Minnesota () 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 ...

in the

upper midwest The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...

ern region of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

s, now given over to intensive agriculture;

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

forests in the southeast, now partially cleared, farmed, and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation. Roughly a third of the state is covered in forests, and it is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" for having over 14,000 bodies of fresh water of at least ten acres. More than 60% of Minnesotans live in the

Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi, Minnesota River, Minnesota and St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota) ...

metropolitan area, known as the "Twin Cities", the state's main political, economic, and cultural hub. With a population of about 3.7 million, the Twin Cities is the 16th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Other minor metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas in the state include

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minnea ...

, Moorhead,

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, and St. Cloud. Minnesota, which gets its name from the

Dakota language Dakota (''Dakhótiyapi, Dakȟótiyapi''), also referred to as Dakhota, is a Siouan language spoken by the Dakota people of the Sioux tribes. Dakota is closely related to and mutually intelligible with the Lakota language. It is critically endang ...

, has been inhabited by various

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

since the

Woodland period In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeo ...

of the 11th century BCE. Between roughly 200 and 500 CE, two areas of the indigenous

Hopewell tradition The Hopewell tradition, also called the Hopewell culture and Hopewellian exchange, describes a network of precontact Native American cultures that flourished in settlements along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern Eastern Woodlands from ...

emerged: the

Laurel complex The Laurel complex or Laurel tradition is an archaeological culture which was present in what is now southern Quebec, southern and northwestern Ontario and east-central Manitoba in Canada, and northern Michigan, northwestern Wisconsin and norther ...

in the north, and Trempealeau Hopewell in the Mississippi River Valley in the south. The

Upper Mississippian The Upper Mississippian cultures were located in the Upper Mississippi River, Mississippi basin and Great Lakes region of the American Midwest. They were in existence from approximately A.D. 1000 until the Protohistory, Protohistoric and early H ...

culture, consisting of the Oneota people and other

Siouan Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who call the ent ...

speakers, emerged around 1000 CE and lasted through the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century. French explorers and

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

were the earliest Europeans to enter the region, encountering the Dakota,

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

, and various

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawa ...

tribes. Much of what is now Minnesota formed part of the vast French holding of Louisiana, which the United States purchased in 1803. After several territorial reorganizations, the

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota and west ...

was admitted to the Union as the 32nd state in 1858. Minnesota's official motto, , is the only state motto in French; meaning "The Star of the North", it was adopted shortly after statehood and reflects both the state's early French explorers and its position as the northernmost state in the contiguous U.S. As part of the

American frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, Minnesota attracted settlers and

homesteaders The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of ...

from across the country, with its growth initially centered on timber, agriculture, and railroad construction. Into the early 20th century, European immigrants arrived in significant numbers, particularly from

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

, Germany, and

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

; many were linked to the failed

revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europ ...

, which partly influenced the state's development as a center of labor and social activism. Minnesota's rapid industrialization and urbanization precipitated major social, economic, and political changes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the state was at the forefront of labor rights, women's suffrage, and political reform. Minnesota is considered Democratic-leaning, having voted for every Democratic presidential nominee since 1976, longer than any other U.S. state. Since the late 20th century, the core of Minnesota's economy has diversified, shifting from traditional industries such as agriculture and resource extraction to services, finance, and health care; it is consequently one of the richest in terms of GDP and per capita income. The state is home to 11 federally recognized

Native American reservations An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

(seven

, four Dakota), and remains a center of Scandinavian and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

cultures with an influence of Lutheranism. In more recent decades, Minnesota has become more multicultural, driven by both larger domestic migration and immigration from Latin America, Asia, the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004 ...

, and the Middle East; the state has the nation's largest population of Somali Americans and second largest Hmong population. Minnesota's

standard of living Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available, generally applied to a society or location, rather than to an individual. Standard of living is relevant because it is considered to contribute to an individual's quality ...

and level of education are among the highest in the U.S., and it is ranked among the best states in metrics such as employment, median income, safety, and governance.

Etymology

The word ''Minnesota'' comes from the Dakota name for the

Minnesota River The Minnesota River ( dak, Mnísota Wakpá) is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It ris ...

, which got its name from one of two words in Dakota: "mní sóta", which means "clear blue water", or "Mníssota", which means "cloudy water".

Dakota people The Dakota (pronounced , Dakota language: ''Dakȟóta/Dakhóta'') are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux people, and are typically divided ...

demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it ''mní sóta''. Many places in the state have similar Dakota names, such as Minnehaha Falls ("curling water" or waterfall), Minneiska ("white water"), Minneota ("much water"), Minnetonka ("big water"),

Minnetrista Minnetrista, is the home of the Ball Jar and a Gathering Place located in Muncie, Indiana with exhibits and programs that focus on nature, local history, gardens, and art. The campus includes a museum with changing exhibits, the historic home ...

("crooked water"), and Minneapolis, a hybrid word combining Dakota ''mní'' ("water") and ''-polis'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

for "city").

History

When Europeans arrived in North America, the

lived in what is now Minnesota. The first Europeans to enter the region were French

voyageurs The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including th ...

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

rs who arrived in the 17th century. They used the

Grand Portage Grand Portage National Monument is a United States National Monument located on the north shore of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota that preserves a vital center of fur trade activity and Anishinaabeg Ojibwe heritage. The area became one ...

to access trapping and trading areas further into Minnesota. The

(also known as

or Chippewa) were migrating into Minnesota, causing tensions with the

, and dislocated the Mdewakanton from their homelands along Mille Lacs Lake. Explorers such as Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, Father

Louis Hennepin Father Louis Hennepin, O.F.M. baptized Antoine, (; 12 May 1626 – 5 December 1704) was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Recollet order (French: ''Récollets'') and an explorer of the interior of North Ameri ...

Jonathan Carver Jonathan Carver (April 13, 1710 – January 31, 1780) was a captain in a Massachusetts colonial unit, explorer, and writer. After his exploration of the northern Mississippi valley and western Great Lakes region, he published an account of his exp ...

Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi R ...

, and Joseph Nicollet mapped the state. The region was part of

Spanish Louisiana Spanish Louisiana ( es, link=no, la Luisiana) was a governorate and administrative district of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1762 to 1801 that consisted of a vast territory in the center of North America encompassing the western basin of t ...

from 1762 to 1802. The portion of the state east of the Mississippi River became part of the United States at the end of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, when the Second Treaty of Paris was signed. Land west of the Mississippi was acquired with the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or ap ...

, though the Hudson Bay Company disputed the

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

until the

Treaty of 1818 The Convention respecting fisheries, boundary and the restoration of slaves, also known as the London Convention, Anglo-American Convention of 1818, Convention of 1818, or simply the Treaty of 1818, is an international treaty signed in 1818 betw ...

, when the border on the 49th parallel was agreed upon. In 1805

Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions under authority of President Thomas Jefferson ...

bargained with Native Americans to acquire land at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers to create a military reservation. The construction of Fort Snelling followed between 1819 and 1825. Its soldiers built a

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

and a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

Saint Anthony Falls Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony ( dak, italics=no, Owámniyomni, ) located at the northeastern edge of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River. Throughout the mid-to-late 1 ...

, which were harbingers of the water-powered industries around which Minneapolis later grew. Meanwhile, squatters, government officials, and others had settled near the fort; in 1839 the army forced them off military lands, and most moved downriver, just outside the military reservation, to the area that became St. Paul. Minnesota was part of several territorial organizations between acquisition and statehood. From 1812 to 1821 it was part of the

Territory of Missouri The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southea ...

that corresponded with much of the Louisiana Purchase. It was briefly an unorganized territory (1821–1834) and was later consolidated with Wisconsin, Iowa and half the Dakotas to form the short-lived

Territory of Michigan The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

(1834–1836). From 1836 to 1848 Minnesota and Iowa were part of the

Territory of Wisconsin The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

. From 1838 to 1846 Minnesota west of the Mississippi River was part of the

Territory of Iowa The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Iowa. The remain ...

