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 State Guard most of the region and supplied the FPF with its equipment. The State Guard was disbanded in 1948. The South Dakota State Guard was reactivated during the Korean War from the years 1954 to 1956. The authority of each state to maintain a state defense force is recognized by the federal government under Title 32, Section 109 of the United States Code. Under this legislation, twenty-three other states and the territory of Puerto Rico currently maintain state defense forces. The South Dakota State Guard Act grants the Governor of South Dakota the authority to organize the South Dakota State Guard