Although a accurate etymology of the title is uncertain, "Wisconsin" is thought to become an English version of a French adaptation of an Indian word. A Ojibwe word Miskasinsin, meaning "Red-stone place," was probably the title given to the Wisconsin River, which then wwhen recorded as Ouisconsin per French, & changed to its todays form per English. More theories come that a title comes from either words meaning "Gathering of the Waters" or even "Great Rock." Wisconsin originally was applied to the Wisconsin Flow of any stream, & late to the region as the whole whenever Wisconsin became a territory. A state's title is abbreviated WI, Wis, or even Wisc.

USS Wisconsin was named in honor of this state.

History
Independent Article: History of Wisconsin

Within 1634, Frenchman Jean Nicolet became Wisconsin's first European explorer, landing at Red Banks, touching modern day Green Bay within lookup of the passage to the Orient. A French controlled a metropolitan area until 1763, when it was ceded to the British.

When a American Revolutionary War, Wisconsin was a a share of the U.S. Northwest Territory. It wwhen so governed as a portion of Indiana Territory, Illinois Territory, and Michigan Territory. Wisconsin Territory was organized on July 3 1836 and became the Thirtieth state in May 29 1848.

Wisconsin's political history encompasses, on one hand, Fighting Bob La Follette and the Progressive movement; and on the other, Joe McCarthy, a controversial anti-Communist censured per Senate in the period of the 1950s. the 1st Socialist city manager of a big city in the United States was Emil Seidel, elected city manager of Milwaukee around 1910; another Socialist, Daniel Hoan, was mayor of Milwaukee from either 1916 to 1940.

A state mineral is Galena, otherwise known as lead sulphide, which reflects Wisconsin's early mining history. Several town list like Mineral Point recall a time period in the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s when Wisconsin was an important mining state. After Indian accord opened higher southwest Wisconsin to payout, hundreds to thousands of mineworker—numbers of of the children immigrants from either Cornwall, England—flocked to southern Wisconsin in what may nearly exist as termed the "lead rush." At one point Wisconsin produced to a higher degree half of the united states's lead. In a period of a boom it appeared that south-west Wisconsin will turn into the people center of the state, & Belmont was briefly the state capital. Per 1840s a well-accessible deposits were worked out, & experient mineworker were drawn away from Wisconsin per California Gold Rush. This period of mining prior to & in a period of the early years of statehood directly led to the development of state's nickname, "the Badger State." Numbers of mineworker & their families sleep in the mines where it worked until adequate above-ground shelters were built & were so in comparison Badgers.

Watch also Peshtigo Fire Territory of Wisconsin Wisconsin Walleye War

Culture
Called "America's Dairyland," Wisconsin is besides known for cheese. Citizens of Wisconsin come known as Wisconsinites, although the most common nickname (occasionally utilized pejoratively) among non-residents is "Cheeseheads," due to the prevalence and quality of cheesemaking in the state. A settlement of Little Chute holds a annual "Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival" each summertime attracting cheese enthusiasts from either in the world. the state is too known for its alcohol production & consumption, historically front yard to a prominent total of breweries & blocks by the capita.

A state is page to the Green Bay Packers, one of the virtually all successful microscopic-market sales person sports franchises in the united states. Monday Night Football national broadcasts draw strong ratings when you took Packers games. A Packers' page sports stadium, Lambeau Field, is considered by many football enthusiasts to exist as "hallowed ground." A University of Wisconsin Badgers football program enjoys a similar loyalty; each teams come known to sell out their entire schedules far beforehand.

