North Dakota
The Peace Garden State, northern plains and badlands
North Dakota sits at the northern edge of the Great Plains, a wide, open state that climbs gently from the flat Red River Valley in the east to rougher, higher country in the west. The Red River, running north toward Canada and Hudson Bay, drains some of the flattest and most fertile land on the continent — an old glacial lakebed now planted in wheat and sugar beets. Westward the plains roll and dry, breaking at last into the colorful, eroded Badlands along the Little Missouri River.
The Badlands are the state's scenic surprise — banded buttes and ravines carved into the soft plains, protected within Theodore Roosevelt National Park and roamed by bison. White Butte, the high point at 3,506 feet (1,069 m), rises among them. Beneath the western prairie lies the Bakken, one of the largest oil fields in the country, which reshaped the region's economy. Thinly populated and far from the coasts, North Dakota is grain, grass, and sky, with Fargo on the Red River as its largest city.
Economy
North Dakota was transformed by the Bakken shale boom into one of the top oil-producing states, and energy - oil, coal, and wind - now drives its economy alongside its traditional base of agriculture, where it leads the nation in crops such as durum wheat, canola, and several others. Food processing adds to the mix.
Politics
North Dakota carries 3 electoral votes and votes reliably Republican in presidential elections, one of the most consistently Republican states, with a small and heavily rural population.
Cities
Notable people
- Lawrence Welk (1903–1992)Bandleader and television host — born in Strasburg, North Dakota
- Peggy Lee (1920–2002)Singer and songwriter — born in Jamestown, North Dakota
- Angie Dickinson (b. 1931)Actress — born in Kulm, North Dakota
- Louis L'Amour (1908–1988)Western novelist — born in Jamestown, North Dakota
Related
- MinnesotaThe Land of 10,000 Lakes, headwaters of the Mississippi
- MontanaBig Sky Country, where the plains meet the Rockies
- South DakotaThe Mount Rushmore State, plains, badlands, and Black Hills
- Dakota TerritoryThe territory that became North and South Dakota
- Geographic Center of North AmericaThe middle of the continent, in North Dakota
- The Enchanted HighwayGiant scrap-metal sculptures on the prairie