Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck () is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the second-most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city's population was estimated in 2017 at 72,865, while its metropolitan population was 132,142. In 2017, "Forbes" magazine ranked Bismarck as the seventh fastest-growing small city in the United States. Bismarck was founded by European Americans in 1872 on the east bank of the Missouri River. It has been North Dakota's capital city since 1889, when the state was created from the Dakota Territory and admitted
North Dakota State Auditor with the state's constitution in 1889, the state has seen a total of 16 State Auditors. The first eight State Auditors all served within the first 25 years of the office's creation, but since then Auditors such as Robert W. Peterson, who served for 24 years, have served for longer spans of time. The office has been held by the state's Democratic Party only two years; that was from 1893 to 1894 when Arthur W. Porter was elected. All other auditors have been from the North Dakota Republican Party. It is the only statewide office in North Dakota to have