North Dakota
State in N USA; nicknamed Peace Garden State
Area:
183,100 sq km/70,677 sq mi
Capital:
Bismarck
Towns and Cities:
Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot
Physical:
Red River Valley; Missouri River; the Badlands, so called because the
pioneers had great difficulty in crossing them, with Theodore Roosevelt
national park, and Painted Canyon; Lake Sakakawea; Devils Lake, breeding
ground for migratory waterfowl; Pembina Gorge
Features:
Garrison Dam power plant on the Missouri River; the geographical centre
of North America at Rugby; Knife River Native American villages national
historic site; frontier forts, including Fort Buford (1866), where the
Sioux leader Sitting Bull was imprisoned, and Fort Abercrombie; Fort
Abraham Lincoln state park, including Custer House; Bismarck, with Art
Deco state capitol, and the Victorian former Governor's Mansion ; International
Peace Garden, on Canadian border; 90% of the land is cultivated.
Industries:
Cereals, meat products, farm equipment, oil, coal
Population:
(1995) 641,400
Famous People:
Maxwell Anderson, Louis L'Amour
History:
Explored by La Verendrye's French Canadian expedition 1738-40 ; acquired
by the USA partly in the Louisiana Purchase 1803 and partly by
treaty with Britain 1813. The earliest settlement was Pembina
1812, by Scottish and Irish families, and North Dakota became
a state 1889, attracting many German and Norwegian settlers.
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