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In , Wisconsin became the focus of some controversy when newly elected governor Scott Walker proposed, passed, and enacted the Wisconsin Act 10 , which made large changes in the areas of collective bargaining, compensation, retirement, health insurance, and sick leave of public sector employees, among other changes. Wisconsin is bordered by the Montreal River ; Lake Superior and Michigan to the north; by Lake Michigan to the east; by Illinois to the south; and by Iowa to the southwest and Minnesota to the northwest.
A border dispute with Michigan was settled by two cases, both Wisconsin v. Michigan , in and The state's boundaries include the Mississippi River and St. Croix River in the west, and the Menominee River in the northeast. With its location between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, Wisconsin is home to a wide variety of geographical features.
The state is divided into five distinct regions. Just to the south, the Northern Highland has massive mixed hardwood and coniferous forests including the 1,, acres 6, km 2 Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest , as well as thousands of glacial lakes, and the state's highest point, Timms Hill. In the middle of the state, the Central Plain has some unique sandstone formations like the Dells of the Wisconsin River in addition to rich farmland.
The Eastern Ridges and Lowlands region in the southeast is home to many of Wisconsin's largest cities. In the southwest, the Western Upland is a rugged landscape with a mix of forest and farmland, including many bluffs on the Mississippi River.
This region is part of the Driftless Area , which also includes portions of Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota. This area was not covered by glaciers during the most recent ice age, the Wisconsin Glaciation.
Langlade County has a soil rarely found outside of the county called Antigo silt loam. Wisconsin also receives a large amount of regular snowfall averaging around 40 inches cm in the southern portions with up to inches cm annually in the Lake Superior snowbelt each year. Immigration resulted in a net increase of 59, people, and migration from within the U. According to the American Community Survey , 6. Since its founding, Wisconsin has been ethnically heterogeneous.
Following the period of French fur traders, the next wave of settlers were miners, many of whom were Cornish , who settled the southwestern area of the state. The next wave was dominated by "Yankees", migrants of English descent from New England and upstate New York ; in the early years of statehood, they dominated the state's heavy industry, finance, politics, and education.
Between and , the immigrants were mostly Germans , Scandinavians the largest group being Norwegian , Irish , and Poles. In the 20th century, a number of African Americans and Mexicans settled in Milwaukee ; and after the end of the Vietnam War came an influx of Hmongs.
The various ethnic groups settled in different areas of the state. Although German immigrants settled throughout the state, the largest concentration was in Milwaukee. Norwegian immigrants settled in lumbering and farming areas in the north and west. Irish, Italian, and Polish immigrants settled primarily in urban areas. African Americans came to Milwaukee, especially from on. Of the residents of Wisconsin, Island areas, or born abroad to American parent s , and 4.
Christianity is the predominant religion of Wisconsin. As of , the three largest denominational groups in Wisconsin were Catholic, Evangelical Protestant , and Mainline Protestant. Wisconsin's Constitution outlines the structure and function of state government, which is organized into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
The Wisconsin Blue Book is the primary published reference about the government and politics of the state. Re-published every two years, copies are available from state legislators. In a study, Wisconsin was ranked as the 25th easiest state for citizens to vote in. The executive branch is headed by the governor. The current governor, Tony Evers , assumed office on January 7, In addition to the governor, the executive branch includes five other elected constitutional officers: Lieutenant Governor , Secretary of State , Attorney General , Treasurer , and State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Four members of the Wisconsin executive branch are Democrats. The Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin is a non-partisan position. The Wisconsin State Legislature is Wisconsin's legislative branch. The Legislature is a bicameral body consisting of the Assembly and the Senate. Wisconsin's court system has four levels: municipal courts, circuit courts, the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court. Municipal courts typically handle cases involving local ordinance matters.
The circuit courts are Wisconsin's trial courts , they have original jurisdiction in all civil and criminal cases within the state. Challenges to circuit court rulings are heard by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals , consisting of sixteen judges who typically sit in three-judge panels. As the state's highest appellate court, the Wisconsin Supreme Court may hear both appeals from lower courts and original actions. In addition to deciding cases, the Supreme Court is responsible for administering the state's court system and regulating the practice of law in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin is divided into eight congressional districts. The state sales and use tax rate is 5. The most common property tax assessed on Wisconsin residents is the real property tax , or their residential property tax. Wisconsin does not impose a property tax on vehicles, but does levy an annual registration fee.
Property taxes are the most important tax revenue source for Wisconsin's local governments, as well as major methods of funding school districts, vocational technical colleges, special purpose districts and tax incremental finance districts. Equalized values are based on the full market value of all taxable property in the state, except for agricultural land. In order to provide property tax relief for farmers, the value of agricultural land is determined by its value for agricultural uses, rather than for its possible development value.
