re: You might be surprised...
West Texas is sparsely populated for the same reason.
My brother lives in Wyoming. That large state has a population around half a million. My county, Harris, has 8 times that many people in it.
Arizona is also sparsely populated. I bet the Great Planes states are the same.
When I was younger, I thought I would go move to Australia or New Zealand, but I never could bring myself to move away from friends and family.
