General+report

= General report =

Montana is located in the northwest of the USA. This state is thinly populated, because it is bigger than Germany but has only a population less than one million. Montana became an own state in 1889 by the U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. So it was the 41st state of the USA. Montana is the 4th biggest state and is bordered by Canada on the North, by Idaho and Wyoming on the South, by North and South Dakota on the East and on the West by Idaho, too. The capital of Montana is Helena which has a population of approximately 30000. 1864 gold was found in Helena. The following gold fever continued 20 years.

Montana can be divided into two geographic areas in general. The eastern which takes up 3/5 of Montana is covered by the Great Plains and the western which takes up 2/5 of Montana is the Rocky Mountains Region. There you can find tall, rugged mountains. This region is always in danger of earthquakes.

Montana has many nicknames but two of them are important. The first is called ‘The Treasure State’, because the state has a lot of mineral resources like copper, gold, silver, oil and coal. Also it has lots of wood and game. The second nickname is called ‘The Big Sky State’, because of the boundless plains of the Great Plains.

The flag of Montana was introduced in 1905. The background of the flag is only blue. In the middle there is the state seal of Montana and above you can see the name of  the country. The seal was created in 1865 and shows the green landscape of Montana, the Missouri Falls, the Rocky Mountains, a plow, a shovel and a hoe. In the front there is a banner with the motto of Montana which is in Spanish because Montana was a Spanish colony from 1763 to 1800. The motto is: ‘Oro y Plata’. That means ‘Gold and Silver’.

In Montana are very big mineral and natural resources, added there are some profitable mineral oil and gas in places. Accessory the mining is a big source of revenue. It`s ranked 26th nationally in 2001 and it takes 624million $. But the approximately first ranked industry is the tourism. The beautiful nature of Montana takes 9.5 million visitors in 2000. But the agriculture is the most important source of  evenue for Montana. In the northeast wheat, corn and barley cultivation is dominant and the breed of sheep, goat and cattle form the south. Most of the acres of land area for agriculture are among to the state of Montana but anyhow the farming gives in 2009 a profit of 1.8 billion dollars. Sure this is due to that 66% of the land areas are use for farming. In the production of lentils, dry peas and barley Montana ranked second in 2007 nationally.

The 26th governor of Montana is very dedicated in ecology and accessory the environment protection is another source of profit for the state. Brian Schweitzer is since 2005 the acting governor of Montana. He is politician of the Democratic Party. He is among to the popular politicians in the USA, so that he won the ballot in 2008 outclass to Bob Brown. The two Main Partys in Montana are the Democratic and the Republican Party. Montana’s legislative usually is made up of 50 senators and 100 representatives. They meet in every odd-numbered year to talk about the politic of Montana.

But all in once: Montana is a great state!

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