North Dakota

North Dakota is a Northern Plains state of about 796,000 residents whose economy was transformed by the Bakken shale boom: since 2012 it has been the second- or third-largest oil producer in the United States, pumping roughly 1.2 million barrels a day from the Williston Basin. Alongside petroleum it remains an agricultural powerhouse — first in the country for spring wheat, durum, canola, dry edible beans, honey and flaxseed — and it hosts Grand Forks and Fargo as university, healthcare and technology centres. It has the highest share of Norwegian ancestry in the nation, one of the lowest unemployment rates, and a Legacy Fund of oil royalties worth more than $11 billion. Lignite coal still generates about half of its electricity while wind supplies more than a third, one of the highest wind shares anywhere in the U.S.

Capital: BismarckLargest city: FargoNickname: The Peace Garden StateStatehood: 1889
796,000
Population
47th in the U.S.
$76,500
Median household income
$78 B
GDP
45th in the U.S.
183,108 km²
Area
19th in the U.S.

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