Why So Few Americans Live In This HUGE Area In The Northern Part Of The Country 

I live in Northwest Montana, and I don’t think I would ever leave Montana for any reasons. The isolation is what makes me love Montana so much.

Interesting note: The US Southwest only grew AFTER air conditioning was introduced. Hot & sunny regions are great IF you have AC!

Arizona didn't develop until air conditioning became common. Air conditioning actually changed a lot of settlement patterns in the South as well.

I've lived in Montana my entire life (35 years) and I can't imagine living anywhere else. The winters can be rough, but it's worth it. I'm taking my kids to GNP this summer and I can't wait to show them the true beauty of our incredible state.

I live in northwest Montana and i am in the construction industry. I can definitely say there has been a shift. We are absolutely booming in population. I think people will be migrating to places like Montana to get away from our cities.

It's also important to note that many of the states in the Empty North have a lot of federal land in them, which dramatically reduces the area that people can settle in

As someone who lives in Calgary, we drive often into Montana and Idaho for the sheer tranquility and small population and wide open spaces. I love it. Wouldn’t trade it for anything. Big cities are stressful.

The main reason why Canada has large population centers on this side of the border while America does not is because of the Aspen Parkland region that lies almost entirely on the Canadian side of the region. The Aspen Parkland was nicknamed “Palliser’s Triangle” (named for explorer John Palliser) and it forms a triangle that almost lines up with the locations of all of the Canadian Prairie cities (excluding Regina which was located in an isolated fertile valley). Inside of the triangle, the soil was much more fertile than the arid soil located inside of this triangle and to the south of it. The 49th parallel happened to be located south of this triangle and therefore all of Montana and most of North Dakota lie in the arid zone to the south of it. Only a small piece of the Aspen Parkland natural region stretches into the US, mainly in NW Minnesota and NE North Dakota. Coincidentally, this is where the city of Grand Forks is and it’s just to the North of Fargo/Moorhead. Because so little of this region is in the US, it is seldom referenced by Americans geographers. Now for the reason why Edmonton and Calgary got so big, large deposits of oil were discovered outside of both cities. Although Edmonton’s oil reserves were much larger, Calgary’s were discovered about 30 years earlier so the oil companies set up shop there and had already established a corporate hub by the time that the oil deposits were discovered near Edmonton. The fact that Calgary was closer to the other major cities of Canada and the US was a incredibly helpful coincidence. Thanks for posting this video. I was watching for a geography RU-vidr to cover this geographic anomaly.

I have grandparents who live in the black hills in South Dakota and I can confirm that the empty north is a beautiful place despite no one living there

I grew up in the empty north, and I'm still basically in it today. it's interesting to hear someone talk about this region, because we're often forgotten.

Simple - Cold, dry and mountainous is the type of environment that people avoid worldwide. Also, the western half of the country was settled very recently. EDIT: It seems like my comment was less clear to people than I thought it would be. I want to clarify that I was not stating my opinion on which climate is best or worst - I was simply stating the objective reality that, historically, large settlements happened almost exclusively in low-lying, flat, wet lands near rivers and river deltas, often on coasts, because long-distance water-redirection technology simply didn't exist and people needed large bodies of water nearby and farmable land. This is why the US, Indian, European, African, etc. population distribution maps look the way they do. It's easy to see the strong correlation between high population and rivers, river deltas, coasts, lowlands, wetlands, flat land, as well as the corrolation between a lack of population and deserts, mountains, tundra areas, rugged terrain, lack of large rivers and lakes. And that's accounting for recent changes. Historically the population distribution was even more disproportionate than it is today. I didn't think this needed to be stated but here is your context for my comment.

I live in the empty north, in South Dakota. Thank you for mentioning the climate. This past winter, we once went 7 straight days (108 hours in a row) where the temperature did not get above zero. Daytime high of minus 4. That kind of stuff. That week was preceded by nearly 30 inches of snow in a week. After we finally got above zero in January, we had two straight weeks of fog. We had 14 inches of snow again a few weeks ago in April. And we always get a few days above 100 degrees each year. But take away the climate, and the fact that it's a zillion miles to any meaningful large city, and it's a pretty good life out here.

