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Missouri
State
Flag Seal
Nicknames:  Show Me State, Cave State, and Mother of the West
Motto:  Salus populi suprema lex esto (Latin) Let the good of the people be the supreme law
Anthem: “Missouri Waltz”
Map of the United States with Missouri highlighted
Country	United States
Before statehood	Missouri Territory
Admitted to the Union	August 10, 1821 (24th)
Capital	Jefferson City
Largest city	Kansas City
Largest county or equivalent	St. Louis
Largest metro and urban areas	Greater St. Louis
Government
• Governor	Mike Parson (R)
• Lieutenant governor	Mike Kehoe (R)
Legislature	General Assembly
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Judiciary	Supreme Court of Missouri
U.S. senators	Josh Hawley (R) Eric Schmitt (R)
U.S. House delegation	6 Republicans 2 Democrats (list)
Area
• Total	69,715 sq mi (180,560 km)
• Land	68,886 sq mi (179,015 km)
• Rank	21st
Dimensions
• Length	300 mi (480 km)
• Width	240 mi (390 km)
Elevation	800 ft (244 m)
Highest elevation (Taum Sauk Mountain)	1,772 ft (540 m)
Lowest elevation (St. Francis River at Arkansas border)	230 ft (70 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	6,160,281
• Rank	18th
• Density	88.2/sq mi (34.1/km)
• Rank	30th
• Median household income	$53,578
• Income rank	38th
Demonym	Missourian
Language
• Official language	English
• Spoken language	English 93.9% Spanish 2.6% German 0.4% Missouri French
Time zone	UTC−06:00 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−05:00 (CDT)
USPS abbreviation	MO
ISO 3166 code	US-MO
Traditional abbreviation	Mo.
Latitude	36° 0′ N to 40° 37′ N
Longitude	89° 6′ W to 95° 46′ W
Website	mo.gov

State symbols of Missouri

List of state symbols
Flag of Missouri
Seal of Missouri
Song	Missouri Waltz
Living insignia
Amphibian	American bullfrog
Bird	Eastern bluebird
Fish	Channel catfish
Flower	White hawthorn
Fruit	Paw-paw
Grass	Big bluestem
Horse breed	Missouri Fox Trotter
Insect	Western honey bee
Mammal	Missouri Mule
Tree	Flowering Dogwood
Inanimate insignia
Dance	Square dance
Dinosaur	Hypsibema missouriensis
Food	Dessert: Ice cream
Fossil	Crinoid
Gemstone	Beryl
Instrument	Fiddle
Mineral	Galena
Rock	Mozarkite
Soil	Menfro
State route marker
State quarter
Released in 2003
Lists of United States state symbols

Missouri ( mih-ZOOR-ee) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it borders Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska to the west. In the south are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. At 1.5 billion years old, the St. Francois Mountains are among the oldest in the world. The Missouri River, after which the state is named, flows through the center and into the Mississippi River, which makes up the eastern border. With over six million residents, it is the 18th-most populous state of the country. The largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. The capital is Jefferson City.

Humans have inhabited present-day Missouri for at least 12,000 years. The Mississippian culture, which emerged in the ninth century, built cities and mounds before declining in the 14th century. The Indigenous Osage and Missouria nations inhabited the area when European people arrived in the 17th century. The French incorporated the territory into Louisiana, founding Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and St. Louis in 1764. After a brief period of Spanish rule, the United States acquired Missouri as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Americans from the Upland South rushed into the new Missouri Territory; Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States. Missouri was admitted as a slave state as part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. As a border state, Missouri’s role in the American Civil War was complex, and it was subject to rival governments, raids, and guerilla warfare. After the war, both Greater St. Louis and the Kansas City metropolitan area became large centers of industrialization and business.

Today the state is divided into 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. Missouri has been called the “Mother of the West”, the “Cave State”, and the “Show Me State”. Its culture blends elements of the Midwestern and Southern United States. It is the birthplace of the musical genres ragtime, Kansas City jazz and St. Louis blues. The well-known Kansas City-style barbecue, and the lesser-known St. Louis-style barbecue, can be found across the state and beyond.

Missouri is a major center of beer brewing and has some of the most permissive alcohol laws in the U.S. It is home to Anheuser-Busch, the world’s largest beer producer, and produces Missouri wine, especially in the Missouri Rhineland. Outside the state’s major cities, popular tourist destinations include the Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake and Branson. Some of the largest companies based in the state include Cerner, Express Scripts, Monsanto, Emerson Electric, Edward Jones, H&R Block, Wells Fargo Advisors, Centene Corporation, and O’Reilly Auto Parts. Well-known universities in Missouri include the University of Missouri, Saint Louis University, and Washington University in St. Louis.