. Minnesota east of the Mississippi was part of Wisconsin until 1848. When Iowa gained statehood western Minnesota was in an Unorganized Territory again.

was formed on March 3, 1849. The first territorial legislature, held on September 2, 1849, was dominated by men of New England ancestry. Thousands of pioneers had come to create farms and cut timber. Minnesota became the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858. The founding population was so overwhelmingly of New England origins that the state was dubbed "the New England of the West". Dakota War of 1862-stereo-right

Treaties between the U.S. Government and the eastern Dakota and Ojibwe gradually forced the natives off their lands and onto reservations. As conditions deteriorated for the eastern Dakota, tensions rose, leading to the Dakota War of 1862. The conflict was ignited when four young Dakota men, searching for food, killed a family of white settlers on August 17. That night, a faction of Little Crow's eastern Dakota decided to try and drive all settlers out of the Minnesota River valley. In the weeks that followed, Dakota warriors killed hundreds of settlers, causing thousands to flee the area.Anderson, Gary Clayton (2019). ''Massacre in Minnesota: The Dakota War of 1862, the Most Violent Ethnic Conflict in American History.'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. P. 107 The six-week war ended with the defeat of the eastern Dakota and 2,000 in custody, who were eventually exiled to the

Crow Creek Reservation The Crow Creek Indian Reservation ( dak, Khąǧí wakpá okášpe, '' lkt, Kȟaŋğí Wakpá Oyáŋke''), home to Crow Creek Sioux Tribe ( dak, Khąǧí wakpá oyáte) is located in parts of Buffalo, Hughes, and Hyde counties on the east ban ...

by the Great Sioux Reservation in

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of N ...

. The remaining 4,500 to 5,000 Dakota mostly fled the state into Rupert's Land. As many as 800 settlers were killed during the war. Minnesota Governor

Alexander Ramsey Alexander Ramsey (September 8, 1815 April 22, 1903) was an American politician. He served as a Whig and Republican over a variety of offices between the 1840s and the 1880s. He was the first Minnesota Territorial Governor. Early years and fa ...

subsequently declared that "the Sioux Indians of Minnesota must be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of the state” and placed a bounty of $25/scalp on the heads of the eastern Dakota men. Over 1,600 eastern Dakota women, children, and elderly walked from the Lower Sioux Agency to

Fort Snelling Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint Anth ...

to be held until the spring thaw allowed riverboats to take them out of Minnesota to Crow Creek Indian Reservation.U.S.-Dakota War's aftermath a ‘dark moment’ in Fort Snelling history, Pioneer Press, Nick Woltman, May 201

William Crooks (colonel), William Crooks, commander of 6th Minnesota, had a

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade ...

erected around the encampment on Pike Island, just below the fort, to protect native people from the soldiers and settlers. Conditions there were poor and between 125 and 300 died of disease.Minnesota Bounties On Dakota Men During The US-Dakota War, Hamline University, C. Rotel, 201

Around 400 Dakota men were tried after the war. 303 were sentenced to death, but

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

reviewed the convictions and approved 39 of the death sentences. In December 1862, 38 of them were hanged. In early 1863, Ramsey resigned as governor to become the Federal

Indian Commissioner The Board of Indian Commissioners was a committee that advised the federal government of the United States on Native American policy and inspected supplies delivered to Indian agencies to ensure the fulfillment of government treaty obligations. Hi ...

. His successor, Governor Henry Swift, raised the bounty to $200/scalp. A total of $325 was paid out to four people collecting bounties, including for Little Crow who was killed in July 1863. Upon becoming Indian Commissioner, Ramsey set out to get Ojibwe lands too. In 1863 he negotiated the

Treaty of Old Crossing By the Treaty of Old Crossing (1863) and the Treaty of Old Crossing (1864), the Pembina and Red Lake bands of the Ojibwe, then known as Chippewa Indians, purportedly ceded to the United States all of their rights to the Red River Valley. On the ...

, whereby the Ojibwe ceded all their land in northern Minnesota and moved to reservations. Logging, farming, and railroads were mainstays of Minnesota's early economy. The sawmills at Saint Anthony Falls and logging centers of Pine City, Marine on St. Croix, Stillwater, and

Winona Winona, Wynona or Wynonna may refer to: Places Canada * Winona, Ontario United States * Winona, Arizona * Winona, Indiana * Winona Lake, Indiana * Winona, Kansas * Winona, Michigan * Winona County, Minnesota ** Winona, Minnesota, the seat of ...

processed vast quantities of timber. These cities were on rivers that were ideal for transportation. St. Anthony Falls was later tapped to provide power for

flour mills A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

. Innovations by Minneapolis millers led to the production of Minnesota "patent" flour, which commanded almost double the price of "bakers'" or "clear" flour which it replaced. By 1900 Minnesota mills, led by Pillsbury, Northwestern, and the Washburn-Crosby Company (an ancestor of

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company or ...

), were grinding 14.1% of the nation's grain. Phelpsmill ottertailcounty

The state's iron-mining industry was established with the discovery of iron in the

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its corresponding color. It i ...

and

Mesabi The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iron Range of Minnesota. ...

ranges in the 1880s, followed by the Cuyuna Range in the early 1900s. The ore went by rail to

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

and Two Harbors for ship transport east via the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

. Industrial development and the rise of manufacturing caused the population to shift gradually from rural areas to cities during the early 20th century. Nevertheless, farming remained prevalent. Minnesota's economy was hit hard by the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, resulting in lower prices for farmers, layoffs among iron miners, and labor unrest. Compounding the adversity, western Minnesota and the Dakotas were hit by drought from 1931 to 1935.

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

programs provided some economic turnaround. The

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a ...

and other programs around the state established some jobs for Indians on their reservations, and the

Indian Reorganization Act The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...

of 1934 provided the tribes with a mechanism of self-government. This gave Natives a greater voice within the state and promoted more respect for tribal customs because religious ceremonies and

native language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother to ...

s were no longer suppressed. After World War II, industrial development quickened. New technology increased farm productivity through automation of

feedlot A feedlot or feed yard is a type of animal feeding operation (AFO) which is used in intensive animal farming, notably beef cattle, but also swine, horses, sheep, turkeys, chickens or ducks, prior to slaughter. Large beef feedlots are called c ...

s for hogs and cattle, machine milking at dairy farms, and raising chickens in large buildings. Planting became more specialized, with

hybridization Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

of corn and wheat, and farm machinery such as

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...

s and combines became the norm.

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

professor

Norman Borlaug Norman Ernest Borlaug (; March 25, 1914September 12, 2009) was an American agronomist who led initiatives worldwide that contributed to the extensive increases in agricultural production termed the Green Revolution. Borlaug was awarded multiple ...

contributed to these developments as part of the

Green Revolution The Green Revolution, also known as the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period of technology transfer initiatives that saw greatly increased crop yields and agricultural production. These changes in agriculture began in developed countrie ...

Suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

an development accelerated due to increased postwar housing demand and convenient transportation. Increased mobility in turn enabled more specialized jobs. Minnesota became a center of technology after World War II.

Engineering Research Associates Engineering Research Associates, commonly known as ERA, was a pioneering computer firm from the 1950s. ERA became famous for their numerical computers, but as the market expanded they became better known for their drum memory systems. They were ev ...

was formed in 1946 to develop computers for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. It later merged with Remington Rand, and then became

Sperry Rand Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the 20th century. Sperry ceased to exist in 1986 following a prolonged hostile takeover bid engineered by Burroug ...

. William Norris left Sperry in 1957 to form

Control Data Corporation Control Data Corporation (CDC) was a mainframe and supercomputer firm. CDC was one of the nine major United States computer companies through most of the 1960s; the others were IBM, Burroughs Corporation, DEC, NCR, General Electric, Honeywe ...

(CDC).

Cray Cray Inc., a subsidiary of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, is an American supercomputer manufacturer headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It also manufactures systems for data storage and analytics. Several Cray supercomputer systems are listed i ...

Research was formed when

Seymour Cray Seymour Roger Cray (September 28, 1925 – October 5, 1996
) was an American

Medtronic Medtronic plc is an American medical device company. The company's operational and executive headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and its legal headquarters are in Ireland due to its acquisition of Irish-based Covidien in 2015. While it ...

also started business in the Twin Cities in 1949. The United States Navy and Coast Guard have recognized Minnesota with: *

steam frigate Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. There were some exceptions like for exa ...

* * * *

Geography

Minnesota is the second northernmost U.S. state (after

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

) and northernmost contiguous state, as the isolated

Northwest Angle The Northwest Angle, known simply as the Angle by locals, and coextensive with Angle Township, is a pene-exclave of northern Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota. Except for surveying errors, it is the only place in the contiguous United Sta ...

Lake of the Woods County Lake of the Woods County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,763, making it the second-least populous county in Minnesota. Its county seat is Baudette. The county ...

is the only part of the 48

contiguous states The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

north of the 49th parallel. The state is part of the U.S. region known as the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...

and part of North America's

Great Lakes Region The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with the Canadian p ...

. It shares a

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

water border with

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

and a land and water border with

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

to the east.

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

is to the south,

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...

and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

are to the west, and the

Canadian provinces Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nort ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

are to the north. With , or approximately 2.25% of the United States, Minnesota is the 12th-largest state.