Equalized values are used to distribute state aid payments to counties, municipalities, and technical colleges. Assessments prepared by local assessors are used to distribute the property tax burden within individual municipalities.
Wisconsin does not assess a tax on intangible property. Wisconsin does not collect inheritance taxes. Until January 1, , Wisconsin's estate tax was decoupled from the federal estate tax laws; therefore the state imposed its own estate tax on certain large estates.
There are no toll roads in Wisconsin; highway construction and maintenance are funded in part by motor fuel tax revenues, and the remaining balance is drawn from the State General Fund. Non-highway road construction and maintenance are funded by local governments municipalities or counties. A Mexican consulate opened in Milwaukee on July 1, During the Civil War , Wisconsin was a Republican state; in fact it is the state that gave birth to the Republican Party, although ethno-religious issues in the late 19th century caused a brief split in the coalition.
The Bennett Law campaign of dealt with foreign language teaching in schools. From the early 20th century, the Socialist Party of America had a base in Milwaukee. The phenomenon was referred to as " sewer socialism " because the elected officials were more concerned with public works and reform than with revolution although revolutionary socialism existed in the city as well.
Its influence faded in the late s, largely because of the red scare and racial tensions. Zeidler , from to Maier remained in office for 28 years, the longest-serving mayor in Milwaukee history. Socialist newspaper editor Victor Berger was repeatedly elected as a U. Representative, although he was prevented from serving for some time because of his opposition to the First World War. Through the first half of the 20th century, Wisconsin's politics were dominated by Robert La Follette and his sons, originally of the Republican Party , but later of the revived Progressive Party.
Since , the state has maintained a close balance between Republicans and Democrats. In , Wisconsin leaned back in the Democratic party's direction as Joe Biden won the state by an even narrower margin of 0. Biden's win was largely carried by Milwaukee and Dane counties with the rural areas of the state being carried by Trump. Wisconsin has leaned Democratic in recent presidential elections, although Donald Trump managed to win the state in by a narrow margin of 0.
This marked the first time Wisconsin voted for a Republican presidential candidate since , when every state except Minnesota and Washington D. Both the and presidential elections were quite close, with Wisconsin receiving heavy doses of national advertising, in accord with its status as a "swing", or pivot, state. Al Gore carried the presidential vote in by 5, votes, and John Kerry won Wisconsin in by 11, votes.
However, Kagen survived only two terms and was replaced by Republican Reid Ribble in the Republican Party's sweep of Wisconsin in November , the first time the Republican Party had taken back both chambers of the state legislature and the governorship in the same election.
The City of Milwaukee heads the list of Wisconsin's Democratic strongholds, which also includes Madison and the state's Native American reservations. Wisconsin's largest Congressional district, the 7th, had voted Democratic since The elections saw a huge Republican resurgence in Wisconsin. Republicans took control of the governor's office and both houses of the state legislature. Republican Ron Johnson defeated Democratic incumbent U.
Senator Russ Feingold and Republicans took two previously Democratic-held House seats, creating a 5—3 Republican majority House delegation. At the statewide level, Wisconsin is competitive, with control regularly alternating between the two parties.
In , Democrats gained in a national sweep of opposition to the Bush administration, and the Iraq War. The Republicans lost control of the state Senate. Although Democrats gained eight seats in the state Assembly, Republicans retained a five-vote majority. In , Democrats regained control of the State Assembly by a 52—46 margin, marking the first time since that the governor and state legislature were both Democratic.
With the election of Scott Walker in , Republicans won both chambers of the legislature and the governorship, the first time all three changed partisan control in the same election. His first year in office saw the introduction of the Wisconsin Act 10 , which removed collective bargaining rights for state employees.
The protests attracted tens of thousands of people each day, [ when? The Assembly passed the bill 53—42 on March 10 after the State Senate passed it the night before, and sent it to the Governor for his signature. Tom Barrett , the mayor of Milwaukee and Walker's opponent, won the Democratic primary and faced Walker again.
Democratic U. Senator Tammy Baldwin was also elected to a second term and Democrats won all constitutional statewide offices on the ballot including Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and State Treasurer, the first time this happened in Wisconsin since Later however, in April , conservative judge Brian Hagedorn defeated his liberal opponent Lisa Neubauer by 6, votes.
In March , the state's unemployment rate was 3. Wisconsin produces about a quarter of America's cheese, leading the nation in cheese production. It grows more than half the national crop of cranberries. The significance of the state's agricultural production is exemplified by the depiction of a Holstein cow, an ear of corn, and a wheel of cheese on Wisconsin's state quarter design.