Montana is amazing. Everyone should visit, at least once. I'm from NYC. They have so much open space, amazing mountains and even the plains of Eastern Montana are more beautiful than the plains in other states. Go in spring or early summer. It's all breathtaking.

In Bismarck ND, we had 150+ consecutive days of having 8+” of snow on the ground this past winter. We nearly doubled the old record. Stay out!

Country driving during the summer and fall through those areas is an absolute dream! Beautiful states, not too much traffic. Great coffee shop towns as well! Will repeat.

I live in Spokane and we like to call it the "sunny side of the state" becuase Seattle is so cloudy and grey. The snow here is rarely more than 6" and rarely dips below freezing for too long. Spokane is the biggest metro area between Seattle and Minneapolis and between Calgary and Salt Lake City which is basically the region you highlighted. So we have a very very far reaching influence on this entire area - roughly 20% of the entire United States like you said. For that reason Spokane is a major service oriented city with great hospitals and schools and a major hub for businesses who want to reach the region you highlighted.

The winters in North Dakota can get pretty brutal but it’s true what they say about the winters keep the riff-raff out.

As a kid growing up in Spokane in the 70's and 80's, I remember local news stories about elderly residents who were born in "Washington Territory."

I grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (kind of on the border of the populated/unpopulated area of the map). It was a really nice place to grow up in as a kid. Not much to offer as an adult. Very isolated from the rest of the country, but generally safe and a low cost of living. That said, I've seen my hometown grow from a large town of about 80k to a small city of about 200k (counting the metro area). As an adult, I'm thankful to have grown up on the border of urban and rural. It has afforded me the opportunity to see things from both sides of a lot of the cultural and political splits in the country.

A guy I used to work with moved back to his family home in Montana. Their home is 60 miles from the closest airport. Everything closes at 6pm but boy is it beautiful!

And it's a wonderful thing. To have a place without hordes of people, in such a populous and prosperous country

Empty North: 500,000 sq mi and 5,000,000 people. Alaska: Hold my ice cubes.

Do a video on the Great Basin. I used to drive from Salt Lake City, UT to Klamath Falls, OR once a month for work. It's scary how desolate and barren it is.

Hey Geoff! Great video. Well researched and presented. Two other reasons might be that when originally settled, there were the Plains Indians already living there and secondly, there were and still are some pretty fierce natural preditors to deal with (bears, cougars, wolves and others that might fight you for the territory). Enjoying your work, Jane

Excellent Thanks Again Take Care

There’s really nothing more lovely than the northern Rockies! Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana will always be my homeland. A harsh climate for sure but the best region of the entire country imo.

I’ve lived my whole life ranching and working archaeology in the empty north. Life can be difficult here sometimes but my family, friends, and lifestyle are all rooted here. The life I live here could not be lived anywhere else. Although I’ve visited over half the country along with several others worldwide, I don’t see myself ever moving from this region. Edit: I live in North Dakota not Montana lol most folks commenting assume I’m from Montana haha but I get it. It’s the biggest state in the region

This is why we really arent going to colonize Mars anytime soon. There is so much of this planet that is barely settled with a much milder climate than Mars. Even Antarctica is balmy and inviting compared to Mars. That and a general decline of the human population in the coming two centuries mean that is highly unlikely that Mars will be a sensible economic investment for a few centuries or more.

I lived in Minot, ND for two years (for job). After that I moved to Fairbanks, Alaska because I wanted to live where the Winters were more mild.

Love these videos, they cut straight to the chase and have as much wisdom as quickly as can be :) Much appreciated

6:00 those are NOT the only two reasons why AZ is much more populated. Migration from Mexico has a lot to do with it too.

Boise, Idaho is right on the border and if it were included, the metro population would add nearly 1 Million people… and it’s still booming here! I think other metros nearby will share similar experiences soon. I believe, specifically Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming will be among the fastest growing states over the next 30 years. Boise’s mild climate is so moderate due to the low elevation. Bozeman, Missoula, Coeur D’alene and Jackson are some really cool cities to check out!

