Wyoming Seal

Wyoming Geography and Economy

With 579,315 residents (2017), Wyoming is the least populous state in the United States of America and, after Alaska, the state with the second lowest population density. It is located in the western United States and rises from the Great Plains of Eastern Wyoming to the Rocky Mountains.

The name comes from the language of the Algonquin Indians and means “great plains”. It was taken from the poetic short story Gertrude of Wyoming , written by Thomas Campbell in 1809.

The largest place is the capital Cheyenne. The nickname is “Equality State” according to the motto of the state: “Equal Rights”.

Area 253,348 km²
Residents 585.501
Residents per km² 2.3
Capital Cheyenne
Postal Code WY
ISO-3166-2 code US WY
FIPS code 56

Geography

With its 253,336 km² Wyoming is the tenth largest state in the USA by area. After Colorado, it is also the second highest state in the USA on average with 2044 m. It is located in the western center of the US state and is therefore part of the legendary so-called (Wild) West (hence the nickname Cowboy State) due to its location (as well as its culture).

Teton Mountains in western Wyoming

Wyoming extends for 450 km between approximately 41 ° N and 45 ° N and a length of 550 to 580 km between approximately 104 ° W and 111 ° W and belongs to the states along with its southern and western neighbors Colorado and Utah whose boundaries were defined almost exclusively according to geographical longitudes and latitudes. The boundary corresponds to a rectangle with minor deviations.

Abbreviated as WY by AbbreviationFinder, Wyoming is bordered by Montana to the north, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Colorado to the south, and Utah and Idaho to the west. In addition to Colorado, Wyoming is one of only two US states that is bounded exclusively by two degrees of latitude and two degrees of longitude.

Basically, the Wyoming area is a wide, broken plateau from which various ridges of the Rocky Mountains rise. Seen from a cross-sectional perspective, this plateau is in an inclined position that merges from a higher west to a lower east. This slope also describes the transition from the wide eastern plains of the prairies over central basin landscapes to the rocky mountains to the west. Wyoming is a state that connects the great cultural landscapes of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains – a position it shares only with three of the 50 other states: Montana in the north and Colorado and New Mexico in the south.

Another geographical significance is Wyoming’s location on the Great Continental Divide, the great continental divide of the North American continent, which runs through the state area in a north-west-south-east direction.

Wyoming can be broken down into three major geographic areas, each roughly one third of the state: the Great Plains, the Intermountain Basins, and the Rocky Mountains.

Climate

Wyoming has a semi-arid, continental climate that can come up with all kinds of extremes. It is shaped by several geographic factors that are reflected in different ways in climatic conditions.

The location of the state in the heart of the North American continent, far away from any large bodies of water that could have a balancing effect on the climate, ensures a strictly continental climate, which is characterized by hot summers, cold winters and low rainfall. The relatively high location of large parts of the country (there are hardly any areas that are less than 1000 m above sea level), paired with southern location (roughly between the 41st and 45th parallel, which in Europe corresponds to the height of central Italy, southern France and northern Spain) and dry air, causes strong temperature fluctuations between day and night.

In addition, the Rocky Mountains have a decisive effect: On the one hand, they represent a veritable barrier that shields humid and rainy air masses from the Pacific and thus ensures semi-arid conditions in their rain shadow. On the other hand, their unfolding in a north-south direction enables a more or less unhindered exchange of air masses in parallel. This means that sudden polar cold air inrushes can occur all year round. Thirdly, the mountains also allow exactly the opposite effect: warm downward winds – known as chinooks (comparable to the alpine foehn) – can cause unusually mild temperatures, especially in winter.

After all, the location near the jet stream as well as wide, hilly prairie landscapes and plateaus cause rather windy conditions.

Economy

Historically, cattle and sheep raising were the main industries in Wyoming and are still an important part of the culture and way of life.

The most important branch of the economy today, however, is mining (above all crude oil, natural gas, coal, salt, uranium, iron ore, Trona and, in the past ten years, increased methane production).

Thanks to artificial irrigation, some wheat, beans and sugar beets are grown.

The tourism plays a significant role especially in the Rocky Mountains, the two national parks and national monuments.

The real gross domestic product per capita real GDP was USD 64,659 in 2016 (national average of the 50 US states: USD 57,118; national ranking: 9). The unemployment rate was 4.5% in November 2017 (national average: 4.1%).

Wyoming Flag

The current flag of the State of Wyoming was introduced on January 31, 1917 after a design competition.

It consists of the silhouette of an American bison in white, facing left, on a blue background; the whole thing framed by first a thin white and then a somewhat wider red stripe.

The bison in the US (commonly called buffalo) refers to the nickname of the state, the ” Buffalo State ” (” Buffalo State “). The bison were given a final refuge in Yellowstone National Park.

Wyoming’s seal appears branded on the bison’s side. In the center of the inner ring of the seal is a woman with a rod on which a banner that read ” Equal Rights ” (equality) depends. Wyoming was one of the first states to demand equality for women back in the 19th century.

Also known as Equality State, Wyoming is short for WY with a population of 493,782. According to Countryaah, the capital city and the biggest city of Wyoming is Cheyenne.

Wyoming Seal