’s first Methodist church was organized about 1806. Conservative Lutheran immigrants from Germany organized the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in 1847.

In 2004, Missouri had 844,102 Roman Catholics. The next largest religious groups were the Southern Baptist Convention, with 797,732 adherents in 2000; the United Methodist Church, 176,022 adherents in 2004; the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 140,315 adherents in 2000; and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 105,583 in 2000. In 2000, the estimated number of Jews was 62,315 and Muslims numbered about 19,359. About 2.7 million people (48.3% of the population) were not counted as members of any religious organization.

10 Transportation

Centrally located, Missouri is the leading US transportation center. Both St. Louis and Kansas City are hubs of rail, truck, and airline transportation. In 2003, there were 4,791 rail miles (7,713 kilometers) of track in the state. In 2006, Amtrak provided passenger train service running directly from Chicago to St. Louis and to Kansas City, en route to San Antonio and Los Angeles, to 11 stations in Missouri.

A two-level cantilever bridge—the first in the world to have a steel superstructure—spanning the Mississippi at St. Louis was dedicated on 4 July 1874. In 2004, there were 125,923 miles (202,736 kilometers) of public roads in Missouri. The main interstate highways were I-70, I-44, I-55, I-35, and I-29. In 2004, there were some 4,855,000 motor vehicles registered in the state, including 2,690,000 passenger cars, 2,084,000 trucks, and 4,000 buses. There were 4,047,652 driver’s licenses in force during the same year.

The Mississippi and Missouri rivers have long been important transportation routes. Pirogues, keelboats, and flatboats plied these waterways for more than a century before the first steamboat, the New Orleans, traveled down the Mississippi in 1811. The Mississippi still serves considerable barge traffic, making metropolitan St. Louis an active inland port area.

Pioneering aviators in Missouri organized the first international balloon races in 1907 and the first US-sponsored international aviation meet in 1910. Five St. Louis pilots made up the earliest US Army air corps, and a barnstorming pilot named Charles A. Lindbergh, having spent a few years in the St. Louis area, had the backing of businessmen from that city when he flew his Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic in 1927. As of 2006, Kansas City International Airport and Lambert-St. Louis Municipal Airport were among the busiest airports in the country.

11 History

When the first Europeans arrived in the late 17th century, most of the few thousand Native Americans living in Missouri belonged to two main linguistic groups: Algonkian-speakers, mainly the Sauk, Fox, and Iliniwek (Illinois) in the northeast; and a Siouan group, including the Osage, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and other tribes, to the south and west. The flood of white settlers into Missouri after 1803 forced the Native Americans to move into Kansas and into what became known as Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). During the 1820s, the US government negotiated treaties with the Osage, Sauk, Fox, and Iowa tribes whereby they surrendered all their lands in Missouri. By 1836, few Native Americans remained.

The first Europeans to pass through land that was eventually included within Missouri’s boundaries were Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet, who in 1673 passed the mouth of the Missouri River on their journey down the Mississippi. Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, claimed the entire Mississippi Valley for France in 1682. Missouri passed into Spanish hands with the rest of the Louisiana Territory in 1762. In 1764, the French fur trader Pierre Laclède established a trading post on the present site of St. Louis.

Although the Spanish did not attempt to settle Missouri, they did allow Americans to migrate freely into the territory. Spanish authorities granted free land to the new settlers, relaxed their restrictions against Protestants, and welcomed slave-holding families from southern states. Spanish rule ended abruptly in 1800 when Napoleon forced Spain to return Louisiana to France. Included in the Louisiana Purchase, Missouri then became part of the United States in 1803.

Statehood Missouri was part of the Louisiana Territory until 1 October 1812, when the Missouri Territory (including present-day Arkansas) was established. A flood of settlers between 1810 and 1820 more than tripled Missouri’s population from 19,783 to 66,586, leading Missourians to petition the US Congress for statehood as early as 1818. But Congress, divided over the slavery issue, withheld permission for three years, finally approving statehood for Maine and Missouri under the terms of the Missouri Compromise (1820), which sanctioned slavery in the new state but banned it in the rest of the former Louisiana Territory north of Arkansas. Missouri became the 24th state on 10 August 1821.

Aided by the advent of steamboat travel on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, settlers continued to arrive in the new state, whose population surpassed one million by 1860. There was a great deal of proslavery sentiment in the state, and thousands of Missourians crossed into neighboring Kansas in the mid-1850s to help elect a proslavery government in that territory. During the Civil War, Missouri remained loyal to the Union, though not without difficulty, supplying some 110,000 soldiers to the Union and 40,000 to the Confederacy. At a constitutional convention held in January 1865, Missouri became the first slave state to free all blacks.