North Dakotan here. Yup, winters are long and cold. But it's not that big a deal so long as you don't do stupid things like go for a road trip assuming you don't need seasonal clothing along because the car has a good heater. And for me the plusses far outweigh the negatives. I'm sitting here at my second home. It's a nice old farmhouse located on a quarter of land so plenty of room for a hobby farm if I wanted, I've got fiber internet right to the house, there's rural water, and the electricity is super reliable. A town of several thousand people is just a couple miles away so shopping for basics isn't an issue. Draw a circle with a half mile radius centered on my house, count the number of people within the circle that aren't me and the answer is zero. My main home is in one of the larger towns in ND. And all that is affordable without being wealthy. So why so few people around here? The weather isn't for everyone and until recently with telecommuting being an option there weren't that many well paying jobs here. Some yes certainly. But no big manufacturing operations. Agriculture is big here but is also highly mechanized and increasingly automated so it's not a big employer and hasn't been for years. And if you like the entertainment opportunities in a large city you're going to be bored here. So it's hard for us to keep or attract younger folk. So be it, that just means more peace and quiet for those of us that are here :)

I live in Montana. The weather is crazy! Some winters are mild others are hard. This last winter was very long. It started the first week in November and snow finally melted in April. 6 months of rain. May gave us a lot of rain it’s the 1st of June and it’s still cloudy.

As a geography Ph.D. I'll give you a solid "A" on this one. Well done. Would only add that Calgary is a major agric. center as the land to the east is some of the most fertile in Canada. It and some mining gave the city its pre-oil boom. Calagry in many ways is "Denver North" Also, while the region as a whole is still relatively empty there are several booming metro areas, expecially Missoula, Bozeman, the Kalispell area and Boise. In many case high end California "refugees" have moved in making it their primary homes. In effect Montana has become two different states with the culture and economics of the western section rapidly changing while the larger are to the east remaing steady. That boom is reflected in Montana acquiring an extra congressional seat post the 2020 census. There is also the issue of the Bakken in NW Norrth Dakota. The oil industry boomed turning Williston into an 1890s style Wild West town, expensive, messy, vice filled. It will of course bust. It is interesting to compare the pop distrubtion of the world's largest countries in both area and population. Among those the US is probably the most broadly distributed with only 1-2 such "Empty Quarters" Much of the Chinese populations is in the east, India has a big empty area in the NW [otherwise India is comparable to the US in being well distributed]. Russia's population is almost all within a concentrated area within the European section, most of the vast Asian area is entirely empty. Brazil is huge but its 100 million people are almost all along the coast. Canada and Australia are two gigantic countries with few people. Canada is largely empty apart from the very dense Laurentian Corridor and the Fraser Valley in the west. Australia is perhaps the most concentrated of all these with some 90+ % located in a handful of cities.

As someone who was raised in Edmonton and later moved to Calgary I can say that, while winters suck the summers are nice (minus smoke from forest fires). Montana is so similar and just saying "IF" say Alberta bought Montana from the USA I believe the next boom towns of North America would be Billings and Helena. We Canadians seem ONLY to be drawn to "big cities" and that is evident at how much Edm and Cgy have exploded in the last 30 years. I'd move to Billings or Helena in a heartbeat if I did not have to immigrate.

Because it's too cold 🥶🥶

They should live in Montana. I live in Alberta and it is BEAUTIFUL just like Montana. Montana is a wonderful state.

Thanks for the information. It was interesting and useful.

The cold up there is no joke. I'm from Florida, and I had to fuel my semi truck in Montana this past winter. -35 outside with 40 MPH winds is no joke. I love Montana, but I don't think I could do winters up there.

I've lived in that north country. Cold as hell and blizzards you'd have to see to believe. Yes, oil in Edmonton, but Calgary has a climate similar to Denver. Those Chinook winds can bring springtime temperatures in January.

Northeastern Minnesota is not the Great Plains, rather it’s a forest/boreal forest ecosystem. There are at least 6 national parks - Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Wind Cave, Badlands, and Voyageurs (and possibly North Cascades) in the shaded area. And what about Winnipeg as a population center in Canada?