Geology

Minnesota has some of the earth's oldest rocks,

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

es that are about 3.6billion years old (80% as old as the planet). About 2.7billion years ago

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or ...

poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wor ...

; the remains of this

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...

rock formed the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...

in northeast Minnesota. The roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of th ...

seas formed the

Iron Range The term Iron Range refers collectively or individually to a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by ...

of northern Minnesota. Since a period of

volcanism Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called a ...

1.1billion years ago, Minnesota's geological activity has been more subdued, with no volcanism or mountain formation, but with repeated incursions of the sea, which left behind multiple strata of

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

. In more recent times, massive ice sheets at least one kilometer thick ravaged the state's landscape and sculpted its terrain. The

Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cord ...

left 12,000 years ago. These glaciers covered all of Minnesota except the far southeast, an area characterized by steep hills and streams that cut into the

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of be ...

. This area is known as the

Driftless Zone The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. Never covered by ice during the last ...

for its absence of

glacial drift In geology, drift is a name for all sediment (clay, silt, sand, gravel, boulders) transported by a glacier and deposited directly by or from the ice, or by glacial meltwater. Drift is often subdivided into (unsorted and) unstratified drift (gla ...

. Much of the remainder of the state has fifty feet (15m) or more of

glacial till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

left behind as the last glaciers retreated. Gigantic

Lake Agassiz Lake Agassiz was a large glacial lake in central North America. Fed by glacial meltwater at the end of the last glacial period, its area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined. First postulated in 1823 by William H. Keating, i ...

formed in the northwest 13,000 years ago. Its flatbed now is the fertile Red River valley, and its outflow, glacial River Warren, carved the valley of the

and the Upper Mississippi downstream from

. Minnesota is geologically quiet today; it experiences

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

s infrequently, most of them minor. Palisade, Shovel Point (cropped)

The state's high point is Eagle Mountain at 2,301 feet (701m), which is only away from the low point of 601 feet (183m) at the shore of Lake Superior. Notwithstanding dramatic local differences in elevation, much of the state is a gently rolling

peneplain 390px, Sketch of a hypothetical peneplain formation after an orogeny. In geomorphology and geology, a peneplain is a low-relief plain formed by protracted erosion. This is the definition in the broadest of terms, albeit with frequency the usage ...

. Two major

drainage divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a singl ...

s meet in Minnesota's northeast in rural Hibbing, forming a triple

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

can follow the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

south to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

, the

Saint Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Ameri ...

east to the Atlantic Ocean, or the

Hudson Bay watershed The Hudson Bay drainage basin is the drainage basin in northern North America where surface water empties into Hudson Bay and adjoining waters. Spanning an area of about , the basin is almost totally in Canada (spanning parts of the Prairies, ce ...

to the Arctic Ocean. The state's nickname "Land of 10,000 Lakes" is apt, as there are 11,842 Minnesota lakes over in size. Minnesota's portion of Lake Superior is the largest at and deepest (at ) body of water in the state. Minnesota has 6,564 natural rivers and streams that cumulatively flow for . The Mississippi River begins its journey from its

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

Lake Itasca Lake Itasca is a small glacial lake, approximately in area. Located in southeastern Clearwater County, in the Headwaters area of north central Minnesota, it is notable for being the headwater of the Mississippi River. The lake is in Itasca Sta ...

and crosses the Iowa border downstream. It is joined by the

at Fort Snelling, by the St. Croix River near

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, by the Chippewa River at Wabasha, and by many smaller streams. The Red River drains the northwest part of the state northward toward Canada's Hudson Bay. Approximately of wetlands are within Minnesota's borders, the most of any state outside Alaska.

Flora and fauna

Minnesota has four ecological provinces:

parkland, in the southwestern and western parts of the state; the eastern broadleaf forest ( Big Woods) in the southeast, extending in a narrowing strip to the state's northwestern part, where it transitions into

tallgrass aspen parkland The Tallgrass Aspen Parkland is an ecoregion located in southeastern Manitoba and northwestern Minnesota. The area is characterized by a mosaic of habitat types, including tallgrass prairie, aspen woodland, sedge meadow wetlands, riparian woodland, ...

; and the northern Laurentian mixed forest, a transitional forest between the northern

boreal forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...

and the broadleaf forests to the south. These northern forests are a vast wilderness of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

and

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfam ...

trees mixed with patchy stands of

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' cont ...

and poplar. Much of Minnesota's northern forest has undergone logging, leaving only a few patches of

old growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

today in areas such as the Chippewa National Forest and the

Superior National Forest Superior National Forest, part of the United States National Forest system, is located in the Arrowhead Region of the state of Minnesota between the Canada–United States border and the north shore of Lake Superior. The area is part of the grea ...

, where the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has some of unlogged land. Although logging continues, regrowth and replanting keep about a third of the state forested. Nearly all Minnesota's prairies and

oak savanna An oak savanna is a type of savanna—or lightly forested grassland—where oaks (''Quercus ''spp.) are the dominant trees. The terms "oakery" or "woodlands" are also used commonly, though the former is more prevalent when referencing the Medite ...

s have been fragmented by farming, grazing, logging, and suburban development. While loss of habitat has affected native animals such as the

pine marten The European pine marten (''Martes martes''), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and parts of Iran, Iraq and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. ...

, elk,

woodland caribou Woodland caribou may refer to two North American reindeer (''Rangifer tarandus'') populations: * Boreal woodland caribou * Migratory woodland caribou See also * Woodland Caribou Provincial Park Woodland Caribou Provincial Park is a provi ...

, and

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North A ...

, others like

whitetail deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

and

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the ...

thrive. Minnesota has the nation's largest population of timber wolves outside Alaska, and supports healthy populations of black bears,

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

, and gophers. Located on the

Mississippi Flyway The Mississippi Flyway is a bird migration route that generally follows the Mississippi, Missouri, and Lower Ohio Rivers in the United States across the western Great Lakes to the Mackenzie River and Hudson Bay in Canada. The main endpoint ...

, Minnesota hosts migratory waterfowl such as

geese A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...

and

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

s, and game birds such as

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondria ...

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

s, and turkeys. It is home to

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

, including the largest number of breeding pairs of

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

s in the lower 48 states as of 2007,

red-tailed hawks The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members with ...

, and

snowy owl The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding m ...

s. Hawk Ridge is one of the premier bird watching sites in North America. The lakes teem with sport fish such as

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

muskellunge The muskellunge ''(Esox masquinongy)'', often shortened to muskie, musky or lunge is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name "muskell ...

, and

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish water, brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are kno ...

, and

brook A brook is a small river or natural stream of fresh water. It may also refer to: Computing *Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C *Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler * BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programmin ...

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...

, and

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coast ...

populate streams in the southeast and northeast.

Climate

Minnesota experiences temperature extremes characteristic of its

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing so ...

, with cold winters and hot summers. The lowest temperature recorded was at

Tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

on February 2, 1996, and the highest was at Moorhead on July 6, 1936. Meteorological events include rain, snow, blizzards, thunderstorms, hail,

derecho A ''derecho'' (, from es, derecho, link=no , 'straight') is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms known as a mesoscale convective system. Derechos can cause hurri ...

s, tornadoes, and high-velocity straight-line winds. The growing season varies from 90 days in the far northeast to 160 days in southeast Minnesota near the Mississippi River, and average temperatures range from . Average summer dewpoints range from about in the south to about in the north. Average annual precipitation ranges from , and droughts occur every 10 to 50 years.

Protected lands

Minnesota's first state park,

Itasca State Park Itasca State Park (pronounced eye-ta-ska) is a state park of Minnesota, United States, and contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The park spans of northern Minnesota, and is located about north of Park Rapids, Minnesota and from ...

, was established in 1891, and is the source of the Mississippi River. Today Minnesota has 72 state parks and recreation areas, 58 state forests covering about four million acres (16,000km²), and numerous state wildlife preserves, all managed by the

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, rec ...

. The Chippewa and Superior national forests comprise . The Superior National Forest in the northeast contains the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which encompasses over a million acres (4,000km²) and a thousand lakes. To its west is

Voyageurs National Park Voyageurs National Park is an American national park in northern Minnesota near the city of International Falls established in 1975. The park's name commemorates the ''voyageurs''—French-Canadian fur traders who were the first European settle ...

. The

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is a and protected corridor along the Mississippi River through the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metro in the U.S. state of Minnesota, from the cities of Dayton and Ramsey, to just downstream of H ...

(MNRRA) is a corridor along the Mississippi River through the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Area connecting a variety of sites of historic, cultural, and geologic interest.

Cities and towns

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, in east-central Minnesota along the banks of the Mississippi River, has been Minnesota's

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...

since 1849, first as capital of the

Territory of Minnesota The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota and weste ...

