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The state's name is derived from the Spanish word montaña ("mountain"). The state nickname is the "Treasure State." Other nicknames include "Land of Shining Mountains," "Big Sky Country," and the slogan "the last best place."

The planned battleships USS Montana were named in honor of the state. However, neither battleship was completed, making Montana the only state of the 48 states during World War II not to have a battleship named after it. Additionally, Alaska and Hawaii have both had nuclear submarines named after them. As such Montana is the only state in the union with out a modern naval ship named in honor of it.

The Hell Creek Formation is a major source of dinosaur fossils. Paleontologist Jack Horner, of the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, brought this formation to the world's attention with several major finds. For example, Jane was discovered in 2001 in Hell Creek and is the world's most complete juvenile tyrannosaurus rex.

In 1902, a group of female students from the Fort Shaw Indian Industrial School began playing basketball and traveled throughout Montana, defeating high school teams and some college teams. In 1904, the girls' basketball team traveled by train to the St. Louis World's Fair. Over a period of five months, the team was challenged by numerous other basketball teams and won every contest, returning to Fort Shaw with the "world champion" trophy. On May 1, 2004, a monument in honor of the basketball team was unveiled at the entrance of the present-day Fort Shaw Elementary School.

In the movie 'Star Trek: First Contact', Montana is the location of the fictitious first contact between humans and an alien race, the Vulcans. Star Trek producer Brannon Braga is originally from Bozeman, Montana.

Montana has the largest grizzly bear population in the lower 48 states.

Montana's triple divide allows water to flow into three oceans: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean (Gulf of Mexico), and the Arctic Ocean (Hudson Bay). This phenomenon occurs at Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park.

In 1888, Helena (the current state capital) had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world.

Montana is one of two states in the continental United States which, in addition to not having a major metropolitan area over 1,000,000 in population, also does not border a state that does have one (Maine is the other). However, it does border the Canadian Provinces Alberta (population in 2005 of 3,237,000) and British Columbia (population in 2006 of 4,292,000, which have a combined three cities with a metro population of over 1,000,000 each.

State symbols

State flower: Bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva), since 1895
State tree: Ponderosa Pine, since 1949
State animal: Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), since 1862
State bird: Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), since 1931
State fish: Blackspotted Cutthroat Trout, since 1977
State Song: "Montana", since 1945
State Ballad: "Montana Melody", since 1983
State Gemstones: Yogo Sapphire & Agate
State Fossil: Maiasaur ("Duck-billed Dinosaur") (Maiasaura peeblesorum), since 1985
State Butterfly: Mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa), since 2001
State Grass: Bluebunch Wheatgrass, since 1973
State Motto: "Oro y Plata" (Spanish: Gold and Silver)