I appreciate the way that you insert ads into your videos. You do it in a very respectful way and that is very admirable. It's okay that you announce your sponsors because everybody needs get paid for their work, including you, you deserve to get paid for the good work that you do for all of us. You announce ads in a way that is subtle and not pushy which is more than can be said about many RU-vid content creators. I also really appreciate your video content 👍

I have been in all these states multiple time throughout the years. For the most part it is stunningly beautiful. But then winter. The coldest I have seen was -22. Snow overnight over my head I am six foot. So the empty north is a good (if you like mosquitoes )place to live 7 months of the year

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One thing id like to pt out is that the part of minnesota included is mostly dense forest and lakes (including the great lake region) which is vastly different than the great plains.

All you have to do is pick a random town in this area, check out the job and housing situation, and then think: "Do I really want to pull up stakes and move there?" That's why it will always be relatively empty. The few places attracting new people can't keep up with housing, which is another impediment to anyone wanting to relocate out there.

You might have noted that as soon one crosses the 49th parallel into Canada, the population everywhere increases (not just Calgary & Edmonton). Canada's major railroads and the No. 1 Trans-Canada highway are all near the Canada-U.S. border. There are many more small cities in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan near the border than there are American cities. It's not all about "oil" but about farming, irrigation, and transportation too. Not even to mention national identity.

This video was so informational that it has given me good ideas of places to move so I dont have to worry about hot summers, Like Cooke City in Montana seems amazing. While its over 100f right now in Mississippi, its only 78f in Cooke City.

No Oceans, no ports, long winding rivers, coldest places to live in the contiguous 48, flat with a high chances of major tornado outbreaks in the Spring and Fall, or mountainous snowy terrain. Just wanted to see if any of these reasons made the list before I press play from the start.

The Canadian cities you mention are also just east of the Rockies. But note that there are other big cities in the Canadian Prairies: Regina, Saskatoon, and, biggest of all, Winnipeg. Surely transportation issues and history are important.

A city like Spokane has a milder climate than say Chicago or Boston with millions of people so it's funny when people complain about it being too cold.

Here in Wyoming we have the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Indian reservations, school sections, national forests, national parks, and national monuments. Add it all up and you're left with only about 40% of the state being privately owned. Odd that it was never mentioned in the video.

Sounds a lot like the Northern Europe. Low population density on a large area. It's a difficult sell for tourists and immigrants, but us Fenno-Scandians tend to love the rugged nature, and appreciate the extreme seasons. Montana sounds like an interesting place to visit, being a Finn from a very flat country.

I live in Missoula, Montana. I moved here from Memphis, Tennessee, where the climate is very different: hot and humid. Summers here are incredible. Elevation should be considered when you discuss regions of the country, as Missoula is in a valley, and we're still about 3,400 feet above sea level. Montana is quite large, and you must cover a tremendous distance to travel anywhere or to network with those in other towns/cities. Supply chains are affected! Also travel is impacted by the mountains because most highways follow rivers around mountains, adding distance. Nothing is "as the crow flies," which describes the flat parts of the country.

My nephew works in the oil industry in North Dakota but his family lives outside of Denver. He spends two weeks in North Dakota and then a week back in Denver. There simply isn't enough housing for him to move his family to North Dakota and his wife doesn't want to live there even if they did build housing.

I lived 20 years in the rural area south of Calgary. We always got at least -40 to -50 for 2 weeks in the winter. Summer could get hot but it is not humid so was easier to take. Often, in January or February the Chinook winds would blow off the Rockies and it could warm up from -30 to +40 in less than an hour. You have to be rugged to take the erratic weather. I realized quickly that being unprepared for cold weather could kill you. Every car had sleeping bags and candles during the winter. Candles can make enough heat to keep you from freezing if you were unlucky enough to have car or snowdrift trouble. I was born and raised in Spokane, Washington where the weather isn’t so extreme. They get -20 only rarely, not too much snow and beautiful summers. This area has lots of recreational perks. Many lakes, including Pend’Orielle and Coeur’de Alene, for swimming, boating, fishing. There are many ski resorts and cultural attractions. Spokane is a great place to live. Not too hot or too cold, No hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, or earthquakes.

As a North West Montana boy for 35 years, I can say it sure is nice not having too many people around. with ❣️ from Montana

Your perspective is breathtaking.