, and then as the state capital since 1858. Saint Paul is adjacent to Minnesota's most populous city, Minneapolis; they and their suburbs are collectively known as the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the country's 16th-largest metropolitan area and home to about 55% of the state's population. The remainder of the state is known as " Greater Minnesota" or "Outstate Minnesota". The state has 17 cities with populations above 50,000 as of the 2010 census. In descending order of population, they are

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park,

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

, Saint Cloud, Woodbury,

Eagan Eagan may refer to: People * Daisy Eagan (born 1979), American actress * Dennis Eagan (1926–2012), British field hockey player * Eddie Eagan (1897–1967), American sportsman * James Eagan (1926-2000), American politician from Missouri * John ...

, Maple Grove, Coon Rapids,

Eden Prairie Eden Prairie is a city southwest of downtown Minneapolis in Hennepin County and the 16th-largest city in the State of Minnesota, United States. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 64,198. The city is adjacent to the north bank of th ...

, Minnetonka, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Blaine, and

Lakeville Lakeville may refer to: Canada *Wilmot Parish, New Brunswick#Lakeville, Lakeville, a local service district north of Woodstock, New Brunswick **Lakeville, Carleton County, New Brunswick, a community within the local service district *Lakeville, Wes ...

. Of these, only Rochester, Duluth, and Saint Cloud are outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Minnesota's population continues to grow, primarily in the urban centers. The populations of metropolitan Sherburne and

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...

counties doubled between 1980 and 2000, while 40 of the state's 87 counties lost residents over the same period. The United States Navy has recognized multiple Minnesota communities.

Demographics

Population

From fewer than 6,120 white settlers in 1850, Minnesota's enumerated population grew to over 1.7million by 1900 and 3.4million in 1960. Growth then slowed, rising 11% to 3.8million in 1970, and an average of 9% over the next three decades to 4.9million in the 2000 census. 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 off ...

showed Minnesota's population at 5,709,752 on April 1, 2020, a 7.65% increase since the

2010 United States census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

. The rate of population change, and age and gender distributions, approximate the national average. Minnesota's

center of population In demographics, the center of population (or population center) of a region is a geographical point that describes a centerpoint of the region's population. There are several ways of defining such a "center point", leading to different geog ...

is in

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. The county extends from Minneapo ...

. At the 2010 census Minnesota's population was 5,303,925. The gender makeup of the state was 49.6% male and 50.4% female. 24.2% of the population was under age 18; 9.5% between 18 and 24; 26.3% from 25 to 44; 27.1% from 45 to 64; and 12.9% 65 or older. The table below shows the racial composition of Minnesota's population as of the 2020 census. According to the 2017

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

, 5.1% of Minnesota's population were of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race):

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

(3.5%), Puerto Rican (0.2%),

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a pers ...

(0.1%), and other Hispanic or Latino origin (1.2%). The ancestry groups claimed by more than 5% of the population were

(33.8%), Norwegian (15.3%), Irish (10.5%), Swedish (8.1%), and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

(5.4%). Minnesota was also a major destination for a wave of Finnish immigrants in the early 20th century, along with

and

. Among U.S. states, Minnesota has the highest number of Finnish-Americans, 100,545 as of 2019. In 2011 non-Hispanic whites accounted for 72.3% of all births, but Minnesota's growing

minority groups The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

still form a smaller percentage of the population than in the nation as a whole. Minnesota has the country's largest

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali ...

population,New Americans in the North Star State
with an estimated 57,000 people, the largest concentration outside of the

Religion

The majority of Minnesotans are

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, including a large

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

contingent, owing to the state's largely

Northern European The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54°N, or may be based on other geographical factors ...

ethnic makeup.

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(of largely

, Irish,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and Slavic descent) make up the largest single

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

. A 2010 survey by the

Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the wor ...

showed that 32% of Minnesotans were affiliated with

Mainline Protestant The mainline Protestant churches (also called mainstream Protestant and sometimes oldline Protestant) are a group of Protestant denominations in the United States that contrast in history and practice with evangelical, fundamentalist, and chari ...

traditions, 21% were Evangelical Protestants, 28% Roman Catholic, 1% each

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

, and Black Protestant, and smaller amounts of other faiths, with 13% unaffiliated. According to the

Association of Religion Data Archives The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. One of the primary goals of the archive is to democratize access to academic information on religion by making th ...

, the denominations with the most adherents in 2010 were the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

with 1,150,367; the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...

with 737,537; and the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The L ...

with 182,439. This is broadly consistent with the results of the 2001

American Religious Identification Survey The Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture (ISSSC) is located at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. ISSSC was established in 2005 to advance the understanding of the role of secular values and the process of seculari ...

, which also gives detailed percentages for many individual denominations. The international

Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC) is an international fellowship of 34 Confessional Lutheran church bodies. The CELC was founded in 1993 in Oberwesel, Germany with an initial thirteen church bodies. Plenary sessions are hel ...

is headquartered in Mankato, Minnesota. Although

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

is dominant, Minnesota has a long history with non-Christian faiths.

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

pioneers set up Saint Paul's first

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

in 1856. Minnesota is home to more than 30

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s, mostly in the Twin Cities metro area. The Temple of ECK, the spiritual home of

Eckankar Eckankar is a new religious movement founded by Paul Twitchell in 1965. Its membership today is primarily in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The spiritual home is the Temple of ECK in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Eckankar is not affiliate ...

, is based in Minnesota.

Economy

Once primarily a producer of raw materials, Minnesota's economy has transformed to emphasize finished products and services. Perhaps the most significant characteristic of the economy is its diversity; the relative outputs of its business sectors closely match the United States as a whole. Minnesota's economy had a

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is of ...

of $383billion in 2019, with 33 of the United States' top 1,000 publicly traded companies by revenue headquartered in Minnesota, including

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

UnitedHealth Group UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is an American multinational managed healthcare and insurance company based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. It offers health care products and insurance services. UnitedHealth Group is the world's seventh largest ...

, 3M,

U.S. Bancorp U.S. Bancorp (stylized as us bancorp) is an American bank holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and incorporated in Delaware. It is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, and is the fifth largest banking institution i ...

, Ameriprise, Hormel,

Land O' Lakes Land O'Lakes, Inc. is an American member-owned agricultural cooperative based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb of Arden Hills, Minnesota, United States, focusing on the dairy industry. The cooperative has 1,959 direct producer-members, 751 m ...

, SuperValu,

Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...

, and Valspar. Private companies based in Minnesota include

Cargill Cargill, Incorporated, is a privately held American global food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865, it is the largest privately held corporation in the United States in te ...

, the largest privately owned company in the United States, and Carlson Companies, the parent company of

Radisson Hotels Radisson Hotels is an international hotel chain headquartered in the United States. A division of the Radisson Hotel Group, it operates the brands Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson Collection, Country Inn & Suites, and Park Inn by Radis ...

. Minnesota's per capita personal income in 2019 was $58,834, the thirteenth-highest in the nation. Its 2019

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways ...

was $74,593, ranking thirteenth in the U.S. and fifth among the 36 states not on the Atlantic coast.

Industry and commerce

Minnesota's earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture. Minneapolis grew around the flour mills powered by

St. Anthony Falls Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony ( dak, italics=no, Owámniyomni, ) located at the northeastern edge of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River. Throughout the mid-to-late ...

. Although less than 1% of the population is now employed in the agricultural sector, it remains a major part of the state's economy, ranking sixth in the nation in the value of products sold. The state is the nation's largest producer of

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet ('' Beta vulgaris''). Together ...

sweet corn Sweet corn (''Zea mays'' convar. ''saccharata'' var. ''rugosa''), also called sugar corn and pole corn, is a variety of maize grown for human consumption with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally occurring recessive muta ...

, and

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

s for processing, and farm-raised turkeys. Minnesota is also a large producer of corn and soybeans, and has the most food

cooperatives A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

per capita in the United States.

Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

remains strong, including

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...

pulpwood Pulpwood is timber with the principal use of making wood pulp for paper production. Applications * Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 15% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more gene ...

processing and paper production, and forest products manufacturing. Minnesota was famous for its soft-ore mines, which produced a significant portion of the world's

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

for more than a century. Although the high-grade ore is now depleted,

taconite Taconite () is a variety of iron formation, an iron-bearing (over 15% iron) sedimentary rock, in which the iron minerals are interlayered with quartz, chert, or carbonate. The name "taconyte" was coined by Horace Vaughn Winchell (1865–1923) � ...

mining continues, using processes developed locally to save the industry. In 2016 the state produced 60% of the country's usable iron ore. The mining boom created the port of Duluth, which continues to be important for shipping ore, coal, and agricultural products. The manufacturing sector now includes technology and

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

firms, in addition to the older food processors and heavy industry. The nation's first indoor

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that ...

was Edina's

Southdale Center Southdale Center is a shopping mall located in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities. It opened in 1956 and is both the first and the oldest fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping mall in the United States. Southdale Center has of le ...

