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'''North Dakota''' is a northern [[Midwest]]ern state; it is part of the [[Great Plains]] and became the thirty-ninth state to enter into the union on November 2, 1889.<ref> It entered on the same day as [[South Dakota]], but is given status first because of alphabetical order.</ref> The state capital is Bismarck, and the largest city is Fargo. North Dakota is the only state that has a state-owned bank in the nation.<ref>http://www.banknd.nd.gov/bndhome.jsp</ref> North Dakota is located in the center of the North American continent. The exact geographical center is located 97 miles NE of [[Bismarck]], 15 miles SW of [[Rugby]]. <ref>http://hypertextbook.com/bent/photos/geographic.center.html</ref>

'''North Dakota''' is a northern [[Midwest]]ern state; it is part of the [[Great Plains]] and became the thirty-ninth state to enter into the union on November 2, 1889.<ref>It entered on the same day as [[South Dakota]], but is given status first because of alphabetical order.</ref> The state capital is Bismarck, and the largest city is Fargo. North Dakota is the only state that has a state-owned bank in the nation.<ref>http://www.banknd.nd.gov/bndhome.jsp</ref> North Dakota is located in the center of the North American continent. The exact geographical center is located 97 miles NE of [[Bismarck]], 15 miles SW of [[Rugby]].<ref>http://hypertextbook.com/bent/photos/geographic.center.html</ref>

==Politics==

==Politics==

[[File:ND-map-1958.jpg|340px|thumb|1958 map.]]

[[File:ND-map-1958.jpg|340px|thumb|1958 map.]]

Since 1940 North Dakota has voted [[Republican]] for president (except in 1964), but elects many [[Democrat]]s to [[Congress]]. The current governor of North Dakota is [[Jack Dalrymple]], a Republican. <ref>http://governor.nd.gov/</ref>

Since 1940 North Dakota has voted [[Republican]] for president (except in 1964), but elects many [[Democrat]]s to [[Congress]]. The current governor of North Dakota is [[Jack Dalrymple]], a Republican.<ref>http://governor.nd.gov/</ref>

==Elected Officials==

==Elected Officials==

==Population==

==Population==

The original native American tribes in what is now North Dakota were the [[Mandan]], [[Sioux]], Arikara, [[Chippewa]], [[Cheyenne]], Assiniboine, and Hidatsa. Today only the Sioux and Chippewa remain; they comprise about 4% of the population.  

The original native American tribes in what is now North Dakota were the [[Mandan]], [[Sioux]], Arikara, [[Chippewa]], [[Cheyenne]], Assiniboine, and Hidatsa. Today only the Sioux and Chippewa remain; they comprise about 4% of the population.  

[[File:Fargo.jpg|thumb|310px|Fargo and other cities are growing steadily as they absorb the people leaving the declining rural areas.]]  Most settlers arrived from the 1880s to 1910, usually straight from Europe. Since then the population has held steady at about 650,000. Young people are moving out of rural areas to other states or to the few cities.  The four urban counties (containing Fargo, Grand Forks Bismark and Minot) grew from 134,000 people in 1930 to 338,000 in 2007, while the other 49 counties--heavily rural--declined from 546,000 in 1930 to only 301,000 in 2007, and the decline continues. Thanks to high prices for oil and wheat, the state is prosperous and the state budget has a surplus. Higher education is a priority; he state ranks first in spending per capita on state colleges and universities.

[[File:Fargo.jpg|thumb|310px|Fargo and other cities are growing steadily as they absorb the people leaving the declining rural areas.]]  Most settlers arrived from the 1880s to 1910, usually straight from Europe. Since then the population has held steady at about 650,000. Young people are moving out of rural areas to other states or to the few cities.  The four urban counties (containing Fargo, Grand Forks Bismark and Minot) grew from 134,000 people in 1930 to 338,000 in 2007, while the other 49 counties—heavily rural—declined from 546,000 in 1930 to only 301,000 in 2007, and the decline continues. Thanks to high prices for oil and wheat, the state is prosperous and the state budget has a surplus. Higher education is a priority; he state ranks first in spending per capita on state colleges and universities.

