West North Central States

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West North Central States

The West North Central States form one of the nine geographic divisions within the United StatesUnited States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
that are officially recognized by that country's census bureauUnited States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is a part of the United States Department of Commerce....
.

Seven states comprise the division: IowaFacts About Iowa

Iowa is a Midwest state of the United States....
, KansasKansas

Kansas is a Midwestern state in the Central United States....
, MinnesotaMinnesota

Minnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States....
, MissouriMissouri

Missouri named after the Missouri Siouan Indian tribe meaning "town of the large canoes", is a central state in the United ...
, NebraskaNebraska

Nebraska is a Great Plains state of the United States....
, North DakotaNorth Dakota

North Dakota is a Midwestern state in the United States....
and South DakotaSouth Dakota

South Dakota is a Midwestern state in the United States....
, and it makes up the western half of the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is a part of the United States Department of Commerce....
's larger regionRegion

Region can be used to mean:# Any considerable and connected part of a space or surface; specifically, a tract of land or se...
of the Midwest, the eastern half of which consists of the East North Central StatesEast North Central States

The East North Central States form one of the nine geographic divisions within the United States which are officially recogn...
of IllinoisIllinois

Illinois is the 21st U.S. state and is located in the Midwest region of the United States of America....
, IndianaIndiana

Indiana, meaning the "Land of the Indians," is a state in the Great Lakes region of the Midwestern United States....
, MichiganMichigan

Michigan is a Midwestern state of the United States, located in the east north central portion of the country....
, OhioOhio

Ohio is a Midwestern state of the United States....
and WisconsinWisconsin

Wisconsin is a state in the United States, located in the Midwest....
. The Mississippi RiverMississippi River

The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning 'great river' , is the longest river in the U...
marks the bulk of the boundary between these two divisions.

Where the East North Central States are seen as being synonymous (though not absolutely coterminous) with the Rust BeltRust Belt

The Rust Belt, a term coined from the Manufacturing Belt, is an area in the northeastern United States, roughly betwee...
by the vast majority of Americans, the West North Central States are regarded as constituting the core of the nation's "Farm Belt." Almost all of the territory contained within the West North Central division falls into what Joel GarreauJoel Garreau

Joel Garreau is a journalist and author....
called The Breadbasket in his 1981 book The Nine Nations of North America, and what James PattersonJames Patterson

James B. Patterson is an award-winning American author....
and Peter Kim labelled the Granary in their similarly-themed work The Day America Told The TruthThe Day America Told the Truth

The Day America Told The Truth is the title of a non-fiction book co-written by James Patterson and Peter Kim....
(the only exception being southern Missouri, placed in DixieDixie

Dixie is a nickname for the Southern United States. ...
by Garreau and Old Dixie by Patterson and Kim). Another name popularly applied to the division is the "Agricultural Heartland," or simply the "Heartland."

Beginning in the early 1990s, the West North Central division has consistently had the lowest unemploymentUnemployment

In economics, a person willing to work at a prevailing wage rate yet is unable to find a paying job is considered to be unemplo...
rate in the United StatesUnited States Summary

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
(especially in its many college towns), and has also been noted for its plentiful supply of affordable housingHousing

Housing can be:* To do with dwellings and houses...
.

Demographics

As of 2000, the West North Central States had a combined population of 19,237,739. This number was estimated to increase 3.0% to 19,815,497 by 2005. The West North Central region covers of land, and has an average population density of 37.88 people per square mile.

**States in the West North Central Region**
State	2005 est.	Land area	Density
Iowa	2,926,324 (3rd)	55,869 (7th)	52.38 (3rd)
Kansas	2,744,687 (4th)	81,815 (1st)	32.86 (4th)
Minnesota	5,132,799 (2nd)	79,610 (2nd)	61.79 (2nd)
Missouri	5,800,310 (1st)	68,886 (6th)	81.22 (1st)
Nebraska	1,758,757 (5th)	76,872 (3rd)	22.26 (5th)
North Dakota	636,677 (7th)	68,976 (5th)	9.31 (7th)
South Dakota	775,933 (6th)	75,886 (4th)	9.95 (6th)

**Largest Cities in the West North Central Region**
	City	2000 Pop.
1	Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri Kansas City is a city covering parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties in Missouri, USA....	441,545
2	Omaha, NebraskaOmaha, Nebraska Omaha is the largest city in the U.S....	390,007
3	Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis.* Minnesota State Highway 65 follows Central Avenue through Northeast Minneapolis, and until June 2005, it also...	382,618
4	St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, Missouri St. Louis , sometimes written Saint Louis, encompasses an independent city in the U.S....	348,189
5	Wichita, KansasWichita, Kansas Wichita, also known as the Air Capital, is the largest city in the U.S....	344,284
6	St. Paul, Minnesota	287,151
7	Lincoln, NebraskaLincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital of Nebraska and is the county seat of Lancaster County....	225,581
8	Des Moines, IowaDes Moines, Iowa official_name = Des Moines, Iowa...	198,682
9	Springfield, MissouriSpringfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in Missouri. It is the county seat of Greene County. ...	151,580
10	Sioux Falls, South DakotaSioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls is the largest city in the state of South Dakota....	151,300
11	Overland Park, KansasOverland Park, Kansas Summary Overland Park is the second most populous city in the U.S....	149,080
12	Kansas City, KansasKansas City, Kansas Kansas City is the third largest city in the U.S....	146,866
13	Topeka, KansasTopeka, Kansas Topeka is the capital city of the U.S....	122,377
14	Cedar Rapids, IowaCedar Rapids, Iowa official_name = Cedar Rapids, Iowa...	120,758
15	Independence, MissouriIndependence, Missouri Independence is a city in Missouri, in the Kansas City metropolitan area....	113,288
16	Davenport, IowaDavenport, Iowa official_name = Davenport\|nickname =...	98,359
17	Olathe, KansasOlathe, Kansas Summary Olathe is a city located in northeast Kansas, and is the second most populous city and county seat of Johnson County....	92,962
18	Fargo, North DakotaFargo, North Dakota Summary Fargo is a city in Cass County, North Dakota in the United States....	90,599
19	Duluth, MinnesotaDuluth, Minnesota Duluth is the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States....	86,918
20	Rochester, MinnesotaRochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota....	85,806
21	Bloomington, MinnesotaBloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, and a southern suburb of Minneapolis....	85,172
22	Sioux City, IowaFacts About Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City is a city located in northwest Iowa in the United States....	85,013
23	Columbia, MissouriColumbia, Missouri Summary Columbia is a city in Boone County, Missouri, USA....	84,351
24	Lawrence, KansasLawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a river city in Douglas County, Kansas, 41 miles west by south of Kansas City, along both banks of the Kaw River...	80,098
25	St. Joseph, Missouri	73,990
26	Lee's Summit, MissouriLee's Summit, Missouri *Pleasant Lea Middle SchoolHigh Schools...	70,700
27	Waterloo, IowaWaterloo, Iowa Waterloo is the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States....	68,747
28	Brooklyn Park, MinnesotaBrooklyn Park, Minnesota Brooklyn Park is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States....	67,388
29	Plymouth, MinnesotaPlymouth, Minnesota Plymouth is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States....	65,894
30	Eagan, MinnesotaEagan, Minnesota Eagan is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, and is a thriving suburb of the Twin Cities metropolitan area located approxima...	63,557