Hey. That’s where I live. I live in North Dakota. It was the weirdest experience when I first drove up to Winnipeg. It blows my mind that North Dakota can be so empty but drive an hour North from the border and there’s a city whose population is significantly bigger than the whole state of North Dakota. Granted, if say Fargo, ND had the same percentage of North Dakota’s population as Winnipeg does for Manitoba, Fargo would be a fairly big city.

The cold winters definitely keep most people away. But the quality of life is good, the opportunities are ample and the land itself is vastly beautiful. My backyard is a literally a state forest and I wouldn’t trade it for anything

Hey Geoff ... is Portland ( Oregon ) still weird ? Heard from moving companies that there is a mass exodus from that area. Surprisingly people are going to Colorado, Florida, & Texas.

I grew up in western Minnesota not far from Fargo. I generally enjoyed it as we were on the edge of lake country. What I did not like were the mosquitoes and cool, damp windy days in fall and spring. I called it duck hunting weather.

The fact there are actually settlements in this region comes down to one person: James Jerome HIll. Reason: he led companies that built railroads across this region at the end of the 19th Century, and as a result many farms and ranches in this region owe their very existance to towns built along the rail lines, especially the Great Northern Railway.

I’ve lived in Rapid City, SD the vast majority of my life. I love it here and honestly don’t think the winter weather is that bad at all. Our climate is way better than Minneapolis and very similar to Denver’s weather.

When talking about Canadian prairie cities with large populations, you should also have mentioned Winnipeg, which has about 750,000 people, surrounded by virtual emptiness. It got big because it was a rail hub for the entire country. And taken together, the cities of Regina and Saskatoon have about 600,000 people; at one time, Saskatchewan used to the the 3rd-most-populous province in Canada due to massive immigration. And then the Great Depression and dustbowl hit at about the same time.

Unreal video. Glad I found this channel. Thank you

Very informative , thought it was just the climate , tks

Suppose it also doesn't help Canadians don't have much choice to move to somewhere warm within their country if they already wanted to. British Columbia is relatively mild during the winter, but it's not like they have a California, Texas, or Florida to move to in that sense. So whether you then live in Calgary, Winnipeg, or Toronto, it's going to be very cold during the winter either way.

Sparse population and diverse wilderness with snowy winters.. sounds like heaven to me!

Thank you for using my state as an example more than once :) My mom used to live in cold, rural Iowa but she’s since left and moved here

One thing, the Empty North is 100 times better than living in a city like Atlanta with hoodlums on every corner, getting short in traffic and having to walk your kids two doors down for a play date! I’ll take it any day!

The video explains that the northern part of the U.S., known as the "Empty North", is sparsely populated due to its challenging topography, cold climate, slow historical settlement, and lack of significant industry. There… saved you 8 min of your life.

One thing I’d like to note is the similarities between the empty north/prairie Canada and ural Russia/northern Kazakhstan. Where they are in many ways very similar to eachother climate wise where in Russia you have large cities in relatively fertile ground like Chelyabinsk, Omsk and Yekaterinburg but just south in Kazakhstan the land becomes far more arid and gets to a climate more similar to Montana whyoming etc where there aren’t many cities and farming is not as easy. It’s in many ways a prime example of the same phenomenon across the world with the same rough climate and winter/summer temperatures too

I was born and raised in the prairies in Canada, but I’ve lived in British Columbia on the coast now for almost a decade! It’s overpriced here and I could handle Alberta winters again if had to, but I love Vancouver Island.

Montana is like the Alaska of the lower 48.

Excellent video -- my wife and I grew up in North Dakota, and have lived all over from Asia to Europe, from California to the Gulf states to the eastern megalopolis... but although I work much of the year on the east coast, we still call NoDak home and maintain a house there in a town of less than a hundred folks (and, now you know why...)

Excellent video. Firs5 one I have watched. Looking forward to sharing your channel with our homeschooler.

All of this open land and everybody wants to crowd into a few cities in America.

I rather live in colder climate then warmer one, people look at me strange when I tell them I prefer winter over summer.