The Modern Era In addition to conflicts caused by the Republican Reconstruction government, the 1870s saw a period of lawlessness, typified by the exploits of Jesse and Frank James, that earned Missouri the epithet of the “robber state.” Of more lasting importance were the closing of the frontier in Missouri, the decline of the fur trade and steamboat traffic, and the rise of the railroads. The state’s economy increasingly shifted from agriculture to industry, and Missouri’s rural population declined from about three-fourths of the total in 1880 to less than one-third by 1970. Although the overall importance of mining declined, Missouri remained the world’s top lead producer, and the state has emerged as second only to Michigan in US automobile manufacturing.

Postwar prosperity was threatened beginning in the 1960s by the deterioration of several cities, notably St. Louis, which lost 47% of its population between 1950 and 1980. Both St. Louis and Kansas City undertook urban renewal programs to cope with the serious problems of air pollution, traffic congestion, crime, and substandard housing. During the early 1980s, millions of dollars in federal, state, and private funds were used to rehabilitate abandoned and dilapidated apartment buildings and houses.

Missouri was affected by the farm crisis of the 1980s, and many farms in the state failed. With the weakening of trade restrictions, the state’s industries also suffered during this period. However, Missouri’s economy improved in the 1990s, initially at a rate that outpaced much of the country. Due largely to the weak US economy in the early 2000s, Missouri’s unemployment rate rose to 5.8% in July of 2003, albeit below the national average of 6.2%. However, from September 2004 to September 2005, the state’s unemployment rate declined from 5.9% to 4.8%, when it stood below the national average of 5.1%.

In the spring and summer of 1993, Missouri was hit by devastating floods. Over half of the state was declared a disaster area and 19,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Damage to the state was estimated at $3 billion.

In 2000, the state’s popular governor, Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash while running for the US Senate. He was replaced as governor by Democrat Bob Holden. Republican Matt Blunt was elected governor in 2004. He campaigned on a platform pledging to make education the state’s top priority, to reform the state’s social welfare programs, to address the state’s health care crisis, to improve the entrepreneurial climate, and to hold the line on taxes.

12 State Government

Missouri’s current constitution has been in force since 1945, and it had a total 105 amendments as of January 2005. A reorganization of state government took place in 1974, which replaced some 90 independent agencies with 13 cabinet departments and the Office of Administration.

The legislative branch, or general assembly, consists of a 34-member senate and a 163-seat house of representatives. Senators are elected to staggered four-year terms; representatives for two. The state’s elected executives are the governor and lieutenant governor (who run separately), secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and attorney general. All serve four-year terms.

A bill becomes law when signed by the governor within 15 days of legislative passage. A two-thirds vote by both houses is required to override

Missouri Governors: 1820–2007

Democratic Republican – Dem-Rep
Liberal Republican – Liberal-Rep
Union Republican – Union-Rep
1820–1824	Alexander McNair	Dem-Rep
1824–1825	Frederick Bates	Democrat
1825–1826	Abraham J. Williams	Dem-Rep
1826–1832	John Miller	Jacksonian
1832–1836	Daniel Dunklin	Democrat
1836–1841	Lilburn W. Boggs	Democrat
1841–1844	Thomas Reynolds	Democrat
1844–1845	Meredith Miles Marmaduke	Democrat
1845–1848	John Cummins Edwards	Democrat
1848–1852	Austin Augustus King	Democrat
1852–1856	Sterling Price	Democrat
1856–1857	Trusten Polk	Democrat
1857	Hankock Lee Jackson	Democrat
1857–1861	Robert Marcellus Stewart	Democrat
1861	Claiborne Fox Jackson	Democrat
1861–1864	Hamilton Rowan Gamble	Unionist
1864	Willard Preble Hall	Unionist
1865–1869	Thomas Clement Fletcher	Union-Rep
1869–1871	Joseph Washington McClurg	Republican
1871–1873	Benjamin Gratz Brown	Liberal-Rep
1873–1875	Silas Woodson	Democrat
1875–1877	Charles Henry Hardin	Democrat
1877–1881	John Smith Phelps	Democrat
1881–1885	Thomas Theodore Crittenden	Democrat
1885–1887	John Sappington Marmaduke	Democrat
1887–1889	Albert Pickett Morehouse	Democrat
1889–1893	David Rowland Francis	Democrat
1893–1897	William Joel Stone	Democrat
1897–1901	Lon Vest Stephens	Democrat
1901–1905	Alexander Monroe Dockery	Democrat
1905–1909	Joseph Wingate Folk	Democrat
1909–1913	Herbert Spencer Hadley	Republican
1913–1917	Elliot Woolfolk Major	Democrat
1917–1921	Frederich D. Gardner	Democrat
1921–1925	Arthur Mastik Hyde	Republican
1925–1929	Samuel Aaron Baker	Republican
1929–1933	Henry Stewart Caulfield	Republican
1933–1937	Guy Brasfield Park	Democrat
1937–1941	Lloyd Crow Stark	Democrat
1941–1945	Forrest C. Donnell	Republican
1945–1949	Phil Matthew Donnelly	Democrat
1949–1953	Forrest Smith	Democrat
1953–1957	Philip Matthew Donnelly	Democrat
1957–1961	James Thomas Blair, Jr.	Democrat
1961–1965	John Montgomery Dalton	Democrat
1965–1973	Warren E. Hearnes	Democrat
1973–1977	Christopher S. Bond	Republican
1977–1981	Joseph P. Teasdale	Democrat
1981–1985	Christopher S. Bond	Republican
1985–1993	John Ashcroft	Republican
1993–2000	Mel Eugene Carnahan	Democrat
2000–2004	Bob Holden	Democrat
2004–	Matt Blunt	Republican

