| Capital city | Pierre |
| Population | 886,667 (2020) |
| Surface | 199,905 km² |
| Governor | Kristi Noem (R) |
| Member of the US since | 1889 |
South Dakota is one of the fifty states of the United States. The state is located in the north of the country. The abbreviation for South Dakota is SD. Its nickname is ‘The Mount Rushmore State’. Mount Rushmore is a mountain in the state in which the heads of four important American presidents have been carved. With 824,082 inhabitants, South Dakota is the fourth least populous state in the US. South Dakota borders the states of Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming. South Dakota is very hilly. The capital of South Dakota is Pierre.
Towns
There are few cities in South Dakota. Here are the five largest.
Largest Cities in South Dakota
| Name | Inhabitants | County | |
| 1. | Sioux Falls | 153,888 | Minnehaha County |
| 2. | Rapid City | 67,956 | Penington County |
| 3. | Aberdeen | 26,091 | Brown County |
| 4. | Brookings | 22,056 | Brookings County |
| 5. | Watertown | 21,482 | Codington County |
How many counties in South Dakota? The State of South Dakota comprises 66 counties.
Aurora County, South Dakota
Beadle County, South Dakota
Bennett County, South Dakota
Bon Homme County, South Dakota
Brookings County, South Dakota
Brown County, South Dakota
Brule County, South Dakota
Buffalo County, South Dakota
Butte County, South Dakota
Campbell County, South Dakota
Charles Mix County, South Dakota
Clark County, South Dakota
Clay County, South Dakota
Codington County, South Dakota
Corson County, South Dakota
Custer County, South Dakota
Davison County, South Dakota
Day County, South Dakota
Deuel County, South Dakota
Dewey County, South Dakota
Douglas County, South Dakota
Edmunds County, South Dakota
Fall River County, South Dakota
Faulk County, South Dakota
Grant County, South Dakota
Gregory County, South Dakota
Haakon County, South Dakota
Hamlin County, South Dakota
Hand County, South Dakota
Hanson County, South Dakota
Harding County, South Dakota
Hughes County, South Dakota
Hutchinson County, South Dakota
Hyde County, South Dakota
Jackson County, South Dakota
Jerauld County, South Dakota
Jones County, South Dakota
Kingsbury County, South Dakota
Lake County, South Dakota
Lawrence County, South Dakota
Lincoln County, South Dakota
Lyman County, South Dakota
Marshall County, South Dakota
McCook County, South Dakota
McPherson County, South Dakota
Meade County, South Dakota
Mellette County, South Dakota
Miner County, South Dakota
Minnehaha County, South Dakota
Moody County, South Dakota
Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota
Pennington County, South Dakota
Perkins County, South Dakota
Potter County, South Dakota
Roberts County, South Dakota
Sanborn County, South Dakota
Spink County, South Dakota
Stanley County, South Dakota
Sully County, South Dakota
Todd County, South Dakota
Tripp County, South Dakota
Turner County, South Dakota
Union County, South Dakota
Walworth County, South Dakota
Yankton County, South Dakota
Ziebach County, South Dakota
Pierre
Pierre, with only about 15 thousand inhabitants, is the capital of South Dakota in the United States of America. It covers an area of 33.7 km2 and is the county seat of Hughes County. It is located about 30 miles north of I-90 near Chamberlain.
The city was founded on the Missouri River in 1880, and nine years later, due to its geographical location in the center of the state, it became its capital. Originally, on the site of today’s city stood Fort Pierre, which was named after an American fur trader named Pierre Chouteau Jr. This name has remained with the city to this day. The climate is similar to that of Central Europe, with relatively hot summers and cold winters.
Near the city lies Lake Oahe, which is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. It is a popular place for recreation, water sports and fishing.
The most important building of the city is the South Dakota State Capitol building, which is located in the very center of the city, near the Missouri River. The Capitol was built in 1905 from limestone and white marble. The building is open to the public and there is no entrance fee for the tour.
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls is the largest city in the US state of South Dakota and also the county seat of Minnehaha County. It is the fastest growing area in the American Midwest, so the city reaches as far as Lincoln County in the south with its peripheral parts.
From 2000 to the present, the number of inhabitants has increased by an incredible 31 thousand inhabitants, the city has more than 155 thousand inhabitants, and around 233 thousand people live in the entire metropolitan area. The city was founded in 1856 on the banks of the Big Sioux River, in an area of prairies and great plains. Today, Interstate 90 and Interstate 29 intersect here. Sioux Falls is a regional center where urban and rural atmospheres blend.
The first documented expedition to this area was undertaken by French travelers in the early 18th century. It was then that they managed to map the area and also count the indigenous population. Another European explorer of the area was Philander Prescott in 1832 and Captain James Allen, who led a military expedition here from Fort des Moines in 1844.
There are more than 70 parks in the vicinity of Sioux Falls, the most famous of which is Falls Park, which houses the waterfalls on the Big Sioux River. Sioux Falls is also named after these falls, located north of downtown. Other interesting parks include Terasa Park, McKennan Park, Sherman Park and Yankton Trail Park. Individual parks are crossed by numerous hiking and cycling routes several kilometers in length. They mostly line the Big Sioux River. In winter, the Great Bear Recreation Park area is a popular location for skiers, snowboarders and other lovers of winter fun.
Missouri (river)
The river
The Missouri (English: Missouri River) is a tributary of the Mississippi. The Missouri is the longest river in the United States and all of North America. The Missouri rises in the Rocky Mountains, where the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin converge in the state of Montana. After this, it flows through the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and finally Missouri, which is named after the river. Several major cities are located on the river, such as Bismarck, Pierre, Omaha, Kansas City (Missouri), Kansas City (Kansas), and Saint Louis. At Saint Louis, the river flows into the Mississippi.
