The information about South Dakota presented in this booklet is intended for use by both private and government sector planners and decisionmakers at every level who would profit from knowledge of the character of the underlying trends and forces at work within the State. The first half of the booklet is devoted to the State in general: History and environment; urban and rural population, one standard metropolitan statistical area, population density, households and persons per household, sex and birth rates and age, the nonwhite population, mother tongue of the population, educational attainment, three serious socioeconomic problems, out-migration, unemployment, hidden unemployment and underemployment, employment, employment by industry, employment by occupation, personal income, per capita income, gross State product, rising exports, and poverty. The second section presents a narrative report of the characteristics that combine to form the unique profile of each of the six economic regions (identical to the six planning and development districts designated by the Governor). Reference tables of the principal demographic and socioeconomic statistics for each region are appended. (JT)