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Montana is an inland U.S. state largely in the western United States, but because of its immense size stretches into the north-central United States. Although Montana is often regarded as mountainous, about 60% of the state is actually prairie in the Great Plains. The central and western two-thirds of the state have numerous mountain ranges (approximately 77 named) of the northern Rocky Mountains; thus the state's name, derived from the Spanish word montaña ("mountain"). The state nickname is the "Treasure State." Other nicknames include "Land of Shining Mountains", "Big Sky Country", and the slogan "the last best place". The state ranks fourth in size (~145,000 square miles) but has a relatively low population (with only six states having fewer people) and consequently a very low population density. The economy is primarily based on agriculture - wheat, barley, sugar beets, oats, rye, seed potatoes, honey, cherries, cattle and sheep ranching - and significant lumber and mineral extraction (gold, coal, silver, talc, and vermiculite). Tourism is also important to the economy with millions of visitors a year to Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake, the Missouri River headwaters, the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park. Montana was originally inhabited by several ethnolinguistic groups of American Indians, including the Blackfoot, (Siksika), Crow, Cheyenne, Bannock, Shoshoni and Nez Perce. The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806 was the first group of European-American explorers to cross Montana. Today, most of these Native American nations still call Montana home and Montana has seven Native American Indian reservations, more than any other state. Modern-day Montana became Montana Territory in 1864 by appointment of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and became the 41st state in 1889. The state was the first to elect a female member of Congress (Jeannette Rankin), and was one of the first states to give women voting rights; (see suffrage). Despite its sizable American Indian population, Montana is one of the most homogenous states— nearly 90% of its residents are of European descent, with a large number of immigrants of German, Irish, Norwegian, Welsh, Cornish, Italian and Slovak heritage arriving in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A significant portion of Chinese (Cantonese) immigrants also came and left an indelible mark on the state, especially in the mining cities of Helena, Butte, and Anaconda. Outside of the state, Montana is generally regarded as Republican; however, the state currently has a Democratic governor (Brian Schweitzer), Democratic-controlled state legislature), and one Democratic U.S. Senator (Max Baucus). The state capital is Helena, nicknamed "Queen City of the Rockies", hometown of the late Gary Cooper and Myrna Loy. The largest city is Billings with an area of approximately 105 km² (41 mi²) and population of 89,847 (as of the 2000 census). The state's U.S. postal abbreviation is MT. The USS Montana was named in honor of the state.
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