State of the United States
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state of the United States. It covers about 199,000 km² (77,000 mi²), the 17th largest of the 51 states and districts in Natural Earth’s file for the United States, and about the same size as Kyrgyzstan. About 887,000 people live there (Wikidata, 2020).
200 km
- South Dakota
- Kyrgyzstan
Facts
| Area, measured | 199,000 km²77,000 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 200,000 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| Share of the United States | 2.1%of the area of the 51 states and districts |
| Rank by area | 17th of 51states and districts of the United States |
| Population | 887,000Wikidata, 2020 · the census year of every unit |
| Density | 4.4 people per km² |
| Capital | Pierre |
| Latitude range | 43°N to 46°N |
| Type | StateUS-SD |
What the numbers say about South Dakota
- South Dakota covers 2.1% of the area of the United States and ranks 46th of 51 by population, against 17th by area.
- It would take 47.5 states and districts the size of South Dakota to cover the United States.
- South Dakota holds 0.3% of the 331.4 million people that Wikidata’s 2020 figures give for the 51 states and districts together: about 1 in 374.
- The largest, Alaska, is 7.55× the size of South Dakota; the smallest, Washington, D.C., is less than 0.1% of it.
- Closest in size within the United States: Nebraska (201,000 km², 1.01×) and Kansas (213,000 km², 1.07×).
- Counted as a country, South Dakota would be larger than 154 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 86th by area, between Belarus (207,000 km²) and Kyrgyzstan (199,000 km²).
- With 887,000 people it would rank 164th of 238 by population.
- South Dakota has 4.4 people per km², about the density of Libya, which has 4.5 per km².
- That makes South Dakota the 47th most densely populated of the 51 states and districts, 13% of the average for the United States (35 per km²).
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 44°N is drawn about 2.0× too large in area, so South Dakota looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, South Dakota stretches about 381 km north to south and 618 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 200,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 199,000 km², to within 2%.
Beside the regions of other countries
The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.
- ChinaAreaShaanxi0.97× · 206,000 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- IndiaAreaKarnataka1.04× · 192,000 km²PeopleChandigarh84% · 1.1 million (2011)
- GermanyAreanone within 2×PeopleSaarland88% · 1.0 million (2022)
- FranceAreanone within 2×PeopleRéunion (France)1.01× · 881,000 (2022)
- ItalyAreanone within 2×PeopleUmbria1.01× · 882,000 (2019)
- SpainAreanone within 2×PeopleAsturias88% · 1.0 million (2024)
- JapanAreanone within 2×PeopleWakayama0.97× · 911,000 (2021)
- BrazilAreaParaná1.00× · 199,000 km²PeopleAcre1.07× · 830,000 (2022)
- CanadaAreanone within 2×PeopleNova Scotia0.91× · 969,000 (2021)
- AustraliaAreaVictoria87% · 228,000 km²PeopleTasmania (Australia)1.64× · 540,000 (2020)
- MexicoAreaSonora1.11× · 179,000 km²PeopleCampeche0.96× · 928,000 (2020)
- ThailandAreanone within 2×PeopleKanchanaburi0.99× · 892,000 (2020)
Where South Dakota ranks
South Dakota is the 17th largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States.
Ranked within the United States
- 14Idaho216,000 km²
- 15Kansas213,000 km²
- 16Nebraska201,000 km²
- 17South Dakota199,000 km²
- 18North Dakota183,000 km²
- 19Oklahoma181,000 km²
- 20Missouri180,000 km²
All 51 states and districts of the United States, matched to countries
Compare South Dakota
- South Dakota vs Kyrgyzstan
- South Dakota vs Senegal
- South Dakota vs Uruguay
- Romania vs South Dakota
- Guyana vs South Dakota
- Belarus vs South Dakota
- Shaanxi vs South Dakota
- South Dakota vs Karnataka
- South Dakota vs Jilin
- Victoria vs South Dakota
- South Dakota vs Paraná
- South Dakota vs Sonora
- South Dakota vs Réunion (France)
- South Dakota vs Umbria
Share this outline
Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
- Population
- Wikidata, 2020. United States’s units share the 2020 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
- Matching
- Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
- Data built
- 2026-11-12