A Milwaukee Art Museum in Milwaukee is known for its unique architecture. A Milwaukee County Zoological Gardens cover over 200 land (800,000 m²) of land on the far west side of the city. Madison is front yard to the Vilas Zoo which is free for tons visitant, & a Olbrich Gardens conservatory, when well as a hub of ethnical activity at a University of Wisconsin. These are likewise known for Monona Terrace, a convention center that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Law and government
A capital is Madison and the big city is Milwaukee. Beginning by having a governorship of Robert M. La Follette, Sr. in the early 1900s and the state Progressive Party establishment soon thereafter, Wisconsin and in particular, Madison, have often been seen as leaders in labor, and social welfare legislation as well as legislation popularly termed "socially progressive." For example, in 1982 sexual orientation was added by the state legislature as a protected category under existing anti-discrimination laws, a step in the context of the 1980s seen as highly innovative. Russ Feingold was a single senator to vote against a Patriot Act, and Tammy Baldwin is the just openly sapphic U.S. Representative.

A state has supported Democrats in the endure 5 presidential contests. In the period of each the 2000 & 2004 presidential elections, Wisconsin was considered a "swing" state due to its residents existence comparatively equally split between voting for the Democratic & Republican candidates. A state good barely (by all about 5,700 votes) went for a Popular presidential candidate Al Gore withinside 2000, & by 14,000 votes to Popular presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004, two of whom wasted the national election. Republicans come concentrated in the eastern & northward-central area of the state, especially in the suburban counties in the area of Milwaukee.

Governors of Wisconsin Wisconsin State Legislature Wisconsin State Senate Wisconsin State Assembly U.S. Congressional Delegations from Wisconsin Names of U.S. Senators from Wisconsin

Geography
A state is bordered per Montreal River, Lake Superior and Michigan to the north, by Lake Michigan to the east, by Illinois to the south, and by Iowa and Minnesota to the west. Section of the state's boundaries includes a Mississippi River and St. Croix River in the west, and the Menominee River in the northeast.

By owning its location between a Great Lakes and the Mississippi Flow of any stream, Wisconsin is personal to the wide kind of geographical features. These features allow a state to become broken into 5 distinct regions. Northward, a Lake Superior Lowland occupies a belt of land along Flow of any stream Superior. Upright in a south, the Northern Highland includes the state's greatest point, Timms Hill, when well as massive forests & hundreds to thousands of little glacial streams, lakes, and wells throughout. Midmost of a state, the Central Plain possesses some unique sandstone formations prefer a Dells of the Wisconsin River in addition to rich farmland. A Eastern Ridges and Lowlands region in the southeast is home to numerous of Wisconsin's big cities. In a southwest, the Western Upland is the rugged landscape with a mix of outdoors & farmland.

the varied landscape of Wisconsin makes a state a vacation destination popular for outdoor recreation. Winter cases include skiing, ice camping & snowmobile plug hat. Wisconsin has several streams, lakes, and wells throughout of varied size, as a matter of fact Wisconsin contains 11,188 square miles of a body of water, more so near trio other states. A distinctive Door Peninsula, which extends off of a eastern coast of the state, contains one of the state's virtually all beautiful tourer destinations, Door County. A locality draws hundreds to thousands of visitant each year to its quaint villages, seasonal scarlet picking, & ever-popular [http://www.lakemichiganangler.com/recipes/fish/door_county_fish_boil_photos.htm fish boils].

Wisconsin's self-promotion when "America's Dairyland" occasionally leads to the mistaken impression that these are an entirely rural state. As a matter of fact, completely the same, Wisconsin contains cities & towns of all sizes. Milwaukee occurs as city slightly big than Boston & part of the largely developed string of cities that stretches down the american edge of Flow of any stream Michigan into greater Chicago and besides into northwestern Indiana. Milwaukee is besides, additionally, a Nineteenth big city in the united states. This string of cities along the american edge of Flow of any stream Michigan is typically considered to become an lesson of a megalopolis. Madison's triple identity when state capital, university town, & working city give it the ethnic richness unusual within the city its size. Medium-sized cities dot the state & anchor a network of working farms surrounding the two.

View also List of Wisconsin counties List of cities in Wisconsin List of villages in Wisconsin List of towns in Wisconsin List of Wisconsin rivers

Economy
Additionally to cheese, Wisconsin is known for its beer, bratwursts, cranberries and numbers of festivals, like Summerfest and the EAA Oshkosh Airshow. Wisconsin is as well a big producer by volume of ginseng, cranberries, and paper products in the United States. A another time desired title of top milk producer there are no yearn belongs to Wisconsin; a position of top milk producer is today held by California. A University of Wisconsin is an international leader in stem-cell research.