a gubernatorial veto. Constitutional amendments require a majority vote of both houses of the legislature and ratification by the voters.

The legislative salary as of December 2004 was $31,561, and the governor’s salary was $120,087.

13 Political Parties

Except for the Civil War and Reconstruction periods, the Democratic Party held the governorship from the late 1820s to the early 1900s. The outstanding figures of 20th century Missouri politics were both Democrats: Thomas Pendergast, the Kansas City political boss; and Harry S. Truman, who began his political career as a Jackson County judge in the Kansas City area and in 1945 became the 33rd president of the United States.

Between 1980 and 1988, the state voted consistently for Republican presidential candidates. However, in 1992 and 1996 Democrat Bill Clinton carried the state. In the 2000 elections, Missouri returned to favoring the Republican candidate. George W. Bush won 50% of the vote and Democrat Al Gore received 47%. In the 2004 presidential election, President Bush garnered 53.4% of the vote to Democratic challenger John Kerry’s 46.1%. Republican Matt Blunt was elected governor in 2004. Republican Christopher Bond was first elected US senator in 1986 and reelected in 1992, 1998, and 2004. Democrat Claire McCaskill was elected senator in 2006 in a closely watched race, defeating incumbent Republican Jim Talent. Following the 2006 elections, four of the state’s representatives to the US House were Democrats and five were Republicans. In the state senate following those elections, there were 13 Democrats and 21 Republicans; in the state house, there were 71 Democrats and 92 Republicans. Forty-two women were elected to the state legislature in 2006, or 21.3%. In 2004, there were 4,194,000 registered voters in the state; there is no party registration in the state.

14 Local Government

As of 2005, Missouri had 115 counties, 946 municipalities, 524 school districts, and 1,514 special districts. In 2002, there were also 312 townships. Elected county officials generally include commissioners, a public administrator, prosecuting attorney, sheriff, assessor, and treasurer. The city of St. Louis, which is administratively independent of any county, has an elected mayor, a comptroller, and a board of aldermen (including the president). Most other cities are governed by an elected mayor and council. The state was the first in the union to grant home rule to cities.

15 Judicial System

The supreme court, the state’s highest court, consists of seven judges and three commissioners. The court of appeals consists of 32 judges in three districts. The circuit courts are the only trial courts and have original jurisdiction over all cases and matters, civil and municipal. Many circuit courts have established municipal divisions, presided over by judges paid locally. The 2004 violent crime rate (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) for the state was 490.5 per 100,000 people. Crimes against property (burglary, larceny/theft, and motor vehicle theft) totaled 3,903.5 reported incidents per 100,000 people. As of 31 December 2004, there were 31,081 inmates in Missouri federal and state prisons. Missouri has a death penalty law, and from 1976 through 5 May 2006, had executed 66 persons. As of 1 January 2006, 53 prisoners were under sentence of death.

16 Migration

Missouri’s first European immigrants, French fur traders and missionaries, began settling in the state in the early 18th century. Under Spain, Missouri received few Spanish settlers but many immigrants from the eastern United States. During the 19th century, newcomers continued to arrive from the South and the East slave-owning southerners (with their black slaves) as well as New Englanders opposed to slavery. They were joined by a wave of European immigrants, notably Germans and, later, Italians. By 1850, one out of three St. Louis residents was German-born.

The dominant intrastate migration pattern has been the concentration of blacks in the major cities, especially St. Louis and Kansas City, and the exodus of whites from those cities to the suburbs and, more recently, to small towns and rural areas.

