North Dakota

North Dakota is a Midwestern state of the United States, named after the Dakota segment of the Sioux Native American Indians. Its U.S. postal abbreviation is ND. The entire state is covered by area code 701.

Demographics

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2004, North Dakota's population was 634,366. The state's population had declined nearly 8,000 since 2000, a 1.2% drop.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

North Dakota is 47th of the 50 states in population, ahead of only Vermont, Alaska, and Wyoming.

Related Topics:
Vermont - Alaska - Wyoming

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Race and Ancestry

The racial makeup of the state:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• 91.7% White
• 4.9% Native American
• 1.2% Hispanic
• 0.6% Asian
• 0.6% Black
• 1.2% Mixed race

The five largest ancestry groups in North Dakota are: German (43.9%), Norwegian (30.1%), Irish (7.7%), Native American (5%), Swedish (5%).

Related Topics:
German - Norwegian - Irish - Native American - Swedish

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most North Dakotans are of Northern European descent, especially Scandinavian and German. People of German ancestry are present throughout the state, especially the southern and central counties, and Scandinavians are also present throughout. A few counties have large Native American populations (principally on reservations). Individual counties in western North Dakota have the largest white, Russian, Ukrainian, and Hungarian percentages of any county.

Related Topics:
Northern Europe - Scandinavia - German - Native American

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

6.1% of North Dakota's population were reported as under 5, 25% under 18, and 14.7% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.1% of the population.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Outmigration

North Dakota has experienced a decline in population over the last 20 years, primarily among skilled college graduates for whom there are few jobs in the state. State leaders have been at a loss to address the issue. Student loan forgiveness programs for health and education professionals have been initiated with some degree of success, but a larger program to forgive the loans of all college graduates residing in the state for a given period of time failed to pass a referendum. Some federal politicians, including Byron Dorgan, have proposed a new "Homestead Act" to incentivize living in areas losing population through tax breaks and other considerations, but these have also made little headway.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many North Dakota politicians believe that better economic development programs will eventually resolve the issue, but opinions are mixed as to what exactly that would entail.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Religion

A very large majority of North Dakotans self-identify as Christian. It has the lowest percentage of non-religious people of any state, and it also has the most churches per capita of any state. The current religious affiliations of the people of North Dakota are shown in the table below:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Christian – 97%
• Protestant – 66%
• Lutheran – 39%
• Methodist – 8%
• Baptist – 7%
• Other Protestant – 12%
• Roman Catholic – 30%
• Other Christian – 1%
• Other Religions – <1%
• Non-Religious – 3%