, and its largest is Bloomington's

Mall of America Mall of America (MOA) is a large shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States. Located within the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the mall lies southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway ...

. Minnesota is one of 45 U.S. states with its own lottery; its games include multi-jurisdiction draws, in-house draws, and other games.

Energy use and production

Minnesota produces

ethanol fuel Ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, used as fuel. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. The first production car running entirely on ethanol was t ...

and is the first to mandate its use, a 10% mix ( E10). In 2019 there were more than 411 service stations supplying E85 fuel, comprising 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. A 2%

biodiesel Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat ( tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oi ...

blend has been required in

diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and ...

since 2005. Minnesota is ranked in the top ten for wind energy production. The state gets nearly one fifth of all its electrical energy from wind.

Xcel Energy Xcel Energy Inc. is an American utility holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving more than 3.7 million electric customers and 2.1 million natural gas customers in Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico in 2019. It consists of four oper ...

is the state's largest utility and is headquartered in the state; it is one of five investor-owned utilities. There are also a number of municipal utilities.

State taxes

Minnesota has a progressive income tax structure; the four brackets of state

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...

rates are 5.35%, 7.05%, 7.85%, and 9.85%. As of 2008 Minnesota was ranked 12th in the nation in per capita total state and local taxes. In 2008 Minnesotans paid 10.2% of their income in state and local taxes; the U.S. average was 9.7%. The state

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a gove ...

in Minnesota is 6.875%, but clothing, prescription drug medications and food items for home consumption are exempt. The

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

may allow municipalities to institute local sales taxes and special local taxes, such as the 0.5% supplemental sales tax in Minneapolis.

Excise file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

taxes are levied on alcohol, tobacco, and motor fuel. The state imposes a

use tax A use tax is a type of tax levied in the United States by numerous state governments. It is essentially the same as a sales tax but is applied not where a product or service was sold but where a merchant bought a product or service and then conv ...

on items purchased elsewhere but used within Minnesota. Owners of

real property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or aff ...

in Minnesota pay

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inher ...

to their county, municipality, school district, and special taxing districts.

Culture

Fine and performing arts

Minnesota's leading

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

museums include the

Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United State ...

, the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, to ...

, the

Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum is an art museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1934 as University Gallery, the museum was originally housed in an upper floor of the university's Northrop Auditorium. In 19 ...

, and

The Museum of Russian Art The Museum of Russian Art (TMORA), a nonprofit museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, is the only major institution in North America devoted entirely to Russian art and culture from the entire scope of Russia's history. The Museum was f ...

(TMORA). All are in Minneapolis. The

Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Em ...

and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra are prominent full-time professional

musical ensemble A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists ...

s who perform concerts and offer educational programs to the Twin Cities' community. The world-renowned

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...

moved into a new Minneapolis facility in 2006, boasting three stages and overlooking the Mississippi River. Attendance at

theatrical Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

al, and

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

events in the area is strong. In the United States, Minneapolis's number of theater companies ranks behind only

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

's, and about 2.3million theater tickets were sold in the Twin Cities annually as of 2006. The Minnesota Fringe Festival in Minneapolis is an annual celebration of

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performa ...

, kids' shows,

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts ...

, and musicals with more than 800 performances over 11 days. It is the country's largest non-juried performing arts festival.

Literature

The rigors and rewards of pioneer life on the

are the subject of ''Giants in the Earth'' by Ole Rolvaag and the ''Little House'' series of children's books by

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, mostly known for the '' Little House on the Prairie'' series of children's books, published between 1932 and 1943, which were based on her childhood ...

. Small-town life is portrayed grimly by

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...

in the novel ''Main Street'', and more gently and affectionately by

Garrison Keillor Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radi ...

in his tales of Lake Wobegon. St. Paul native F. Scott Fitzgerald writes of the social insecurities and aspirations of the young city in stories such as ''

Winter Dreams "Winter Dreams" is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that was first published in '' Metropolitan'' magazine in December 1922 and later collected in '' All the Sad Young Men'' in 1926. The plot concerns the attempts by a young man to win the a ...

'' and ''The Ice Palace'' (published in '' Flappers and Philosophers'').

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely trans ...

's epic poem ''

The Song of Hiawatha ''The Song of Hiawatha'' is an 1855 epic poem in trochaic tetrameter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which features Native American characters. The epic relates the fictional adventures of an Ojibwe warrior named Hiawatha and the tragedy of hi ...

'' was inspired by Minnesota and names many of the state's places and bodies of water. Minnesota native Robert Zimmerman (

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

) won the 2016

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

. Science fiction writer

Marissa Lingen Marissa Kristine Lingen (born July 26, 1978) is an American science fiction and fantasy author who writes short stories. Life Lingen was born in Libertyville, Illinois, to a family of Norwegian and Swedish descent. She studied physics and mat ...

lives here.

Entertainment

Minnesota musicians include

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire ...

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...

, The Castaways, The Trashmen,

Soul Asylum Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their 1993 hit "Runaway Train" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The band was originally called Loud Fast Rules, with a lineup consisting of D ...

David Ellefson David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while lead ...

Chad Smith Chad Gaylord Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who has been the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith is also the drummer of the ...

John Wozniak John Keith Wozniak (born January 19, 1971) is an American musician best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band Marcy Playground. Early life Wozniak was born and raised in Minneapolis. He learned how to play the guita ...

Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist/vocalist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notabili ...

Semisonic Semisonic is an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1995, consisting of Dan Wilson (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), John Munson (bass, keyboards, backing vocals, guitar), and Jacob Slichter (drums, percussion, keyboards, b ...

, The Replacements, Owl City,

Holly Henry Holly Mae Heinrich (born March 31, 1994), better known by her stage name Holly Henry, is an American singer-songwriter from Minnesota. She took her stage name when competing in 2013 on the fifth season of ''The Voice'' (United States edition). ...

Motion City Soundtrack Motion City Soundtrack is an American rock band that formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997. The band's line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Justin Courtney Pierre, lead guitarist Joshua Cain, keyboardist Jesse Johnson, bassist Matthew ...

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A ...

, and Dessa. Minnesotans helped shape the history of music through popular American culture: the Andrews Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was an iconic tune of World War II, while the Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" and Bob Dylan epitomize two sides of the 1960s. In the 1980s, influential hit radio groups and musicians included

, The Original 7ven,

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most ...

, The Jets,

Lipps Inc. Lipps Inc. ( , a pun on the phrase "lip sync") was an American disco and funk group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group is best known for the chart-topping 1980 worldwide hit single "Funkytown", which hit No. 1 in 28 countries and was certifi ...

, and

Information Society An information society is a society where the usage, creation, distribution, manipulation and integration of information is a significant activity. Its main drivers are information and communication technologies, which have resulted in rapid inf ...

. Minnesotans have also made significant contributions to comedy, theater, media, and film. The comic strip ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and inf ...

'' was created by St. Paul native Charles M. Schulz.

A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed '' Live from ...

which first aired in 1974, became a long-running comedy radio show on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

. A cult scifi cable TV show,

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1 ...

, was created by Joel Hodgson in Hopkins, and Minneapolis, MN. Another popular comedy staple developed in the 1990s, The Daily Show, was originated through Lizz Winstead and Madeleine Smithberg. Joel and Ethan Coen, Terry Gilliam, Bill Pohlad, and Mike Todd contributed to the art of filmmaking as writers, directors, and producers. Notable actors from Minnesota include Loni Anderson, Richard Dean Anderson, James Arness, Jessica Biel, Rachael Leigh Cook, Julia Duffy, Mike Farrell, Judy Garland, Peter Graves, Josh Hartnett, Garrett Hedlund, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Lange, Kelly Lynch, E.G. Marshall, Laura Osnes, Melissa Peterman, Chris Pratt, Marion Ross, Jane Russell, Winona Ryder, Seann William Scott, Kevin Sorbo, Lea Thompson, Vince Vaughn, Jesse Ventura, and Steve Zahn.

