Bismarck << BIHZ mahrk >>, North Dakota (pop. 73,622; met. area pop. 133,626), is the state capital and a medical, retail, and transportation center. It is a shipping center for the farm and ranch region of southwest North Dakota. It also serves as the headquarters for most mining activities in the western part of the state. It is on the east bank of the Missouri River, about 170 miles (274 kilometers) south of the Canadian border. It is the seat of Burleigh County. Products include foods and farm machinery. North Dakota’s State Archives and State Museum are in the Heritage Center. Bismarck State College overlooks the city on a bluff above the Missouri River. The University of Mary and the North Dakota State Penitentiary are on the outskirts of the city.
Settlers founded Bismarck in 1872 and called it Edwinton. Later, they changed the name to Bismarck, in honor of the German statesman Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck became a railroad center and supply point for the Black Hills gold mines in 1873. It became the capital of the Dakota Territory in 1883 and of North Dakota when statehood was granted in 1889.
