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.

History

Pre-colonial history

Native American people lived in what is now North Dakota for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The known tribes included the Mandan people (from around the 11th century),^[11] while the first Hidatsa group arrived a few hundred years later.^[12] They both assembled in villages on tributaries of the Missouri River in what would become west-central North Dakota. Crow Indians traveled the plains from the west to visit and trade with the related Hidatsas^[11] after the split between them, probably in the 17th century.^[13]

Later came divisions of the Sioux: the Lakota, the Santee and the Yanktonai. The Assiniboine and the Plains Cree undertook southward journeys to the village Indians, either for trade or for war.^[11][14] The Shoshone Indians in present-day Wyoming and Montana may have carried out attacks on Indian enemies as far east as the Missouri.^[15] A group of Cheyennes lived in a village of earth lodges at the lower Sheyenne River (Biesterfeldt Site) for decades in the 18th century.

Due to attacks by Crees, Assiniboines and Chippewas armed with fire weapons^{[clarification needed]}, they left the area around 1780 and crossed Missouri some time after.^[16] A band of the few Sotaio Indians lived east of Missouri River and met the uprooted Cheyennes before the end of the century. They soon followed the Cheyennes across Missouri and lived among them south of Cannonball River.^[17]

Eventually, the Cheyenne and the Sutaio became one tribe and turned into mounted buffalo hunters with ranges mainly outside North Dakota. Before the middle of the 19th century, the Arikara entered the future state from the south and joined the Mandan and Hidatsa.^[18] With time, a number of Indians entered into treaties with the United States. Many of the treaties defined the territory of a specific tribe.

European exploration and colonization

The first European to reach the area was the French-Canadian trader Pierre Gaultier, sieur de La Vérendrye, who led an exploration and trading party to the Mandan villages in 1738 guided by Assiniboine Indians.^[19]

From 1762 to 1802, the region formed part of Spanish Louisiana.^[20]

Settlement and statehood

European Americans settled in Dakota Territory only sparsely until the late 19th century, when railroads opened up the region. With the advantage of grants of land, they vigorously marketed their properties, extolling the region as ideal for agriculture.

Differences between the northern and southern part caused resentments between the settlers. The northern part was seen by the more populated southern part as somewhat disreputable, "too much controlled by the wild folks, cattle ranchers, fur traders" and too frequently the site of conflict with the indigenous population. The northern part was generally content with remaining a territory. However, following the territorial capital being moved from Yankton in the southern part to Bismarck, the southern part began to call for division. Finally, at the 1887 territorial election, the voters approved splitting the territory into two. The division was done by the seventh standard parallel.^[21][22]

Congress passed an omnibus bill for statehood for North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington, titled the Enabling Act of 1889, on February 22, 1889, during the administration of President Grover Cleveland. His successor, Benjamin Harrison, signed the proclamations formally admitting North Dakota and South Dakota to the Union on November 2, 1889.^[23]

The rivalry between the two new states presented a dilemma of which was to be admitted first. Harrison directed Secretary of State James G. Blaine to shuffle the papers and obscure from him which he was signing first. The actual order went unrecorded, thus no one knows which of the Dakotas was admitted first.^[24][25] However, since North Dakota alphabetically appears before South Dakota, its proclamation was published first in the Statutes At Large.

20th and 21st centuries

Unrest among wheat farmers, especially among Norwegian immigrants, led to a populist political movement centered in the Non Partisan League ("NPL") around the time of World War I. The NPL ran candidates on the Republican ticket (but merged into the Democratic Party after World War II). It tried to insulate North Dakota from the power of out-of-state banks and corporations.

In addition to founding the state-owned Bank of North Dakota and North Dakota Mill and Elevator (both still in existence), the NPL established a state-owned railroad line (later sold to the Soo Line Railroad). Anti-corporate laws virtually prohibited a corporation or bank from owning title to land zoned as farmland. These laws, still in force today, after having been upheld by state and federal courts, make it almost impossible to foreclose on farmland, as even after foreclosure, the property title cannot be held by a bank or mortgage company.^[26] Furthermore, the Bank of North Dakota, having powers similar to a Federal Reserve branch bank, exercised its power to limit the issuance of subprime mortgages and their collateralization in the form of derivative instruments, and so prevented a collapse of housing prices within the state in the wake of 2008's financial crisis.^[27]

The original North Dakota State Capitol in Bismarck burned to the ground on December 28, 1930. It was replaced by a limestone-faced art-deco skyscraper that still stands today.^[28] A round of federal investment and construction projects began in the 1950s, including the Garrison Dam and the Minot and Grand Forks Air Force bases.^[29]

Western North Dakota saw a boom in oil exploration in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as rising petroleum prices made development profitable.^[30] This boom came to an end after petroleum prices declined.^[30]

In recent years, the state has had lower rates of unemployment than the national average, and increased job and population growth.^[9][10] Much of the growth has been based on development of the Bakken oil fields in the western part of the state.^[8] Estimates as to the remaining amount of oil in the area vary, with some estimating over 100 years' worth.^[31]

