Medtronic 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
![National-atlas-minnesota](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/National-atlas-minnesota.svg)
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.S. ...
) and northernmost contiguous state, as the isolated
Northwest Angle in
Lake of the Woods County is the only part of the 48
contiguous states north of the
49th parallel. The state is part of the U.S. region known as the
Upper Midwest 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 water border with
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
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 state in the 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: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
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, So ...
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 porti ...
are to the west, and the
Canadian provinces of
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 C ...
and
Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
are to the north. With , or approximately 2.25% of the United States, Minnesota is the 12th-largest state.
Geology
![StLouisRiver JayCooke](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/StLouisRiver_JayCooke.JPG)
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 ...
ic
lava 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 wo ...
; 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 plates a ...
rock formed the
Canadian Shield in northeast Minnesota.
The roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of
Precambrian 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. This area is known as the
Driftless Zone for its absence of
glacial drift. Much of the remainder of the state has fifty feet (15m) or more of
glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. Gigantic
Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest 13,000 years ago. Its flatbed now is the fertile
Red River valley, and its outflow,
glacial River Warren
Glacial River Warren, also known as River Warren, was a prehistoric river that drained Lake Agassiz in central North America between about 13,500 and 10,650 BP calibrated (11,700 and 9,400 14C uncalibrated) years ago. A part of the uppermost porti ...
, carved the valley of the
Minnesota River and the Upper Mississippi downstream from
Fort Snelling.
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)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Palisade%2C_Shovel_Point_%28cropped%29.jpg)
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 divides meet in Minnesota's northeast in rural
Hibbing
Hibbing is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,214 at the 2020 census. The city was built on mining the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range and still relies on that industrial activity today. At th ...
, forming a triple
watershed.
Precipitation can follow the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
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 east to the Atlantic Ocean, or the
Hudson Bay watershed 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 ...
at
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
Minnesota River at Fort Snelling, by the
St. Croix River near
Hastings, 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:
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 ...
parkland, in the southwestern and western parts of the state; the
eastern broadleaf forest (
Big Woods
Big Woods refers to a type of temperate hardwood forest ecoregion found in western Wisconsin and south-central Minnesota. "Big Woods" is a direct translation of the name given to the region by French explorers: .
Trees and native vegetation ...
) in the southeast, extending in a narrowing strip to the state's northwestern part, where it transitions into
tallgrass aspen parkland; 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 Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...
and
spruce trees mixed with patchy stands of
birch 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
Chippewa National Forest is a National Forest located in north central Minnesota, United States, in the counties of Itasca, Cass and Beltrami. Forest headquarters are located in Cass Lake, Minnesota. There are local ranger district offices i ...
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
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW or BWCA) is a wilderness area within the Superior National Forest in the northeastern part of the US state of Minnesota under the administration of the U.S. Forest Service. A mixture of forests ...
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, and
bison, 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 thrive. Minnesota has the nation's largest population of
timber wolves outside Alaska, and supports healthy populations of
black bears,
moose, and
gopher
Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They are ...
s. Located on the
Mississippi Flyway, 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 eagles in the lower 48 states as of 2007,
red-tailed hawks, 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,
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 and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a p ...
, and
brook,
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 us ...
, and
rainbow trout populate streams in the southeast and northeast.
Climate
![Minnesota Köppen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Minnesota_K%C3%B6ppen.svg)
Minnesota experiences
temperature extremes
This is a list of weather records, a list of the most extreme occurrences of weather phenomena for various categories. Many weather records are measured under specific conditions—such as surface temperature and wind speed—to keep consistency ...
characteristic of its
continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers. The lowest temperature recorded was at
Tower 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
In meteorology, a downburst is a strong downward and outward gushing wind system that emanates from a point source above and blows radially, that is, in straight lines in all directions from the area of impact at surface level. Capable of pro ...
