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Wisconsin

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State of Wisconsin
Flag of Wisconsin State seal of Wisconsin
Flag of Wisconsin Seal of Wisconsin
Nickname(s): Badger State, America's Dairyland
Motto(s): Forward
Official language(s) None
Capital Madison
Largest city Milwaukee
Largest metro area Greater Milwaukee
Area  Ranked 23rd in the US
 - Total 65,498 sq mi
(169,790 km²)
 - Width 260 miles (420 km)
 - Length 310 miles (500 km)
 - % water 17
 - Latitude 42° 30′ N to 47° 05′ N
 - Longitude 86° 46′ W to 92° 53′ W
Population  Ranked 20th in the US
 - Total 5,556,506
 - Density 98.8/sq mi 
38.13/km² (24th in the US)
 - Median income  $47,220 (15th)
Elevation  
 - Highest point Timms Hill[1]
1,951 ft  (595 m)
 - Mean 1,050 ft  (320 m)
 - Lowest point Lake Michigan[1]
579 ft  (176 m)
Admission to Union  May 29, 1848 (30th)
Governor Jim Doyle (D)
Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton (D)
U.S. Senators Herb Kohl (D)
Russ Feingold (D)
Congressional Delegation List
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Abbreviations WI Wis. US-WI
Website www.wisconsin.gov

Wisconsin (IPA: /wɪˈskɑnsən/, local accent: [wɪˈskansən]) (French: Ouisconsin) is a state located near the center of the North American continent. It touches two of the five Great Lakes and is one of the fifty states that constitute the United States of America. Wisconsin's capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee. Jim Doyle has been the Governor of Wisconsin since January 6, 2003.

Since its founding, Wisconsin has been ethnically heterogeneous, with Yankees being among the first to arrive from New York and New England. They dominated the state's heavy industry, finance, politics and education. Large numbers of European immigrants followed them, including Germans, mostly between 1850 and 1900, Scandinavians (the largest group being Norwegian) and smaller groups of Belgians, Dutch, Swiss, Finns, Irish, Poles and others; in the 20th century, large numbers of Mexicans and African Americans came, settling mainly in Milwaukee; and after end of the Vietnam War came a new influx of Hmongs.

Today, 42.6% of the population is of German ancestry, making Wisconsin one of the most German-American states in the United States. Numerous ethnic festivals are held throughout Wisconsin to celebrate its heritage. Such festivals are world renowned, and include Summerfest, Oktoberfest, Festa Italiana, Bastille Days, Syttende Mai (Norwegian Constitution Day), Brat(wurst) Days in Sheboygan, Cheese Days in Monroe and Mequon, African World Festival, Indian Summer, Irish Fest and many others.

Contents

History

Main article: History of Wisconsin
Image:Jean Nicolet.jpg
Painting of Jean Nicolet's 1634 discovery of Wisconsin

Name

It may have possibly come from an ancient Ojibwe word, Miskwasiniing, meaning "Red-stone place," which was probably the name given to the Wisconsin River, and was recorded as Ouisconsin by the French. The spelling was revised to its current form in 1845 by Wisconsin's territorial legislature.

The modern Ojibwe name, however, is Wiishkoonsing or Wazhashkoonsing, meaning "muskrat-lodge place" or "little muskrat place." Other theories are that the name comes from words meaning "Gathering of the Waters" or "Great Rock." Originally, Ouisconsin was applied to the Wisconsin River, and later to the area as a whole when Wisconsin became a territory.

Introduction to the West

In 1634, the French Jean Nicolet was the first European to explore Wisconsin. He founded Green Bay colony. The area was mainly colonized by German, Scandinavian and Swiss settlers. France transferred the territory to Britain in 1763. The United States acquired the Wisconsin territory after the Revolution in 1783 but it remained under British administration until the War of 1812.

Borders

Wisconsin, bordered by the states of Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois, as well as Lakes Michigan and Superior, has been part of the United States' territory since the end of the American Revolution; the Wisconsin Territory (which included parts of other current states) was formed on July 3, 1836. Wisconsin ratified its constitution on March 13, 1848, and was admitted to the Union on May 29, 1848, as the 30th state.

Economy

Wisconsin's economy was originally based on farming (especially dairy), mining, and lumbering. In the 20th century, tourism became important, and many people living on former farms commuted to jobs elsewhere. Large-scale industrialization began in the late 19th century in the southeast of the state, with the city of Milwaukee as its major center. In recent decades, service industries, especially medicine and education, have become dominant. Wisconsin's landscape, largely shaped by the Wisconsin glaciation of the last Ice Age, makes the state popular for both tourism and many forms of outdoor recreation.

