USA Montana - The Land : USA  

USA Montana - The Land - Travel guide

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USA Montana - The Land

The Land

Big Sky Country, Bonanza State and Treasure State, Montana is a Latinized Spanish word meaning "mountainous".

Montana is located on Northern Great Plains/Rocky Mountains, (Pacific Northwest) and is bordered by Canada (British Columbia, Alberta & Saskatchewan) on the north, North & South Dakota (east), Wyoming (south), and Idaho (west & southwest).

At 147,047 square miles, Montana is the 4th biggest state. The highest elevation is Granite Peak at 12,799 feet while the lowest elevation is the Kootenai River at 1,800 feet.

Montana holds many extreme weather records including January 23, 1916. On that day, residents of Browning saw the temperature plummet exactly 100 degrees, from 44 degrees above zero to 56 degrees below zero.

The climate is dry, and cold spells are frequently interrupted by Chinook winds (warm Pacific winds that gather in the high Rockies and tunnel there way though mountain passes) that can raise temperatures dramatically in a few hours.

The highest temperature recorded was 117 while the lowest was -70.

Montana's scenic beauty and vast empty spaces have made tourism the second biggest industry.

National Parks & Monuments include Glacier National Park.