MISSOURI, one of the United States of America, in lat. 80° 30' to 40° 30' n., and long. 89' to 95' 52' w., being 277 m. from n. to s., and from 200 to 312 m. from e. to w., hav ing an area of 67,380 sq.m., or 43,123,200 acres. It is bounded n. by Iowa; e. by the Mississippi river; s. by Arkansas; and w. by Nebraska territory, Kansas, and the Indian territory. Missouri his 114 counties. Its chief towns are Jefferson City (the capital), St. Louis, Kansas City, Hannibal, St. Joseph. Lexington. Its chief livers are the Missis sippi, which borders the state fur 470 in.; the Missouri, which forms a portion of its western boundary, and passes through it from w. to e.; and its affluents, the Osage, Gas conade, etc. The country s. of the Missouri river is undulating, rising into mountains toward the borders of Arkansas; the northern portion of the state is level prairie-land, with rich bottoms, and high picturesque bluffs on the rivers. The geological formations range between the lower Silurian and upper coal. There are porphyritic rocks in the s. ; in the center, coal-measures, with veins of an aggregate thickness of 500 ft., highly bitu minous, and immense deposits of iron, with lead and iron in limestone formations. The winters are long and severe; the summers hot, with sudden changes. Much of the land is very fertile, producing maize, wheat, hemp, tobacco, the peach, nectarine, grape, etc.
Cotton is grown in the southern counties. A large German population has introduced wine-making. The chief manufactures are ironworks, distilleries, and breweries. St. Louis has a large trade, and the western towns supply caravans or trains to New Mexico, Utah, and California. The counties and cities have appropriated $45,000,000 to railways, and hi .1875 there were 3,036 miles completed, and several hundred under construction. There are 39 universities and colleges, several medical and ecclesiastical seminaries, 8,000 public schools with 870,000 pupils, and above 2,000 churches. Missouri was for merly a part of upper Lonisiana. St. Genevieve was settled in 1755 by emigrants from Canada and Spain. St. Louis, a French trading-post, in 1775 had 800 inhabitants. The country was purchased by president Jefferson in 1S03: and in 1821, after a great con test, was admitted into the union as a slave state, under what was called the Missouri compromise, which admitted Missouri, but prohibited slavery D. of the northern boun dary of Arkansas, 36° 30' n. lat. In 1831 Missouri joined with the seceded states, and became a scene of civil war and, violent partisan conflicts. Pop. in 1820, 66,580; in 1840, 383,702; in 1860, 1,182,317; iu 1870, 1,715,000.