It is called like this way because of the Dakota Indians, who are a branch of the large Native American culture known as the Sioux. The former territory of Dakota was divided into two parts to be admitted as States, north and south.

Before the Europeans, the Native Americans lived in Dakota thousands of years ago. Europeans inhabited North Dakota in the mid-eighteenth century. Commercializing and little interacted with the native American tribes there, but did not do much to assert their claim over the territory. Lewis and Clark crossed the territory at the beginning of the 19th century as part of their famous expedition, but they also had minimal contact with the native tribes. Even though the area that would later become North Dakota was passed on to US ownership through the Louisiana Purchase, its remote and relatively arid landscape attracted few settlers.

The growing popularity of railroads in the nineteenth century changed everything for Dakota territory. At last it was profitable for American settlers to move to the region. The area never brought that many migrants as some of the most fertile regions in the American Midwest. The Dakota Indians did not usually accommodate themselves to white farmers, and military campaigns slowly began to reduce their numbers. Most of the white settlers who came to the region were of Germanic or Nordic descent, permanently sealing the culture of North Dakota with its traditions.

The city of Bismarck is its capital. It is located in a geographical position between the coordinates 45˚ 55'N at 49˚ 0 'north latitude and 97˚ 0' W at 104˚ 0 'west longitude. The state of North Dakota is located in the western part of the Center-North United States of America. The map of North Dakota shows the political divisions of the state. North Dakota is divided politically into 53 counties for administrative convenience. It has a population of 639,715 (2007). It limits with the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, with the state of Montana to the west, the state of South Dakota and to the east with Minnesota. North Dakota is a good example of continental climate: it is far from any large body of water that could help moderate its climate. Therefore, the climate of this state can be very hot and humid in summer, and very cold in winter.

North Dakota has large deposits of oil and lignite. The state leads the national production of wheat and other spring cereals, as well as barley, flax and sunflower. The most outstanding livestock products are beef and pork, dairy products and sheep products.

The main industries include the manufacture of industrial machinery, food processing, publishing, transport equipment and oil refineries. The majority of the population was concentrated in the four large cities of the state.