Montana - 147,000 Square Miles and 1.1 Million People
Montana is the fourth largest state by area and one of the least densely populated, with roughly 1.1 million residents spread across 147,000 square miles. The population concentrates in a handful of small cities along the I-90 and I-15 corridors, while large sections of the eastern plains and the northern Rocky Mountain front hold fewer than five people per square mile. Billings, on the Yellowstone River in the south-central part of the state, is the largest city at about 120,000. Helena serves as the capital from a much smaller base further west.
Missoula, home to the University of Montana and roughly 75,000 residents, sits in the mountain valleys of the western third of the state. Bozeman, the gateway community for travelers heading to Yellowstone National Park, has grown quickly over the past decade as remote workers and second-home buyers arrived. Yellowstone itself extends across the southern border into Wyoming, while Glacier National Park anchors the northwest near the Canadian line. Tourism to these two parks drives a seasonal economy in the surrounding counties.
The state economy still depends heavily on agriculture and extractive industry. Wheat and cattle dominate production in the eastern plains, while copper and coal continue to be mined in smaller operations in the Butte and Colstrip areas. Tribal reservations, including the Blackfeet along the Glacier boundary, the Crow south of Billings, and the Northern Cheyenne, administer their own governmental and law enforcement structures alongside the state system.
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Montana is the fourth largest state by area and one of the least densely populated, with roughly 1.1 million residents spread across 147,000 square miles. The population concentrates in a handful of small cities along the I-90 and I-15 corridors, while large sections of the eastern plains and the northern Rocky Mountain front hold fewer than five people per square mile. Billings, on the Yellowstone River in the south-central part of the state, is the largest city at about 120,000. Helena serves as the capital from a much smaller base further west.
Missoula, home to the University of Montana and roughly 75,000 residents, sits in the mountain valleys of the western third of the state. Bozeman, the gateway community for travelers heading to Yellowstone National Park, has grown quickly over the past decade as remote workers and second-home buyers arrived. Yellowstone itself extends across the southern border into Wyoming, while Glacier National Park anchors the northwest near the Canadian line. Tourism to these two parks drives a seasonal economy in the surrounding counties.
The state economy still depends heavily on agriculture and extractive industry. Wheat and cattle dominate production in the eastern plains, while copper and coal continue to be mined in smaller operations in the Butte and Colstrip areas. Tribal reservations, including the Blackfeet along the Glacier boundary, the Crow south of Billings, and the Northern Cheyenne, administer their own governmental and law enforcement structures alongside the state system.
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