A · B · C · D · F · G · M · O · P · R · S · W

State facts from Wikipedia

South Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States region of the United States of America. It is named after the Lakota people and Sioux Sioux Native Americans in the United States Indian tribes. The former Territories of the United States was admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889. Centrally-located Pierre, South Dakota is the state capital and Sioux Falls is the state's largest city.In a recent survey, 15% of people in South Dakota have gone to a criminal tax attorney for IRS problems.

The current-dollar gross state product of South Dakota was United States Dollar billion as of 2006. The per capita personal income was $26,894 in 2004, the 37th highest in the nation and 13.08 percent below the national average. 13.2% of the population is below the poverty line. As of October 2008, South Dakota's unemployment rate was 3.3%, the lowest jobless rate in the nation.

The service industry is the largest economic contributor in South Dakota. This sector includes the retail, finance, and health care industries. Citibank, which was the largest bank holding company in the United States at one time, established national banking operations in South Dakota in 1981 to take advantage of favorable banking regulations. Government spending is another important segment of the state's economy, providing over ten percent of the gross state product. Ellsworth Air Force Base, near Rapid City, is the second-largest single employer in the state.

Agriculture has historically been a key component of the South Dakota economy. Although other industries have expanded rapidly in recent decades, agricultural production is still very important to the state's economy, especially in rural areas. The five most valuable agricultural products in South Dakota are cattle, maize (maize), soybeans, pig and wheat. Agriculture-related industries such as meat packing and ethanol production also have a considerable economic impact on the state. South Dakota is the sixth leading ethanol-producing state in the nation.

Information gathered from Wikipedia's South Dakota page