Popular culture

Stereotype, Stereotypical traits of Minnesotans include "Minnesota nice", Lutheranism, a strong sense of community and shared culture, and a distinctive brand of North Central American English sprinkled with

n expressions. Potlucks, usually with a variety of hotdishes, are popular small-town church activities. A small segment of the Scandinavian population attend a traditional lutefisk dinner to celebrate Christmas. Life in Minnesota has also been depicted or used as a backdrop, in movies such as ''Fargo (1996 film), Fargo'', ''Grumpy Old Men (film), Grumpy Old Men'', ''Grumpier Old Men'', ''Juno (film), Juno'', ''Drop Dead Gorgeous (film), Drop Dead Gorgeous'', ''Young Adult (film), Young Adult'', ''A Serious Man'', ''New in Town'', ''Rio (2011 film), Rio'', ''The Mighty Ducks (film series), The Mighty Ducks films,'' and in famous television series like ''Little House on the Prairie (TV series), Little House on the Prairie'', ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''The Golden Girls'', ''Coach (TV series), Coach'', ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'', ''How I Met Your Mother'' and ''Fargo (TV series), Fargo''. Major movies shot on location in Minnesota include ''That Was Then... This Is Now'', ''Purple Rain (film), Purple Rain'', ''Airport (1970 film), Airport'', ''Beautiful Girls (film), Beautiful Girls'', ''North Country (film), North Country'', ''Untamed Heart'', ''Feeling Minnesota'', ''Jingle All The Way'', ''A Simple Plan (film), A Simple Plan'', and ''The Mighty Ducks (film series), The Mighty Ducks films''. The Minnesota State Fair, advertised as ''The Great Minnesota Get-Together'', is an icon of state culture. In a state of 5.5million people, there were more than 1.8million visitors to the fair in 2014, setting a new attendance record. The fair covers the variety of Minnesota life, including

, science, agriculture, food preparation, 4-H displays, music, midway (fair), the midway, and corporate merchandising. It is known for its displays of seed art, butter sculptures of Princess Kay of the Milky Way, dairy princesses, the birthing barn, and the "fattest pig" competition. One can also find dozens of varieties of food on a stick, such as Pronto Pups, Cheese curds#Fried cheese curds, cheese curds, and deep-fried candy bars. On a smaller scale, many of these attractions are offered at numerous county fairs. Other large annual festivals include the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Minneapolis' Minneapolis Aquatennial, Aquatennial and Mill City Music Festival, Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota, Walker, Sonshine Festival, Sonshine Christian music festival in Willmar, Minnesota, Willmar, the Judy Garland Festival in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Grand Rapids, the Eelpout Festival on Leech Lake, and the WE Fest in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, Detroit Lakes.

Health

Minnesotans have low rates of premature death, infant mortality, cardiovascular disease, and occupational fatalities. They have long life expectancies, and high rates of health insurance and regular exercise. These and other measures have led two groups to rank Minnesota as the healthiest state in the nation; however, in one of these rankings, Minnesota descended from first to sixth in the nation between 2005 and 2009 because of low levels of public health funding and the prevalence of binge drinking. While overall health indicators are strong, Minnesota does have significant health disparities in minority populations. On October 1, 2007, the Freedom to Breathe Act took effect, outlawing smoking in restaurants and bars in Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Health is the primary state health agency responsible for public policy and regulation. Medical care in the state is provided by a comprehensive network of hospitals and clinics operated by a number of large providers including Allina Hospitals & Clinics, CentraCare Health System, Essentia Health, HealthPartners, M Health Fairview and the Mayo Clinic Health System. There are two teaching hospitals and medical schools in Minnesota. The University of Minnesota Medical School is a high-rated teaching institution that has made a number of breakthroughs in treatment, and its research activities contribute significantly to the state's growing biotechnology industry. The Mayo Clinic, a world-renowned hospital based in Rochester, was founded by William Worrall Mayo, an immigrant from England. ''U.S. News & World Report'' 2020–21 survey ranked 4,554 hospitals in the country in 12 specialized fields of care, and placed the Mayo Clinic in the top four in most fields. The hospital ranked first on the best hospitals honor roll. The only specialty where it fell outside the top ten was ophthalmology. The Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota are partners in the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics, a state-funded program that conducts research into cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Coronary heart disease, heart health, obesity, and other areas.

Education

One of the first acts of the Minnesota Legislature when it opened in 1858 was the creation of a normal school in Winona. Minnesota's commitment to education has contributed to a literate and well-educated populace. In 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Minnesota had the second-highest proportion of high school graduates, with 91.5% of people 25 and older holding a high school diploma, and the tenth-highest proportion of people with bachelor's degrees. In 2015, Minneapolis was named the nation's "Most Literate City", while St. Paul placed fourth, according to a major annual survey. In a 2013 study conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics comparing the performance of eighth-grade students internationally in math and science, Minnesota ranked eighth in the world and third in the United States, behind Massachusetts and Vermont. In 2014, Minnesota students earned the tenth-highest average composite score in the nation on the ACT (examination), ACT exam. In 2013, nationwide in per-student public education spending, Minnesota ranked 21st. While Minnesota has chosen not to implement school vouchers, it is home to the first charter school. The state supports a network of public universities and colleges, including 37 institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, and five major campuses of the University of Minnesota system. It is also home to more than 20 private colleges and universities, six of which rank among the nation's top 100 liberal arts colleges, according to ''U.S. News & World Report''.

Transportation

Transportation in Minnesota is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) at the state level and by regional and local governments at the local level. Principal transportation corridors radiate from the Twin Cities metropolitan area and along interstate corridors in Greater Minnesota. The major Interstate Highway System, Interstate highways are Interstate 35 in Minnesota, Interstate35 (I-35), Interstate 90 in Minnesota, I-90, and Interstate 94 in Minnesota, I-94, with I-35 and I-94 connecting the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, and I-90 traveling east–west along the southern edge of the state. In 2006, a constitutional amendment was passed that required sales and use taxes on motor vehicles to fund transportation, with at least 40% dedicated to public transit. There are nearly two dozen rail transport, rail corridors in Minnesota, most of which go through Minneapolis–St. Paul or Duluth. There is water transportation along the

system and from the ports of

Minnesota's principal airport is Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport (MSP), a major passenger and freight hub for Delta Air Lines and Sun Country Airlines. Most other domestic carriers serve the airport. Large commercial jet service is provided at Duluth and Rochester, with scheduled commuter service to four smaller cities via Delta Connection carriers SkyWest Airlines, Compass Airlines (North America), Compass Airlines, and Endeavor Air. Public transit services are available in the regional urban centers in Minnesota including Metro Transit (Minnesota), Metro Transit in the Twin Cities, opt-out suburban operators Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, SouthWest Transit, Plymouth Metrolink, Maple Grove Transit and others. In Greater Minnesota transit services are provided by city systems such as Duluth Transit Authority, Mankato Transit System, MATBUS (Fargo-Moorhead), Rochester, Minnesota#Transportation, Rochester Public Transit, St. Cloud, Minnesota#Transportation, Saint Cloud Metro Bus, Winona Public Transit and others. Dial-a-Ride service is available for persons with disabilities in a majority of Minnesota Counties. In addition to bus services, Amtrak's daily ''Empire Builder'' (Chicago–Seattle/Portland) train runs through Minnesota, calling at the Saint Paul Union Depot and five other stations. Intercity bus providers include Jefferson Lines, Greyhound Bus Lines, Greyhound, and Megabus (North America), Megabus. Local public transit is provided by bus networks in the larger cities and by two rail services. The Northstar Line commuter rail service runs from Big Lake, Minnesota, Big Lake to the Target Field (Metro Transit station), Target Field station in downtown Minneapolis. From there, light rail runs to Saint Paul Union Depot on the Green Line (Minnesota), Green Line, and to the MSP airport and the

via the Blue Line (Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro), Blue Line.

Law and government

Minnesota state coat of arms (illustrated, 1876)

Minnesota is governed pursuant to the Minnesota Constitution, which was adopted October 13, 1857, roughly one year before statehood. Like all U.S. states and the federal government, Minnesota has a Republicanism in the United States, republican system of political representation with power divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The state constitution includes a bill of rights that reaffirms many of the same rights and freedoms as its United States Bill of Rights, federal counterpart, with some protected more strongly and explicitly.

