It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the east and southeast, Missouri to the south, Nebraska to the west, South Dakota to the northwest, and Minnesota to the north. Iowa is the 26th largest in total area and the 31st most populous of the 50 U.
A portion of the larger Omaha, Nebraska, metropolitan area extends into three counties of southwest Iowa.
Iowa is home to small towns, though its population is increasingly urbanized as small communities and rural areas decline in population. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, Iowa was a part of French Louisiana and Spanish Louisiana ; its state flag is patterned after the flag of France. After the Louisiana Purchase , pioneers laid the foundation for an agriculture-based economy in the heart of the Corn Belt.
Politically, Iowa is notable for the Iowa Caucuses , an influential event in national politics, as well as its high levels of voter turnout and foundational leadership in civil rights including early adoption or support of black suffrage , women's rights , and same-sex marriage.
Like many other states , Iowa takes its name from its predecessor, Iowa Territory , whose name in turn is derived from the Iowa River , and ultimately from the ethnonym of the indigenous Ioway people. The Ioway are a Chiwere -speaking Siouan Nation , who were once part of the Ho-Chunk Confederation that inhabited the area now corresponding to several Midwest states. The Ioway were one of the many Native American nations whose territory comprised the future state of Iowa before the time of European colonization.
