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Home > Missouri
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Missouri
The state of Missouri is located in the Midwestern portion of the United State surrounded by Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois and Iowa. Missouri is the 18th most heavily populated state. It consists of one independent city and 114 counties. Jefferson City is Missouri's capital. The four biggest urban areas are, in ascending order, Columbia, Springfield, Kansas City, and St. Louis. Missouri was initially gained from France as piece of the Louisiana Purchase and became known as the Missouri region. In 1821, part of the Missouri region was included into the union as the 24th state.
Missouri mirrors the political, economic and demographic structure of the nation with a combination of rural and urban culture. It has long been believed a political bellwether state. It has both Southern and Midwestern cultural influences, implying its history as a border state. It is also a shift between the western and eastern United States, as Kansas City the "eastern-most western city" and St. Louis is frequently called the "western-most eastern city". Missouri's geography is highly diverse. The southern part lies in the Ozark Mountains while the northern part of the state lies in dissected till plain, with the Missouri River separating the two. The confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers is found near St. Louis.
St. Louis is the primary city of the biggest metropolitan area in Missouri, comprising the independent city of St. Louisand 17 counties; 8 of those counties reside in the state of Illinois. Greater St. Louis was the 16th biggest urban area in the country as of 2006. Several of the major cities as part of the St. Louis Metro area in Missouri consist of University City, Ballwin, Clayton, O'Fallon, Maryland Heights, Creve Coeur, Chesterfield, Florissant, St. Peters, and St. Charles.
Kansas City is Missouri's biggest city and the primary city of the 15-county Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area, together with 6 counties in the state of Kansas. It was the 27th biggest metropolitan area in the country as of 2004. Some of the other major cities including the Kansas City metro area in Missouri include Gladstone, Liberty, Raytown, Blue Springs, Lee's Summit, and Independence.
As of November Missouri has the 2nd-lowest cigarette excise taxes in the US at 17 cents per pack. The body of voters voted in 2002 and 2006 to maintain it that way. Missouri has the 3rd highest percentage of adult smokers all over the US. No statewide smoking ban still has been seriously entertained prior to the Missouri General Assembly, and just 20% of Missourians that supports such a statewide ban in public areas. In 2007, Forbes dubbed St. Louis as America's "finest city for smokers." Missouri state law allows restaurants and bars which seat below 50 people, billiard parlors, and bowling alleys to choose their own smoking rules, without limitation.
Moreover, Missouri is "an impractical employment practice" for an employer to decline to fire, to hire, or otherwise to bias any person because that person legally uses tobacco and/or alcohol products when he or she is off duty.
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