Iowa is a state in the middle of the United States, in the part Americans call the Midwest. A lot of it is farmland. It is known for meat, maize — Americans usually say corn — and soya beans, so people outside the state often picture fields. The capital city is Des Moines. Most years Iowa feels quiet, but every four years it is suddenly on the world news, because it holds one of the first votes when Americans choose who will run for president. The name is older than the state: it comes from the Iowa people. French writers put their name down as Aiouez or Ayoés, from a Dakota word ayúxba, “the sleepy ones.” We say EYE-uh-wuh, not a sound-by-sound reading of the spelling. Though actually, in US talk “Iowa” can carry a flavour of “the quiet middle of the country” — that picture is only partly fair, and people who live there may not love it.