68 Facts About North Dakota

1. North Dakota is a state on the northern Great Plains, populated largely by the descendants of Yankees, Norwegians, and German-Russians.

2. The North Dakota Access Pipeline does not cross the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, even at the portion of the pipeline that is the subject of dispute at Lake Oahe.

3. North Dakota has the world's largest buffalo statue, which weighs 60 tons.

4. North Dakota has the world's largest cow statue, Salem Sue, which stands more than 38 feet high.

5. North Dakota was once the home of legendary Native American leaders Sitting Bull and Gall.

6. North Dakota lies in the western part of the northcentral United States and is bordered by South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, and Canada.

7. North Dakota joined the Union as the thirty-ninth state on November 2, 1889.

8. The University of North Dakota competes in collegiate ice hockey, winning National Collegiate Athletic Association championships seven times, most recently in 2000.

9. North Dakota had an outstanding debt of $1.6 billion, or about $2,613.82 per capita.

10. In 2004, North Dakota was the leading producer of honey, with 9.1 million pounds worth $31.9 million.

11. In 2004, North Dakota ranked 37th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia with a per capita income of $29,494; the national average was $33,050.

12. In 2005, North Dakota had a gross state product of $24 billion, ranking 50th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

13. In 2006, North Dakota ranked 48th population in the United States with an estimated total of 635,867 residents.

14. In 2003, North Dakota had 17 hazardous waste sites listed in the Environmental Protection Agency's database, but none was on the National Priorities List as of 2006.

15. North Dakota has the largest sharptailed grouse population in the United States and has more wild ducks that any other state except Alaska.

16. North Dakota is predominantly a region of prairie and plains spread with Indian, blue, and buffalo grasses.

17. In 2001, North Dakota had 82 public library systems, with a total of 89 libraries, of which eight were branches.

18. In 2003, North Dakota had 40 community hospitals with about 3,600 beds.

19. North Dakota has the highest percentage of individual policy holders among the fifty states.

20. In 2004, a total of 22,027 people in North Dakota were employed in the state's manufacturing sector, according to the ASM.

21. In 2004, North Dakota had 117 producing natural gas and gas condensate wells.

22. North Dakota is one of 22 states with a right-to-work law.

23. North Dakota has more coal resources than any other state.

24. North Dakota firms received more than $309 million in defense contract awards in 2004.

25. In 2003, North Dakota spent $26,679,568 on homeland security, an average of $39 per state resident.

26. In 2005, North Dakota had 53 counties, 360 municipalities, 230 public school districts, and 764 special districts.

27. North Dakota had three electoral votes in the 2004 presidential election.

28. North Dakota is governed by the constitution of 1889, as amended.

29. In 2003, North Dakota led the nation in personal income and wage growth.

30. In 2005, North Dakota had a total of 308 public and private-use aviation-related facilities.

31. North Dakota is one of the most rural states in the United States, with over half of its population living outside metropolitan areas.

32. In 2003, North Dakota had 17 hazardous waste sites listed in the US Environment Protection Agency database, but none were on the National Priorities List as of 2006.

33. North Dakota is predominantly a region of prairie and plains, although the American elm, green ash, box elder, and cottonwood grow there.

34. North Dakota lies in the northwestern continental interior of the United States.

35. North Dakota has two major rivers: the Red River of the North, flowing northward into Canada; and the Missouri River, which enters in the northwest and then flows east and, joined by the Yellowstone River, southeast into South Dakota.

36. North Dakota is bordered on the n by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba; on the e by Minnesota; on the s by South Dakota; and on the w by Montana.

37. North Dakota is the coldest state in the contiguous United States.

38. North Dakota holds the Guinness World Record for the most�snow angels�made simultaneously in one place.

39. North Dakota is one of the least-populated states in the country.

40. North Dakota was admitted to the union as the 39th state on November 2, 1889.

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

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

43. North Dakota is a Native American Sioux word that roughly means "friend" or "ally.

44. North Dakota was the first state to complete its Interstate highway system.

45. North Dakota has more registered vehicles than it has residents.

46. North Dakota is the only state in the nation to never have an earthquake.

47. North Dakota has a high population of both Lutherans and Catholics.

48. North Dakota has the highest number of churches per capita.

49. North Dakota usually ranks No 1 in the nation when it comes to sunflower production, but wet weather and flooding had it coming in second behind South Dakota in both 2011 and 2013.

50. North Dakota had an unemployment rate of 2.6 percent as of April 2014, by far the lowest rate in the nation.

51. North Dakota has the fewest endangered species of any state.

52. North Dakota was explored in 1738a€“1740 by French Canadians led by Sieur de la Verendrye.

53. Air Force family from North Dakota died in Montana crash.

54. In 2005 North Dakota ranked 22nd highest by per capita state taxes.

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

56. North Dakota expanded Medicaid in 2014, and its health insurance exchange is the federal site, HealthCare.

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

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

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

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

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

62. 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.

63. The center of population of North Dakota is in Wells County, near Sykeston.

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

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

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

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

68. North Dakota was admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889.