Could the Entire World Population Fit Inside South Dakota?

Here in South Dakota, we're used to having plenty of elbow room. Most residents in our state are just fine with the fact that we're 47th in population density in the U.S. at only 10.7 people per square mile.

Maybe a mad scientist did it, or maybe everyone just decided they liked the 605 area code? The point is, we're all here now. So, what is this going to look like? And is it even possible? Spoiler alert: It is.

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Could the Entire Population of Earth Fit Inside South Dakota? It Could

The current population of Earth is approximately 8.3 billion, whereas South Dakota's is somewhere around 930,000 spread out 77,123 Square Miles.

So, how would it work? Giving each person around 4 square feet of space would equal 33.2 billion feet. South Dakota itself is over 2 trillion square feet, so, yes, believe it or not, the entire population of Earth could indeed fit inside the Mount Rushmore State.

Where Are We Going to Put Everybody?

If you really wanted to make this work, you would want to put the people in the least airable land, so, sorry West River, your population is going up by around 2.6 million percent! That's like a single rancher in the small town of Wall suddenly having the entire population of New York City living in his guest house.

To put it into perspective, it would be like the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally... but instead of half a million bikers, it's 16,600 Sturgis Rallies happening at the exact same time, in the exact same spot, forever!

West river would be nothing but skyscrapers, as far as the eye can see. In fact, you might find yourself living in one with a view of Mount Rushmore outside the window. You wouldn't have to watch the morning weather report on T.V., instead just look out your window and see if there's any snow on Lincoln's head.

As for East River, apologies to residents of Sioux Falls, Brookings, Mitchell and Aberdeen, but you'll have to head out west with the skyscrapers. This land will be 100% committed to farming. I guess we could call you back in the late summer for detasseling though.

We'd need to build a big bridge to ship all those crops from east to west each harvest too, so Chamberlain is going to be getting an upgrade.

At the end of the day, the math proves that we could fit the entire world into the Mount Rushmore State. But just because we can, doesn't mean we should.

There's something really special about the way South Dakota is right now. The kind of magic you feel in the quiet of a sunset on the rolling prairie, where your only neighbors are burrowing prairie dogs and a howling coyote.

So, sorry to the other 8.29 billion people out there, you're welcome to visit anytime, but we're going to keep our elbow room here in South Dakota a little while longer. Besides, can you imagine the line at Wall Drug if the whole world showed up for the free ice water? They'd run out by noon!