South Dakota
South Dakota covers 77,121 square miles and has a population of 754,844 people. South
Dakota's capital is
Pierre,
which has a population of 13,876. Other important cities are
Rapid City (pop.
59,607),
Sioux
Falls (pop. 123,975),
Aberdeen (pop.
24,658) and
Watertown
(pop. 20,237).
South Dakota was admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889 as the 40th state. It's
bordered by
North Dakota to the
north,
Minnesota to the northeast,
Iowa to the southeast,
Nebraska to the south,
Wyoming to the southwest and
Montana to the northwest. The state
flower is the "Pasque Flower" and it's nickname is "Mount Rushmore
State". South Dakota's economy is broken into two categories; agriculture and
industry. Cattle, hogs, wheat, soybeans, milk and corn provide for the agricultural side.
While food processing, machinery, lumber and wood products and tourism provide for the
industrial side.