Between 1990 and 1998, Missouri had net gains of 94,000 in domestic migration and 34,000 in international migration. In the period

Missouri Presidential Vote by Political Parties, 1948–2004

YEAR	MISSOURI WINNER	DEMOCRAT	REPUBLICAN	PROGRESSIVE	SOCIALIST
* Won US presidential election.
1948	*Truman (D)	917,315	655,039	3,998	2,222
1952	*Eisenhower (R)	929,830	959,429	—	—
1956	Stevenson (D)	918,273	914,289	—	—
1960	*Kennedy (D)	972,201	962,218	—	—
1964	*Johnson (D)	1,164,344	653,535	—	—
				AMERICAN IND.
1968	*Nixon (R)	791,444	811,932	206,126	—
1972	*Nixon (R)	698,531	1,154,058	—	—
1976	Carter (D)	998,387	927,443	—	—
				LIBERTARIAN	SOC. WORKERS
1980	*Reagan (R)	931,182	1,074,181	14,422	1,515
1984	*Reagan (R)	848,583	1,274,188	—	—
					NEW ALLIANCE
1988	*Bush (R)	1,001,619	1,084,953	434	6,656
					IND. (PEROT)
1992	*Clinton (D)	1,053,873	811,159	7,497	518,741
1996	*Clinton (D)	1,025,935	890,016	10,522	217,188
					GREEN
2000	*Bush, G. W. (R)	1,111,138	1,189,924	7,436	38,515
2004	*Bush, G. W. (R)	1,259,171	1,455,713	9,831	—

2000–05, net international migration was 42,690, and net internal migration was 26,979, for a net gain of 69,669 people.

17 Economy

Missouri’s central location and access to the Mississippi River contributed to its growth as a commercial center. The state’s economy is diver-sified, with manufacturing, farming, trade, tourism, services, government, and mining as prime sources of income. Today, automobile and aerospace manufacturing are the state’s leading industries, while soybeans and meat and dairy products are the most important agricultural commodities. The state’s historic past, varied physical terrain, and modern urban attractions—notably the Gateway Arch in St. Louis—have made tourism a growth industry in recent decades.

Manufacturing output fell in the late 1990s and early 2000s, while output from financial services, including insurance and real estate, increased. In addition to being negatively affected by the 2001 national recession, Missouri was afflicted by drought conditions in 2002. In 2004, Missouri’s gross state product (GSP) was $203.29 billion, of which manufacturing accounted for the largest share ($31.48 billion, or 15.4% of GSP), followed by the real estate sector at $19.53 billion (9.6% of GSP), and healthcare and social assistance at $15.15 billion (7.4% of GSP).

18 Income

In 2005, Missouri had a gross state product (GSP) of $216 billion, 20th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. In 2004, Missouri ranked 31st among the 50 states and the District of Columbia with a per capita (per person) income of $30,475; the national average was $33,050. The three-year average median household income for 2002–04 was $43,988 compared to the national average of $44,473. During the same period, 10.9% of the state’s residents lived below the federal poverty level, compared to 12.4% nationwide.

19 Industry

The leading industry groups, by value of shipments, are transportation equipment (mainly automobiles, aircraft, and rockets and missiles); food and food products; chemicals; electric and electronic equipment; and fabricated metal products. Shipments by Missouri manufacturers during 2004 amounted to $102.8 billion. McDonnell Douglas, with headquarters in St. Louis, is a leading manufacturer of aerospace products, including all the Mercury and Gemini space capsules, DC-9 and DC-10 commercial jet aircraft, and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

20 Labor

As of April 2006, the civilian labor force in Missouri numbered 3,057,200, with approximately 141,700 workers unemployed, yielding an unemployment rate of 4.6%, compared to the national average of 4.7% for the same period. In April 2006, 5.2% of the labor force was employed in construction; 11% in manufacturing; 19.8% in trade, transportation, and public utilities; 6% in financial activities; 11.7% in professional and business services; 13.5% in education and health services; 10% in leisure and hospitality services; and 15.6% in government.

As early as the 1830s, journeyman laborers and mechanics in St. Louis, seeking higher wages and shorter hours, banded together to form trade unions and achieved some of their demands. Attempts to establish a workingman’s party were unsuccessful, however, and immigration during subsequent decades ensured a plentiful supply of cheap labor. Union activity increased in the 1870s, partly because of the influence of German socialists. The Knights of Labor took a leading role in the labor movement from 1879 to 1887, the year that saw the birth of the St. Louis Trades and Labor Assembly. The Missouri State Federation of Labor was formed in 1891, at a convention in Kansas City.

