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Wyoming
The least populous state, high plains and the Rockies
Wyoming is the least populous state in the country — fewer than 600,000 people across nearly 98,000 square miles of high, open country. A near-perfect rectangle on the map, it is anything but flat on the ground: the Rocky Mountains rise in great isolated ranges — the Tetons, the Wind River, the Bighorns — separated by wide, dry basins of sagebrush plain. The whole state sits high, averaging over 6,000 feet, on the broad backbone of the continent.
The Continental Divide threads across Wyoming, and in one place it splits to enclose the Great Divide Basin, a stretch of desert that drains to neither ocean. In the northwest corner sits Yellowstone, the world's first national park, a high volcanic plateau of geysers, hot springs, and wildlife perched atop one of the planet's largest active volcanic systems. Gannett Peak, the high point at 13,809 feet (4,209 m), crowns the Wind River Range. Cattle, coal, oil, gas, and tourism sustain a state defined by sheer open space.
Economy
Wyoming's economy is built on mineral wealth - it is the leading coal-producing state and a major source of natural gas, oil, and uranium - alongside cattle ranching and a large tourism industry centered on Yellowstone and Grand Teton. With the smallest population of any state and no income tax, it leans heavily on energy revenue.
Politics
Wyoming carries 3 electoral votes and is the most reliably Republican state in the country, giving the party its largest margins of any state in recent presidential elections.