| State of Wyoming | |
| Coordinates | 43°0’N, 107°30’W |
| General | |
| Surface | 253,554 km² (0.7% water) |
| Inhabitants | 568,158 (2.26 inhabitants/km²) |
| Capital city | Cheyenne |
| Politics | |
| Governor | Mark Gordon (R) |
| Other | |
| Time zone | Mountain Standard Time (UTC−7) |
| Joined | July 10, 1890 |
| Nickname | Equality State |
| Website | wyo.gov |
Wyoming is one of the states of the United States. The standard abbreviation is WY. The capital is Cheyenne. The state is nicknamed the Equality State because of the equal rights that women were given early on. In 1869, women’s suffrage was introduced and women were admitted to juries and public office. Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first elected female governor in the United States in 1925. Wyoming is the least populous state, ranks tenth in size, and the second most sparsely populated state. Large parts of the state are very mountainous and in the northwest is Yellowstone National Park.
History
The area now called Wyoming was originally settled by Native American tribes. After that, the region was in French hands for a long time. However, the French have done little with the area. There have been French explorations through the area and French trappers may have visited the area. The French never settled there, but thanks to them there are a few locations with French names. Most of the state (the portion east of the Continental Divide) was acquired by the United States in 1803 through a transaction that has come to be known as the Louisiana Purchase. Later treaties with Spain (1819) followed, the United Kingdom (1846) and Mexico (1848) which caused area expansion to the west.
In 1807, the area around what is now called Yellowstone National Park was mapped by John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. When he reported back to civilization about the natural wonders there, he was not believed. Jim Bridger, who visited the area forty years later, was again not believed. He did explore routes into the Great Divide Basin that would later be used for the Oregon Trail, Pony Express, Union Pacific Railroad, and much later Interstate 80. In 1834 Fort Laramie. was founded as a trading post for the fur trade. From 1867, the city of Cheyenne became serviced by the Union Pacific Railroad, and on July 25, 1868, the Wyoming Territory was established, named after the Wyoming Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania.
The state turned out not to have many resources to attract many settlers, but in 1867 it did experience a modest gold rush around the town of South Pass City. Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872, the nation’s first national park. On July 10, 1890, Wyoming became the 44th state to join the United States. In the late 1800s, the state was under the spell of robbers Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid who together robbed banks and trains. The Johnson County War also took place during that period.
Geography
The state of Wyoming covers 253,554 km², of which 251,706 km² is land. The borders of the state are formed by the parallel circles 41° N and 45° N and the meridians 104°3′ W and 111°3′ W. Wyoming and Colorado, excluding the curvature of the Earth’s surface, are the only states that are rectangular. The distance from the northern to the southern border is 444 km, the distance from the western to the eastern border is 550 km on the northern border and 587 km on the southern border.
According to JIBIN123.COM, Wyoming is bordered to the north by the state of Montana, to the west by Idaho and Utah, to the east by South Dakota and Nebraska, and to the south by Colorado. Wyoming is in the Mountain time zone.
The main river is the North Platte. The largest lakes are Yellowstone Lake, Jackson Lake and the Flaming Gorge Reservoir (created after the construction of the Flaming Gorge Dam).
The Teton Mountains rising from a flat landscape.
Devils Tower, a 386-foot-tall rock formation in the northeast of the state. This served as the setting in the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Wyoming is bisected by the Rocky Mountains that largely define the landscape in the western half of the state. The highest point is the top of Gannett Peak (4207 m). The eastern half of the state belongs to the Great Plains. To the east is also a small portion of the Black Hills, the rest of which are in South Dakota. A well-known location in Wyoming is Devils Tower, basically a 386-foot-tall monolith whose top is 1,558 meters above sea level. The average elevation of Wyoming is 2040 meters, making it the highest state in the country after Colorado. The Continental Dividebisects the state from northwest to southeast. Much of the southeast belongs to the Great Divide Basin. The rain that falls here does not flow to the sea anywhere but stays in the area.
Wyoming is rich in natural beauty. In the northwest of the state is the famous Yellowstone National Park, which has many geysers, among other things. Nearby is Grand Teton National Park, where the Teton Mountains rise almost perpendicularly from the surrounding plain. North of Jackson is the National Elk Refuge, a sanctuary where thousands of Wapiti winter each year. Many of the last wild horses are also in the state.
What is believed to be the first-ever discovery of dinosaur fossils in Wyoming was made at Como Bluff in 1878, a result of the construction of the Union Pacific railroad. The place is now also called Dinosaur Graveyard.
In Wyoming, the black- footed ferret, a long-extinct mustelid, has been reintroduced.
The smallest village in Wyoming is the village of Buford, which has only one resident.
Demographics
According to TRACKAAH, Wyoming had a population of 509,294 (2.0 per km²) in 2005 and 576,000 in 2012. The population density in Wyoming is the lowest of all 50 states after Alaska. The total population is the lowest of all states. The largest city is capital Cheyenne, in the southeast. In the west of the state is the large Wind River Indian Reservation.