By 1916, the state had 915 unions. Union activity in Missouri declined in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, 290,000 of Missouri’s 2,532,000 employed wage and salary workers were members of unions. This represented 11.5% of those so employed. The national average was 12%.

21 Agriculture

In 2004, Missouri had 106,000 farms (second in the United States) covering 30.1 million acres (12.2 million hectares). Missouri’s agricultural income reached $5.57 billion in 2005, 15th among the 50 states. In 2004, Missouri was fourth among the states in grain sorghum production, fifth in soybean, and sixth in rice production. Soybean production is concentrated mainly in the northern counties and in the extreme southeast, with Mississippi County a leading producer. Stoddard County is a major source for corn and wheat production, as is New Madrid for grain sorghum.

In 2004, farmers harvested 223.2 million bushels of soybeans, 466 million bushels of corn, 48.4 million bushels of wheat, 15.7 million bushels of grain sorghum, 820,000 bales of cotton, and 9.4 million tons of hay. Tobacco, oats, rye, apples, peaches, grapes, watermelons, and various seed crops are also grown in commercial quantities.

22 Domesticated Animals

In Missouri, hog raising is concentrated north of the Missouri River, cattle raising in the western counties, and dairy farming in the southwest.

In 2005, Missouri farms and ranches had an estimated 4.5 million cattle and calves, valued at $3.8 billion. In 2004, there were around 2.9 million hogs and pigs, valued at $246.5 million. During 2003, Missouri farmers produced 816.2 million pounds (371 million kilograms) of turkey (ranked third in the nation), valued at around $285.7 million. Also in 2003, poultry farmers produced 1.9 million eggs, valued at $100 million. The state’s 129,000 milk cows yielded nearly 1.9 million pounds (0.86 million kilograms) of milk in 2003.

23 Fishing

Commercial fishing takes place mainly on the Mississippi, Missouri, and St. Francis rivers. Sport fishing is enjoyed throughout the state, but especially in the Ozarks, whose waters harbor walleye, rainbow trout, bluegill, and large-mouth bass. In 2004, Missouri issued 844,318 sport fishing licenses. The Neosho National Fish Hatchery stocks rainbow trout to Lake Taneycomo, as well as sites in Kansas and Iowa. There are eleven state hatcheries, four of which include trout parks.

24 Forestry

At one time, Missouri’s forests covered 30 million acres (12 million hectares), more than two-thirds of the state. As of 2004, Missouri had 15,010,000 acres (6,075,000 hectares) of forest-land (about 30% of the land area in the state), of which more than 95% was commercial forest, 82% of it privately owned. Most of Missouri’s forestland is in the southeastern third of the state. Of the commercial forests, approximately three-fourths are of the oak/ hickory type; short-leaf pine and oak/pine forests comprise about 5%, while the remainder consists of cedar and bottomland hardwoods.

Missouri leads the United States in the production of charcoal, red cedar novelties, gun-stocks, and walnut bowls and nutmeats; railroad ties, hardwood veneer and lumber, wine and bourbon casks, and other forest-related items are also produced. Lumber production in 2004 totaled 575 million board feet, 97% of it hardwoods.

Conservation areas managed by the Forestry Division are used for timber production, wildlife and watershed protection, hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes. Missouri’s one national forest, Mark Twain in the southeast, encompassed 1,489,000 acres (603,000 hectares) of National Forest System lands as of 2005.

25 Mining

Nonfuel mineral production in Missouri was estimated at over $1.29 billion in 2003. In the same year, crushed stone, portland cement, lead,

and lime accounted for 88% of the total value. Crushed stone, by value, has been Missouri’s leading nonfuel mineral commodity since 1997. Portland cement and lead were the state’s second and third top minerals in 2003. In 2003, Missouri was the nation’s top lead producer, contributing well over half the lead produced in the United States. The state also ranked first in lime and fire clay production, third in zinc and fuller’s earth, fifth in portland cement and crushed stone, and sixth in silver. Missouri ranked eighth nationally in nonfuel mineral value.

26 Energy and Power

Missouri’s electric power plants had an installed generating capacity (utility and nonutility) of 19.9 million kilowatts in 2003. Electrical output totaled 87.2 billion kilowatt hours in the same year. Coal-fired plants accounted for 85.1% of all power production and nuclear plants for 11.1%.

Fossil fuel resources are limited. Reserves of bituminous coal totaled 6 billion tons in 1998, but only a small portion (3 million tons) was considered recoverable. About 578,000 tons were mined in 2004, all from three surface mines. Small quantities of crude petroleum are also produced commercially. In 2004, production was 241 barrels per day. In 2000, Missouri’s total per capita energy consumption was 296 million Btu (74.6 million kilocalories), ranking it 38th among the 50 states.

