The US state of Montana is situated in the Western Region of the United States. The west part of the state comprises many mountain ranges, while smaller "island ranges" could be situated within the central part of the state. In total, there are 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name, derived from the Spanish word montana, which translates to mountain. Montana has several nicknames, none official, including: "Big Sky Country" and "The Treasure State", and slogans which comprise "Land of the Shining Mountains" and more recently, "The Last Best Place." The state ranks fourth in area, but 44th in population, and hence has the third-lowest population density within the United States. The economy is primarily based on services, with ranching, wheat farming, coal and oil mining within the east, and tourism, hard rock mining and lumber within the west. Millions of visitors yearly go to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument and Glacier national Park, and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Montana's total state product during the year 2003 was $26 billion. Per capita personal income during 2003 was $25,406, 47th in the US. Nonetheless, this number is rapidly increasing.
Montana's land area is presently 380,850 km2 or 147,046 square miles, which is slightly smaller than the country of Paraguay, but is somewhat bigger as opposed to the country Japan. The state of Montana is the largest state in the union behind the larger states of California, Alaska and Texas, and is the US' largest landlocked state. Toward the north, the state of Montana shares a 545-mile (877 km) border with three Canadian provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. To the east, the state borders North Dakota and South Dakota. To the south lies the state of Wyoming and towards the southwest and west is the state of Idaho.
Montana is a relative center of beer microbrewing, ranking third within the United States in number of craft breweries per capita. There are important businesses for lumber and mineral extraction; the state's resources include coal, silver, gold, vermiculite and talc. Ecotaxes on resource extraction are numerous.
Tourism is also essential to the economy with millions of tourists a year to Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake, the Missouri River headwaters, the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.