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Population composition
Several peoples were living in the territory of North Dakota when European settlers arrived in the mid-1700s. In the early 21st century, Native Americans were the largest minority group in the state, constituting about 5 percent of the total population. Many of them live on reservations: various Sioux groups at Standing Rock Indian Reservation along the Missouri River south of Bismarck, at the Sisseton Indian Reservation in extreme southeastern North Dakota, and at Spirit Lake Indian Reservation in east-central North Dakota near Devils Lake; the Ojibwa (locally called Chippewa or Anishinaabe) at the Turtle Mountain Reservation near the Canadian border at Belcourt; and the Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandan (known as the Three Affiliated Tribes) at Fort Berthold in the Missouri River area in the western part of the state.
The fur trade of the 1700s attracted French, Scots, English, Canadians, and Americans to North Dakota, and by 1800 peoples of mixed European and Native American ancestry, known in North Dakota as Métis, were an established group. Other early settlers included ethnic Germans who had earlier migrated to Russia and Norwegians. By 1890 the foreign-born population accounted for about two-fifths of the population, a higher proportion than in any other state at the time; and by 1920, when pioneer settlement had been completed, about two-thirds of the population was foreign-born. By the early 21st century, more than nine-tenths of the state’s total population was of European ancestry, and less than one-tenth was foreign-born. In addition to Native Americans, the remainder of the population is made up of African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and recent immigrants from Africa and eastern Europe.
About one-half of North Dakotans are Lutherans and more than one-third are Roman Catholics. Most of the remainder are divided among other Christian denominations. There is a small Jewish community in North Dakota, as well as groups of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, mainly in urban areas. The state was the home of the first mosque to be founded in the United States, which was built by Lebanese immigrants in 1929 at Ross, in the northwestern corner of the state. (The mosque was torn down in the 1970s, and a new, though smaller, one was built in the same spot in 2005.)
Settlement patterns
Since the second half of the 20th century, North Dakota’s population has shifted from primarily rural to primarily urban in makeup. More than one-half of North Dakotans live in urban areas. Many hamlets and villages have disappeared, while in many small towns businesses and houses have been abandoned. The state’s larger cities have expanded, and shopping centres, housing complexes, and cultural institutions have been built. Fargo has grown especially as a result of a boom in agricultural-implement manufacturing, the development of high-technology research facilities at North Dakota State University, and the general increase in employment opportunities in the service industry. Bismarck also experienced population growth as migrants settled in the area to work in the nearby lignite fields to the north and the oil fields to the west.
Demographic trends
Most of North Dakota’s rural areas had reached their peak populations by the 1920s. Throughout the rest of the 20th century, rural North Dakota lost population as a result of low birth rates and an out-migration of younger people to urban areas or out of state. By the last few decades of the 20th century, fewer and fewer young people were starting careers as farmers or ranchers, because of the high overhead costs and low income. The elderly constitute the fastest-growing segment of the state’s rural population, with about one-seventh of the total population over age 65.
Economy
North Dakota’s economy underwent substantial changes in the last two decades of the 20th century. The state’s two chief sources of revenue—agriculture and fossil fuels—became unreliable sources of income. The agriculture sector declined in part as a result of adverse national farm policies associated with the 1996 Freedom to Farm bill, which gradually moved farmers off federal support payments, and partly because of the effects of disastrous weather. Similarly, oil production fluctuated greatly in response to changes in the international markets. Consequently, by the early 21st century, services had become the dominant economic activity, accounting for more than one-third of state income. The state remains dependent on mining and agriculture, however.
Agriculture and fishing
Farms and ranches accounted for about nine-tenths of North Dakota’s land area at the end of the 20th century. The number of family farms and ranches dropped significantly beginning in the 1930s, but the average size of farms increased. These changes were a result of the consolidation of operations (the formation of farming cooperatives), increased mechanization, and the allocating of agricultural land to other uses. The state principally produces small grains, among them canola, spring and durum wheat, rye, barley, sunflower, and flaxseed, as well as legumes (pinto beans, peas, and lentils). Wheat, soybeans, corn (maize), and sugar beets are cultivated for export. Livestock raising, while of lesser economic importance than crops, includes hogs, sheep, poultry, and bison.
Recreational fishing is the most common type of fishing in North Dakota, especially the catch of perch, walleye, and northern pike in Devils Lake and Lake Sakakawea. Paddlefish are raised in reservoirs, and their roe is made into caviar for export.