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North Dakota
North Dakota, state in the West North Central United States. It is bounded by Minnesota on the east, South Dakota on the south, and Montana on the west. North of it lies Canada. North Dakota belongs to the vast plains section of the United States, and like other plains states it is predominantly agricultural. Bismarck is the capital of North Dakota. Fargo is the largest city.
Early European residents were originally involved in fur trading, but after wars with Native Americans subsided and railroads were constructed, settlers poured into the state to take up its rich farmland. However, the prairie farmers have not always been successful economically. Political affairs in the state have vividly reflected the farmers' resentments against outside control of wheat prices and against the rates charged for storage and transportation of their grain. When the region including present-day North Dakota was made a territory of the United States in 1861, it was named for the Dakota people who lived there. Residents chose to retain the name when the territory was divided into north and south states upon admission into the Union on November 2, 1889. North Dakota is the 39th state. The Dakota people are better known as the Sioux, and have given the state one of its several nicknames-the Sioux State. North Dakota is called the Peace Garden State-in reference to the International Peace Garden on the border between North Dakota and Manitoba. Finally, the state is called the Flickertail State, referring to the flickertail ground squirrel common to central North Dakota.
Located at the geographical center of the North American continent, North Dakota is bounded on the north by the 49th parallel, which separates it from the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Its eastern boundary, the only natural boundary of the state, consists of the Red River of the North, or Red River, and one of its headwater streams, the Bois de Sioux River. North Dakota's boundaries enclose a rectangular area of 183,112 sq km (70,700 sq mi), including 4,465 sq km (1,724 sq mi) of inland water, making it the 18th largest state in the nation. From north to south its maximum distance is 341 km (212 mi), and from east to west, North Dakota extends for 581 km (361 mi). The state slopes downward from southwest to northeast. The lowest point, 229 m (750 ft) above sea level, is found at the Red River near Pembina, in the northeastern corner of the state. The state's highest point, 1,069 m (3,506 ft), is White Butte, in southwestern North Dakota. The mean elevation of the state is about 580 m (1,900 ft).
North Dakota is a Plains state. Although it is largely flat or rolling, there are rough and hilly sections. In relatively recent geologic time a continental glacier spread over all but the southwestern
section. It brought soil from Canada, scoured down the highlands, and filled in the lowlands. The glacier blocked the northward-flowing Red River, forming the glacial Lake Agassiz, whose dry lake basin forms the flat and fertile Red River valley in the east.
Other cities in North Dakota
Bismarck
Devils Lake
Dickinson
Fargo
Grand Forks
Jamestown
Minot
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