. 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
![Pose lake Minnesota](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Pose_lake_Minnesota.jpg)
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
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
of the Mississippi River. Today Minnesota has
72 state parks and recreation areas,
58 state forests covering about four million acres (16,000km
2), and numerous state wildlife preserves, all managed by the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The
Chippewa and
Superior national forests comprise . The Superior National Forest in the northeast contains the
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW or BWCA) is a wilderness area within the Superior National Forest in the northeastern part of the US state of Minnesota under the administration of the U.S. Forest Service. A mixture of forests ...
, which encompasses over a million acres (4,000km
2) 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 origins ...
,
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; ...
,
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 ...
,
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,
Saint Cloud,
Woodbury,
Eagan,
Maple Grove,
Coon Rapids,
Eden Prairie,
Minnetonka
Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781.
Minnetonka is the ...
,
Burnsville,
Apple Valley,
Blaine, and
Lakeville.
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 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
![2020 Minnesota counties by race](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/2020_Minnesota_counties_by_race.svg)
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 of ...
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 servi ...
.
The rate of population change, and age and gender distributions, approximate the national average. Minnesota's
center of population 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, 5.1% of Minnesota's population were of
Hispanic or Latino
''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...
origin (of any race):
Mexican (3.5%),
Puerto Rican (0.2%),
Cuban (0.1%), and other Hispanic or Latino origin (1.2%).
The ancestry groups claimed by more than 5% of the population were
German (33.8%),
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
(15.3%),
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
(10.5%),
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
(8.1%), and
English (5.4%). Minnesota was also a major destination for a wave of
Finnish immigrants in the early 20th century, along 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 ...
and
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states 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 still form a smaller percentage of the population than in the nation as a whole.
Minnesota has the country's largest
Somali population,
[New Americans in the North Star State](_blank)
with an estimated 57,000 people, the largest concentration outside of the
Horn of Africa.
Religion
The majority of Minnesotans are
Protestants, 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 Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
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 (of largely
German,
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
,
French and
Slavic descent) make up the largest single
Christian denomination. A 2010 survey by the
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that 32% of Minnesotans were affiliated with
Mainline Protestant 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,
Buddhist, and
Black Protestant
The black church (sometimes termed Black Christianity or African American Christianity) is the faith and body of Christian congregations and denominations in the United States that minister predominantly to African Americans, as well as their ...
, 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 with 737,537; and the
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod with 182,439.
This is broadly consistent with the results of the 2001
American Religious Identification Survey, 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 pop ...
is dominant, Minnesota has a long history with non-Christian faiths.
Ashkenazi 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 ...
pioneers set up Saint Paul's first
synagogue 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, 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 oft ...
of $383billion in 2019, with 33 of the United States' top 1,000 publicly traded companies by revenue headquartered in Minnesota, including
Target,
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,
General Mills,
U.S. Bancorp,
Ameriprise,
Hormel
Hormel Foods Corporation is an American food processing company founded in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota, by George A. Hormel as George A. Hormel & Company. The company originally focused on the packaging and selling of ham, sausage and other pork ...
,
Land O' Lakes,
SuperValu,
Best Buy, and
Valspar
The Valspar Corporation is an American manufacturer of paint and coatings based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With over 11,000 employees in 26 countries and a company history that spans two centuries, it was the sixth largest paint and coating corpor ...
. Private companies based in Minnesota include
Cargill, the largest privately owned company in the United States, and
Carlson Companies
Carlson is an American privately held company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States. Its primary subsidiaries are CWT, a travel management company, and Carlson Private Capital Partners, a family office that manages the owners' wea ...
, the parent company of
Radisson Hotels.
Minnesota's
per capita personal income in 2019 was $58,834, the thirteenth-highest in the nation. Its 2019
median household income was $74,593, ranking thirteenth in the U.S. and fifth among the 36 states not on the Atlantic coast.
Industry and commerce
![IDS reflecting Wells Fargo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/IDS_reflecting_Wells_Fargo.jpg)
Minnesota's earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture. Minneapolis grew around the flour mills powered by
St. Anthony Falls. 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 beets,
sweet corn, and
peas for processing, and farm-raised
turkeys. Minnesota is also a large producer of corn and soybeans,
and has the most food
cooperatives 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,
pulpwood 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 for more than a century. Although the high-grade ore is now depleted,
taconite 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 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 anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
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.