Geography

Image:Wisconsin sign.JPG
Wisconsin state welcome sign

The state is bordered by the 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. The state's boundaries include the Mississippi River and St. Croix River in the west, and the Menominee River in the northeast. 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. In the north, the Lake Superior Lowland occupies a belt of land along Lake Superior. Just to the south, the Northern Highland has massive mixed hardwood and coniferous forests including the 1.5 million acre (6,000 km²) Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, as well as thousands of glacial lakes, and the state's highest point, Timms Hill. In the middle of the state, the Central Plain possesses some unique sandstone formations like the Dells of the Wisconsin River in addition to rich farmland. The Eastern Ridges and Lowlands region in the southeast is home to many of Wisconsin's largest cities. In the southwest, the Western Upland is a rugged landscape with a mix of forest and farmland, including many bluffs on the Mississippi River. This region is part of the Driftless Area, which also includes portions of Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota. This area was not covered by glaciers during the most recent ice age, the Wisconsin Glaciation.

Image:Bluff.jpg
The Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin is characterized by bluffs carved in sedimentary rock by water from melting Ice Age glaciers.

Overall, 46% of Wisconsin's land area is covered by forest.

The varied landscape of Wisconsin makes the state a popular vacation destination for outdoor recreation. Winter events include skiing, ice fishing and snowmobile derbies. Wisconsin has many lakes of varied size; in fact Wisconsin contains 11,188 square miles (28,977 km²) of water, more than all but three other states (Alaska, Michigan and Florida). The distinctive Door Peninsula, which extends off the eastern coast of the state, contains one of the state's most beautiful tourist destinations, Door County. The area draws thousands of visitors yearly to its quaint villages, seasonal cherry picking, and ever-popular fish boils.

Areas under the management of the National Park Service include the following:

Climate

The highest temperature ever recorded in Wisconsin was in the Wisconsin Dells, on July 13, 1936, and was 114 °F (46 °C). The lowest temperature ever recorded in Wisconsin was in Couderay, on both February 2 and 4, 1996, and was –55 °F (-48 °C).[2]

Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Wisconsin Cities (°F)
City Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Green Bay 24/7 29/12 40/23 55/34 68/45 77/54 81/59 78/56 70/48 58/37 42/26 29/13
La Crosse 26/6 32/13 45/24 60/37 72/49 81/58 85/63 82/61 74/52 61/40 44/27 30/14
Madison 25/9 31/14 43/25 57/35 69/46 78/56 82/61 79/59 71/50 60/39 43/28 30/16
Milwaukee 28/13 32/18 43/27 54/36 66/46 76/56 81/63 79/62 72/54 60/43 46/31 33/19
[1]

Demographics

Image:Wisconsin population map.png
Wisconsin Population Density Map

The state has always been ethnically heterogeneous. Large numbers of Germans arrived between 1850 and 1900, centering in Milwaukee, but also settling in many small cities and farm areas in the southeast. Norwegians settled in lumbering and farming areas in the northwest. Small colonies of Belgians, Swiss, Finns and other groups came to the state. Irish Catholic and Polish immigrants mostly came to the cities.[3] African Americans came to Milwaukee, especially from 1940 on. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2000, Wisconsin has a population of 5,363,675.


Demographics of Wisconsin (csv)
By race White Black AIAN Asian NHPI
AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native — NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
2000 (total population) 91.52% 6.15% 1.30% 1.92% 0.08%
2000 (Hispanic only) 3.35% 0.17% 0.11% 0.03% 0.01%
2005 (total population) 91.00% 6.48% 1.30% 2.21% 0.09%
2005 (Hispanic only) 4.17% 0.20% 0.12% 0.04% 0.01%
Growth 2000–2005 (total population) 2.64% 8.89% 3.13% 18.59% 6.85%
Growth 2000–2005 (non-Hispanic only) 1.65% 8.53% 2.43% 18.63% 6.18%
Growth 2000–2005 (Hispanic only) 28.67% 21.23% 10.54% 16.75% 10.87%

The five largest ancestry groups in Wisconsin are: German (42.6%), Irish (10.9%), Polish (9.3%), Norwegian (8.5%), English (6.5%)

Wisconsin, with many cultural remnants of its heavy German settlement, is known as perhaps the most "German-American" state in the Union. People of Scandinavian descent, especially Norwegians, are heavily concentrated in some western parts of the state. Wisconsin has the highest percentage of residents of Polish ancestry of any state. Menominee County is the only county in the eastern United States with an American Indian majority.

