South Dakota Facts -- National Geographic

Fast Facts

Population:: 764,309
Capital:: Pierre; 14,012
Area:: 77,117 square miles (199,731 square kilometers)
Per Capita Income:: U.S. $26,694
Date Statehood Achieved:: November 2, 1889

Ranchers raise cattle and sheep on the Great Plains west of the Missouri. East of the river farmers grow corn and other grains. Sioux Falls, with 130,491 people, is the state's largest city. The Black Hills, spiritual homeland of the Sioux, contain one of North America's largest gold mines, the Homestake. Rapid City, once the gateway to mining camps, now channels tourists to Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park, which protects a publicly owned herd of 1,500 buffalo.

ECONOMY

Industry: Finance, services, manufacturing, government, retail trade, transportation and utilities, wholesale trade, construction, mining
Agriculture: Cattle, corn, soybeans, wheat, hogs, hay, dairy products

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

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