Wisconsin is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central
part of the United States. It borders two of the five Great
Lakes, and four other U.S. states (Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota).
Wisconsin's capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee.
In 1634, the Frenchman Jean Nicolet was the first European to explore
Wisconsin. He founded the Green Bay colony. During the next 100 years, the area
was settled primarily by French fur traders. France then 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. The nineteenth century saw settlement by Yankees, Cornish
miners, and German, Scandinavian and Swiss settlers.
Wisconsin, bordered by the states of Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois,
as well as Lakes Michigan and Superior, has been part of 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. 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.