South Dakota is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large piece of the population with nine reservations currently in the state and have historically dominated the area. South Dakota is the seventeenth largest by area, but the fifth least populous, and the fifth least densely populated of the 50 United States. As the southern part of the previous Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889, simultaneously with North Dakota. They are the 39th and 40th states admitted to the union; President Benjamin Harrison shuffled the statehood papers prior to signing them so that nobody could perceive which became a state first.
Here we have gathered some informative South Dakota trivia questions for you to enjoy and get some information.
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South Dakota Trivia Questions
1 South Dakota is named after what?
Show AnswerThe Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes2 What is the South Dakota State song?
Show Answer“Hail, South Dakota!”3 When did South Dakota became a state?
Show AnswerOn November 2, 1889, on the same day as North Dakota4 What is the name of the city that is the capital of South Dakota?
Show AnswerPierre5 What South Dakota city is the largest city in the state?
Show AnswerSioux Falls6 What is the South Dakota State gemstone?
Show AnswerFairburn agate7 What other states border South Dakota?
Show AnswerNorth Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana8 The Missouri River divides the state into two geographically and socially distinct halves, which are commonly known to residents as what?
Show Answer“East River” and “West River”9 How much land area does South Dakota have in square miles?
Show Answer77,12110 What is South Dakota’s highest point with an elevation of 7,242 ft .?
Show AnswerHarney Peak11 Where is the point with the lowest elevation in South Dakota?
Show AnswerThe shoreline of Big Stone Lake, with an elevation of 966 ft12 What state borders South Dakota to the north?
Show AnswerNorth Dakota13 What is the South Dakota State fish?
Show AnswerWalleye14 What state boarders South Dakota to the south?
Show AnswerNebraska15 What is the South Dakota State animal?
Show AnswerCoyoteALSO CHECK: 50+ Minnesota trivia questions
South Dakota State Trivia
16 What states border South Dakota to the east?
Show AnswerIowa and Minnesota17 What is the South Dakota State insect?
Show AnswerHoney bee18 South Dakota is bordered to the west by what two states?
Show AnswerWyoming and Montana19 What is the name of the largest and longest river in the state of South Dakota?
Show AnswerThe Missouri River20 Dams in South Dakota on the Missouri River create four large reservoirs. What are their names?
Show AnswerLake Oahe, Lake Sharpe, Lake Francis Case, and Lewis and Clark Lake21 What is the South Dakota State mineral?
Show AnswerRose quartz22 South Dakota’s highest recorded temperature is what?
Show Answer120 °F at Usta on July 15, 200623 What is the South Dakota State flower?
Show AnswerAmerican Pasque flower24 The lowest recorded temperature in South Dakota is what?
Show Answer−58 °F at McIntosh on February 17, 193625 On average, how many tornadoes does South Dakota have per annum?
Show AnswerAbout 30 tornadoes a year26 In what year was National Memorial in the Black Hills created?
Show AnswerIn 192527 The sculpture of four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore was carved into the mountainside by what sculptor?
Show AnswerGutzon Borglum28 The first human inhabitants in what is today South Dakota were Paleoindian hunter-gatherers who disappeared from the area when?
Show AnswerAbout 5000 BC29 Between 500 AD and 800 AD, a semi-nomadic people known as the “what” lived in central and eastern South Dakota?
Show AnswerMound Builders30 Which two of South Dakota’s largest present-day cities were founded by land speculators?
Show AnswerSioux Falls in 1856, and Yankton in 1859ALSO CHECK: 55+ Maryland trivia questions
South Dakota trivia quiz
31 In 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills and miners and explorers began illegally entering land promised to what group of Indians?
Show AnswerLakota32 The Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was the last major armed conflict between the United States and the what?
Show AnswerLakota Sioux Nation33 At the Wounded Knee Massacre, how many Indians including women and children were killed?
Show AnswerAt least 146 Sioux34 During the 1930s, a lack of rainfall, unusually high temperatures and poor cultivation techniques caused the what?
Show AnswerDust Bowl35 What is the South Dakota State slogan?