Executive

The executive branch is headed by the Governor (United States), governor, currently Tim Walz, DFL (Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, Democratic–Farmer–Labor), who took office on January 7, 2019. The governor has a cabinet (government), cabinet consisting of the leaders of various state government agencies, called commissioners. The other elected constitutional offices are List of secretaries of state of Minnesota, secretary of state, Minnesota Attorney General, attorney general, and Minnesota State Auditor, state auditor. Constitutional officeholders: * Governor Tim Walz (DFL) * Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (DFL) * Secretary of State Steve Simon (DFL) * Attorney General Keith Ellison (DFL) * State Auditor Julie Blaha (DFL)

Legislature

The Minnesota Legislature is a bicameral body consisting of the Minnesota Senate, Senate and the Minnesota House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The state has 67 districts, each with about 60,000 people. Each district has one senator and two representatives, each senatorial district being divided into ''A'' and ''B'' sections for members of the House. Senators serve for four years and representatives for two years. In the 2010 Minnesota House of Representatives election, November 2010 Minnesota House election, the Minnesota Republican Party, Republicans gained 25 house seats, giving them control of the body by a 72–62 margin. The 2010 Minnesota Senate election, 2010 Senate election also saw Minnesota voters elect a Republican majority in the state Senate for the first time since 1972. In 2012, the Democrats 2012 Minnesota House of Representatives election, regained the House of Representatives by a margin of 73–61, picking up 11 seats; the Democrats also 2012 Minnesota Senate election, regained the Minnesota Senate. Control of the House shifted back to Republicans in the 2014 Minnesota House of Representatives election, 2014 election and returned to the DFL in the 2018 Minnesota House of Representatives election, 2018 midterm election. Since 2016 Minnesota Senate election, 2016, the Senate has had a slim Republican majority. House Leadership * Speaker: Melissa Hortman (DFL-36B) * Majority Leader: Ryan Winkler (DFL-46A) * Majority Whip: Kaohly Her (DFL-64A) * Speaker Pro Tempore: Liz Olson (DFL-7B) * Assistant Majority Leaders: Heather Edelson (DFL-49A), Emma Greenman (DFL-63B), Michael Howard (American politician), Michael Howard (DFL-50A), Todd Lippert (DLF-20B), Kelly Morrison (DFL-33B), Dan Wolgamott (DFL-14B) * Minority Leader: Kurt Daudt (R-31A) * Deputy Minority Leader: Anne Neu (R-Minnesota House of Representatives, District 32B, 32B) * Minority Whip: Barb Haley (R-21A) * Assistant Minority Leaders: Dave Baker (Minnesota politician), Dave Baker (R-17B), Peggy Bennett (R-27A), Lisa Demuth (R-13A), Jim Nash (politician), Jim Nash (R-47A), Paul Novotny (R-30A), Bjorn Olson (R-23A), Peggy Scott (politician), Peggy Scott (R-35B), Paul Torkelson (R-16B) Senate Leadership * President: Jeremy Miller (politician), Jeremy Miller (R-28) * President Pro Tempore: ''Vacant'' * Majority Leader: Paul Gazelka (R-09) * Deputy Majority Leader: Mark Johnson (Minnesota politician), Mark Johnson (R-01) * Assistant Majority Leaders: Roger Chamberlain (R-38), Karin Housley (R-39), John Jasinski (politician), John Jasinski (R-24), Zach Duckworth (R-58), Eric Pratt (R-55) * Minority Leader: Melisa Franzen (DFL-49) * Minority Whips: Kent Eken (DFL-4), Jason Isaacson (DLF-42) * Assistant Minority Leaders: Nick Frentz (DFL-19), Foung Hawj (DFL-67)

Judiciary

Minnesota's court system has three levels. Most cases start in the Minnesota District Courts, district courts, which are courts of general jurisdiction. There are 279 district court judgeships in ten judicial districts. Appeals from the trial courts and challenges to certain governmental decisions are heard by the Minnesota Court of Appeals, consisting of 19 judges who typically sit in three-judge panels. The seven-justice Minnesota Supreme Court hears all appeals from the tax court, the Minnesota Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals, workers' compensation court of appeals, first-degree murder convictions, and Certiorari#State courts, discretionary appeals from the court of appeals; it also has original jurisdiction over election disputes. Two specialized courts within administrative agencies have been established: the workers' compensation court of appeals, and the tax court, which deals with non-criminal tax cases. Supreme Court Justices * Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea, Lorie Gildea Associate Justices * Barry Anderson * David Lillehaug * Natalie Hudson * Margaret Chutich * Anne McKeig * Paul Thissen

Regional

In addition to the city and county levels of government found in the United States, Minnesota has other entities that provide governmental oversight and planning. Regional Development Commissions, Regional development commissions (RDCs) provide technical assistance to local governments in the broad multi-county areas of the state. Along with this Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), such as the Metropolitan Council, provide planning and oversight of land use actions in metropolitan areas. Many lakes and rivers are overseen by Watershed district (Minnesota), watershed districts and soil and water conservation districts.

Federal

Minnesota's United States senators are Democrats Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith. The state has eight Minnesota Congressional Districts, congressional districts; they are represented by Brad Finstad (Minnesota's 1st congressional district, 1st district; R), Angie Craig (Minnesota's 2nd congressional district, 2nd; DFL), Dean Phillips (Minnesota's 3rd congressional district, 3rd; DFL), Betty McCollum (Minnesota's 4th congressional district, 4th; DFL), Ilhan Omar (Minnesota's 5th congressional district, 5th; DFL), Tom Emmer (Minnesota's 6th congressional district, 6th; R), Michelle Fischbach (Minnesota's 7th congressional district, 7th; R), and Pete Stauber (Minnesota's 8th congressional district, 8th; R). Federal court cases are heard in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Fergus Falls. Appeals are heard by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, Missouri and St. Paul.

Tribal

The State of Minnesota was created by the United States federal government in the traditional and cultural range of lands occupied by the Dakota and

peoples as well as other Native American groups. After many years of unequal treaties and forced resettlement by the state and federal government, the tribes re-organized into sovereign tribal governments. Today, the tribal governments are divided into 11 semi-autonomous reservations that negotiate with the U.S. and the state on a bilateral basis: Four Dakota Mdewakanton communities: * Prairie Island Indian Community * Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community * Lower Sioux Indian Reservation * Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota, Upper Sioux CommunityPejuhutazizi Oyate Seven Anishinaabe reservations: * Bois Forte Band of Chippewa * Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa * Grand Portage Band of Chippewa * Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe * Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe * White Earth Band of Ojibwe * Red Lake Band of Chippewa The first six of the Anishinaabe bands compose the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, the collective federally recognized tribal government of the Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs, and White Earth reservations.

Politics

Minnesota is known for a politically active citizenry, and populism has been a long-standing force among the state's political party, political parties. Minnesota has a consistently high voter turnout. In the 2008 United States presidential election, 2008 U.S. presidential election, 78.2% of eligible Minnesotans votedthe highest percentage of any U.S. stateversus the national average of 61.2%. That figure was surpassed in 2020, when 79.96% of registered voters participated in the general election. Voters can register on Election Day (United States), election day at their polling places with evidence of residency. Hubert Humphrey brought national attention to the state with his address at the 1948 Democratic National Convention. Minnesotans have consistently cast their Electoral College votes for Democratic presidential candidates since 1976, longer than any other state. Minnesota is the only state in the nation that did not vote for Ronald Reagan in either of his presidential campaigns. Minnesota has voted for the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since 1960, with the exception of 1972, when the state was won by Republican Richard Nixon. Both the Democratic and Republican parties have major-party status in Minnesota, but its state-level Democratic party has a different name, officially known as the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). It was formed out of a 1944 alliance of the Minnesota Democratic and Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party, Farmer-Labor parties. The state has had active third-party movements. The Reform Party of the United States, Reform Party, now the Independence Party of Minnesota, Independence Party, was able to elect former mayor of Brooklyn Park and professional wrestler Jesse Ventura to the Minnesota gubernatorial election, 1998, governorship in 1998. The Independence Party of Minnesota, Independence Party has received enough support to keep major-party status. The Green Party of Minnesota, Green Party, while no longer having major-party status, has a large presence in municipal government, notably in Minneapolis and Duluth, where it competes directly with the DFL party for local offices. Major-party status in Minnesota (which grants state funding for elections) is reserved to parties whose candidates receive five percent or more of the vote in any statewide election (e.g., governor, secretary of state, U.S. president). The state's United States Senate, U.S. Senate seats have generally been split since the early 1990s and in the 108th United States Congress, 108th and 109th United States Congress, 109th Congresses, Minnesota's congressional delegation was split, with four representatives and one senator from each party. In the 2006 mid-term election, Democrats were elected to all state offices, except governor and lieutenant governor, where Republicans Tim Pawlenty and Carol Molnau narrowly won reelection. The DFL posted double-digit gains in both houses of the legislature, elected Amy Klobuchar to the U.S. Senate, and increased the party's U.S. House caucus by one. Keith Ellison (DFL) was elected as the first African American U.S. Representative from Minnesota, as well as the first Muslim elected to Congress nationwide. In 2008, DFLer and former comedian and radio talk show host Al Franken defeated incumbent Republican Norm Coleman in the U.S. Senate race by 312 votes out of three million cast. In the 2010 election, Republicans took control of both chambers of the Minnesota legislature for the first time in 38 years and, with Mark Dayton's election, the DFL party took the governor's office for the first time in 20 years. Two years later, the DFL regained control of both houses, and with Dayton in office, the party had same-party control of both the legislative and executive branches for the first time since 1990. Two years later, the Republicans regained control of the Minnesota House, and in 2016, the GOP also regained control of the State Senate. In 2018, the DFL retook control of the Minnesota House, while electing DFLer Tim Walz as Governor. In a 2020 study, Minnesota was ranked as the 15th easiest state for citizens to vote in.

