St. Louis

St. Louis is a large and major city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is by the Mississippi River. It was founded by the French. It was named after King Louis IX of France, who is also a Saint. It is often called the "Gateway City" because it was important to settlers traveling out west. Its most famous landmark is the Gateway Arch, which is conveniently located next the Busch Stadium ballpark.

St. Louis, Missouri
Independent city
Downtown St. Louis skyline from the east
Flag Seal Logo
Nickname(s):  "Gateway to the West",[1] The Gateway City,[1] Mound City,[2] The Lou,[3] Rome of the West,[4] River City, The STL, St. Lou
St. Louis Location within Missouri Show map of Missouri St. Louis Location within the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 38°37′38″N 90°11′52″W
Country	United States
State	Missouri
CSA	St. Louis–St. Charles–Farmington, MO–IL
Metro	St. Louis, MO-IL
Founded	February 14, 1764
Incorporated	1822
Named for	Louis IX of France
Government
• Mayor	Cara Spencer (D)
Area [5]
• Independent city	66.17 sq mi (171.39 km2)
• Land	61.72 sq mi (159.85 km2)
• Water	4.45 sq mi (11.53 km2)
• Urban	910.4 sq mi (2,357.8 km2)
• Metro	8,458 sq mi (21,910 km2)
Elevation [6]	466 ft (142 m)
Highest elevation [7]	614 ft (187 m)
Population  (2020)[8]
• Independent city	301,578
• Rank	US: 82nd Missouri: 2nd
• Density	4,886.23/sq mi (1,886.59/km2)
• Urban	2,156,323 (US: 22nd)
• Urban density	2,368.6/sq mi (914.5/km2)
• Metro	2,809,299 (US: 21st)
• CSA	2,914,230 (US: 20th)
Demonym(s)	St. Louisan; Saint Louisan
Time zone	UTC−6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Area code	314/557
FIPS code	29-65000
Website	stlouis-mo.gov

Climate

St. Louis has a hot-summer continental climate (Dfa in the Köppen climate classification) and experiences four distinct seasons. Summers are often hot and humid with temperatures in July between 70 and 90 degrees. The city is known to have quite variable weather, with temperatures in May ranging from 50 to 90 within a week. ^[9]

Cuisine

St. Louis is famous for a number of dishes made local such as toasted ravioli and pork steaks. Additionally, gooey butter cake is a dessert which is highly appreciated.

Sports

St. Louis has three major sports teams, all of which play in the downtown area: The St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, and the St. Louis City Soccer Club of the Major Soccer League. St. Louis had a National Football League team from 1995 to 2015, named the St. Louis Rams, which moved back to Los Angeles, California after that season.

Education

There are many colleges and universities in and around St. Louis. Some of these are Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis University, Fontbonne University, and Lindenwood University.