North Dakota

North Dakota is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by Canada’s provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the United States states of Minnesota, South Dakota, and Montana to its east. It is home to Rugby, North America’s geographic center, and the KVLY TV mast, the tallest man-made structure in Western Hemisphere.

North Dakota is the nineteenth largest state, but with a population of less than 780,000 as of 2020, it is the fourth least populous and fourth most sparsely populated. Bismarck is the capital, while Fargo is the largest city. Both cities are among the fastest growing in the U.S., even though half of residents live in rural areas. The state is located in the Great Plains region. It has broad prairies, steppes, temperate savannas, badlands, and farmland as its distinctive characteristics.

The area now known as North Dakota was once home to several Native American tribes. These included the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara along Missouri River; the Ojibwa in the northeast; and several Sioux groups (the Assiniboine Yankton Wahpeton and Teton) throughout the rest of the state. European traders and explorers arrived in the region in search of lucrative furs in the 18th century. The United States acquired the region in the early 19th century, gradually settling it amid growing resistance by increasingly displaced natives.