Located in the Midwestern region of the United States, Missouri is one of fifty American states. The same is limited to Iowa to the north; Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east; Arkansas to the south; and Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska to the east. Missouri is known as “The Show Me State”. This nickname originated in 1899, through the speech of Willard Duncan Vendiver, a representative of the State in the United States House of Representatives, who said: "Simple eloquence does not convince me or satisfies. I'm from Missouri. You have to prove me."
The first explorers of the territory were the French, however, they were not interested in populating the region. After the end of the Franco-Indigenous War in 1763, Missouri came under Spanish rule, having returned to being controlled by France again in 1800. The United States acquired such territory in the so-called Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Due to rapid population growth in the region, the US government created the State of Missouri on August 10, 1821.
Its geographic location, right in the center of North America, and the presence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, made the state an important transport hub. Next to Tennessee, Missouri is the province with the most neighboring states. About 30% of its territory is covered by forest; most of its lakes were created by building dams.
Missouri has a temperate climate, with average temperatures of -2°C in winter and 26°C in summer. The State, whose economy had already been entirely based on agriculture, began to diversify it from 1890 onwards. Nowadays, the manufacturing industry, the provision of financial and real estate services and tourism are the main sources of wealth for it.
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Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
DANTAS, James. "Missouri"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/missouri.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.