Demographics

Based on data from a U.S. Census Bureau, when of 2004, Wisconsin's people was 5,509,026. There are 229,800 foreign-nonnative residents in the state (Quartet.2% of the state people), & an figured 41,000 illegal aliens sleep in the state, accounting for 18% of the foreign-born.

Between 1990 & 2004 a state's people grew 617,000, the incubation of Xii.6%

Race
A racial makeup of the state: 87.3% White 5.7% Black 3.6% Hispanic 1.7% Asian 0.9% Native American 1.2% Mixed race

Ancestry
A 5 big ancestry groups around Wisconsin come: German (42.6%), Irish (10.9%), Polish (9.3%), Norwegian (8.5%), English (6.5%)

Population of German ancestry come a big ancestry class action virtually all of the state, sustaining astir half of the state's whiten people reporting at least unfair German ancestry on a Nose count, & Wisconsin is widely repute the virtually all "German-American" state in the Union (although North Dakota, with 43.9% German ancestry, potty produce this claim). Population of Scandinavian descent, especially Norwegians, are heavy concentrated around a select few american area of the state. Wisconsin besides has a greatest percentage of residents of Polish ancestry of any state. Menominee county is the simply county in the eastern United States using an U.s. Indian majority.

33% of Wisconsin's Asian people is Hmong, with important communities around Milwaukee, Wausau, Green Bay, Sheboygan, Appleton, La Crosse, Madison, and Eau Claire.

Captain hicks.4% of Wisconsin's people were reported when under Phoebe, Twenty-five.5% under Xviii, & Thirteen.1% were 65 or even older. Females manufactured higher around L.6% of the people.

Religion
A religious affiliations of the humans of Wisconsin come shown in the listings in the image below:

Christian – 85% Protestant – 55% Lutheran – 23% Methodist – 7% Baptist – 6% Presbyterian – 2% United Church of Christ – 2% Other Protestant or even general Protestant – 15% Roman Catholic – 29% Other Christian – 1% Other Religions – 1% Non-Religious – 14%

Important cities and villages
Cities & villages come incorporated populated area inside Wisconsin. Towns come unincorporated minor civil divisions of counties.

Cities/Metroplitan arewhen inside Wisconsin by using people of 50,000 or even sir thomas more as of 2000 include:

Milwaukee, pop. 596,125 (1,709,926 within area), nations 33rd big television market. Madison, pop. 220,332 (588,885 within area), nations 85th big television market, state capital, flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin Green Bay, pop. 102,263 (226,778 around area), nations 69th big televison market, house of Green Bay Packers football team; other front yard attractions include a National Railroad Museum and the Neville Public Museum. Kenosha, pop. 93,798; considered a share of the greater "Chicagoland" area; site of Kenosha Velodrome, opened in 1927, oldest operating velodrome in the U. S.; International HQ of the Barbershop Harmony Society. Racine, pop. 81,703, headquarters of S. C. Johnson (Johnson Wax) with Frank Lloyd Wright-designed administration building. It used to be that personal of the Racine Belles, an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League team. Appleton, pop. 70,293 (372,110 around area). Location of Lawrence University and the Harry Houdini Historical Center, controversial for a 2004 exhibit showing the secret of Houdini's famed "Metamorphosis" trick Waukesha, pop. 67,258 Oshkosh, pop. 63,515 (372,110 inside area). Front yard of the occupy aerodrome in the globe—in a period of a week whilst the Experimental Aircraft Association, devoted to hobbyist-built aircraft, holds its annual Oshkosh Airshow. Eau Claire, pop. 61,702. Front yard of National Presto and Menards. Janesville, pop. 60,294. House to the major General Motors assembly plant, 3.Five million square feet (325,000 m²) inside size. West Allis, pop. 60,254. At home of the Pettit National Ice Center (formerly a West Allis Olympic Ice Rink), training center for the U. S. Olympic speedskating team, & a West Allis Speedskating Club, which as of 2005 has nurtured 17 Olympians & 95 national champions. La Crosse, pop. 51,907. Wisconsin's independent port on the Mississippi River and home of Trane. Sheboygan, pop. 50,792. Fond du Lac, pop. 42,203 (57,479 around area). About equidistant from either Green Bay, Madison, & Milwaukee. Wausau, pop. 38,469 (157,969 within area). Page to Granite Peak Ski Area; located at carrefour of Interstate 39 and State Highway 29. Manitowoc, Wisconsin , pop. 34,567 (53,456 around micropolitan locality)

