Southdakotaxl » Geography of South Dakota

Geography of South Dakota

South Dakota is one of the Midwestern states in United States of America. This state is located in the north-central part of America and is one of the six states that fall under the Frontier strip. Frontier Strip is roughly a straight line that marks the stretch from north to south that is from North Dakota to Texas that roughly corresponds to the Great Plains region of USA. It is bordered by North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wyoming and Montana.

Pierre is the capital city of South Dakota, USA but the largest city is Sioux Falls. This constitutes a short introduction to the geography of South Dakota. Following is the microscopic analysis of the geography of South Dakota.

The first and foremost thing that needs to be said about the geography of South Dakota is it latitudinal and longitudinal extent. The latitude of the state of South Dakota in USA is 42°?29' N to 45°?56' N and the longitude is 96°?26' W to 104°?03' W. There are four primary geographical regions in South Dakota namely:

Drift Prairie- eastern part of South Dakota with low hills and glacial lakes
Dissected Till Plains- south eastern part of South Dakota with large mass of hilly terrain and meandering streams
Great Plains- western part of South Dakota with Missouri River, valleys, canyons and hills with flat top surface
Black Hills- south western part of South Dakota that stretches to the state of Wyoming. Mountains ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 feet cover this area. This terrain has the Homestake Mine, one of the world’s largest gold mines. Apart from gold the Black Hills area is rich with silver, copper and lead.

Rivers meandering through the state of South Dakota is the River Missouri along with its tributaries Cheyenne and Sioux. It has actually intersected the South Dakotan countryside into two distinct social and economic centers. Fertile farmlands are formed because of their presence. South Dakota is also home to many beautiful lakes like Lake Oahe, Lake Sharpe, Lake Francis Case and Lewis and Clark Lake. Jewel Cave and Wind Cave, second and fourth longest caves in the world, is in South Dakota. South Dakota is geographically rich with pine-covered mountains, lakes, glaciers and deep canyons. Black Hills in South Dakota is a natural wonder with Harney Peak (as its highest point), Mount Rushmore and Wind Cave. Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Wind Cave National Park and Badlands National Park are the geographic and scenic attractions in South Dakota. Hot Springs area with its Mammoth Site is one of the Ice Age treasures in America.

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