For decades, North Dakota's annual murder and violent crime rates were regularly the lowest in the United States. In recent years, however, while still below the national average, crime has risen sharply. In 2016, the violent crime rate was three times higher than in 2004, with the rise occurring mostly in the late 2000s, coinciding with the oil boom era. This happened at a time when the national violent crime rate declined slightly.^[32] Workers in the oil boom towns have been blamed for much of the increase.^[33][34]

Geography

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North Dakota is located in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. It lies at the center of the North American continent and borders Canada to the north. The geographic center of North America is near the town of Rugby. Bismarck is the capital of North Dakota, and Fargo is the most populous city.

North Dakota is in the U.S. region known as the Great Plains. The state shares the Red River of the North with Minnesota to the east. South Dakota is to the south, Montana is to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are to the north. North Dakota is near the middle of North America with a stone marker in Rugby, North Dakota marking the "Geographic Center of the North American Continent". With an area of 70,762 square miles (183,273 km²),^[35] 69,001 square miles (178,712 km²) of which is land,^[36] North Dakota is the 19th largest state.^[37]

The western half of the state consists of the hilly Great Plains as well as the northern part of the Badlands, which are to the west of the Missouri River. The state's high point, White Butte at 3,506 feet (1,069 m), and Theodore Roosevelt National Park^[38] are in the Badlands. The region is abundant in fossil fuels including natural gas, crude oil and lignite coal. The Missouri River forms Lake Sakakawea, the third largest artificial lake in the United States, behind the Garrison Dam.^[39]

The central region of the state is divided into the Drift Prairie and the Missouri Plateau. The eastern part of the state consists of the flat Red River Valley, the bottom of glacial Lake Agassiz. Its fertile soil, drained by the meandering Red River flowing northward into Lake Winnipeg, supports a large agriculture industry.^[40] Devils Lake, the largest natural lake in the state, is also found in the east.^[41]

Most of the state is covered in grassland; crops cover most of eastern North Dakota but become increasingly sparse in the center and farther west. Natural trees in North Dakota are found usually where there is good drainage, such as the ravines and valley near the Pembina Gorge and Killdeer Mountains, the Turtle Mountains, the hills around Devils Lake, in the dunes area of McHenry County in central North Dakota, and along the Sheyenne Valley slopes and the Sheyenne delta. This diverse terrain supports nearly 2,000 species of plants.^[42][43]

Soil is North Dakota's most precious resource. It is the base of the state's great agricultural wealth. North Dakota also has enormous mineral resources. These mineral resources include billions of tons of lignite coal. In addition, North Dakota has large oil reserves. Petroleum was discovered in the state in 1951 and quickly became one of North Dakota's most valuable mineral resources. In the early 2000s, the emergence of hydraulic fracturing technologies enabled mining companies to extract huge amounts of oil from the Bakken shale rock formation in the western part of the state.^[44]

North Dakota public lands 5 national parks, 5 state forests, 63 national wildlife refuges, 3 national grassland, and 13 state parks^[45] plus there are state trust land, bureau of land management, waterfowl production areas, bureau of reclamation, bureau of land management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, state wildlife management areas^[46]

North Dakota wildlife

Currently there are 36 Level I species, 44 Level II species, and 35 Level III species.^[47]

List of birds of North Dakota The basic NDGFD list contains 420 confirmed and extant species, two extinct species. Three additional species have been added from the North Dakota Bird Records Committee (NDBRC) review list with some additions from Avibase. The combined lists contain 420 species. Of them, 194 and a subspecies are on the review list (see below). The NDGFD list considers 44 species to be accidental, and eight species have been introduced to North America.^[48]

List of mammals of North Dakota 87 species are known to live in the state. This includes mammals that are currently extirpated or locally extinct in North Dakota such as the gray wolf, swift fox, caribou and grizzly bear.

List of insects of North Dakota ^[49] 1,126 Species known in North Dakota

List of fish of North Dakota ^[50] 98 Species are currently known in North Dakota

List of reptiles/amphibians of North Dakota^[51] 16 Species of Reptiles and 12 Amphibians found in the state.

List of crustaceans/mussels of North Dakota

^[52] Three species of crawfish are found in North Dakota: Devil, Calico, and Virile

North Dakota is home to three freshwater shrimp species, gammarus, hyalella and mysis. The latter is an introduced species stocked in Lake Sakakawea in the early 1970s to add to the forage base.

^[53] Cvancara's Aquatic Mussels of North Dakota from 1983. He documented 13 species of what are generally referred to as clams in the state along with 13 species of pill clams, which are very small clams, in the order of a few millimeters in length. He also documented 22 species of snails in the state.

Climate

North Dakota has a continental climate with warm summers and cold winters. The temperature differences are significant because of its far inland position and being roughly equal distance from the North Pole and the Equator.