Bismarck (/ˈbɪzmɑːrk/; from 1872 to 1873: Edwinton) is the capital city of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the seat of Burleigh County.

In 2020, Forbes magazine ranked Bismarck as the seventh fastest-growing small city in the United States.

For thousands of years, various indigenous peoples inhabited present-day central North Dakota.

The historic Mandan Native American tribe occupied the area long before Europeans arrived.

Later, the new town was called Edwinton, after Edwin Ferry Johnson, engineer-in-chief for the Northern Pacific Railway.

The discovery of gold in the nearby Black Hills of South Dakota the following year was a great impetus for growth.

Thousands of miners came to the area, encroaching on what the Lakota considered sacred territory, leading to heightened tensions with Native Americans.

[15] In 1879, the first recorded tornado in North Dakota history smashed a steamship into the Missouri River's bank near Bismarck, causing major damage.

Several other major retail stores are near Kirkwood Mall, which was developed near the Bismarck Event Center.

Much recent commercial and residential growth has occurred in the city's northern section, largely because of expanding retail centers.

Many residents object because such a project would require the removal of many of the towering American elms which line the streets.

After the completion of the Garrison Dam in 1953 by the Army Corps of Engineers, which improved flood control, the floodplain of the Missouri River became a more practical place for development.

Situated in the middle of the Great Plains, between the geographic centers of the United States and Canada, Bismarck displays a highly variable four-season humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa/Dfb, Trewartha Dcac/Dcbc) bordering on a cold semi arid climate.

Bismarck's climate is characterized by cold, somewhat dry, snowy, and windy winters and warm, humid summers.

The warmest month in Bismarck is July, with a daily mean of 71.3 °F (21.8 °C),[17] with typically wide variations between day and night.

Winter snowfall is typically light to moderate, occurring with the passage of frontal systems; major storms are rare.

[30][31] The Belle Mehus Auditorium, named after a local piano teacher, is a 1914 historic building in downtown Bismarck and is a center for the arts in the area.

Theater companies in Bismarck include the Capitol Shakespeare Society,[33] Sleepy Hollow Summer Theatre,[34] the Shade Tree Players children's theater group,[35] Dakota Stage Ltd,[36] University of Mary, Bismarck State College, and various high school groups.

The teams at the University of Mary are The Marauders and compete in NCAA Division II in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

In spring, baseball is one of the city's top amateur sports, with each high school, Bismarck State College, and The University of Mary providing teams.

The Bobcats won back-to-back Borne Cup championships as America West Hockey League members before merging into the NAHL in 2003.

The Bobcats have made several trips to the NAHL's national tournament, claiming their first Robertson Cup title in 2010.

The team moved to Santa Cruz, California, in 2012, a year after being purchased by the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association.

From north to south, there is a dock at the Port of Bismarck, from which the Lewis and Clark passenger riverboat plies the Missouri; Fox Island Landing, about a half mile southwest of Riverwood Golf Course; and the Bismarck Dock at General Sibley Park, which has a boat ramp and picnic facilities.

Of these, the violent crimes consisted of 2 murders, 32 forcible rapes, 30 robberies and 133 aggravated assaults, while 170 burglaries, 1,908 larceny-thefts, 201 motor vehicle thefts and 3 acts of arson defined the property offenses.

The Tribune is the official newspaper of the city of Bismarck, Burleigh County, and the state of North Dakota.

Bismarck is the center of a television market covering most of western North Dakota and portions of Montana.

When it opened in 1885, St. Alexius was the first hospital in Dakota Territory and the Catholic facility is the oldest health care provider in the state.

The closest Amtrak station is in Minot, 106 miles (170 kilometers) north of Bismarck, which is served by the Empire Builder.

The north–south U.S. Route 83 merges in north Bismarck with Interstate 94 and runs east for roughly 25 miles (40 km) before turning south.