Montana, USA

Montana is a large, sparsely populated state in the northern Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions, bordered by Canada and four U.S. states. Helena is the capital, while Billings is the largest city; the Continental Divide and numerous mountain ranges dominate the west, and rolling prairie spreads across the east. Indigenous nations have lived in the region for thousands of years, and Montana entered the Union in 1889 after periods shaped by the fur trade, mining, cattle ranching, railroads and homesteading. The state had about 1.1 million residents in 2025. Agriculture, energy, mining, forestry and manufacturing remain important alongside health care, tourism, technology and other service industries.