North Dakota

North Dakota Dakȟóta waziyata (Lakota)
State
State of North Dakota
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  Peace Garden State, Roughrider State, Flickertail State, Heaven on Earth
Motto(s):  Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable
Anthem: North Dakota Hymn
Map of the United States with North Dakota highlighted
Country	United States
Before statehood	Dakota Territory
Admitted to the Union	November 2, 1889 (39th)
Capital	Bismarck
Largest city	Fargo
Largest county or equivalent	Cass
Largest metro and urban areas	Fargo
Government
• Governor	Doug Burgum (R)
• Lieutenant Governor	Tammy Miller (R)
Legislature	Legislative Assembly
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Judiciary	North Dakota Supreme Court
U.S. senators	John Hoeven (R) Kevin Cramer (R)
U.S. House delegation	Kelly Armstrong (R) (list)
Area
• Total	70,706 sq mi (183,125 km2)
• Land	68,995 sq mi (178,694 km2)
• Water	1,719 sq mi (4,428 km2)  2.3%
• Rank	19th
Dimensions
• Length	300 mi (482 km)
• Width	200 mi (321 km)
Elevation	1,901 ft (580 m)
Highest elevation (White Butte[1][a])	3,609 ft (1,069 m)
Lowest elevation (Red River of the North at Manitoba border[1][a])	864 ft (216 m)
Population  (2022)
• Total	779,179
• Rank	47th
• Density	10.73/sq mi (4.13/km2)
• Rank	47th
• Median household income	$61,842 [2]
• Income rank	20th
Demonym	North Dakotan
Language
• Official language	English [3]
Time zones
most of state	UTC−06:00 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−05:00 (CDT)
southwest	UTC−07:00 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−06:00 (MDT)
USPS abbreviation	ND
ISO 3166 code	US-ND
Traditional abbreviation	N.D., N.Dak., Nodak
Latitude	45° 56′ N to 49° 00′ N
Longitude	96° 33′ W to 118° 03′ W
Website	nd.gov

State symbols of North Dakota

List of state symbols
Flag of North Dakota
Seal of North Dakota
Coat of arms of North Dakota
Living insignia
Bird	Western meadowlark
Fish	Northern pike
Flower	Wild prairie rose
Fruit	Chokecherry
Grass	Western wheatgrass
Insect	Western honeybee
Mammal	Nokota horse
Tree	American Elm
Inanimate insignia
Beverage	Milk
Dance	Square dance Line dance
Fossil	Teredo petrified wood
State route marker
Lists of United States state symbols

North Dakota ( /dəˈkoʊtə/ ^ⓘ də-KOH-tə)^[4] is a landlocked U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south, and Montana to the west. North Dakota is part of the Great Plains region, characterized by broad prairies, steppe, temperate savanna, badlands, and farmland. North Dakota is the 19th largest state, but with a population of less than 780,000, it is the 4th least populous and 4th most sparsely populated.^{[note 1]} The state capital is Bismarck while the most populous city is Fargo, which accounts for nearly a fifth of the state's population; both cities are among the fastest-growing in the U.S., although half of all residents live in rural areas.

What is now North Dakota was inhabited for thousands of years by various Native American tribes, including the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara along the Missouri River; the Ojibwe and Cree in the northeast; and several Sioux groups (the Assiniboine, Yankton, Wahpeton, and Teton) across the rest of the state. European explorers and traders first arrived in the early 18th century, mostly in pursuit of lucrative furs.

The United States acquired the region in the early 19th century, gradually settling it amid growing resistance by increasingly displaced natives. The Dakota Territory, established in 1861, became central to American pioneers, with the Homestead Act of 1862 precipitating significant population growth and development. The traditional fur trade declined in favor of farming, particularly of wheat. The subsequent Dakota Boom from 1878 to 1886 saw giant farms stretched across the rolling prairies, with the territory becoming a regional economic power. The Northern Pacific and Great Northern railway companies competed for access to lucrative grain centers; farmers banded together in political and socioeconomic alliances that were core to the broader Populist Movement of the Midwest. North and South Dakota were admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889, as the 39th and 40th states. President Benjamin Harrison shuffled the statehood papers before signing them so that no one could tell which became a state first; consequently, the two states are officially numbered in alphabetical order.^[5] Statehood marked the gradual winding-down of the pioneer period, with the state fully settled by around 1920.^[6] Subsequent decades saw a rise in radical agrarian movements and economic cooperatives, of which one legacy is the Bank of North Dakota, the only state-run bank in the U.S.

Beginning in the mid-20th century, North Dakota's rich natural resources became more critical to economic development; into the 21st century, oil extraction from the Bakken formation in the northwest has played a major role in the state's prosperity. Such development has led to unprecedented population growth (along with high birth rates) and reduced unemployment, with North Dakota having the second-lowest unemployment rate in the U.S., after Hawaii.^{[7][8][9][10]} It ranks relatively well in metrics such as infrastructure, quality of life, economic opportunity, and public safety. It is believed to host the geographic center of North America, Rugby, and is home to what was once the tallest artificial structure in the Western Hemisphere, the KVLY-TV mast.

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