A large part of the state's manufacturing sector includes commercial food processing, including well-known brands such as Oscar Mayer , Tombstone frozen pizza, Johnsonville brats , and Usinger's sausage. Kraft Foods alone employs more than 5, people in the state.
Milwaukee is a major producer of beer and was formerly headquarters for Miller Brewing Company —the nation's second-largest brewer—until it merged with Coors. Formerly, Schlitz , Blatz , and Pabst were cornerstone breweries in Milwaukee. Wisconsin is home to a very large and diversified manufacturing economy, with special focus on transportation and capital equipment. Wisconsin is a major producer of paper, packaging, and other consumer goods. Wisconsin also ranks first nationwide in the production of paper products; the lower Fox River from Lake Winnebago to Green Bay has 24 paper mills along its 39 miles 63 km stretch.
The development and manufacture of health care devices and software is a growing sector of the state's economy, with key players such as GE Healthcare , Epic Systems , and TomoTherapy. Tourism is a major industry in Wisconsin—the state's third largest, according to the Department of Tourism. Given the large number of lakes and rivers in the state, water recreation is very popular.
In the North Country, what had been an industrial area focused on timber has largely been transformed into a vacation destination. Popular interest in the environment and environmentalism, added to traditional interests in hunting and fishing, has attracted a large urban audience within driving range. The distinctive Door Peninsula , which extends off the eastern coast of the state, contains one of the state's tourist destinations, Door County. Door County is a popular destination for boaters because of the large number of natural harbors, bays, and boat launches on both the Green Bay and Lake Michigan sides of the peninsula that forms the county.
The area draws more than two million visitors yearly [] to its quaint villages, seasonal cherry picking, and fish boils.
On January 1, , a new tax incentive for the film industry came into effect. The first major production to take advantage was Michael Mann 's Public Enemies. Wisconsin has no production of oil, gas, or coal. Other important electricity sources are natural gas and nuclear. The state has a mandate that ten percent of its electrical energy come from renewable sources by the end of As of [update] , a third of that ten percent comes from out of state sources, mostly wind generated electricity from Minnesota and Iowa.
The state has agnostic policies for developing wind power in state. Wisconsin is served by eight commercial service airports, in addition to a number of general aviation airports. Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport is the largest international commercial airport located in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is served by multiple intercity bus operators, which provide service to 71 stops and 53 cities. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is responsible for planning, building and maintaining the state's highways.
Eight Interstate Highways are located in the state. Amtrak provides daily passenger rail service between Chicago and Milwaukee through the Hiawatha Service. Also provided is cross-country service via the Empire Builder with stops in several cities across Wisconsin.
The 2. The system is expected to be expanded in the future. With a population of nearly ,, Madison is consistently ranked as one of the most livable cities in both the state and country and is the fastest-growing city in Wisconsin. Medium-size cities dot the state and anchor a network of working farms surrounding them.
Wisconsin has three types of municipality: cities, villages, and towns. Cities and villages are incorporated urban areas. Towns are unincorporated minor civil divisions of counties with limited self-government. Wisconsin, along with Minnesota and Michigan, was among the Midwestern leaders in the emergent American state university movement following the Civil War in the United States. By the start of the 20th century, education in the state advocated the " Wisconsin Idea ", which emphasized service to the people of the state.
The "Wisconsin Idea" exemplified the Progressive movement within colleges and universities at the time. Today, public post-secondary education in Wisconsin includes both the campus University of Wisconsin System , with the flagship university University of Wisconsin—Madison , and the campus Wisconsin Technical College System. Residents of Wisconsin are referred to as Wisconsinites. The traditional prominence of references to dairy farming and cheesemaking in Wisconsin's rural economy the state's license plates have read "America's Dairyland" since [] have led to the nickname sometimes used pejoratively among non-residents of " cheeseheads ", and to the creation of "cheesehead hats" made of yellow foam in the shape of a wedge of cheese.
Numerous ethnic festivals are held throughout Wisconsin to celebrate the heritage of its citizens. This festival is held at the lakefront Henry Maier Festival Park just south of downtown, as are a summer-long array of ethnic musical festivals.
The Milwaukee Art Museum , with its brise soleil designed by Santiago Calatrava , is known for its interesting architecture.
Decades after Wright's death, Taliesin remains an architectural office and school for his followers. With the immigration of northern Europeans into Wisconsin and the upper Midwest , they brought the techniques of building Log homes with them. Drinking has long been considered a significant part of Wisconsin culture, and the state ranks at or near the top of national measures of per-capita alcohol consumption, consumption of alcohol per state, and proportion of drinkers.
