North Dakota and South Dakota Compared

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Mr. Beat compares and contrasts North Dakota and South Dakota, two Upper Midwestern American states that folks often mix up.
#southdakota #northdakota #geography

Produced by Matt Beat. All images/video by Matt Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines. Music: "Bodélé Depression (Mega-Chad Mix)" by Jesse Gallagher

Sources/further reading:

Photo/video credits (Creative Commons):
Aerotography Arizona
NDSUExtension
Roderick Eime
Richie Diesterheft
National Park Service
Martin Kraft
Stefan Fussan
Carrie Scarr
Jim Bowen
Public.Resource.Org
Navin75
Ratsbew
NDSU Center for Writers
Bobak Ha'Eri
Parkerdr
JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD
University of South Dakota

The Dakotas
South Dakota and North Dakota, two northern plains states in these United States, but they are not as plain as you might assume.

Once part of the mighty Dakota Territory, one of the last areas of the country Americans settled, they split up, and today there is a mild rivalry between the two. People get them mixed up, although in this video I’m going to explain how they are quite different, despite sharing part of a name.

But first, what do they have in common? Well, other than being irregularly-shaped rectangles.

Both are about the same size, although South Dakota is a bit bigger. There’s also not a big difference between the population of the two states, although South Dakota has more people. Historically, their populations have rarely been far apart, with North Dakota’s population even surpassing South Dakota’s a few times. Currently, North Dakota is growing at a faster rate. Both don’t have a metro area that even gets near half a million people, which is why Minneapolis-St. Paul is pretty influential over both.

Both states are considered part of the Midwest. Most of the two states are made up of mostly prairie, part of what’s known as The Great Plains. Both have mostly continental climates, and generally the further west you go in each state, the drier it gets. For example, the annual precipitation in Fargo, North Dakota is 22.6 inches, while it’s 14.4 inches out west in Williston. It’s 26.3 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, while it’s 16.3 out west in Rapid City.

While both have four seasons, both have fairly mild summers and long, extremely cold winters. North Dakota does get a little colder in the winter being further north.

The Missouri River is the major river that runs through both states. Both are about as far from the ocean as you can get.

West of the Missouri River in both states, the land becomes much more rugged, with badlands and buttes.
Both are mostly rural states with lots of agriculture.

Residents of both states are younger, on average, than most of the country. (36.8 SD, 35 ND). Residents of both also tend to be Christian. 77% in North Dakota and 79% in South Dakota identify as such. And most residents in both are of European descent. The largest ethnic minority in both states today is American Indian.

Both states lean conservative politically, and reliably have voted for the Republican Party since the 1960s.

So how about those differences?

The poverty rate is lower in North Dakota (10.3%-13%). However, crime is a little lower in South Dakota. More North Dakota residents have college degrees. And the cost of living is generally higher in North Dakota.

[iammrbeat]

What did I leave out? What did I get right? What did I get wrong? Which two states should I compare next?

[samd.]

I've never seen so many residents of the Dakotas gather in one spot in the internet; it's refreshing lol

[KMarie-pkff]

I’m glad the Dakotas got noticed, because of how much we are forgotten

[cadeh]

North Dakota: Land of the Extremes
1. EXTREMELY Cold Winters with -50°F Wind Chills
2. EXTREMELY Hot Summers with heat indexes getting past 110°F
3. EXTREMELY Powerful Winds

[katiejo]

You would be surprised by how many tourists think the “brown cows” make the chocolate milk.

[KhAnubis]

I seriously have a lot of questions about MegaKota. Couldn’t they have just called it... Dakota?

[jabber]

South Dakotas Motto: "Thank God we're not North Dakota"
North Dakotas Motto: "Thank God we're not South Dakota"

[talisikid]

These days, being forgotten is not a bad thing.

[lrose]

Fairly Odd Parents gave me way too much hope as a kid that the Dakotas would one day settle their differences and become one big Dakota.

[kimmyknutson]

North Dakota’s state flower is a traffic cone

[Katie]

the best part is that people believe us when we say we ride buffalo to school.

[bravereputation]

1. S.D. does not have mild summers (it was 110 a few days ago)
2. SDSU and NDSU have a bigger rivalry that UND and USD

[BISONgirl]

Uhh the college football part is stupid. The SDSU and NDSU rivalry is better

[ike]

As a South Dakota Resident you hit it head on. I live east river and there is a bigger rivalry with east to west than between the two states.

[erlee]

I live in ND, and I was on a vacation in Florida and my family was talking to another family and they were surprised that we weren’t still traveling on horse...

[SiVlog]

The Dakota Territory had a big influence on the ideology of Theodore Roosevelt. In 1884, while grieving the loss of both his wife and mother on the same day (Valentine's Day), he upped sticks and headed to his ranch in what's now North Dakota. The man himself reflected, "(...) I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota."

The site of his ranch became known as "the cradle of conservation, "

[MyLifeThai]

The two biggest things that come to mind, when I think about my home here in North Dakota is the wind and the terribly cold winters. Here in North Dakota I never have picnics outside, because there is never a day that the wind wouldn't blow your napkins and paper plate off the picnic table. Our summers are short. In 2018 we only had summer for 4.5 months.

[happylilguy]

I'm from South Dakota, but for 3 months I lived in Japan. One of the places I stayed at asked me if I would do a presentation on where I'm from. Everyone was so confused by the corn palace. It was hilarious. And anytime I would tell people I was from America, they'd always ask "California? New York?" And when I tried to explain south Dakota, they would have no idea, so I'd just load up a picture of mt Rushmore and say "here" and they'd understand pretty fast haha

[pinkasaflingmango]

If we became MegaKota, we’d just split again into East River and West River Dakotas.

Laughed out loud at the East River comment talking smack to west river “you smell like spruce!”

[sandybarnes]

I think the Dakotas should merge, then split into 2 states. East Dakota and West Dakota