Missouri
Missouri sits at the crossroads of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and has served as a transit corridor since the Lewis and Clark expedition departed from St. Charles in 1804. The state covers 69,707 square miles and holds about 6.2 million residents, split between two major metropolitan areas on opposite ends. Kansas City on the Missouri River anchors a metro of 2.2 million that extends into Kansas. St. Louis on the Mississippi River anchors a metro of 2.8 million that extends into Illinois. Between them sits Jefferson City, the state capital, and the college town of Columbia, home to the University of Missouri's flagship campus.
St. Louis was for decades the largest city in the state and a major rail, shipping, and manufacturing hub. Its population peaked at 856,000 in 1950 and has since fallen below 300,000 inside the city limits, though the broader metro continues to grow. The Gateway Arch, completed in 1965, remains the tallest monument in the country at 630 feet and commemorates the city's role as the departure point for nineteenth-century westward migration. Boeing Defense, Space and Security employs roughly 15,000 people in the St. Louis region building F-15s, F/A-18s, and the T-7A trainer. Anheuser-Busch still brews in the same south St. Louis plant where Adolphus Busch started the brewery in 1852, though ownership is now Belgian-Brazilian.
Kansas City is the larger economic center today. The metro is headquarters to Hallmark Cards, H&R Block, Garmin's U.S. operations, and Cerner (now part of Oracle Health). The city is a major livestock and grain trading center, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City serves the Tenth District. Interstate 70 runs east-west across the state connecting the two metros, and Interstate 44 and I-55 add additional freight corridors, which is one reason Missouri has become a focus for interstate trafficking enforcement.
The Ozark Mountains cover most of the southern half of the state, with Branson drawing millions of visitors annually to its theater and music venue district. Lake of the Ozarks, a 55,000-acre Union Electric reservoir completed in 1931, is one of the largest man-made lakes in the country and supports a year-round resort economy. Agriculture remains significant statewide, with soybeans, corn, beef cattle, and hogs as the primary commodities.
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Missouri sits at the crossroads of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and has served as a transit corridor since the Lewis and Clark expedition departed from St. Charles in 1804. The state covers 69,707 square miles and holds about 6.2 million residents, split between two major metropolitan areas on opposite ends. Kansas City on the Missouri River anchors a metro of 2.2 million that extends into Kansas. St. Louis on the Mississippi River anchors a metro of 2.8 million that extends into Illinois. Between them sits Jefferson City, the state capital, and the college town of Columbia, home to the University of Missouri's flagship campus.
St. Louis was for decades the largest city in the state and a major rail, shipping, and manufacturing hub. Its population peaked at 856,000 in 1950 and has since fallen below 300,000 inside the city limits, though the broader metro continues to grow. The Gateway Arch, completed in 1965, remains the tallest monument in the country at 630 feet and commemorates the city's role as the departure point for nineteenth-century westward migration. Boeing Defense, Space and Security employs roughly 15,000 people in the St. Louis region building F-15s, F/A-18s, and the T-7A trainer. Anheuser-Busch still brews in the same south St. Louis plant where Adolphus Busch started the brewery in 1852, though ownership is now Belgian-Brazilian.
Kansas City is the larger economic center today. The metro is headquarters to Hallmark Cards, H&R Block, Garmin's U.S. operations, and Cerner (now part of Oracle Health). The city is a major livestock and grain trading center, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City serves the Tenth District. Interstate 70 runs east-west across the state connecting the two metros, and Interstate 44 and I-55 add additional freight corridors, which is one reason Missouri has become a focus for interstate trafficking enforcement.
The Ozark Mountains cover most of the southern half of the state, with Branson drawing millions of visitors annually to its theater and music venue district. Lake of the Ozarks, a 55,000-acre Union Electric reservoir completed in 1931, is one of the largest man-made lakes in the country and supports a year-round resort economy. Agriculture remains significant statewide, with soybeans, corn, beef cattle, and hogs as the primary commodities.
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