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 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 oil ...
blend has been required in
diesel fuel 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 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
A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases.Sommerfeld, Ray M., Silvia A. Madeo, Kenneth E. Anderson, Betty R. Jackson (1992), ''Concepts of Taxation'', Dryden Press: Fort Worth, TX The term ''progre ...
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. Tax ...
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 in Minnesota is 6.875%, but clothing, prescription drug medications and food items for home consumption are exempt.
The
state legislature 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 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 inhe ...
to their county, municipality, school district, and special taxing districts.
Culture
Fine and performing arts
![Menagha St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Menagha_St._Urho.jpg)
Minnesota's leading
fine art 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
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, and
The Museum of Russian Art (TMORA). All are in Minneapolis. The
Minnesota Orchestra and the
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) is a full-time professional chamber orchestra based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In collaboration with five Artistic Partners, the orchestra's musicians present more than 130 concerts and educational programs ea ...
are prominent full-time professional
musical ensembles who perform concerts and offer educational programs to the Twin Cities' community. The world-renowned
Guthrie Theater 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 most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
'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 perform ...
,
dance,
improvisation,
puppetry, kids' shows,
visual art, 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
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 ...
are the subject of
''Giants in the Earth'' by
Ole Rolvaag and the
''Little House'' series of children's books by
Laura Ingalls Wilder. 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 in his tales of
Lake Wobegon
Lake Wobegon is a fictional town created by Garrison Keillor as the setting of the recurring segment "News from Lake Wobegon" for the radio program ''A Prairie Home Companion'' broadcast from St Paul, Minnesota. The fictional town serves as the s ...
. St. Paul native
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...
writes of the social insecurities and aspirations of the young city in stories such as ''
Winter Dreams'' and ''The Ice Palace'' (published in ''
Flappers and Philosophers'').
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem ''
The Song of Hiawatha'' was inspired by Minnesota and names many of the state's places and bodies of water. Minnesota native Robert Zimmerman (
Bob Dylan) won the 2016
Nobel Prize in Literature. Science fiction writer
Marissa Lingen lives here.
Entertainment
![First Avenue nightclub](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/First_Avenue_nightclub.jpg)
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. T ...
,
Bob Dylan,
Eddie Cochran,
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 Castaways are an American rock band from the Twin Cities in Minnesota, United States.
The band's only hit single was " Liar, Liar". Written by band leader James Donna and drummer (and band co-founder) Dennis Craswell, the song was produc ...
,
The Trashmen
The Trashmen were an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, in 1962.
The original line-up of the group featured guitarists Tony Andreason and Dal Winslow, bassist Bob Reed, and drummer Steve Wahrer.
Along with Co ...
,
Soul Asylum,
David Ellefson,
Chad Smith,
John Wozniak,
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,
The Replacements,
Owl City
Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young, who created the project while experimenting with music in his pa ...
,
Holly Henry,
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, and
Dessa
Margret Wander (born May 23, 1981), better known by her stage name Dessa, is an American rapper, singer, writer, and former record executive. She is a member of the indie hip hop collective Doomtree.
Early life
Dessa was born to Robert Wander ...
. 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
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. T ...
,
The Original 7ven
The Time, also known as Morris Day and the Time and The Original 7ven, is an American musical group founded in Minneapolis in 1981. Their work has been a part of the formation of the Minneapolis sound, featuring a mix of soul music and dance mu ...
,
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., 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'' was created by St. Paul native
Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wi ...
.
A Prairie Home Companion 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 ...
. A cult
scifi
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...
cable TV show,
Mystery Science Theater 3000, 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
Lizz Winstead (born August 5, 1961) is an American comedian, radio and television personality, and blogger. A native of Minnesota, Winstead is the co-creator of ''The Daily Show'' along with Madeleine Smithberg, and served as head writer.
Ear ...
and
Madeleine Smithberg.
Joel and Ethan Coen
Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...
