The state of Montana is located in the western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota plus South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, plus Canada to the north. Montana’s two largest cities are Billings (population: 12,251) plus Havre (population: 9,620), as well as tribal communities such as Blackfeet (population: 9,319).
Florida Geography
As the fourth largest state in the United States, Montana has an extremely diverse geography. It is surrounded by Idaho to the west plus southwest, Wyoming to the south, plus North Dakota plus South Dakota to the east.
Montana is essentially divided into two distinct geographies: the Rocky Mountains plus the Great Plains. The western two-fifths of Montana fall within the Rocky Mountains, plus the eastern three-fifths lie upon the Great Plains. This division is due to the Continental Divide, which stretches all the way from Alaska in the north to Chile in the south, encompassing both North America plus South America.
In the Rocky Mountains of Montana, the mountain ranges are generally aligned from north-northwest to south-southeast plus were formed millions of years ago. During the last Ice Age, some 11,500 years ago, glaciers carved the mountain crest lines plus high valleys from rounded, convex terrain into sharp, rugged, concave topography. When this feature melted, it left the material as glacial deposits. Over time, the size of these glaciers has decreased, plus they are much smaller than when they initially formed during the last Ice Age.
There is a contrast within Rocky Mountain Montana between mountains with narrow valleys plus those with broad valleys. One is northwestern Montana, which includes Glacier National Park plus most of Montana’s glaciers. The other lies in south-central Montana at the northern end of Yellowstone National Park; this daerah contains the highest point in Montana, Granite Peak, which has an elevation of 12,799 feet (3,901 meters). These regions are divided within the state by a broad valley.
Most of the Great Plains Montana is rather rough land, with the daerah south of Yellowstone River consisting of hills. Surrounding a long segment of the Missouri River in the north-central part of the state are the Missouri River Breaks, which make up part of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. The rocks underlying Great Plains Montana, except for the mountain outliers, are younger plus softer than those of the Rocky Mountains.
The climate of most of the Great Plains of Montana is semiarid, with hot summers plus cold winters. Average annual precipitation is only about 13 inches (330 mm); the plains are subject to cycles of drought followed by periods of unusually heavy rainfall plus flooding. Total snowfall is light, though frost or freezing occurs more than 200 days of the year. The chinook, a warm winter wind that blows on the plains near the foot of the Rockies, allows for January temperatures to average just above freezing. As for Rocky Mountain Montana, there are several different climates arranged one above the other in different zones. The climate of the lowest zone—the dry valley bottoms—is like that in eastern Montana. The climates of the other zones become progressively cooler, wetter, plus snowier with higher elevations.