==Ethnicity==

==Ethnicity==

===Norwegians===

===Norwegians===

Norwegian folk came to North Dakota with a reputation for honesty, hospitality, and thrift; they were modernizers and prohibitionists and soon acquired new traits involving good manners, a greater respect for women, more democratic ideas, and disregard for European class distinctions. "In Norway," one pioneer recalled, "we were in many respects a helpless tool in the hands of the state. There we had the state church. The child must be baptized or a fine must be paid." Ole Lima said that when his people came to America they became "a more wideawake people and more independent thinking. . . . The Norwegian, who has lived a while in America, is more civilized than if he had not been here.  He has seen more, experienced more, thought more, and all this has opened his eyes and broadened his view."<ref> Quoted in Robinson (1966) p 548</ref>

Norwegian folk came to North Dakota with a reputation for honesty, hospitality, and thrift; they were modernizers and prohibitionists and soon acquired new traits involving good manners, a greater respect for women, more democratic ideas, and disregard for European class distinctions. "In Norway," one pioneer recalled, "we were in many respects a helpless tool in the hands of the state. There we had the state church. The child must be baptized or a fine must be paid." Ole Lima said that when his people came to America they became "a more wideawake people and more independent thinking. . . . The Norwegian, who has lived a while in America, is more civilized than if he had not been here.  He has seen more, experienced more, thought more, and all this has opened his eyes and broadened his view."<ref>Quoted in Robinson (1966) p 548</ref>

[[File:ND-Leal.jpg|thumb|340px|The town of Leal in Barnes County in 1920, when it had 88 people; only 36 remain today--it's typical of many fading villages.]]

[[File:ND-Leal.jpg|thumb|340px|The town of Leal in Barnes County in 1920, when it had 88 people; only 36 remain today--it's typical of many fading villages.]]

===Volga Germans===

===Volga Germans===

On the other hand the "Russian Germans" or "Volga Germans" were traditionalists. They were germans who had lived isolated lives for generations in the Volga River region of Russia. They settled mostly in the south-central part of the state, the so-called German-Russian triangle. They brought little money and so worked poorer land, and were not as well off as other groups. No educated Germans-speaking pastors, teachers, professional men, or tradesmen had joined the peasants who migrated to America.  The older generation was still speaking German (they never spoke Russian) in the 1940s, while the next generation was bilingual.  Negatively influenced by their miseries and isolation in Russia, they saw themselves a downtrodden class cheated by businessmen and railroads; they raised large families with harsh discipline; they wanted their children to be farmers so took them out of school around age 14; they treated their womenfolk as inferior, and were slow to diversify their farms.  Many grew sugar beets. In World War I (1917-18) their patriotism was ambiguous; distrusted by their neighbors they rejected prohibition and Americanization efforts and supported radical far-left political movements such as the NPL ("Non-Partisan League") in state elections and [[Robert LaFollette]] in 1924.<ref>Robinson (1966) pp. 285-87, 557; Gordon L. Iseminger, "The McIntosh County German-Russians: the First Fifty Years," ''North Dakota History'' 1984 51(3): 4-23; Iseminger, "Are We Germans, or Russians, or Americans? The McIntosh County German-Russians During World War I," ''North Dakota History'' 1992 59(2): 2-16. </ref>

On the other hand the "Russian Germans" or "Volga Germans" were traditionalists. They were germans who had lived isolated lives for generations in the Volga River region of Russia. They settled mostly in the south-central part of the state, the so-called German-Russian triangle. They brought little money and so worked poorer land, and were not as well off as other groups. No educated Germans-speaking pastors, teachers, professional men, or tradesmen had joined the peasants who migrated to America.  The older generation was still speaking German (they never spoke Russian) in the 1940s, while the next generation was bilingual.  Negatively influenced by their miseries and isolation in Russia, they saw themselves a downtrodden class cheated by businessmen and railroads; they raised large families with harsh discipline; they wanted their children to be farmers so took them out of school around age 14; they treated their womenfolk as inferior, and were slow to diversify their farms.  Many grew sugar beets. In World War I (1917–18) their patriotism was ambiguous; distrusted by their neighbors they rejected prohibition and Americanization efforts and supported radical far-left political movements such as the NPL ("Non-Partisan League") in state elections and [[Robert LaFollette]] in 1924.<ref>Robinson (1966) pp. 285-87, 557; Gordon L. Iseminger, "The McIntosh County German-Russians: the First Fifty Years," ''North Dakota History'' 1984 51(3): 4-23; Iseminger, "Are We Germans, or Russians, or Americans? The McIntosh County German-Russians During World War I," ''North Dakota History'' 1992 59(2): 2-16.</ref>

==Climate==

==Climate==

[[File:Nd-farm-map.jpg|thumb|290px]] North Dakota has always been a farm state.  The most productive area is the eastern strip in the Red River Valley, where the soils are good and the water is abundant.  Too abundant, sometimes, as the Red River (which flows north into Canada) often floods.  Farming here is diversified, with wheat dominant, along with sugar beets and other crops.

[[File:Nd-farm-map.jpg|thumb|290px]] North Dakota has always been a farm state.  The most productive area is the eastern strip in the Red River Valley, where the soils are good and the water is abundant.  Too abundant, sometimes, as the Red River (which flows north into Canada) often floods.  Farming here is diversified, with wheat dominant, along with sugar beets and other crops.

[[File:Sod-house.jpg|thumb|300px|There are few trees on the plains, so many pioneers built houses from sod and lived in them for years despite the dirt, darkness and insects. This hand-colored photo was taken about 1905.<ref> See Everett Dick, ''Sod-House Frontier'' (1937)</ref>]]

[[File:Sod-house.jpg|thumb|300px|There are few trees on the plains, so many pioneers built houses from sod and lived in them for years despite the dirt, darkness and insects. This hand-colored photo was taken about 1905.<ref>See Everett Dick, ''Sod-House Frontier'' (1937)</ref>]]

The East Central and West Central regions are dry and are given over to wheat and other grains.

The East Central and West Central regions are dry and are given over to wheat and other grains.

===Farmers Union===

===Farmers Union===

[[File:Nd-Farm-union.jpg|thumb|400px|State headquarters of Farmers Union in Jamestown]]

[[File:Nd-Farm-union.jpg|thumb|400px|State headquarters of Farmers Union in Jamestown]]

The Farmers Union, the state branch of the National Farmers [[Labor union|Union]] (NFU), was founded in 1927 and emerged out of the NPL in the 1920s. The Union grew rapidly in the 1930s when the [[New Deal]] (through the [[Farm Security Administration]] began funding rural cooperatives. The coops were businesses--grain elevators and retail stores--that are owned by the farmers collectively, and enjoy special tax privileges.  Norwegians in particular favored the coops and the Farmers Union. The Union has always leaned to the left, as opposed to the conservative farm Bureau Federation.  North Dakota is one of the  few states where the Union has a much larger membership than the Bureau, thanks to those coops. In 1956 there were 58,000 farmers in the state, of whom 44,000 belonged to the Union In the 1956 the Union took over the remnants of the NPL and merged it into the Democratic Party, which is officially the Democratic-NPL Party. The Farmers Union in 2009 still has 42,000 members, because it is signing up town folk to join the coops. It still lobbies on the left on major state and national issues.

The Farmers Union, the state branch of the National Farmers [[Labor union|Union]] (NFU), was founded in 1927 and emerged out of the NPL in the 1920s. The Union grew rapidly in the 1930s when the [[New Deal]] (through the [[Farm Security Administration]] began funding rural cooperatives. The coops were businesses—grain elevators and retail stores—that are owned by the farmers collectively, and enjoy special tax privileges.  Norwegians in particular favored the coops and the Farmers Union. The Union has always leaned to the left, as opposed to the conservative farm Bureau Federation.  North Dakota is one of the  few states where the Union has a much larger membership than the Bureau, thanks to those coops. In 1956 there were 58,000 farmers in the state, of whom 44,000 belonged to the Union In the 1956 the Union took over the remnants of the NPL and merged it into the Democratic Party, which is officially the Democratic-NPL Party. The Farmers Union in 2009 still has 42,000 members, because it is signing up town folk to join the coops. It still lobbies on the left on major state and national issues.

==Transportation==

==Transportation==

===Tourism===

===Tourism===

[[Hunting]], [[fishing]] and boating are popular pastimes and draw summer tourists. The 2,300 acre tract of the '''International Peace Garden''' straddling the Canadian border was located near the geographical center of the American continent in 1932. The land was given by the Province of Manitoba and the State of North Dakota, after four years of planning by a group of distinguished gardeners. A cairn of native stone bears the inscription, 'To God in His Glory, we two nations dedicate this garden and pledge ourselves that as long as men shall live, we will not take up arms against one another.' Articles of incorporation were filed in Manitoba and North Dakota. A 100 percent Federal grant was received from the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. A Civilian Conservation Corps camp was installed in 1934 and aided in the garden's development until 1941. Other organizations contributed. The garden houses an International Music camp, weekly encampments of the Royal Canadian Legion, the North Dakota Farm Bureau, the North Dakota Farmers' Union, Boy Scouts, church groups, and other youth activities.<ref>John A.  Stormon, "A History of the International Peace Garden," ''North Dakota History'' 1964 31(4): 205-215, </ref>