Media

The Twin Cities area is the fifteenth largest media market in the United States, as ranked by Nielsen Media Research. The state's other top markets are Fargo–Moorhead (118th nationally), Twin Ports, Duluth–Superior (137th), Rochester–Mason City–Austin (152nd), and Mankato (200th). Terrestrial television, Broadcast television in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest started on April 27, 1948, when KSTP-TV began broadcasting. Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns KSTP, is now the only locally owned television company in Minnesota. Twin Cities CBS station WCCO-TV and Fox Broadcasting Company, FOX station KMSP-TV are owned-and-operated by their respective networks. There are List of television stations in Minnesota (by channel number), 39 analog broadcast stations and 23 digital television, digital channels broadcast over Minnesota. The four largest daily newspapers are the ''Star Tribune'' in Minneapolis, the ''St. Paul Pioneer Press, Pioneer Press'' in Saint Paul, the ''Duluth News Tribune'' in Duluth, and the ''Post-Bulletin'' in Rochester. ''Minnesota Daily, The Minnesota Daily'' is the largest student-run newspaper in the U.S. Sites offering daily news on the Web include ''The UpTake'', ''MinnPost.com, MinnPost'', the Twin Cities ''Daily Planet'', business news site ''Finance & Commerce, Finance and Commerce'' and Washington D.C.-based ''Minnesota Independent''. Weeklies including ''City Pages'' and monthly publications such as ''Minnesota Monthly'' are available. Two of the largest public radio networks, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) and Public Radio International (PRI), are based in the state. MPR has the largest audience of any regional public radio network in the nation, broadcasting on 46 radio stations as of 2019. PRI weekly provides more than 400 hours of programming to almost 800 affiliates. The state's oldest radio station, KUOM-AM, was launched in 1922 and is among the 10-List of oldest radio stations, oldest radio stations in the United States. The University of Minnesota-owned station is still on the air, and since 1993 broadcasts a campus radio, college rock format.

Sports, recreation and tourism

Minnesota has an active program of organized amateur and professional sports. Tourism has become an important industry, especially in the Lake region. In the North Country, what had been an industrial area focused on mining and timber has largely been transformed into a vacation destination. Popular interest in the environment and environmentalism, added to traditional interests in hunting and fishing, has attracted a large urban audience within driving range.

Organized sports

Minnesota has professional men's teams in all major sports. The Minnesota Vikings have played in the National Football League since their admission as an expansion franchise in 1961. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 through 1981 and in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome from 1982 until its demolition after the 2013 season for the construction of the team's new home, U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings' current stadium hosted Super Bowl LII in February 2018. Super Bowl XXVI was played in the Metrodome in 1992. The Vikings have advanced to the Super Bowl Super Bowl IV, Super Bowl VIII, Super Bowl IX, and Super Bowl XI, losing all four games to their AFC/AFL opponent The Minnesota Twins have played in the Major League Baseball in the Twin Cities since 1961. The Twins began play as the original Minnesota Twins, Washington Senators, a founding member of the American League in 1901, relocating to Minnesota in 1961. The Twins won the 1987 and 1991 World Series in seven-game matches where the home team was victorious in all games. The Twins also advanced to the 1965 World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. The team has played at Target Field since 2010. The Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association played in the Minneapolis Auditorium from 1947 to 1960, after which they relocated to Los Angeles. The Minnesota Timberwolves joined the NBA in 1989, and have played in Target Center since 1990. The National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild play in St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center, and reached 300 consecutive sold-out games on January 16, 2008. Previously, the Minnesota North Stars competed in NHL from 1967 to 1993, which played in and lost the 1981 and 1991 Stanley Cup Finals. Minnesota United FC joined Major League Soccer as an expansion team in 2017, having played in the lower-division North American Soccer League (2010), North American Soccer League from 2010 to 2016. The team plays at Allianz Field in St. Paul. Previous professional soccer teams have included the Minnesota Kicks, which played at Metropolitan Stadium from 1976 to 1981, and the Minnesota Strikers from 1984 to 1988. Minnesota also has minor-league professional sports teams. The Minnesota Swarm of the National Lacrosse League played at the Xcel Energy Center until the team moved to Georgia in 2015. The St. Paul Saints, who play at CHS Field in St. Paul, are the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A minor league affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. Professional women's sports include the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association, winners of the 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017 WNBA Championships, Minnesota Aurora FC of the United Soccer League USL W-League, W-League, the Minnesota Vixen of the Independent Women's Football League, the Minnesota Valkyrie of the Legends Football League, and the Minnesota Whitecaps of the National Women's Hockey League. The Twin Cities campus of the

is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I school competing in the Big Ten Conference. Four additional schools in the state compete in NCAA Division I ice hockey: the University of Minnesota Duluth; Minnesota State University, Mankato; St. Cloud State University and Bemidji State University. There are nine NCAA Division II colleges in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, and twenty NCAA Division III colleges in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. Minneapolis has hosted the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1951 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, 1951, 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, 1992, 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, 2001, and 2019 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, 2019. The Hazeltine National Golf Club has hosted the U.S. Open (golf), U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open, U.S. Senior Open and PGA Championship. The course also hosted the Ryder Cup in the fall of 2016, when it became one of two courses in the U.S. to host all major golf competitions. The Ryder Cup is scheduled to return in 2028. Interlachen Country Club has hosted the U.S. Open (golf), U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open, and Solheim Cup. Winter Olympic Games medalists from the state include twelve of the twenty members of the gold medal Miracle on Ice, 1980 ice hockey team (coached by Minnesota native Herb Brooks) and the bronze medalist Curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics#Men's, U.S. men's curling team in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Swimmer Tom Malchow won an Olympic gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2000 Summer games and a silver medal in 1996 Summer Olympics, 1996. Grandma's Marathon is run every summer along the scenic North Shore (Lake Superior), North Shore of Lake Superior, and the Twin Cities Marathon winds around lakes and the Mississippi River during the peak of the color change in leaves, fall color season. Farther north, Eveleth, Minnesota, Eveleth is the location of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

Outdoor recreation

Minnesotans participate in high levels of physical activity, and many of these activities are outdoors. The strong interest of Minnesotans in environmentalism has been attributed to the popularity of these pursuits. Listening Point sauna

In the warmer months, these activities often involve water. Weekend and longer trips to family cottage, cabins on Minnesota's numerous lakes are a way of life for many residents. Activities include water sports such as water skiing, which originated in the state, boating, canoeing, and fishing. More than 36% of Minnesotans fish, second only to Alaska. Fishing does not cease when the lakes freeze; ice fishing has been around since the arrival of early Scandinavian immigrants. Minnesotans have learned to embrace their long, harsh winters in ice sports such as ice skating, skating, Ice hockey, hockey, curling, and broomball, and snow sports such as cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, luge, snowshoeing, and snowmobile, snowmobiling. Minnesota is the only U.S. state where bandy is played. State and national forests and the 72 state parks are used year-round for hunting, camping, and hiking. There are almost of snowmobile trails statewide. Minnesota has more miles of bike trails than any other state, and a growing network of trail, hiking trails, including the Superior Hiking Trail in the northeast. Many hiking and bike trails are used for cross-country skiing during the winter.

Notes

References

External links

Culture and history

Minnesota Historical Society

Minnesota Place Names

Minnesota Reflections

from the Library of Congress

General

Government

*

Prairie Island Indian Community

Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community

Lower Sioux Indian Community

The Upper Sioux Community Pejuhutazizi Oyate

Minnesota Chippewa Tribe

Bois Forte Band of Chippewa

Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe

Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe

White Earth Indian Reservation Tribal Council

Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians

Maps and demographics

Minnesota State Demographic Center

State Facts from USDA

Minnesota State Highway Map

Minnesota at Open Street Map

Tourism and recreation

Explore Minnesota

* {{coord, 46, -94, dim:300000_region:US-MN_type:adm1st, name=State of Minnesota, display=title Minnesota, States and territories established in 1858 States of the United States Dakota toponyms Midwestern United States 1858 establishments in the United States Contiguous United States