Among more municipalities come: Antigo, pop. 8,560, Baraboo, pop. 10,717, front yard of Circus World Museum Beloit, pop. 35,821, personal of Beloit College De Pere pop. 20,559 personal of St. Norbert College. West De Pere is non a seperate municipality; however, like the neighborhoods of De Pere west of the Coyote Flow of any stream. Portage, pop. 9,728, birthplace of Frederick Jackson Turner, Zona Gale Ripon, birthplace of the Republican Party Stevens Point, pop. 24,539, house of the [http://www.for-wild.org/wchf/ Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame], commemorating Aldo Leopold, John Muir, and others Superior, pop. 27,389 Waterloo, pop. 3,259, residence to the headquarters of one of the world's big bicycle manufacturers, Trek Bicycle Corporation Watertown, site of the first kindergarten in the United States Wauwatosa, pop. 47,27One, house to one of 2 level 1 trauma centers in the state Wisconsin Dells, pop. 2,418 (approx. 4,000 including Lake Delton), popular resort area, residence of Tommy Bartlett's thrill shows & many hotels & themeparks. Wisconsin Rapids, pop. 18,435

Education
Colleges and universities
Four-year and postgraduate institutions

Alverno College Beloit College Cardinal Stritch College Carroll College Carthage College Concordia University Wisconsin Edgewood College Lakeland College Lawrence University Maranatha Baptist Bible College Marian College of Fond du Lac Marquette University Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design Milwaukee School of Engineering Mount Mary College Mount Senario College Nashotah House Northland College Ripon College

St. Norbert College Silver Lake College University of Wisconsin System UW-Eau Claire UW-Green Bay UW-La Crosse UW-Madison UW-Milwaukee UW-Oshkosh UW-Parkside UW-Platteville UW-River Falls UW-Stevens Point UW-Stout UW-Superior UW-Whitewater Viterbo College Wisconsin Lutheran College Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology

Two-year institutions

UW Colleges UW-Baraboo/Sauk County UW-Barron County UW-Fond du Lac UW-Fox Valley UW-Manitowoc UW-Marathon County UW-Marinette UW-Marshfield/Wood County UW-Richland UW-Rock County UW-Sheboygan UW-Washington County UW-Waukesha

Wisconsin Technical College System Blackhawk Technical College Chippewa Valley Technical College Fox Valley Technical College Gateway Technical College Lakeshore Technical College Madison Area Technical College Mid-State Technical College Milwaukee Area Technical College Moraine Park Technical College Nicolet Area Technical College Northcentral Technical College Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Southwest Wisconsin Technical College Waukesha County Technical College Western Wisconsin Technical College Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College

Professional sports teams
Milwaukee Brewers, Major League Baseball Minor League Baseball Teams Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Beloit Snappers Northwoods League baseball teams Eau Claire Express La Crosse Loggers Madison Mallards Wisconsin Woodchucks Milwaukee Bucks, National Basketball Association Green Bay Packers, National Football League Milwaukee Admirals, American Hockey League Milwaukee Wave, Major Indoor Soccer League Milwaukee Wave United (dormant for 2005), United Soccer Leagues

Miscellaneous information
List of people from Wisconsin List of television stations in Wisconsin List of Wisconsin state parks Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference List of Wisconsin railroads