86% of Wisconsin's African American population lives in one of five cities: Milwaukee, Racine, Madison, Kenosha and Green Bay, while Milwaukee itself is home to nearly three-fourths of the state's African Americans. Milwaukee ranks in the top 10 major U.S. cities with the highest number of African Americans per capita. In the Great Lakes region, only Detroit and Cleveland have a higher percentage of African Americans.

33% of Wisconsin's Asian population is Hmong, with significant communities in Milwaukee, Wausau, Green Bay, Sheboygan, Appleton, La Crosse, Stevens Point, Madison, and Eau Claire.

6.4% of Wisconsin's population was reported as under 5, 25.5% under 18, and 13.1% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.6% of the population.

Religion

The largest denominations are Roman Catholic, Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Synod and ELCA Lutherans. The religious affiliations of the people of Wisconsin are shown in the list below:[4]

Economy

Image:Milwaukee at night.jpg
The US Bank Center in Milwaukee is Wisconsin's tallest skyscraper.

According to the 2004 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report, Wisconsin’s gross state product was $211.7 billion. The per capita personal income was $32,157 in 2004. Wisconsin's state budget is facing a $652.3 million shortfall.[5]

The economy of Wisconsin is driven by manufacturing, agriculture, and health care. Although manufacturing accounts for a far greater part of the state's income than farming, Wisconsin is often perceived as a farming state. It produces more dairy products than any other state in the United States except California, and leads the nation in cheese production. Wisconsin ranks second behind California in overall production of milk and butter, and it ranks third in per-capita milk production, behind Idaho and Vermont.[6] Based on poll results, Governor Jim Doyle chose for Wisconsin's 50 State Quarters design a Holstein cow, an ear of corn, and a wheel of cheese.[7] Wisconsin ranks first in the production of corn for silage, cranberries, ginseng, and snap beans for processing. Wisconsin is also a leading producer of oats, potatoes, carrots, tart cherries, maple syrup, and sweet corn for processing.

Given Wisconsin's strong agricultural tradition, it is not surprising that a large part of the state's manufacturing sector deals with food processing. Some well known food brands produced in Wisconsin include Oscar Mayer, Tombstone frozen pizza, Johnsonville brats, and Usinger's sausage. Kraft Foods alone employs over 5,000 people in the state. Milwaukee is a major producer of beer and the home of Miller Brewing Company's world headquarters, the nation's second-largest brewer. Schlitz, Blatz, and Pabst used to be cornerstone breweries within the city of Milwaukee. Today, Milwaukee's economy is more diverse with an emphasis on health care. In 2004, four of the city's ten largest employers (including the top two) were part of the health care industry.[8]

The largest employers in Wisconsin in 2007 were: 1) Wal-Mart; 2) Menards; 3) Walgreens; 4) Kohl's; 5) Kohler; 6) Marshfield Clinic; 7) Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center; 8) Quad/Graphics; 9) Target Stores; and 10) Shopko.[9]

Badger State
State Animal: Badger
State Domesticated
Animal:
Dairy Cow
State Wild Animal: White-tailed Deer
State Beverage: Milk
State Fruit: Cranberry
State Bird: Robin
State Capital: Madison
State Dog: American Water Spaniel
State Fish: Muskellunge
State Flower: Wood Violet
State Fossil: Trilobite
State Grain: Corn
State Insect: European honey bee
State Motto: Forward
State Song: "On, Wisconsin!"
State Tree: Sugar Maple
State Mineral: Galena
(Lead sulfide)
State Rock: Red Granite
State Soil: Antigo Silt Loam
State Dance: Polka
State Symbol of
Peace:
Mourning Dove

Wisconsin is also home to several transportation equipment and machinery manufacturers. Major Wisconsin companies in these categories include the Kohler Company, Rockwell Automation, Johnson Controls, Briggs & Stratton, Miller Electric, Milwaukee Electric Tool Company, Bucyrus International, Super Steel Products Corp., Oshkosh Truck, and Harley-Davidson. Wisconsin also ranks first nationwide in the production of paper products; the lower Fox River from Lake Winnebago to the Bay of Green Bay has 24 paper mills along its 39 mile (63 km) stretch.

The development and manufacture of health care devices and software is a growing sector of the state's economy with key players such as GE Healthcare, Epic Systems, and TomoTherapy.

