6 Weird Iowa Facts

1. Iowa's motto is "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain."

2. The state flag is based on the French flag because the region was part of French Louisiana (and  Spanish Louisiana) during colonial times.

3. Iowa has 99 counties and 100 county seats. Lee County, in the southeastern corner of the state, has two (in 1847, disagreements led to the establishment of two jurisdictions).

4. Manufacturing, surprisingly, is the largest sector of the state's economy (you thought it would be agriculture, didn't you?). Most of the manufacturing is food processing (which is not so surprising).

5. John Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa, though he moved with his parents to southern California when he was a child.

6. Almost 75% of the state's population was born in Iowa.