19 Facts About Dakota

1. North Dakota contains the world's biggest deposit of lignite, a type of soft, brown coal.

2. North Dakota is bordered by Canada in the north, Minnesota in the east, South Dakota in the south, and Montana in the west.

3. The current Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota is Brent Sanford, who is the President of the Senate.

4. North Dakota has six level-II trauma centers, 44 hospitals, 52 rural health clinics, and 80 nursing homes.

5. North Dakota is the second leading producer of sugarbeets, which are grown mostly in the Red River Valley.

6. The word "Dakota" is a Sioux word meaning "allies" or "friends".

7. North Dakota has the most churches per capita of any state.

8. North Dakota is one of the top resettlement locations for refugees proportionally.

9. North Dakota was a known popular destination for immigrant farmers and general laborers and their families, mostly from Norway, Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom.

10. North Dakota is near the middle of North America with a stone marker in Rugby, North Dakota marking the "Geographic Center of the North American Continent".

11. North Dakota has a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters.

12. South Dakota is to the south, Montana is to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are to the north.

13. North Dakota is in the US region known as the Great Plains.

14. North Dakota is called the Flickertail State because of the many flickertail ground squirrels that live in the central part of the state.

15. North Dakota is a Midwestern state of the United States.

16. North Dakota was admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889, along with its neighboring state, South Dakota.

17. South Dakota is bordered by North Dakota in the north, Minnesota and Iowa in the east, Nebraska in the south, and Wyoming and Montana in the west.

18. South Dakota is home to two of the world's longest caves.

19. South Dakota has often been referred to as "the land of infinite variety.