Wisconsin: Basic Facts and State Overview

Wisconsin is the 20th most populous state with 5.9 million residents and 65,496 square miles — a Great Lakes state of extraordinary natural beauty, cheese culture, and political history.

Capital and Major Cities
Madison is the capital (270,000). Milwaukee is the largest city (577,000; metro 1.6 million). Other major cities: Green Bay (110,000), Kenosha (100,000), Racine (76,000), and Appleton (76,000).

Nickname and Motto
Wisconsin is "America's Dairyland" — the state produces 25%+ of US cheese and leads the nation in cheese variety and production per acre of agricultural land. The state motto is "Forward." The state bird is the robin; the state flower is the wood violet.

Geography
Wisconsin's geography is shaped by glaciation — the Northern Highlands (lake-studded boreal forest of the north), the Western Uplands (the Driftless Area, a region spared by glaciation — rolling hills and coulees), the Central Plain (sandstone and glacial outwash), and the Eastern Ridges and Lowlands (fertile agricultural land bordering Lake Michigan). Lake Superior forms the northern boundary; Lake Michigan the eastern boundary.

Economy
Wisconsin's economy combines dairy and cheese manufacturing (America's Dairyland is not just a motto), paper manufacturing (Wisconsin produces more paper than any other state), manufacturing (machinery, medical equipment — Exact Sciences, Epic Systems), financial services (Northwestern Mutual, Johnson Controls, Fiserv), and tourism (Door County, the Northwoods, Milwaukee breweries). Epic Systems (Verona — the world's largest electronic health records company) is one of the most significant private companies in Wisconsin.

Notable Facts
Wisconsin leads all states in cheese production (over 3 billion pounds per year). Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, and his Taliesin studio is in Spring Green. The Republican Party was founded in Ripon, Wisconsin, in 1854. Wisconsin's Door County Peninsula has been called the "Cape Cod of the Midwest."