The shape of the land gave our state its name. In Spanish, Montana means “mountain.” And the description is accurate, at least for the western 40 percent of the state.
Most of the rest of the state is part of the Great Plains, a vast expanse of grassland stretching from Montana in the west all the way to the Missouri River in the east. It is from these largely flat grassy fields that Montana gets its most well-known nickname – Big Sky Country. The Treasure State, another of Montana’s pet names, refers to our plentiful mineral resources, while the nickname the Last Best Place refers to our unspoiled landscape. It’s all here in Montana, the fourth-largest state in the country – bigger than New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia put together.
