South Dakota occupies an area of 77,047 square miles, enjoys a continental climate and is bordered by Minnesota and Iowa (E), Nebraska (S), North Dakota (N), and Wyoming and Montana (W).
 

The United States acquired South Dakota as part of the Louisiana Land Purchase in 1803 from France.
 

The land was then occupied by Sioux Indians who had driven the agricultural Arikara Indians from the region.
 

The first settlement was established in 1817 by fur traders in Fort Pierre, South Dakota.
 

In 1850 settlements began to develop more rapidly as land speculators and farmers from Iowa and Minnesota moved west.  Emigration from European countries (Germany, Scandinavia, Holland, Russia, and the United Kingdom) soon followed.
 

The Gold Rush in1874, when gold was discovered on Indian land (treaty 1868), led to the development of towns in western South Dakota and South Dakota’s rich western history with now famous personalities such as General Custer, Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane unfolded.
 

In 1889 South Dakota became the 40th state with Pierre as its capital.
 

The development of the railroads in the late 1800s caused the population to increase threefold with agriculture following suit.
 

Postwar South Dakota, with improved farming techniques, witnessed a steady increase in agricultural and livestock operations with larger farms replacing smaller family farms.
 

The late 1990s, with a major New York bank moving its credit card operation to Sioux Falls, marked the beginning of a swift shift towards service, finance and trade investments that resulted in significant economic growth.
 

Today almost one-third  of the region west of the Missouri River belongs to Indians on reservation with most of the remaining land being occupied by cattle and sheep ranchers.  In the more productive region east of the Missouri River, livestock and cash cropping (corn, soybeans, wheat) are major sources of income,  The economy here is more diversified including manufacturing, electronics, and service industry.
 

South Dakota Currently has a population of 755,010 with Sioux Falls (140,000), Rapid City (65,000), Aberdeen (30,000) and Watertown (25,000) being the largest population centers.