Fast Facts
- Population:
- 5,472,299
- Capital:
- Madison; 215,211
- Area:
- 65,498 square miles (169,639 square kilometers)
- Per Capita Income:
- U.S. $29,996
- Date Statehood Achieved:
- May 29, 1848
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Once home to more than a dozen Indian tribes, Wisconsin received an influx of Scandinavians, Germans, and other northern Europeans in the late 1800s. Today Wisconsin farmers rank second in the nation in the production of milk and butter, and first in cheese. More than 15,000 lakes, 47 state parks, and 13 forests stimulate tourism. In 1854 the Republican Party was born here.
ECONOMY
- Industry: Industrial machinery, paper products, food processing, metal products, electronic equipment, transportation
- Agriculture: Dairy products, cattle, corn, poultry and eggs, soybeans
—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition
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