27 Commerce

Missouri has been one of the nation’s leading trade centers ever since merchants in Independence began provisioning wagon trains for the Santa Fe Trail. The state’s wholesale sales totaled $95.6 billion in 2002; retail sales were $61.8 billion. Foreign exports of Missouri products exceeded $10.4 billion in 2005.

28 Public Finance

The Missouri state budget is prepared by the Office of Administration’s Division of Budget and Planning and submitted annually by the governor to the general assembly for amendment and approval. The fiscal year runs from 1 July to 30 June.

The revenues for 2004 were $26.3 billion and expenditures were $22.0 billion. The largest general expenditures were for education ($6.8 billion), public welfare ($5.6 billion), and highways ($1.8 billion). The debt of Missouri state government was $16.2 billion, or $2,815.69 per capita (per person).

29 Taxation

Missouri’s 10-bracket personal income tax schedule ranges from 1.5% to 6%. Individuals may deduct up to $5,000 of federal taxes paid from their state liability. The corporate tax rate is 6.25% of net income, with 50% of federal corporate taxes paid deductible. The basic state sales tax is 4.225%, but is lowered to 1.225% for food and beverages. Prescription drugs are exempt. Local-option sales taxes can reach up to 4.5%. The state also imposes a full array of excise taxes covering motor fuels, tobacco products, insurance premiums, public utilities, alcoholic beverage, amusements, and other selected items. Other state taxes include an assessment on surface mining, various license fees and franchise taxes, and state property taxes, although most property taxes are collected locally. Property and sales taxes are the leading sources of local revenue.

The state collected $9.544 billion in taxes in 2005, of which 42.1% came from individual income taxes, 31.8% came from the general sales tax, 16.4% from selective sales taxes, 2.3% from corporate income taxes, 0.2% from property taxes, and 7.2% from other taxes. In 2005, Missouri ranked 46th among the states in terms of per capita (per person) tax burden, at $1,645 per capita. The national average was $2,192 per capita.

30 Health

In October 2005, the infant mortality rate in Missouri was 7.6 per 1,000 live births. The overall death rate was 9.7 per 1,000 population in 2003, one of the highest in the country. Deaths from heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, accidents and adverse effects, and motor vehicle accidents were all above the national rate. About 24.1% of Missouri residents were smokers. The rate of death from HIV-related infection stood at 2.2 per 100,000 population. A total of 9,654 AIDS cases was reported in Missouri through 2001.

Missouri’s 119 community hospitals had about 19,300 beds in 2003. The average expense for community hospital care was $1,403 per inpatient day in 2003. As of 2004, there were 241 doctors per 100,000 residents and 940 nurses per 100,000 residents. In 2004, at least 12% of Missouri’s adult population was uninsured.

31 Housing

In 2004, Missouri had an estimated 2,564,340 housing units, of which 2,309,205 were occupied; 70.8% were owner-occupied. About 69.3% of all units were single-family, detached homes. Utility gas and electricity were the most common energy sources for heating. It was estimated that 89,522 units lacked telephone services, 11,971 lacked complete plumbing facilities, and 12,264 lacked complete kitchen facilities. The average household size was 2.42 people.

In 2004, 32,800 new privately owned units were authorized for construction. The median home value was $117,033. The median monthly cost for mortgage owners was $954. Renters paid a median of $567 per month.

32 Education

Although the constitution of 1820 provided for the establishment of public schools, it was not until 1839 that the state’s public school system became a reality through legislation creating the office of state superintendent of common schools and establishing a permanent school fund. Missouri schools were officially segregated from 1875 to 1954, when the US Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The state’s school segregation law was not taken off the books until 1976.

In 2004, an estimated 87.9% of all Missourians 25 years of age or older were high school graduates and 28.1% had obtained bachelor’s degrees or higher. Total public school enrollment was estimated at 924,000 in fall 2002 but expected to drop to 910,000 by fall 2014. Enrollment in private schools in fall 2003 was 119,812. Expenditures for public education in 2003/04 were estimated at $7.8 billion.

