14 Unbelievable Fun Facts About Iowa

Iowa is truly a fascinating place, and there is so much to be learned about our great state! For example, did you know any of these incredible, almost unbelievable facts about Iowa?

There are around seven times more hogs than people in Iowa. As of 2013, the state’s hog population was 21.2 million, whereas the human population was just over three million.

Phil Roeder/Flickr

That’s more hogs than there are people living in the entire state of New York.

Aurelien Guichard/Flickr

At 2.4 billion bushels, Iowa produces the most corn of any state, and even more corn than some countries, like Mexico.

Dan Nevill/Flickr

Iowa has more golf courses per capita than any other state in the U.S.

SD Dirk/Flickr

There are around 67 million chickens living in Iowa. That means there are more chickens living in Iowa than there are people living in California and Texas combined - and those are the two most populous states in the country.

28 Thousand Days

And to bring that into perspective, those hens produce close to 15 billion eggs a year. That’s enough eggs to feed everyone in the WORLD an egg a day for two days, or enough eggs to feed everyone in America an egg a day for 47 days.

Steven Depolo/Flickr

To bring that to an even larger scale, that’s enough eggs to circle the PLANET 21 times.

Abhijit Mhetre/FLickr

Wright County has the highest percentage of grade-A topsoil in the nation.

Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil Health Campaign/Flickr

Cornell College is the only school in the nation to have its entire campus listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

stacia lynch/Flickr

The first winner of the Heisman Trophy, Jay Berwanger, was born in Dubuque in 1914.

tugboat2648/Flickr

The town of Fort Atkinson was the only fort ever built by the U.S. government to protect one Indian tribe from another.

Colin Burnett/Flickr

Iowa State University is the oldest land grant college in the country.

Cburnett/Wikimedia Commons

Contrary to popular belief, Iowa’s population is actually more urban than rural, at 61.1 percent urban vs. 38.9 percent rural.

Jason Mrachina/Flickr

One Iowa family farm grows enough food and fiber to feed 279 people. With around 75,000 family farms in Iowa, that equals about 21 million people fed. That means we could feed everyone in Beijing, the seventh largest city on Earth, for one day.

Photo Credit

Pretty surprising stuff, right? Do you know of any more fun facts about Iowa? Share them with us!