Iowa Fun Facts
Information About Iowa, Iowa Geography, and Iowa Schools

Iowa is unofficially known as the “ Hawkeye State.” The nickname “Hawkeye” is a tribute to the Indian Chief Black Hawk. The song of Iowa is actually called, “The Song of Iowa.” Iowa’s motto is “Our Liberties We Prize and Our Rights We Will Maintain.” Iowa was named after the Iowa River, which was named after the Iowa Indians.

The capital and largest city in Iowa is Des Moines. The abbreviation for Iowa is IA. The residents of Iowa are known as “Iowans.”

Iowa ranks number 30 on the population chart and received its statehood on December 28, 1846.

The Iowa state bird is the Eastern Goldfinch which is also known as the Wild Canary. The state flower is the Wild Rose, and the state tree is the oak.

Iowa borders Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The Mississippi River and Des Moines River are the major bodies of water within Iowa.

Iowa’s major industries are agriculture, food manufacturing, and insurance. Iowa’s agriculture is mainly corn, soybeans, hogs and pigs.

There were 502,941 K12 students in the Iowa public schools in 1996. Out of those students 36,614 were first grade students. There were also 32,593 K12 public school teachers in the Iowa public schools system. There were a total of 1,552 Iowa public schools in 1996. (Source: IES National Center for Education Statistics)