Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

is a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

located in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. According to the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, Montana is the 7th least populous state with inhabitants but the 4th largest by land area spanning of land. Montana is divided into 56

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and contains 129

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

consisting of cities and towns. Montana's

cover only of the state's land mass but are home to of its population. The Montana Code 7-1-4124 gives municipal governments in Montana powers to enact ordinances, borrow money, and enact

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

among other legal powers. In

, municipalities are divided into four classes by state

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

based on their population. Members of the three largest classes are deemed

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, while the members of the fourth class are called

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

s. Cities and towns are classified at the time of their organization, and are reorganized when they change classification due to an increase or decrease in population. A place may incorporate as a town with the support of 300 electors or two-thirds of the registered electors. A municipality with a population between 1,000 and 5,000 people is a Third Class city. A municipality with a population between 5,000 and 10,000 people is a Second Class city. And a municipality with a population over 10,000 people is a First Class city. Under certain exceptions municipalities with a population of between 9,000 and 10,000 may elect by resolution to be either a First or Second Class city. Under similar exceptions municipalities with a population of between 5,000 and 7,500 may elect by resolution to be either a Second or Third Class city. Municipalities with a population of between 1,000 and 2,500 may by resolution be classified as either a town or Third Class city. Unincorporated places such as

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

s fall outside this scheme, and are subject to county governance, and thus are not towns or cities. The largest municipality by population in Montana is

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

with 117,116 residents, and the smallest municipality by population is Ismay with 17 residents. The largest municipality by land area is

Anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus '' Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized. Description Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used ...

, a

consolidated city-county In United States local government, a consolidated city-county is formed when one or more cities and their surrounding county ( parish in Louisiana, borough in Alaska) merge into one unified jurisdiction. As such it has the governmental powers o ...

, which spans , while Rexford and Flaxville are the smallest at .

List of cities and towns

Billings, Montana downtown.JPG, alt=Skyline of Billings, Downtown

, Montana's largest municipality by population Camera A.J 583.jpg, alt=Downtownof Missoula,

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

, Montana's second largest municipality by population Panorama Great Falls.JPG, alt=Great Falls, Montana,

Great Falls Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

, third largest municipality by population in Montana Bozeman MT Downtown.jpg, alt=Downtown Bozeman, Downtown Bozeman, Montana's fourth largest municipality by population butte uptown.jpg, alt=Uptown Butte, Uptown

Butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

, fifth largest municipality by population in Montana Helena capitol.jpg, alt=Montana State Capitol Helena , Montana State Capitol in Helena, capital city of

Kalispell MT looking toward Glacier National Park from Lone Pine State Park January 27 2010.JPG, Kalispell, looking toward Glacier National Park Havre Montana RR Station.jpg, Havre railroad station and the sculpture "U.S. − Canada Friendship" Downtown Anaconda, Montana.JPG, alt=Downtown Anaconda, Downtown

, the largest city in Montana by land area Miles city 2008.jpg, alt=Downtown Miles City, Downtown Miles City, Montana's eleventh largest municipality by population

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Cities And Towns In Montana Montana, List of cities and towns in Municipalities in Montana Cities and towns

List of cities and towns

See also

References