As of fall 2002, there were 348,146 students enrolled in college or graduate school. Missouri has 14 public 4-year schools, 20 public 2-year schools, and 54 private institutions of higher education. The University of Missouri, established in 1839, was the first state-supported university west of the Mississippi River. It has four campuses: Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla, and St. Louis. Lincoln University, a public university for blacks until segregation ended in 1954, is located in Jefferson City. There are five regional state universities and three state colleges. Two leading independent universities, Washington and St. Louis, are located in St. Louis, as is the Concordia Seminary, an affiliate of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

33 Arts

Theatrical performances are offered throughout the state, mostly during the summer. In Kansas City, productions of Broadway musicals and light opera are staged at the Starlight Theater, which seats 7,860 in an open-air setting. The Missouri Repertory Theater, on the University of Missouri campus in Kansas City, also has a summer season. In St. Louis, the 12,000-seat Municipal Opera puts on outdoor musicals. The Goldenrod, built in 1909 and said to be the largest showboat ever constructed (seating capacity 289), is used today for vaudeville, melodrama, and ragtime shows. Other notable playhouses are the 8,000-seat Riverfront Amphitheater in Hannibal and the 344-seat Lyceum Theater in Arrow Rock (population 89).

Leading orchestras are the St. Louis Symphony and Kansas City Symphony. Independence, Liberty, Columbia, Kirksville, St. Joseph, and Springfield also have orchestras. The Opera Theatre of St. Louis and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City are distinguished musical organizations. Springfield has a regional opera company.

Between World Wars I and II, Kansas City was the home of a thriving jazz community that included Charlie Parker and Lester Young. Leading bandleaders of that time were Benny Moten, Walter Page, and Count Basie. Country music predominates in rural Missouri in places like the Ozark Opry at Osage Beach. There are over 40 performing venues in Branson.

There are about 350 arts associations and over 50 local associations in Missouri. The state provides arts education in all of the approximately 550 public school districts. In 1994, the Missouri General Assembly established the Missouri Cultural Trust, a state endowment for the arts, with the goal of building it into a $200 million operational endowment in 10 years. The Trust is one of only a few such trusts in the nation and the only one that receives dedicated annual tax revenues. The Missouri Humanities Council sponsors an annual weeklong summer history festival on various themes. The festival is generally held in a different community each year.

34 Libraries and Museums

In June 2001, Missouri had 150 public library systems with a total of 363 libraries, of which 216 were branches. That year, the state’s public libraries had a combined book stock of 18.7 million and a circulation of 38.7 million. The Missouri State Library, in Jefferson City, is the center of the state’s interlibrary loan network. The University of Missouri-Columbia has the leading academic library. The federally-administered Harry S. Truman Library and Museum is at Independence.

Missouri has well over 162 museums and historic sites. The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery/Atkins Museum of Fine Arts in Kansas City and the St. Louis Art Museum both house distinguished general collections. The Mark Twain Home and Museum in Hannibal has a collection of manuscripts and other memorabilia. Also notable are the Pony Express Stables Museum, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis Center Museum of Science and Natural History, and McDonnell Planetarium.

35 Communications

The first experiment in airmail service took place at St. Louis in 1911; Charles Lindbergh was an airmail pilot on the St. Louis-Chicago route in 1926.

As of 2004, about 93.7% of all state households had telephone service. By June of that year, there were 2,859,953 mobile telephone subscribers. In 2003, 60.7% of Missouri households had a computer and 53% had Internet access. The voice of a US president was heard over the air for the first time on 21 June 1923, when Warren G. Harding gave a speech in St. Louis. As of 2005, there were 36 major commercial AM stations and 97 major FM stations in service. There were also 25 major television stations. The St. Louis area had 1,114,370 television households, but only 56% of those received cable in 1999. Kansas City had a 65% subscription rate in 802,580 television households.

36 Press

Many Missouri journalists have achieved national recognition. The best known is Samuel Clemens (later Mark Twain), who started out as a “printer’s devil” in Hannibal at the age of 13. Hungarian-born Joseph Pulitzer created the St. Louis Post–Dispatch in 1878 and established the Pulitzer Prizes, which annually honor journalistic and artistic achievement.

As of 2005, Missouri had 13 morning newspapers, 29 evening dailies, and 23 Sunday papers. The leading dailies with their 2005 daily circulations were the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (286,310) and the Kansas City Star (275,747). Periodicals include the St. Louis-based Sporting News, a popular bimonthly publication for baseball fans;

and VFW Magazine, put out monthly in Kansas City by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

37 Tourism, Travel & Recreation

In 2004, the state hosted about 37.7million domestic travelers, with 69% of all visitors coming from out-of-state. Total travel revenues were at about $8.3 billion dollars and the industry supported over 284,916 jobs.

The most popular vacation areas are the St. Louis region (40% of all visits) and the Kansas City area (23%).The principal attraction in St. Louis is the Gateway Arch. At 630 feet (192 meters) it is the tallest man-made national monument in the United States. In the Kansas City area are the Truman Sports Complex, Jesse James’s birthplace near Excelsior Springs, and Harry Truman’s hometown of Independence. Branson is considered the “Live Music Show Capital of the World.”

