Portal:South Dakota

The South Dakota Portal

South Dakota (/dəˈkoʊtə/ ^ⓘ; Siouan languages: Dakȟóta itókaga, pronounced [daˈkˣota iˈtokaga]) is a landlocked state in the Upper Midwest, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota Sioux tribe, which comprises a large portion of the population and has historically dominated the territory. South Dakota is the 17th-largest by area, the fifth-least populous, and the fifth-least densely populated of the 50 United States. Pierre is the state capital, and Sioux Falls, with a population of about 213,900, is the most populous city. The Missouri River bisects the state into two geographically and socially distinct halves colloquially known as "East River" and "West River". South Dakota is bordered by North Dakota to the north, Minnesota to the east, Iowa to the southeast, Nebraska to the south, Wyoming to the west, and Montana to the northwest.

Humans have inhabited the area for several millennia, with the Sioux becoming dominant by the early 19th century. In the late 19th century, European-American settlement intensified after a gold rush in the Black Hills and the construction of railroads from the east. Encroaching miners and settlers triggered a number of Indian wars, ending with the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. As the southern part of the former Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889, simultaneously with North Dakota. They are the 39th and 40th states admitted to the union; President Benjamin Harrison shuffled the statehood papers before signing them so that no one could tell which became a state first.

Major events in the 20th century included the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, increased federal spending during the 1940s and 1950s for agriculture and defense, and the industrialization of agriculture, which has reduced family farming. Eastern South Dakota is home to most of its population, and a variety of crops grow in the area's fertile soil. West of the Missouri River, ranching is the predominant agricultural activity, and the economy is more dependent on tourism and defense spending. Most of the Native American reservations are in West River. The Black Hills, a group of low, pine-covered mountains sacred to the Sioux, is in the southwest part of the state, and contains Mount Rushmore, a major tourist destination. South Dakota has a temperate continental climate, with four distinct seasons and precipitation levels ranging from moderate in the east to semiarid in the west. The state's ecology features species typical of a North American grassland biome. (Full article...)

Selected article -

Wall Drug Store, often called simply Wall Drug, is a roadside attraction and tourist stop located in the town of Wall, South Dakota, United States, adjacent to Badlands National Park. Wall Drug consists of a collection of cowboy-themed stores, including a drug store, gift shop, several restaurants, and various other stores, as well as an art gallery and an 80-foot (24 m) brontosaurus sculpture.

Unlike a traditional shopping mall, all the stores at Wall Drug operate under a single entity rather than being run individually. The New York Times has described Wall Drug as "a sprawling tourist attraction of international renown [that] draws some two million annual visitors to a remote town". (Full article...)

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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

The flag of Sioux Falls consists of a zigzag pattern of thin white and blue lines, which divides an upper blue portion and a lower pinkish-red portion, and a yellow sun in the upper left corner. The zigzag represents the namesake falls of the Big Sioux River. The blue color and the sun allude to the flag of South Dakota. The pinkish-red portion represents the Sioux Quartzite nearby. The upward direction of the design represents the growth of Sioux Falls. The red, white and blue colors included in the flag are also a reference to the flag of the United States while maintaining city and state pride.

In 2004, the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) rated the design of flags from the 100 largest cities in the U.S., all 50 state capitals and at least two cities per state. Sioux Falls did not have an entry in the rating because it did not have a flag. (Full article...)

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General images -

The following are images from various South Dakota-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Huron (left) and Pierre (right) issued rival maps that claimed each as the best place voters should choose for the new state capital in 1890. (from History of South Dakota)
Image 2A South Dakota farm during the Dust Bowl, 1936 (from History of South Dakota)
Image 3A rodeo at Days of '76 in Deadwood. (from Culture of South Dakota)
Image 4Craven Canyon petroglyphs in the Black Hills. (from History of South Dakota)
Image 5Karl Bodmer's portrait of an Arikara warrior, early 1840s. (from History of South Dakota)
Image 6Map showing the general locations of the tribes and subtribes of the Sioux by the late 18th century; current reservations are shown in orange. (from History of South Dakota)
Image 7Detail from a map drawn by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, showing much of what would become eastern and central South Dakota. (from History of South Dakota)
Image 8Author Laura Ingalls Wilder used her experiences growing up near De Smet as the basis for four of her novels. (from Culture of South Dakota)
Image 9Deadwood, like many other Black Hills towns, was founded after the discovery of gold. (from History of South Dakota)

Did you know -

... that US president Calvin Coolidge left Mystic, South Dakota, in a lumber wagon?
... that a South Dakota radio station went from a university to "Guns, Gold & Rock 'n' Roll"?
... that Clint Sargent succeeded Scott Nagy as head coach of the Wright State Raiders, years after he played for him with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits?
... that Yvette Greer-Albrecht was named as the Female College Athlete of the Year by the South Dakota Sportswriters Association in 1979?
... that Jess Tjeerdsma died on the day after he resigned from the South Dakota Senate?
... that Galena Schoolhouse in South Dakota was once leased to a historical society for $1 annually?

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Largest cities

Cities in South Dakota, with their populations (as of July 1, 2020, as enumerated by the 2020 United States census):

2020 rank	City	2020 census^[1]	2010 census^[2]	Change	County
1	Sioux Falls †	192,517	153,888	+25.10%	Minnehaha Lincoln
2	Rapid City †	74,703	67,956	+9.93%	Pennington
3	Aberdeen †	28,495	26,091	+9.21%	Brown
4	Brookings †	23,377	22,056	+5.99%	Brookings
5	Watertown †	22,655	21,482	+5.46%	Codington
6	Mitchell †	15,660	15,254	+2.66%	Davison
7	Yankton †	15,411	14,454	+6.62%	Yankton
8	Huron †	14,263	12,592	+13.27%	Beadle
9	Pierre ‡	14,091	13,646	+3.26%	Hughes
10	Spearfish	12,193	10,494	+16.19%	Lawrence

†	County seat
‡	State capital and county seat

WikiProjects

WikiProject South Dakota
WikiProject United States

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