[[Hunting]], [[fishing]] and boating are popular pastimes and draw summer tourists. The 2,300 acre tract of the '''International Peace Garden''' straddling the Canadian border was located near the geographical center of the American continent in 1932. The land was given by the Province of Manitoba and the State of North Dakota, after four years of planning by a group of distinguished gardeners. A cairn of native stone bears the inscription, 'To God in His Glory, we two nations dedicate this garden and pledge ourselves that as long as men shall live, we will not take up arms against one another.' Articles of incorporation were filed in Manitoba and North Dakota. A 100 percent Federal grant was received from the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. A Civilian Conservation Corps camp was installed in 1934 and aided in the garden's development until 1941. Other organizations contributed. The garden houses an International Music camp, weekly encampments of the Royal Canadian Legion, the North Dakota Farm Bureau, the North Dakota Farmers' Union, Boy Scouts, church groups, and other youth activities.<ref>John A.  Stormon, "A History of the International Peace Garden," ''North Dakota History'' 1964 31(4): 205-215,</ref>

==Energy==

==Energy==

[[File:Nd-oil.jpg|thumb|350px]]

[[File:Nd-oil.jpg|thumb|350px]]

North Dakota has considerable fossil fuel reserves. Coal is extracted from large surface mines in central North Dakota. Substantial crude oil and natural gas reserves are located in the Williston Basin, in the western part of the State. Although a low population largely accounts for the State’s low total energy consumption, North Dakota’s per capita energy consumption ranks among the highest in the Nation, in large part due to high demand for heating during cold winters and an energy-intensive economy. Industry accounts for nearly one-half of the State’s total energy consumption.<ref> See [http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=ND Energy Information Administration, State Report 2009]</ref>   

North Dakota has considerable fossil fuel reserves. Coal is extracted from large surface mines in central North Dakota. Substantial crude oil and natural gas reserves are located in the Williston Basin, in the western part of the State. Although a low population largely accounts for the State’s low total energy consumption, North Dakota’s per capita energy consumption ranks among the highest in the Nation, in large part due to high demand for heating during cold winters and an energy-intensive economy. Industry accounts for nearly one-half of the State’s total energy consumption.<ref>See [http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=ND Energy Information Administration, State Report 2009]</ref>   

===Petroleum===

===Petroleum===

* Crawford, Lewis F. ''History of North Dakota'' (3 vol 1931), excellent history in vol 1; biographies in vol. 2-3

* Crawford, Lewis F. ''History of North Dakota'' (3 vol 1931), excellent history in vol 1; biographies in vol. 2-3

* Danbom, David B. ''"Our Purpose Is to Serve": The First Century of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station.'' (1990). 237 pp.

* Danbom, David B. ''"Our Purpose Is to Serve": The First Century of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station.'' (1990). 237 pp.

* Danbom, David B. "North Dakota: The Most Midwestern State," in ''Heartland: Comparative Histories of the Midwestern States,'' ed. by James H. Madison, (1988) pp 107-126

* Danbom, David B. "North Dakota: The Most Midwestern State," in ''Heartland: Comparative Histories of the Midwestern States,'' ed. by James H. Madison, (1988) pp 107–126

* Drache, Hiram M. ''The Day of the Bonanza: A History of Bonanza Farming in the Red River Valley of the North.'' (1964), giant wheat farms with many employees

* Drache, Hiram M. ''The Day of the Bonanza: A History of Bonanza Farming in the Red River Valley of the North.'' (1964), giant wheat farms with many employees

* Eisenberg, C. G. ''History of the First Dakota-District of the Evangelical-Lutheran Synod of Iowa and Other States.'' (1982). 268 pp. now part of [[ELCA]]

* Eisenberg, C. G. ''History of the First Dakota-District of the Evangelical-Lutheran Synod of Iowa and Other States.'' (1982). 268 pp. now part of [[ELCA]]

{{USstates}}

{{USstates}}

[[Category : North Dakota]]

[[Category:North Dakota]]

[[Category : The Dakotas]]

[[Category:The Dakotas]]

[[Category : States of the United States]]

[[Category:States of the United States]]

[[Category : Survivalism]]

[[Category:Survivalism]]

[[Category : Red States]]

[[Category:Red States]]

[[Category : Purple States]]

[[Category:Purple States]]

[[Category : Great Plains]]  

[[Category:Great Plains]]  

[[Category : Plains of the United States]]

[[Category:Plains of the United States]]

[[Category : Wild West]]

[[Category:Wild West]]

[[Category : Oil]]

[[Category:Oil]]

[[Category : Oil Industry]]

[[Category:Oil Industry]]