,
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...
,
Bill Pohlad, and
Mike Todd
Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1909 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of '' Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Act ...
contributed to the art of
filmmaking
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, cast ...
as writers, directors, and producers. Notable actors from Minnesota include
Loni Anderson
Loni Kaye Anderson (born August 5, 1945) is an American actress who played receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Award nominations.
Early ...
,
Richard Dean Anderson,
James Arness,
Jessica Biel,
Rachael Leigh Cook
Rachael Leigh Cook (born October 4, 1979) is an American actress and model. She has starred in the films '' The Baby-Sitters Club'' (1995), '' She's All That'' (1999), and '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), and in the television series '' Into ...
,
Julia Duffy,
Mike Farrell
Michael Joseph Farrell Jr. (born February 6, 1939) is an American actor, best known for his role as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on the television series ''M*A*S*H'' (1975–83). Farrell was a producer of ''Patch Adams'' (1998) starring Robin Willi ...
,
Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
,
Peter Graves
Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 ...
,
Josh Hartnett,
Garrett Hedlund,
Tippi Hedren
Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930) is an American actress, animal rights activist, and former fashion model.
A successful fashion model who appeared on the front covers of ''Life'' and '' Glamour'' magazines, among others, Hed ...
,
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. She is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors ...
,
Kelly Lynch,
E.G. Marshall,
Laura Osnes,
Melissa Peterman
Melissa Margaret Peterman is an American actress and comedian. She has played the role of Barbra Jean in the television comedy series '' Reba'', appeared as Bonnie Wheeler in the ABC Family/ Freeform series ''Baby Daddy'', and was host of ABC Fami ...
,
Chris Pratt,
Marion Ross
Marion Ross (born Marian Ellen Ross; October 25, 1928) is a American former actress. Her best-known role is that of Marion Cunningham on the ABC television sitcom '' Happy Days'', on which she starred from 1974 to 1984 and for which she recei ...
,
Jane Russell
Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, singer, and model. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. She starred in more than 20 films.
Russell moved from th ...
,
Winona Ryder
Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...
,
Seann William Scott
Seann William Scott (born October 3, 1976) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Steve Stifler in the '' American Pie'' franchise, and also for his role as Doug Glatt in both '' Goon'' and '' Goon: Last of the Enforcers''. He has al ...
,
Kevin Sorbo
Kevin David Sorbo (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor. He had starring roles in two television series: as Hercules in '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', and as Captain Dylan Hunt in '' Andromeda''. Sorbo is also known for actin ...
,
Lea Thompson
Lea Katherine Thompson (born May 31, 1961) is an American actress and director.
She is best known for her role as Lorraine Baines-McFly in the ''Back to the Future'' film trilogy (1985–1990) and Beverly Switzler in '' Howard the Duck'' (1 ...
,
Vince Vaughn,
Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...
, and
Steve Zahn
Steven James Zahn (; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. His film roles include ''Reality Bites'' (1994), ''That Thing You Do!'' (1996), ''Stuart Little'' (1999), '' Shattered Glass'' (2003), ''Sahara'' (2005), '' Chicken Li ...
.
Popular culture
Stereotypical traits of Minnesotans include "
Minnesota nice
Minnesota nice is a cultural stereotype applied to the behavior of people from Minnesota and Wisconsin implying residents are unusually courteous, reserved, mild-mannered and passive-aggressive against people who are not like them. The phrase als ...
",
Lutheranism
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 th ...
, a strong sense of community and shared culture, and a distinctive brand of
North Central American English
North-Central American English (in the United States, also known as the Upper Midwestern or North-Central dialect and stereotypically recognized as a Minnesota accent or Wisconsin accent) is an American English dialect native to the Upper Midwest ...
sprinkled with
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 Swe ...
n expressions.
Potluck
A potluck is a communal gathering where each guest or group contributes a different, often homemade, dish of food to be shared.
