North Dakota

North Dakota is a state in the United States. 642,200 people lived in North Dakota in the year 2000. The capital and seat of government is Bismarck.

Geography
North Dakota is south of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, east of Montana, north of South Dakota, and west of Minnesota. Manitoba and Saskatchewan are provinces - part of Canada. Montana, South Dakota, and Minnesota are other states in the United States.

Weather
North Dakota is not close to any big bodies of water (oceans or seas). Because of this, temperatures in North Dakota are very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. In the summer, there are sometimes strong thunderstorms. These storms can have tornadoes and hail.

History
Before European people came, Native American people lived in the area now called North Dakota. One important tribe was the Mandan.

North Dakota was one of the last US states to be settled. (To have people go there to make homes and live.) On November 2, 1889, North Dakota (and South Dakota) became part of the United States.

Economy
Most of the economy is based on agriculture. The most important agricultural crops are durum, a type of wheat, which is grown all across the state. In the Red River Valley, there is more rain, and maize (corn) and sugar beets are grown as well. In the Badlands, there is less rain, and more cattle are raised than crops.

North Dakota has the only bank in the United States that is owned by the state. The Bank of North Dakota is where all of the money from all government agencies is held. Most banks in the United States are guaranteed by the FDIC (acronym for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.) The FDIC guarantees that people will not lose money if a bank fails. But the Bank of North Dakota is insured by the state of North Dakota.

Related pages

 * Colleges and universities in North Dakota
 * List of counties in North Dakota