Place:North Dakota, United States

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North Dakota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th most extensive but the 3rd least populous and the 4th least densely populated of the 50 United States. North Dakota was created from the northern portion of the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889, simultaneously with South Dakota.

The state capitol is located in Bismarck and the largest city is Fargo. The primary public universities are located in Grand Forks and Fargo. The U.S. Air Force operates air bases at Minot AFB and Grand Forks AFB.

For more than a decade, the state has had a strong economy, with unemployment lower than the national average and strong job and population growth. Much of the growth has been based on development of the Bakken oil shale fields in the western part of the state. The state has also seen strong economic growth in the technology and service sectors.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Prior to European contact, Native Americans inhabited North Dakota for thousands of years. The first European to reach the area was the French-Canadian trader La Vérendrye, who led an exploration party to Mandan villages in 1738. The trading arrangement between tribes was such that North Dakota tribes rarely dealt directly with Europeans. However, the native tribes were in sufficient contact that by the time that Lewis and Clark entered North Dakota in 1804, they were aware of the French and then Spanish claims to their territory.

Much of present-day North Dakota was included in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803; the remainder was acquired in the Treaty of 1818. The acquired land was organized into Minnesota and Nebraska Territories. Dakota Territory, making up present-day North Dakota and South Dakota, along with parts of present-day Wyoming and Montana, was organized on March 2, 1861.

Dakota Territory was settled sparsely until the late 19th century, when the railroads entered the region and aggressively marketed the land. An omnibus bill for statehood for North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington titled the Enabling Act of 1889 was passed on February 22, 1889 during the administration of Grover Cleveland. After Cleveland left office, it was left to his successor, Benjamin Harrison, to sign proclamations formally admitting North Dakota and South Dakota to the Union on November 2, 1889.

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 and the actual order went unrecorded, thus no one knows which of the Dakotas was admitted first. However, since North Dakota alphabetically appears before South Dakota, its proclamation was published first in the Statutes At Large. Since that day, it has become common to list the Dakotas alphabetically and thus North Dakota is usually listed as the 39th state.

Unrest among wheat farmers, especially among Norwegians, led to a radical political movement after World War I centered in the Non Partisan League ("NPL"). The NPL, which eventually merged into the Democratic Party, attempted 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 were passed that 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 both 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.

A round of federal construction projects began in the 1950s, including the Garrison Dam and the Minot and Grand Forks Air Force bases. There was a boom in oil exploration in western North Dakota in the 1980s, as rising petroleum prices made development profitable. The original North Dakota State Capitol burned to the ground on December 28, 1930, and was replaced by a limestone faced art deco skyscraper that still stands today.

Timeline

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990

Note: North Dakota was admitted as a State on November 2, 1889 with essentially its present boundaries. It was formed from Dakota Territory, organized in 1861 (for Dakota's earlier history, see the State note for South Dakota). In 1850 census coverage of present-day North Dakota was limited to a few settlements in what was then Minnesota Territory. In 1860, some forts and settlements in the present State were enumerated in Nebraska Territory as well as in Dakota, which was not yet organized. No determination has been made to assign the 1860 Dakota total of 4,837 to what became the two separate States. Census coverage first included the whole State in 1890. The 1870 and 1880 populations consist of the totals of those counties of Dakota Territory located wholly or primarily in what is now North Dakota, plus (in 1870) an estimated portion of the Territory's unorganized part. The 1890 total includes the population (4,206) of the entire Standing Rock Indian Reservation, much of which was in South Dakota.. Totals for 1870 and 1880 are the totals of those counties of Dakota Territory located wholly or primarily in what is now North Dakota; in addition, the 1870 total includes an estimated share (1,192) of the population of the Territory's unorganized portion (2,091). Total for 1890 includes the population (8,264) of certain Indian reservations not reported by county; this includes the population (4,206) of the entire Standing Rock Indian Reservation, much of which was in South Dakota. The 1890 total also includes the population (511) of the Fort Yates and Standing Rock Indian agency other than reservation Indians, likewise not reported by county. Total for 1900 includes the population (2,208) of the portion of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota, not reported by county.

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