Montana
Montana (/mɒnˈtænə/ ⓘ mon-TAN-ə)[6] is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It borders Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan to the north. It is the fourth-largest state by area, the eighth-least populous state, and the third-least densely populated state. Its capital is Helena, while the most populous city is Billings. The western half of the state contains numerous mountain ranges, while the eastern half is characterized by western prairie terrain and badlands, with smaller mountain ranges found throughout the state.
"Montanan" redirects here. For other uses, see Montanan (disambiguation) and Montana (disambiguation).
Montana
November 8, 1889 (41st)
Kristen Juras (R)
Jon Tester (D)
Steve Daines (R)
- 1: Ryan Zinke (R)
- 2: Matt Rosendale (R)
147,040[1] sq mi (380,800 km2)
145,552[2] sq mi (376,980 km2)
1,491 sq mi (3,862 km2) 1%
255 mi (410 km)
630 mi (1,015 km)
3,400 ft (1,040 m)
12,807 ft (3,903.5 m)
1,804 ft (557 m)
1,122,867
7.09/sq mi (2.73/km2)
$56,539[5]
Montanan
English
Mont.
44° 21′ N to 49° N
104° 2′ W to 116° 3′ W
Most of Montana first came under American sovereignty with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and was explored by the Lewis and Clark Expedition shortly thereafter.[7] Fur trappers followed and were the main economic activity in the area until gold was discovered in 1852. The ensuing gold rush, along with the passage of the Homestead Acts in 1862, brought large numbers of American settlers to Montana.[7] Rapid population growth and development culminated in statehood on November 8, 1889. Mining, particularly around Butte and Helena, would remain the state's main economic engine through the mid-20th century.
Montana has no official nickname but several unofficial ones, most notably "Big Sky Country", "The Treasure State", "Land of the Shining Mountains", and "The Last Best Place".[8] Its economy is primarily based on agriculture, including ranching and cereal grain farming. Other significant economic resources include oil, gas, coal, mining, and lumber. The health care, service, defense, and government sectors are also significant to the state's economy. Montana's fastest-growing sector is tourism, with 12.6 million tourists (as of 2019) visiting the state each year.[9]
Etymology[edit]
The name Montana comes from the Spanish word montaña, which in turn comes from the Latin word montanea, meaning "mountain" or more broadly "mountainous country".[10][11] Montaña del Norte ('Northern Mountain') was the name given by early Spanish explorers to the entire mountainous region of the west.[11] The name Montana was added in 1863 to a bill by the United States House Committee on Territories (chaired at the time by James Ashley of Ohio) for the territory that would become Idaho Territory.[12]
The name was changed by representatives Henry Wilson (Massachusetts) and Benjamin F. Harding (Oregon), who complained that Montana had "no meaning".[12] When Ashley presented a bill to establish a temporary government in 1864 for a new territory to be carved out of Idaho, he again chose Montana Territory.[13] This time, representative Samuel Cox, also of Ohio, objected to the name.[13] Cox complained that the name was a misnomer given that most of the territory was not mountainous, and thought a Native American name would be more appropriate than a Spanish one.[13] Other names, such as Shoshone, were suggested, but the Committee on Territories decided that they had discretion to choose the name, so the original name of Montana was adopted.[13]
As of 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated Montana's Gross Domestic Product was $67.072 billion (47th in the nation) and per capita personal income was $60,984 (28th in the nation).[240]
Montana is a relative hub of beer microbrewing, ranking third in the nation in number of craft breweries per capita in 2011.[242] Significant industries exist for lumber and mineral extraction; the state's resources include gold, coal, silver, talc, and vermiculite. Ecotaxes on resource extraction are numerous. A 1974 state severance tax on coal (which varied from 20 to 30%) was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana, 453 U.S. 609 (1981).[243]
Tourism is also important to the economy, with more than ten million visitors a year to Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake, the Missouri River headwaters, the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn, and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.[244]
Montana's personal income tax contains seven brackets, with rates ranging from 1.0 to 6.9 percent. Montana has no sales tax, and household goods are exempt from property taxes. However, property taxes are assessed on livestock, farm machinery, heavy equipment, automobiles, trucks, and business equipment. The amount of property tax owed is not determined solely by the property's value. The property's value is multiplied by a tax rate, set by the Montana Legislature, to determine its taxable value. The taxable value is then multiplied by the mill levy established by various taxing jurisdictions—city and county government, school districts, and others.[245]
In the 1980s the absence of a sales tax became economically deleterious to communities bound to the state's tourism industry, as the revenue from income and property taxes provided by residents was grossly insignificant in regards to paying for the impact of non-residential travel—especially road repair. In 1985, the Montana Legislature passed a law allowing towns with fewer than 5,500 residents and unincorporated communities with fewer than 2,500 to levy a resort tax if more than half the community's income came from tourism. The resort tax is a sales tax that applies to hotels, motels and other lodging and camping facilities; restaurants, fast-food stores, and other food service establishments; taverns, bars, night clubs, lounges, or other public establishments that serve alcohol; as well as destination ski resorts or other destination recreational facilities.[246]
It also applies to "luxuries"- defined by law as any item normally sold to the public or to transient visitors or tourists that does not include food purchased unprepared or unserved, medicine, medical supplies and services, appliances, hardware supplies and tools, or any necessities of life.[247] Approximately 12.2 million non-residents visited Montana in 2018, and the population was estimated to be 1.06 million. This extremely disproportionate ratio of residents paying taxes vs. non-residents using state-funded services and infrastructure makes Montana's resort tax crucial in order to safely maintain heavily used roads and highways, as well as protect and preserve state parks.
As of August 2021, the state's unemployment rate is 3.5%.[248]
Health[edit]
Montana has one Trauma I hospital at the Billings Clinic hospital,[298] and has Trauma II hospitals in Missoula, Billings, and Great Falls.[299] In 2013, AARP The Magazine named the Billings Clinic one of the safest hospitals in the United States.[300]
Montana is ranked as the least obese state in the U.S., at 19.6%, according to the 2014 Gallup Poll.[301]
Montana had a suicide rate of 26.1 per 100,000 in 2020, which is the 3rd-highest among U.S. states; high suicide rates are common among sparsely-populated states in the United States.[302][303]
47°N 110°W / 47°N 110°W
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