Top High Schools in North Dakota

There are many public and private high schools in the state of North Dakota. It is rather difficult for you to choose one that fits you most. In order for you to better evaluate your choice, we have ranked these high schools based on latest SAT/ACT scores, graduation rates, and state test scores from the North Dakota Department of Education. See below for top 13 high schools throughout the state of North Dakota. If you are interested in the list of all school districts and counties within North Dakota, you can find it on COUNTRYAAH in alphabetical order.

North Dakota Overview

The state of North Dakota is located in the Midwestern United States and belongs to the Northwest Central States. North Dakota borders Canada (with the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan) to the north, and the states of Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south, and Montana to the west.

North Dakota is located in the US Interior Plains. The eastern districts of the state are practically flat lowlands, gradually rising to the west into glacially flattened and prairie-covered hilly plains. In the south-west, the so-called “badlands” (badlands) are located – vast hilly and ravine-cut territories with numerous rocky outcrops.

North Dakota has a continental climate with distinct seasons (long, cold winters and warm summers), arid in the west, and slightly more rainy in the east.

The state of North Dakota got its name in honor of the Dakota Indians (one of the Sioux peoples) who lived on these lands.

The first European explorer to visit North Dakota was in 1738 Pierre Gauthier de Warenne la Lawerendry, whose expedition came from the then French colony of Canada to explore the possibility of trade with local Indians. In the 1890s, the upper reaches of the Missouri River (formally part of Spanish Louisiana at that time) were explored by John Evans.

After the Louisiana Purchase by the United States, the famous expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark passed through North Dakota. They spent the winter of 1804-1805 here, building the first European legacy in North Dakota, Fort Mandan.

Over the following decades, Europeans appeared in this remote region only sporadically, they were mainly merchants who bought furs from the Indians. The lands of North Dakota were at various times part of Michigan Territory, WisconsinTerritory , Iowa Territory, and Minnesota Territory and Nebraska Territory. In 1861, the Dakota Territory was created by the U.S. Congress to include the modern states of North Dakota and South Dakota, and parts of Montana and Wyoming.

Large-scale development of North Dakota began in the seventies of the XIX century, when a railroad route was laid through the lands of the state. A stream of settlers poured into the previously empty fertile lands, cities appeared and quickly grew along the steel highway. On November 2, 1889, North Dakota became (at the same time as South Dakota) the thirty-ninth U.S. state.

Now, about 125,000 people live in the state’s largest city, Fargo (and about 250,000 people in the urban agglomeration that has grown around it). The capital of North Dakota, the city of Bismarck, has about 75,000 residents.

The economy of North Dakota is based on agriculture, mining (primarily oil), and, to a much lesser extent, other industries. Fertile lands and temperate North Dakota are well suited for growing cereals (wheat, barley, buckwheat, oats, corn) and oilseeds (rapeseed, sunflower) crops. Livestock farms breed cattle (both for meat and milk) and pigs. North Dakota is one of the largest honey producers in the US. Opening of the northwestern state (as well as Montana and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan) of the largest deposit of “shale” oil and the development of technologies for its extraction led to a real “oil boom” in North Dakota. The most important industrial sector of the state is the processing of agricultural products.