Great video! We live near Spokane, and it's the largest city between Seattle and Minneapolis, a distance of nearly 1,400 miles. East of it, there are only a handful of mid-sized cities, and there is a LOT of empty space. There are likely more pronghorn than people in Wyoming, and most of North and South Dakota is just open prairie. Montana is the 4th largest state by area but the 43rd state in terms of population. That said, some of the greatest beauty in all the lower 48 is to be found in this region, and parts of it have been growing quickly in recent years. Probably half of northern Idaho, for instance, is made up of ex-Californians, and this is also true of Missoula and Bozeman in Montana.

Incredibly interesting ! Thanks !

It could have oilfields too but environmental regulations and wilderness designations and government interfere. It's also rich in rare and semiprecious minerals that aren't allowed to be mined.

I'm from Arizona, and have lived here my entire life. However it's always been my dream to one day live up north. I love cold weather; I just find it so peaceful.

This was one of my favorite areas to drive when I did my 48 states tour last year. North Dakota had some cool road side art and oddities. Montana was wild and gorgeous. Idaho. and Washington State with the contrast of the scab lands with its desert and canyon features to the towering cascades. I am glad you made a video on this area. Your channel is great and I just subscribed to your podcast too. Do you have any videos focusing on the Appalachian range. Thank you for the informative content.

Don’t come to the “Empty North”. I like not having to worry about locking my doors at night. I also like how the cold keeps the riff raff out.

To be fair this area is empty bc winters are absolutely brutal. Negative temperatures kind of brutal.

Huge advantage of the colder weather 5-6 months of the year. No homelessness. I live in Idaho falls SE Idaho. I travel and can’t wait to get back home to breath from all the hustle and bustle

I live in St.Paul the capital of Minnesota. It use to be colder here. Over the last 5 years summers have gotten longer and winters are a little warmer. The north may become useful once things heat up from global warming.

Considering cities just outside the region, Minneapolis/St Paul metro area has 3 million people and a MN as a state is consistently rated as one of the top states for quality of life

During and after the covid-19 pandemic there were actually a lot of people who located to rural towns in this region, especially the Billings, MT area. People wanted to get out the densely packed cities and into a more quiet setting, all facilitated by the adoption of remote work in recent years. Even though this region will never have large urban centers, you can expect its population to actually go up in coming decades for a variety of factors.

I grew up in the Colorado mountains not far south of the Wyoming border, so I'm almost honorary Empty North. Let's just say that the amount of cold and snow I endured as a kid is a huge reason why I'm in the desert now. More power to those who love winter weather, but it's just not for me

North Dakota here. When I was a kid and it was 40 below zero or even colder my Dad would say, "Well it keeps out the Rif Raf". As a side not regarding SHTF, if you set up your homestead to heat off-grid, you will outlive 90% of the population.

With such an in depth knowledge of most places I often wonder where Geoff lives!!

With the combination of the Empty North and the non-overlapping portions of the Empty Belt, you're looking at at least a third of the USA which is barely populated. The voting power of these senators and representatives hugely maximizes their political power in the USA.

I recently moved to South Dakota, just north of Sioux Falls, and I love it! Growing up in the Eastern part of Washington State, the weather was not enough of a detraction to keep me away from this absolute gem of a state! Small town rural living is just what I was looking for in a state with VERY friendly tax laws and freedom that some people only dream about.

People have yet to figure out that the solution to over priced, over crowded cities is found in the flyover states.

heating bills! take my word! I live near Montréal! a few times I've gone down south for hollidays near the worm beach, but gotten homesick so for the last three decades in winter we go spend a couple of weeks in Québec city! it's much colder but it's fun!

I call it "the frozen north". Its cold there even in summer except gor a short 2-3 weeks. It's windy . If you had green houses for growing foods that like cooler climates, they'd blow away. I've lived in some of these states for short periods. Guess why? If it does get some rain, you get to deal with 2 feet of mud. And finally, expensive goods and few services. If living like grizzley Adams is your thing you will wuickly come to realize how easy Grizzley had it. He had much fewer laws and restrictions which allowed him to acquire food before the larder was empty, and for morre than a week at a time.

You should title this video ‘the best place to live in the usa’.