South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who compose a large portion of the population and historically dominated the territory. South Dakota is the seventeenth largest by area, but the fifth smallest by population and the 5th least densely populated of the 50 United States. As the southern part of the former Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889, simultaneously with North Dakota. Pierre is the state capital and Sioux Falls, with a population
South Dakota Highway 36 in 1926. At that time, it continued further west to the Wyoming border, utilizing the current route of US 16A to Custer, and U.S. Route 16 west of Custer; US 16 went northwest from Rapid City. The western terminus was pulled back to its present location around 1935, when US 16 was rerouted southwest through the Black Hills. In 1933 and 1934, this route was also part of U.S. Route 216, which then continued north to Rapid City. South Dakota Highway 36 South Dakota Highway 36 (SD 36) is an east–west state route located in southwest South Dakota. It begins