Iowa map

Where Iowa is

Iowa is in the heart of the Midwest between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. It is about 310 miles east to west and 200 miles north to south. Minnesota lies to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east across the Mississippi, Missouri to the south, and Nebraska and South Dakota to the west across the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers. Des Moines is in the south-central part of the state where the Raccoon River joins the Des Moines River. Nearly all of Iowa is gently rolling glacial plain; about 85 percent of the land is farmed.

Major cities

Geography

• Hawkeye Point — 1,670 feet, the highest point, in a farmyard in the far northwest corner near Sibley.
• Mississippi River — the whole eastern border, about 310 miles, past Dubuque, the Quad Cities and Burlington; the lowest point, 480 feet, is at Keokuk in the southeast corner. See the Mississippi River map.
• Missouri River — the western border from Sioux City south past Council Bluffs; the Big Sioux River continues the line north to Minnesota. See the Missouri River map.
• Interior rivers — the Des Moines, Iowa, Cedar, Skunk and Wapsipinicon all flow south-east to the Mississippi; the Iowa and Cedar drain the largest area.
• Loess Hills — a 200-mile band of steep, wind-blown silt hills along the Missouri valley, up to 200 feet high, found at this scale only here and in China.
• Great Lakes of Iowa — Spirit Lake and West Okoboji in the northwest are the largest natural lakes; Rathbun and Red Rock are the largest reservoirs. See US lakes.
• Driftless Area — the unglaciated northeast corner around Decorah and Dubuque has bluffs and valleys unlike the rest of the state.

Borders

Iowa's eastern and western borders are rivers for their entire length: the Mississippi on the east and the Missouri and Big Sioux on the west. Where the Missouri has shifted channel since 1846, old bends leave small pieces of Iowa on the Nebraska side, including Carter Lake. The two straight borders are surveys — the Minnesota line at 43°30′N and the Missouri line, whose exact position was argued in the 1839 "Honey War" and settled by the Supreme Court in 1849.

Regions of Iowa

Central Iowa (Des Moines, Ames), Eastern Iowa (Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, the Quad Cities, Dubuque), Northeast Iowa (Waterloo, the Driftless Area), Northwest Iowa (Sioux City, the Iowa Great Lakes), Southwest Iowa (Council Bluffs, the Loess Hills) and Southeast Iowa (Burlington, Ottumwa, Keokuk).

Related maps

• Iowa county map — all 99 counties with seats.
• Blank Iowa map — outline for printing.
• Printable Iowa map.
• Des Moines — the capital since 1857, when it moved from Iowa City.
• Neighbors: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota.
• Region: Midwest · West North Central · Great Plains.
• Time zone: Central.
• Geography: Mississippi River, Missouri River, Great Plains.