According to the 2010 census, 90.7% of the population was white (85.9% non-Latino whites), 0.8% African, 2.4% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific and 2.2% came from two or more races. 8.9% of the population was Latino. More than 25% of the population is of German descent.
Chinese Americans
Wyoming used to have a vibrant Chinese community. Today, little of the community remains and few Chinese live in this state.
Chinese migrants went to Wyoming in the 1800s to work as railroad builders or miners. Racial unrest in 1885 killed 28 Chinese and set fire to about a hundred Chinese migrant houses. Later, many Chinese migrated to San Francisco to become gold prospectors.
Economy
The Grand Prismatic Spring and in the background the Excelsior Geyser, both major attractions in Yellowstone National Park.
The gross product of the state in 2001 was 20 billion dollars. With a GDP of $47,400, the state is one of the richest in the US. Wyoming ranks sixth in the ranking of states with the highest quality of life (2006).
The main economic sectors are mining and tourism. The state is the largest producer of coal. For the natural beauty, tourists come to Yellowstone National Park.
The state is one of the safest in the United States and ranks at the bottom of the crime rankings. Wyoming invests $243 per resident in policing and legal support.
Wyoming has one of the lowest taxes in the US with no income, corporate or inheritance taxes. The “sales tax”, a tax on consumption, is 4%. The counties can impose a property tax of up to 1.2%, the state can tax up to 0.8% of the property.
Culture
Rodeo during the Jubilee festival in Laramie. Rodeo is an important part of Wyoming culture.
Rodeo is an important part of cultural life in the state. That is why Wyoming is also called the Cowboy state. The logo on the state license plates is the Bucking Horse and Rider and is a silhouette of what is believed to be Clayton Danks, most famous rodeo rider and native of Wyoming, on a bucking horse. The most famous rodeo is the Cheyenne Frontier Days, which has been held annually since 1897.
Politics
The executive branch of the state is headed by a governor, who is directly elected by the voters in the state. The 2018 gubernatorial election was won by Republican Party Mark Gordon. He took office as governor of Wyoming in January 2019. When it comes to presidential elections, the state invariably chooses the Republican candidate. This has been the case since the 1952 elections, with the exception of the 1964 elections.
The Legislature is made up of the Wyoming House of Representatives (Wyoming House of Representatives) with 60 members and the Wyoming Senate (Wyoming Senate) with 30 members. For more than twenty years, Republicans have had a majority in both houses.
Wyoming’s representation in the United States Congress consists of two senators and one representative. All three are members of the Republican Party. The current MP, Liz Cheney, was elected in November 2016; she is the daughter of former US Vice President Dick Cheney.
Emancipation
Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first female governor in the United States.
Wyoming is known for having been at the forefront of women’s rights in the past.
In 1869, when Wyoming was still a territory, women were given the right to vote. When Wyoming applied to become a state, Washington argued that women’s suffrage had to be abolished first. Parliament announced that it would never agree to this and, if necessary, wait a hundred years, and in 1890 Wyoming became the first state with the right to vote for women.
The state already had the United States’ first female judge in 1870, and the first female governor Nellie Tayloe Ross ruled from 1925 to 1927. The first African American member of the Wyoming Capitol was also a woman, Harriet Elizabeth Byrd.
Administrative division
According to COUNTRYAAH, Wyoming is divided into 23 counties.
| County | Inhabitants 1 July, 2007 |
County Seat | Inhabitants 1 July, 2007 |
| Albany | 32.227 | Laramie | 27.241 |
| Big Horn | 11.263 | Basin | 1234 |
| Campbell | 40.433 | Gillette | 25.031 |
| Carbon | 15.486 | Rawlins | 8685 |
| Converse | 12.868 | Douglas | 5675 |
| Crook | 6284 | Sundance | 1205 |
| Fremont | 37.479 | Lander | 7131 |
| Goshen | 11.995 | Torrington | 5437 |
| Hot Springs | 4553 | Thermopolis | 2925 |
| Johnson | 8142 | Buffalo | 4597 |
| Laramie | 86.353 | Cheyenne | 55.641 |
| Lincoln | 16.171 | Kemmerer | 2427 |
| Natrona | 71.750 | Casper | 53.003 |
| Niobrara | 2262 | Lusk | 1338 |
| Park | 27.073 | Cody | 9187 |
| Platte | 8396 | Wheatland | 3349 |
| Sheridan | 27.998 | Sheridan | 16.719 |
| Sublette | 7925 | Pinedale | 2043 |
| Sweetwater | 39.305 | Green River | 12.072 |
| Teton | 20.002 | Jackson | 9631 |
| Uinta | 20.195 | Evanston | 11.483 |
| Washakie | 7816 | Worland | 4940 |
| Weston | 6854 | Newcastle | 3324 |
