Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2013, its population was 58,253, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.

The city lies at the junction of three states: Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region locally known as the Tri-State Area. It serves as the main commercial, industrial, educational, and cultural center for the area. Geographically, it is part of the Driftless Area, a portion of North America that escaped all three phases of the Wisconsinian Glaciation.

One of the few large cities in Iowa with hills, it is a tourist destination featuring the city's unique architecture and river location. It is home to five institutions of higher education, making it a center for culture and learning.

While Dubuque has long been a center of manufacturing, the economy has recently had rapid growth and diversification in other areas. In 2005, the city led the state and the Midwest in job growth, ranking as the 22nd fastest-growing economy nationally. Today, alongside industry, the city has large health care, education, tourism, publishing, and financial service sectors.

Following the 1763 defeat of the French in the Seven Years' War, Spain gained control of the Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi River; the British took over all territory to the east, as well as Canada.

The first permanent settler in what is now Dubuque was a Quebecois pioneer, Julien Dubuque, who arrived in 1785. In 1788, he received permission from the Spanish government and the local Fox tribe of American Indians to mine the area's rich lead deposits.Control of Louisiana and Dubuque's mines shifted briefly back to France in 1800, then to the United States in 1803, following the Louisiana Purchase. Dubuque died in 1810, but the wealth of minerals drew a number of new pioneers and settlers, mostly French and other Europeans.

The current City of Dubuque, named after Julien Dubuque, was settled at the southern end of a large, flat plain adjacent to the Mississippi River. The city was officially chartered in 1833, located in then-unorganized territory of the United States. The region was designated as the Iowa Territory in 1838, and was included in the newly created State of Iowa in 1846. After the lead resources were exhausted, the city became home to numerous industries. Because of its proximity to forests in Minnesota and Wisconsin, Dubuque became a center for the timber industry, and was later dominated by various millworking businesses.

Between 1860 and 1880, Dubuque was one of the 100 largest urban areas in the United States. Also important were boat building, brewing, and later, the railroad industry. Iowa’s first church was built by Methodists in 1834. Since then, Iowans have followed a variety of religious traditions.

Beginning in the mid-19th century, and into the early 20th century, thousands of poor German and Irish Catholic immigrants came to the city to work in the manufacturing centers. The city's large Roman Catholic congregations led to its designation as the seat of the newly established Archdiocese of Dubuque. Numerous convents, abbeys, and other religious institutions were built. The ethnic German and Irish descendants maintain a strong Catholic presence in the city.

Early in the 20th century, Dubuque was one of several sites of a brass era automobile company, in this case Adams-Farwell; like most others, it folded. Subsequently, although Dubuque grew significantly, industrial activity remained the mainstay of the economy until the 1980s. During that time, a series of changes in manufacturing, and the onset of the "Farm Crisis" led to a large decline in the sector, and the city's economy as a whole. However, the economy diversified rapidly in the 1990s, shifting away from heavy industry.

Today, tourism, high technology, and publishing are among the largest and fastest-growing businesses. Dubuque attracts well over 1,500,000 tourists annually, and this number continues to increase. The city has encouraged development of the America's River Project's tourist attractions in the Port of Dubuque, the expansion of the city's colleges, and the continued growth of shopping centers, like Asbury Plaza.

Culture
Dubuque has several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. The Fourth Street Elevator is located in Downtown Dubuque. This elevator, which is the shortest and steepest railroad in existence, takes passengers up and down one of the large bluffs that dominate the city. Also, the Dubuque County Courthouse, with its Beaux-Arts architecture, is on the register. The Julien Dubuque Bridge is a National Historic Landmark, as is the Shot Tower, which was used to produce lead shot and is one of the few such towers left in existence. The Grand Opera House, a large, grandiose theatre in the downtown district, is one of the epicenters of Dubuque's thriving local theatre scene. Designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke, it was erected in 1890 and is on the register. Dubuque's Linwood Cemetery is noted for a number of famous people buried there, and the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens have won a number of awards. There are a number of notable parks, particularly Eagle Point Park and the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area.

Dubuque's waterfront features the Ice Harbor, where the Diamond Jo Casino and William M. Black are based. Recently the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, the Grand Harbor Resort and Waterpark, and the Grand River Event Center have been built just north of the Ice Harbor. Land for this project was acquired from several businesses through condemnation of their properties under eminent domain.

Dubuque is also the home of the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps. The Colts are a Drum Corps International Division I ensemble and tour the country each summer to attend drum corps competitions. Each summer the Colts and Dubuque host "Music on the March," a Drum Corps International-sanctioned marching competition at Dubuque Senior High School. Dubuque is the second-smallest city in the nation to support a Division I drum corps.

The movies F.I.S.T. and Take This Job and Shove It were filmed in Dubuque as well as various scenes from Field of Dreams. About 25 miles west of the city is the town of Dyersville, Iowa. Dyersville is the home of the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier and of the Field of Dreams movie site.