Posted on 14.12.2014, and completed on 21.12.2014
Bordered by the
Montreal River,
Lake Superior and
Michigan to the north, by
Lake Michigan to the east, by
Illinois to the south, by
Iowa to the southwest, and by
Minnesota to the northwest,
Wisconsin is known as "America's Dairyland" because it is one of the nation's leading dairy producers, particularly famous for cheese. The word
Wisconsin originates from the name given to the
Wisconsin River by one of the
Algonquian-speaking
American Indian groups living in the region at the time of
European contact. With its location between the
Great Lakes
and the Mississippi River, Wisconsin is home to a wide variety of
geographical features. The state is divided into five distinct regions: the
Lake Superior Lowland in the north, the
Northern Highland (with massive mixed hardwood and coniferous forests, as well as thousands of glacial lakes, and the state's highest point,
Timms Hill), the
Central Plain, the
Eastern Ridges and Lowlands, and
Western Upland (a rugged, hilly region deeply dissected by
rivers and
streams). The state capital is
Madison, and its largest city is
Milwaukee, which is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan.
Wisconsin has been home to a wide variety of cultures over the past 12,000 years, but the agricultural societies emerged over the
Woodland period (1000 BCE - 1000 CE). Later, between 1000 and 1500 CE, the
Mississippian and
Oneota cultures built substantial settlements. The Oneota may be the ancestors of the modern
Ioway and
Ho-Chunk tribes who shared the Wisconsin region with the
Menominee at the time of European contact. The French visited the region since the early 17th century, but they didn't made permanent settlements before Great Britain won control of the region following the
French and Indian War in 1763. The first permanent settlers, mostly French Canadians, some Anglo-New Englanders and a few African American freedmen, arrived in Wisconsin while it was under British control, when the fur trade reached its height.