Other names for a "potluck" include: potluck dinner, pitch-in, shared lunch, spread, faith supper, carry-in dinner ...
s, usually with a variety of
hotdishes, are popular small-town church activities. A small segment of the Scandinavian population attend a traditional
lutefisk
''Lutefisk'' ( Norwegian, in Northern and parts of Central Norway, in Southern Norway; sv, lutfisk ; fi, lipeäkala ; literally " lye fish") is dried whitefish (normally cod, but ling and burbot are also used). It is made from aged sto ...
dinner to celebrate Christmas. Life in Minnesota has also been depicted or used as a backdrop, in movies such as ''
Fargo'', ''
Grumpy Old Men'', ''
Grumpier Old Men
''Grumpier Old Men'' is a 1995 American romantic comedy film, and a sequel to the film '' Grumpy Old Men''. It stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Sophia Loren, Burgess Meredith (in his final film role), Daryl Hannah, Kevin Poll ...
'', ''
Juno'', ''
Drop Dead Gorgeous'', ''
Young Adult'', ''
A Serious Man
''A Serious Man'' is a 2009 American black comedy-drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1967, the film stars Michael Stuhlbarg as a Minnesota Jewish man whose life crumbles both professionally and pe ...
'', ''
New in Town'', ''
Rio'', ''
The Mighty Ducks films,'' and in famous television series like ''
Little House on the Prairie
The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books is a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adolescence in the American Midwest (Wisconsin, Kansas, ...
'', ''
The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''
The Golden Girls'', ''
Coach'', ''
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends'' (commonly referred to as simply ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'') is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the ABC and NBC te ...
'', ''
How I Met Your Mother'' and ''
Fargo''. Major movies shot on location in Minnesota include ''
That Was Then... This Is Now'', ''
Purple Rain'', ''
Airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
'', ''
Beautiful Girls'', ''
North Country'', ''
Untamed Heart
''Untamed Heart'' is a 1993 American romantic drama film directed by Tony Bill, written by Tom Sierchio, and starring Christian Slater and Marisa Tomei. It tells the story of an unlikely romance between a young woman unlucky in love and a shy youn ...
'', ''
Feeling Minnesota'', ''
Jingle All The Way'', ''
A Simple Plan'', and ''
The Mighty Ducks films''.
The
Minnesota State Fair
The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Also known by its slogan, "The Great Minnesota Get-Together", it is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance and the second-largest state f ...
, 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
fine art,
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
,
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
, food preparation,
4-H
4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...
displays, music,
the midway, and corporate merchandising. It is known for its displays of
seed art,
butter sculptures of
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
Cheese curds are moist pieces of curdled milk, eaten either alone or as a snack, or used in prepared dishes. They are consumed throughout the northern United States and Canada. Notably, cheese curds are popular in Quebec, as part of the dish ...
, 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 Saint Paul Winter Carnival is an annual festival in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States.
History
In 1885, a New York reporter wrote that Saint Paul was, "another Siberia, unfit for human habitation" in winter. Offended by this attack on th ...
, the
Minnesota Renaissance Festival
The Minnesota Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance fair, an interactive outdoor event which focuses on recreating the look and feel of a fictional 16th Century "England-like" fantasy kingdom. It operates during seven consecutive weekends, from mi ...
, Minneapolis'
Aquatennial and Mill City Music Festival,
Moondance Jam in
Walker
Walker or The Walker may refer to:
People
* Walker (given name)
*Walker (surname)
* Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer
Places
In the United States
*Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County
*Walker, Mono County, California ...
,
Sonshine Christian music festival in
Willmar, the
Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
Festival in
Grand Rapids, the
Eelpout Festival on Leech Lake, and the
WE Fest in
Detroit Lakes.
Health
![MayoMedicalCentersign2006-05-14](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/MayoMedicalCentersign2006-05-14.JPG)
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
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is the state health agency of the State of Minnesota in the United States. The department has four offices in Saint Paul and seven outside of the Twin Cities metropolitan area: Bemidji, Duluth, Fergus Fa ...
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
Allina Health ( ) is a not-for-profit health care system based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It owns or operates 12 hospitals and more than 90 clinics throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Its subsidiary, Allina Medical Transpo ...