Show Answer“Great Faces. Great Places36 In the dust bowl, what was blown away by the wind?
Show AnswerThe topsoil37 The Flood Control Act of 1944 passed by the U.S. Congress, resulted in the construction of six large what on the Missouri River?
Show Answer Dams39 What is the South Dakota State motto?
Show Answer“Under God, the people rule”40 In 1981, Citibank moved its credit card operations from New York to what South Dakota city?
Show AnswerSioux Falls41 What was South Dakota the first state to eliminate on interest rates?
Show AnswerCaps42 The Census Bureau estimated the population of South Dakota in 2013 to be how many people?
Show Answer844,87743 What are the five biggest ancestry groups in the state?
Show AnswerGerman , Norwegian, Irish, Native American, and English44 South Dakota has the largest population of what group of immigrants in America?
Show AnswerHutterites45 What is the South Dakota State tree?
Show AnswerBlack Hills SpruceALSO CHECK: 65+ Utah trivia questions
South Dakota facts trivia
46 How many large Indian reservations are located in South Dakota today?
Show AnswerSeven47 How many of South Dakota’s counties are completely within Indian reservations?
Show AnswerFive48 What South Dakota county ranked as the poorest county in the United States in the year 2009?
Show AnswerZiebach49 In 1995, a study by the Census Bureau discovered that 58% of homes on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation did not have a what?
Show AnswerTelephone50 The second-largest single employer in South Dakota is what?
Show AnswerEllsworth Air Force Base51 South Dakota is the sixth leading producer in the country of what energy related product?
Show AnswerEthanol52 The annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a five-day event, is one of the largest what in South Dakota?
Show AnswerTourist events53 How many miles of highways, roads, and streets does South Dakota have?
Show Answer83,60954 What is the South Dakota State nicknames?
Show AnswerMount Rushmore State55 What are the two major interstates that pass through the state?
Show AnswerInterstate 90, and Interstate 2956 What is the largest railroad now in South Dakota?
Show AnswerThe BNSF Railway57 South Dakota is one of the few states in the country that does not have any what?
Show AnswerAmtrak service58 What are the names of South Dakota’s largest commercial airports in terms of passenger traffic?
Show AnswerThe Sioux Falls Regional Airport and Rapid City Regional Airport59 What is the second-largest city in South Dakota?
Show AnswerRapid City60 How many TV stations are there in the state that are currently broadcasting?
Show AnswerNine61 The first television station in the state, KELO-TV, began airing Captain 11, an afternoon children’s program in 1955 and it ran until 1996, making it the what?
Show AnswerThe longest continuously running children’s television program in the countryYOU MAY ALSO LIKE: 55+ Arkansas Trivia Questions
South Dakota geography trivia
62 What is the largest university in South Dakota?
Show AnswerSouth Dakota State University (SDSU), in Brookings63 The state’s oldest university, the University of South Dakota in Vermillion has South Dakota’s only what?
Show AnswerLaw school and medical school64 What is the South Dakota State bird?
Show AnswerRing-necked Pheasant65 The four presidents featured on Mt. Rushmore are George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson.
Show AnswerFalse66 Which of these tourist attractions is NOT in South Dakota?
Show AnswerDevil’s Tower67 What is the capital of South Dakota?
Show AnswerPierre68 What 1990 Oscar-winning movie was filmed primarily in South Dakota’s Black Hills and plains areas?
Show AnswerDances with wolves69 What small South Dakota town hosts a very popular motorcycle rally every August?
Show Answersturgis70 NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw is from South Dakota.
Show AnswerTrue71 Gambling is legal in the town of Deadwood.
Show AnswerTrue72 Which large river flows through South Dakota’s capital city and forms part of its southeastern border with Nebraska?
Show AnswerMissouri River73 what state borders South Dakota to the north?
Show AnswerNorth Dakota74 What is the mascot of South Dakota’s professional hockey team? (NHL only)
Show AnswerThere is no pro hockey team in South Dakota75 What is South Dakota’s two-letter postal abbreviation?
Show AnswerSD
