wyoming

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Wyoming is a state of the western United States of America. It is the least populous U.S. state. USS Wyoming was named in honor of this state.

History

After the Union Pacific Railroad reached the town of Cheyenne, the capital, in 1867, the population began to grow steadily in the Wyoming Territory, established on July 25, 1868. Yellowstone National Park became the world's first National Park in 1872 and is located in the far northwestern portion of the state. Most of the territory that comprises Yellowstone National Park is located in Wyoming. Wyoming was admitted to the Union on July 10, 1890. It was named after the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania, made famous by the 1809 poem Gertrude of Wyoming by Thomas Campbell. The name was suggested by Representative J. M. Ashbey of Ohio.

In 1869 Wyoming extended suffrage to women, at least partially in an attempt to garner enough voters to be admitted as a state. In addition to being the first U.S. state to extend suffrage to women, Wyoming was also the home of many other firsts for U.S. women in politics. It had the first female court bailiff and the first female justice of the peace in the country. Wyoming was also the first state in the Union to elect a woman governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross in 1925. A List of Wyoming Governors is available.

Geography

See: List of Wyoming counties It is bordered on the north by Montana, on the east by South Dakota and Nebraska, on the south by Colorado, and on the west by Utah and Idaho. Devil's Tower, made famous in the film Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, is located near Moorcroft in Crook County. Wyoming sports the lowest population density of the continental 48 states; however, non-contiguous Alaska's is lower.

Demographics

According to the Census Bureau, as of 2003, the population of Wyoming was estimated at 501,242. The racial makeup of the state is:

88.9% White
0.8% Black
6.4% Hispanic
0.6% Asian
2.3% American Indian
1.8% are mixed race

The 5 largest ancestry groups in Wyoming are German (25.9%), English (15.9%), Irish (13.3%), American (6.5%), Norwegian (4.3%). 6.3% of Wyoming's population were reported as under 5, 26.1% under 18, and 11.7% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 49.7% of the population.