Hospitals & Clinics,
CentraCare Health System
CentraCare is an integrated health care system in Central Minnesota. The nonprofit includes six hospitals, seven senior care facilities, 18 clinics, four pharmacies and numerous inpatient and outpatient specialty care services.
Major entities
S ...
,
Essentia Health,
HealthPartners,
M Health Fairview and the
Mayo Clinic Health System
Mayo Clinic Health System is a system of community-based medical facilities. It is owned by Mayo Clinic and was founded in 1992. The organization focuses on providing medical care in rural communities in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. As of 2022, ...
. There are two teaching hospitals and medical schools in Minnesota. The
University of Minnesota Medical School
The University of Minnesota Medical School is the medical school of the University of Minnesota. It is a combination of two campuses situated in Minneapolis and Duluth, Minnesota.
The University of Minnesota Medical School is also part of one of ...
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
William Worrall Mayo (May 31, 1819 – March 6, 1911) was a British-American medical doctor and chemist. He is best known for establishing the private medical practice that later evolved into the Mayo Clinic. He was a descendant of a famous En ...
, 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
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
,
Alzheimer's disease,
heart health,
obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...
, and other areas.
Education
![Pillsbury Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Pillsbury_Hall.jpg)
One of the first acts of the Minnesota Legislature when it opened in 1858 was the creation of a
normal school
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...
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 exam
The ACT (; originally an abbreviation of American College Testing) Name changed in 1996. is a standardized test used for college admissions in the United States. It is currently administered by ACT, a nonprofit organization of the same name ...
. In 2013, nationwide in per-student public education spending, Minnesota ranked 21st. While Minnesota has chosen not to implement
school voucher
A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...
s,
it is home to the first
charter school
A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...
.
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
The University of Minnesota system is a public university system with five campuses spread across the U.S. state of Minnesota.
The university system has five campuses, in the Twin Cities, Crookston, Duluth, Morris, and Rochester. The univers ...
. 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
![Duluth canal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Duluth_canal.jpg)
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
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
system and from the ports of
Lake Superior.
![Green Line trains on both tracks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Green_Line_trains_on_both_tracks.jpg)
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
Mall of America via the Blue Line (Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro), Blue Line.
Law and government
![Minnesota state coat of arms (illustrated, 1876)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Minnesota_state_coat_of_arms_%28illustrated%2C_1876%29.jpg)
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
![Tim Walz official photo (cropped 2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Tim_Walz_official_photo_%28cropped_2%29.jpg)
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
![Minnesota State Capitol](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Minnesota_State_Capitol.jpg)
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
Dakota may refer to:
* Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux
** Dakota language, their language
Dakota may also refer to:
Places United States
* Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community
* Dakota, Illinois, a town
* Dakota, Minnesota, ...
and
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, Potawat ...
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
Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...
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
![KSTP Studio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/KSTP_Studio.jpg)
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
![2006 WCHA Final Five](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/2006_WCHA_Final_Five.jpg)
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
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. ...
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
![Lake Calhoun MN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Lake_Calhoun_MN.jpg)
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](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Listening_Point_sauna.jpg)
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.
See also
* Index of Minnesota-related articles
* Outline of Minnesota
Notes
References
External links
Culture and history
Minnesota Historical SocietyMinnesota Place NamesMinnesota Reflectionsfrom the Library of Congress
General
*
Government
*
Prairie Island Indian CommunityShakopee Mdewakanton Sioux CommunityLower Sioux Indian CommunityThe Upper Sioux Community Pejuhutazizi OyateMinnesota Chippewa TribeBois Forte Band of ChippewaFond du Lac Band of Lake Superior ChippewaGrand Portage Band of Lake Superior ChippewaLeech Lake Band of OjibweMille Lacs Band of OjibweWhite Earth Indian Reservation Tribal CouncilRed Lake Band of Chippewa Indians
Maps and demographics
Minnesota State Demographic CenterState Facts from USDAMinnesota State Highway MapMinnesota 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