Consumption per-capita per-event, however, ranks low among the nation; number of events number of times alcohol is involved is significantly higher or highest, but consumption at each event smaller, marking Wisconsin's consumption as frequent and moderate. In Wisconsin, the legal drinking age is 21, except when accompanied by a parent, guardian, or spouse who is at least 21 years old. The minimum legal age to purchase alcohol is 21, with no exceptions. The varied landscape of Wisconsin makes the state a popular vacation destination for outdoor recreation.
Winter events include skiing, ice fishing and snowmobile derbies. Wisconsin is situated on two Great Lakes and has many inland lakes of varied size; the state contains 11, square miles 28, km 2 of water, more than all but three other states— Alaska , Michigan, and Florida.
Outdoor activities are popular in Wisconsin, especially hunting and fishing. One of the most prevalent game animals is the whitetail deer.
Each year, in Wisconsin, well over , deer-hunting licenses are sold. Wisconsin is represented by major league teams in three sports: football, baseball, and basketball. The Packers are the smallest city franchise in the NFL and the only one owned by shareholders statewide. The franchise was founded by "Curly" Lambeau who played and coached for them. The state's support of the team is evidenced by the 81,person waiting list for season tickets to Lambeau Field.
In , the Brewers won the American League Championship, marking their most successful season. The team switched from the American League to the National League starting with the season. Before the Brewers, Milwaukee had two prior Major League teams. The first team, also called the Brewers, played only one season in the newly founded American League in before moving to St.
Louis and becoming the Browns, who are now the Baltimore Orioles. Milwaukee was also the home of the Braves franchise when they moved from Boston from to , winning the World Series in and the National League pennant in , before they moved to Atlanta. In addition to these affiliated minor league teams, Wisconsin has the American Association of Professional Baseball Championship team, the Milwaukee Milkmen based in Franklin , [] and in the Lake Country Dockhounds will begin playing in Oconomowoc.
Wisconsin also has many college sports programs, including the Wisconsin Badgers , of the University of Wisconsin—Madison and the Panthers of the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Badgers football former head coach Barry Alvarez led the Badgers to three Rose Bowl championships, including back-to-back victories in and The Badger men's basketball team won the national title in and made trips to college basketball's Final Four in , , and The Badgers claimed a historic dual championship in when both the women's and men's hockey teams won national titles.
The team returned to the Final Four in The conference is one of the most successful in the nation, claiming NCAA national championships in 15 different sports as of March 30, The league is made up of former professional, collegiate, and high school players. The league also has teams in Michigan and Minnesota. Teams play from May until August. Wisconsin is home to the world's oldest operational racetrack. Wisconsin is home to the nation's oldest operating velodrome in Kenosha where races have been held every year since From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This is the latest accepted revision , reviewed on 30 September This article is about the U. For other uses, see Wisconsin disambiguation. For other uses, see Badger State disambiguation.
State in the United States. Badger State, America's Dairyland [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. Timms Hill [7] [8].
Lake Michigan [7] [8]. Flag of Wisconsin. Main article: History of Wisconsin. Main articles: Admission to the Union and List of U. Main article: Wisconsin in the American Civil War. This section may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies.
Please help to create a more balanced presentation. Discuss and resolve this issue before removing this message. October Main article: Geography of Wisconsin. Further information: Climate change in Wisconsin.
Black Non-Hispanic 6. Native American Non-Hispanic 0. Asian Non-Hispanic 2. Pacific Islander Non-Hispanic 0. Other Non-Hispanic 0. Two or more races Non-Hispanic 1. Hispanic Any Race 6. Religion in Wisconsin [] religion percent Protestant. Main article: Crime in Wisconsin. See also: Political party strength in Wisconsin and Recall elections in Wisconsin.
It has been suggested that this section be split out into another article titled Politics of Wisconsin. Discuss September This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. See also: United States presidential elections in Wisconsin.
See also: Wisconsin locations by per capita income. Main article: Agriculture in Wisconsin. See also: Wisconsin dairy industry.
Further information: Economy of Door County, Wisconsin. See also: List of airports in Wisconsin. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information. Non-necessary Non-necessary. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies.
It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Heritage Month Latinx campus community celebrates its cultures, identities, and histories. See more news. King Students for Sustainable Agriculture distribute hundreds of pounds of fresh produce for free each season. We value a diversity of identities, ideas, and experiences.
We believe that one Badger can change the world. Research at UW—Madison Read impact stories. Discovering Stem Cells. Origins of life in South Africa. Cosmic rays at the South Pole. Madison, WI: The ultimate college town This is where big-city opportunities meet small-town conveniences. Tour campus virtually Explore Madison in every season.
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