Memorabilia of Mark Twain are housed in and around Hannibal. The birthplace and childhood home of George Washington Carver is in Diamond. The Lake of the Ozarks, with 1,375 miles (2,213 kilometers) of shoreline, is one of the most popular vacation spots in mid-America. Other attractions are the Pony Express Stables and Museum at St. Joseph and the “Big Springs Country” of the Ozarks, in the southeast.

Missouri has 27 state parks. Lake of the Ozarks State Park is the largest, covering 16,872 acres (6,828 hectares). There are also 27 historic sites. State parks and historic sites covered

105,000 acres (43,050 hectares). Hunting and fishing are popular recreational activities.

38 Sports

There are six major league professional sports teams in Missouri: the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams of the National Football League, the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, and the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer. The Rams moved to St. Louis from Los Angeles after the 1994 season and now play in the 66,000-seat Trans World Dome, which opened in 1995. They won the Super Bowl in 2000.

Horse racing has a long history in Missouri. In 1812, St. Charles County sportsmen held two-day horse races. By the 1820s, racetracks were laid out in nearly every city and in crossroads villages.

In collegiate sports, the University of Missouri competes in the Big Twelve Conference.

39 Famous Missourians

Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) has been the only native-born Missourian to serve as US president or vice president. Missouri’s best-known senator was Thomas Hart Benton (b.North Carolina, 1782–1858), who championed the interests of Missouri and the West for 30 years.

Meriwether Lewis (b.Virginia, 1774–1809) and William Clark (b.Virginia, 1770–1838) explored Missouri and the West during 1804–06. Lewis later served as governor of Louisiana Territory, with headquarters at St. Louis, and Clark was governor of Missouri Territory from 1813 to 1821. Dred Scott (b.Virginia, 1795–1858), a slave owned by a Missourian, figured in a Supreme Court decision that set the stage for the Civil War. Missourians with unsavory reputations include such desperadoes as Jesse James (1847–1882), his brother Frank (1843–1915), and Cole Younger (1844–1916), also a member of the James gang.

Distinguished scientists include agricultural chemist George Washington Carver (1864–1943) and astronomer Edwin P. Hubble (1889–1953). Charles A. Lindbergh (b.Michigan 1902–1974) was a pilot and aviation instructor in the St. Louis area during the 1920s before winning worldwide acclaim for his solo New York-Paris flight.

Prominent Missouri businessmen include Joseph Pulitzer (b.Hungary, 1847–1911), who established the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1878) and later endowed the journalism and literary prizes that bear his name; and James Cash Penney (1875–1971), founder of the J. C. Penney Company.

Noteworthy journalists from Missouri include newspaper and magazine editor William M. Reedy (1862–1920) and television newscaster Walter Cronkite (b.1916). Missouri’s most popular author is Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835–1910). Poet-critic T(homas) S(tearns) Eliot (1888–1965), awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1948, was born in St. Louis but became a British subject in 1927. Other Missouri-born poets include Sara Teasdale (1884–1933), Marianne Moore (1887–1972), and Langston Hughes (1902–1967).

Distinguished painters who lived in Missouri include James Carroll Beckwith (1852–1917). Among the state’s important musicians are ragtime pianist-composer Scott Joplin (b.Texas, 1868–1917); composer-critic Virgil Thompson (1896–1989); and jazzman Coleman Hawkins (1907–1969).

Missouri-born entertainers include actors Vincent Price (1911–1993), and Edward Asner (b.1929); actresses Jean Harlow (Harlean Carpenter, 1911–1937), Betty Grable (1916–1973), and Shelley Winters (1922–2006); actress-dancer Ginger Rogers (1911–1995); and film director John Huston (1906–1984). In popular music, the state’s most widely known singer-songwriter is Charles “Chuck” Berry (b.California, 1926), whose works had a powerful influence on the development of rock music.

St. Louis Cardinals stars who became Hall of Famers include Jerome Herman “Dizzy” Dean (b.Arkansas, 1911–1974), Stanley Frank “Stan the Man” Musial (b.Pennsylvania, 1920), Robert “Bob” Gibson (b.Nebraska, 1935), and Louis “Lou” Brock (b.Arkansas, 1939). Among the native Missourians who achieved stardom in the sports world are baseball manager Charles Dillon “Casey” Stengel (1890–1975), catcher Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra (b.1925), sportscaster Joe Garagiola (b.1926), and golfer Tom Watson (b.1949).