Tourism is also a major industry in Wisconsin — the state's third largest, according to the Department of Tourism. This is largely attributed to the 90 attractions in the Wisconsin Dells family vacation destination area, which attracts nearly 3 million visitors per year. Tourist destinations such as the House on the Rock near Spring Green and Circus World Museum in Baraboo also draw thousands of visitors annually, and festivals such as Summerfest and the EAA Oshkosh Airshow draw national attention along with hundreds of thousands of visitors. Door County is a popular destination for boaters due to the large number of natural harbors, bays and ports on the Bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan side of the peninsula that forms the county.

Wisconsin collects personal income tax based on four income-level brackets, which range from 4.6% to 6.75%. The state sales and use tax rate is 5%. Fifty-nine counties have an additional sales/use tax of 0.5%.[10] The counties surrounding Milwaukee County have an additional 0.1% tax imposed upon them to fund the new baseball stadium, Miller Park, which was constructed around the turn of the century. Retailers who make sales subject to applicable county taxes must collect 5.6% tax on their retail sales.

The most common property tax assessed on Wisconsin residents is the real property tax, or their residential property tax. Wisconsin does not impose a property tax on vehicles but does levy an annual registration fee. Property taxes are the most important tax revenue source for Wisconsin's local governments, as well as major methods of funding school districts, vocational technical colleges, special purpose districts and tax incremental finance districts. Equalized values are based on the full market value of all taxable property in the state, except for agricultural land. In order to provide property tax relief for farmers, the value of agricultural land is determined by its value for agricultural uses, rather than for its possible development value. Equalized values are used to distribute state aid payments to counties, municipalities, and technical colleges. Assessments prepared by local assessors are used to distribute the property tax burden within individual municipalities.

Wisconsin does not assess a tax on intangible property. Wisconsin does not collect inheritance taxes. Wisconsin's estate tax is decoupled from the federal estate tax laws; therefore the state imposes its own estate tax on certain large estates [2].

Law and government

The capital is Madison.

State Executive Officers

See also:

Politics

The Little White Schoolhouse of Ripon
The Little White Schoolhouse of Ripon

During the period of the Civil War, Wisconsin was a Republican and pro-Union stronghold. Ethno-religious issues in the late 19th century caused a brief split in the Republican coalition. Through the first half of the 20th century, Wisconsin's politics were dominated by Robert La Follette and his sons, originally of the Republican Party, but later of their own Progressive Party. Since 1945, the state has maintained a close balance between Republicans and Democrats. Republican Senator Joe McCarthy was a controversial national figure in the early 1950s. Recent leading Republicans include former Governor Tommy Thompson and Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.; prominent Democrats include Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, and Congressman David Obey.[11]

In Wisconsin, pencils are used to mark the election ballots, and the public is not allowed to be present when the votes are tallied. However, in select communities, some voters are still allowed to use a proper marker. [12]

Much of the state's political history involved coalitions among different ethnic groups. The most famous controversy dealt with foreign language teaching in schools. This was fought out in the Bennett Law campaign of 1890, when the Germans switched to the Democratic Party because of the Republican Party's support of the Bennett Law, which led to a major victory for the Democrats.

The cities of Wisconsin have been active in organizing themselves to provide for greater government transparency by increasing the availability of legislative information on the internet. Currently three out of the top five most populous cities in Wisconsin provide their constituents with internet based access of all public records directly from the cities’ databases. Wisconsin cities started to make this a priority after Milwaukee began doing so, on their page, in 2001. One such city, Madison, has been named the Number 1 digital city by the Center for Digital Government in consecutive years. Nearly 18 percent of Wisconsin’s population has the ability to access their municipality’s information in this way.

Lawmakers in Wisconsin

1984 was the last election that Wisconsin supported a Republican Presidential candidate. However, both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections were close, with Wisconsin receiving heavy doses of national advertising because it was a "swing" or pivot state. Al Gore carried the presidential vote in 2000 by only 5,700 votes, and John Kerry won Wisconsin in 2004 by 11,000 votes. Republicans had a stronghold in the Fox Valley but elected a Democrat, Steve Kagen, of Appleton, for the 8th Congressional District in 2006. Republicans have held Waukesha County). The City of Milwaukee itself heads the list of Wisconsin's Democratic strongholds which also includes Madison and the state's Native American reservations. Wisconsin's largest Congressional district, the 7th Congressional district has been a strong Democratic hold since 1969, and has re-elected Congressman David Obey with 62% of the vote. Rep. Obey chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

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