SOUTH DAKOTA

constituent state of the United States of America, lying in the western north-central region of the country. The capital is Pierre. South Dakota is bounded by North Dakota on the north, Minnesota and Iowa on the east, Nebraska on the south, and Wyoming and Montana on the west. Roughly rectangular in shape, the state extends about 380 miles (610 km) from east to west and 245 miles (395 km) from north to south. The state's name is derived from the Dakota, or Sioux, Indians who roamed the plains before the arrival of Europeans. A lead plate discovered at Fort Pierre records the earliest-known presence of French explorers in the area in 174243. South Dakota was acquired by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803. The Lewis and Clark expedition spent about seven weeks in South Dakota on its way to the Pacific Northwest in 1804, but trappers and fur traders were virtually the only Europeans in the area until the mid-1850s, when Fort Randall was built on the Missouri River. The Dakota Territory was created in 1861, but settlement was confined to the extreme southeast until the Black Hills gold rush of 187576 swelled the population. South Dakota was admitted to the Union as the 40th state in 1889. Physiographically South Dakota can be divided into three main regions: (1) the eastern smoothed-out glaciated Prairie Plains; (2) the western unglaciated Great Plains, characterized by high buttes, rough canyons, and level tablelands and containing the Badlands; and (3) the Black Hills, an eroded dome-shaped uplift in the state's western part that rises to 7,242 feet (2,207 m) above sea level at Harney Peak. The Missouri River bisects the state from north to south. In the east-river area the principal tributaries of the Missourithe Big Sioux, Vermillion, and Jamesflow southward into valleys formed by glaciation. The main rivers of the unglaciated west-river region, the Grand, Moreau, Cheyenne, Bad, and White, flow eastward. The South Dakota climate is temperate but continental, exhibiting great extremes between summer and winter temperatures. The climate is also marked by persistent winds, low precipitation, and low humidity. The mean annual temperature for the entire state is about 45 F (7 C). At Rapid City in the Black Hills, average January and July temperatures are 24 F (-5 C) and 72 F (22 C), respectively. At Sioux Falls on the state's eastern border, the respective average temperatures are 14 F (-10 C) and 74 F (23 C). Annual precipitation, which averages from 14 inches (356 mm) or less in the northwest to about 24 inches (610 mm) along the eastern border, falls primarily as rain during the spring and summer months. Early white settlement of South Dakota was primarily by farmers in the east-river area and primarily by cattle ranchers and miners in the west-river area. Immigrants came mainly from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Russia. Indians, mainly descendants of the original Dakota, now comprise about 7 percent of the state's population and are the largest nonwhite group. Today most of the land is used for farming and ranching, and more than half of the population lives in areas classified as rural. Sioux Falls is the largest city. Because of insufficient economic opportunities, South Dakota loses a considerable number of its young people to other states. The economy of South Dakota is based largely on farming, which provides the basis for related manufacturing, trade, and service industries. Cash income from livestock and meat processing is several times that from crops. The state is among the leaders in cattle and hog production, and the main crops are wheat, corn (maize), rye, flaxseed, and alfalfa (lucerne) seed. The Homestake Mine near Lead in the Black Hills was long a leading producer of gold in the United States. Tourism, largely focused on the scenic attractions, mining and frontier traditions, and recreational opportunities of the Black Hills, accounts for a large portion of retail sales and service income. South Dakota is served by several railways that provide freight transportation and by two federal interstate highways. The Missouri River, dammed at four locations in the state, is a major source of electric power. Traditions of pioneer life pervade the art and culture of South Dakota. Education was given high priority by the early farmers, and the state supports a number of public institutions of higher learning and vocational schools. Summer theatres in the Black Hills are known worldwide. The National Park Service administers Mount Rushmore, Wind Cave, and Badlands national parks and Jewel Cave National Monument. Area 77,116 square miles (199,730 square km). Pop. (1990) 696,004. constituent state of the United States of America. It is a Great Plains state bordered on the north by North Dakota, on the east by Minnesota and Iowa, on the south by Nebraska, and on the west by Wyoming and Montana. Its boundaries contain 77,116 square miles (199,730 square kilometres), which are split by the upper Missouri River valley into east-river and west-river regions. The state is named for the Dakota division of the Sioux Indians. Pierre, near the centre of South Dakota, is one of the smallest state capital cities; it is named for the 19th-century St. Louis, Mo., magnate Pierre Chouteau, Jr. South Dakota was admitted to the Union as the 40th state on Nov. 2, 1889. South Dakota remains a predominantly rural state. Slightly less than one-tenth of the population is American Indian, representing 13 tribes of the Sioux. The non-Indian populace contains more than 20 ethnic and religious groups that retain some Old Country waysNorwegians, Swedes, Danes, Dutch, Irish, German-Russians, Mennonites, Hutterites, Plain Germans, several subdivisions of Czechs, English, Welsh, and others. In a society of such diverse heritage there is no typical South Dakotan. Additional reading Overviews of the land and people include Federal Writers' Project, A South Dakota Guide (1938), also available in an updated version, South Dakota: A Guide to the State, 2nd ed., rev. by M. Lisle Reese (1952, reprinted 1976), still useful; J. Leonard Jannewein and Jane Boorman (eds.), Dakota Panorama, 3rd ed. (1973); and Francie M. Berg, South Dakota: Land of Shining Gold (1982). DeLorme Mapping Company, South Dakota Atlas & Gazetteer (1997), focuses on the state's topography. Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve (ed.), South Dakota Geographic Names (1973), is the standard handbook on place-names.Mary Keepers Helgevold, A History of South Dakota Archaeology (1981), summarizes prehistoric features. South Dakota's modern history is recounted in Herbert T. Hoover and Larry Zimmerman (eds.), South Dakota Leaders: From Pierre Chouteau, Jr., to Oscar Howe (1989), the best interpretative historical volume, covering the lives of 51 state leaders; John Milton, South Dakota: A Bicentennial History (1977, reissued 1988); Herbert S. Schell, History of South Dakota, 3rd ed., rev. (1975); Howard Robert Lamar, Dakota Territory, 18611889: A Study of Frontier Politics (1956, reissued 1966); and Watson Parker, Gold in the Black Hills (1966, reprinted 1982). Annotated lists of sources on state history include Jack W. Marken and Herbert T. Hoover, Bibliography of the Sioux (1980), which treats the non-Indian history of the state as well; and Sue Laubersheimer (ed.), South Dakota: Changing, Changeless, 18891989 (1985). Herbert T. Hoover The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica