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Minnesota

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Minnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest state in the U.S., with an area of 87,014 sq mi (225,365 km²). Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the 32nd state in 1858. Its population of over five million is primarily of northern European descent, with the principal minorities being Native Americans descended from the original inhabitants, Hispanics, African Americans, and recent immigrant communities of Somalis and Hmongs.

Sixty percent of those people live in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the center of transport, business and industry, and home to an internationally-known arts community. The remainder of the state, often referred to as Greater Minnesota, consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture, eastern deciduous forests also heavily farmed and settled, and the less-populated northern boreal forest. The state is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes”, and those lakes and the other waters for which the state is named together with state and national forests and parks offer residents and tourists a vigorous outdoor lifestyle.

The extremes of the climate contrast with the moderation of Minnesota’s people. The state is known for its moderate-to-progressive politics and social policies and its civic involvement and voter turnout. It ranks among the healthiest states by a number of measures, and has one of the most highly-educated and literate populations.

Contents

Origin of the name

The word Minnesota comes from the Dakota name for the Minnesota River, mnisota. Mni, or sometimes mini, or Minne can be translated as "water". Mnisota is then translated as sky-tinted water or somewhat clouded water [MNHS Minnesota Place names] Accessed 06/29/06[Minnesota definition at Dictionary.com] Accessed 07/06/2006. The Native Americans demonstrated the name by dropping milk into water and calling it mnisota. Many other locations in the state contain the Dakota word for water, such as Minnehaha Falls ("Waterfall", not "laughing waters" as is commonly thought), Minneiska ("White water"), Minnetonka, ("Big water"), Minnetrista ("Crooked water"), and Minneapolis which is a combination of mni and the Greek word for "city", polis.

Geography

Minnesota, showing roads and major bodies of water
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Minnesota, showing roads and major bodies of water

Minnesota is the northernmost state except for Alaska; its Northwest Angle is the only part of the 48 contiguous states lying north of the 49th Parallel. The state borders Wisconsin on the east and also shares a water border in Lake Superior with Michigan; Iowa is to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota are west, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba are north. With 87,014 square miles (225,365 km²), or approximately 2.25% of the United States [infoplease.com facts and figures] Accessed 06/22/2006, Minnesota is the 12th largest state, and second largest among the Midwestern states. Minnesota is in the sub-region known as the Upper Midwest.

The state's average elevation is 1,200 feet (366 m), with a high point at Eagle Mountain (2,301 ft or 701 m) and a low at the surface of Lake Superior (602 ft or 183 m). Minnesota is one of the most geologically stable regions in the country. It experiences very few earthquakes, most of which are minor; the strongest earthquake in the last century occurred near Morris in 1975 and rated between 4.6 and 4.8 in magnitude.

Two continental divides meet in the northwestern part of Minnesota, creating three watersheds. Rain falling in the state can follow the Mississippi River south to the Gulf of Mexico, the St. Lawrence Seaway east to the Atlantic Ocean, or the Hudson Bay watershed to the Arctic Ocean.

Three of the great biomes of North America also converge in Minnesota: the Great Plains of the west, the Eastern Deciduous Forest, and the Northern Boreal Forest of the Canadian Shield.

Terrain

Much of the state is relatively flat, having been eroded by glaciers periods during the Ice Age. The extreme southeastern portion of the state is part of the Driftless Zone, which was not covered by the recent Wisconsin Glaciation. It is here that Lake Pepin and the rugged high bluffs of the Mississippi River are found. The northeastern portion of the state is on the Canadian Shield and is covered by rugged ranges of hills, notably the Mesabi Range, rich in iron ore, the Sawtooth Mountains along the shore of Lake Superior, the Misquah Hills and the Laurentian Highlands in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

Climate

Minnesota has temperature extremes characteristic of its continental climate, with cold winters and warm summers. The state's climate is profoundly affected by the jet stream which can give the state winter temperatures lower than some parts of Alaska. As Minnesota is located far inland, its climate is unmoderated by large bodies of water except for highly localized effects near Lake Superior.

Temperature extemes range from a low of -60 °F (-51 °C) measured at Tower in the north on February 2, 1996, to highs of 114 °F (45.5 °C) reached in both 1917 and 1936 in the western part of the state[Minnesota and United States Climate Extremes] Retrieved 06/22/06. The average temperature in January (the coldest month) is 11.2 °F (-11.5 °C), and the average in the warmest month, July, is 73.1 °F (22.8 °C); averages are cooler in the north and warmer in the south. The average annual precipitation is 28.32 inches (719 mm), with a snowfall figure of 49.6 inches (126 cm).

Lakes and Rivers

With its many lakes and rivers, Minnesota has more shoreline than California, Florida, and Hawaii combined. The state's nickname, The Land of 10,000 Lakes, is no exaggeration: Minnesota has 11,842 lakes over 10 acres in size[Lakes, rivers & wetlands facts] Accessed 06/22/06. Most lakes were formed as the result of extensive glaciation during the last Ice Age. The Minnesota portion of Lake Superior is the largest and deepest body of water in the state.

Minnesota also has 6,564 natural rivers and streams that travel over 69,000 miles. The nation's longest and the world's third largest river, the Mississippi, begins its 2,552-mile journey at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota. It is joined at Fort Snelling by the Minnesota River, and downstream by many trout streams. The Red River of the North, in the bed of glacial Lake Agassiz, drains the northwest part of the state.

See also: List of lakes in Minnesota, List of Minnesota rivers

Parks and protected lands

Saganaga Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
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Saganaga Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Minnesota is home to many areas of park land, to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, as well as a number of state and county parks, most notably Itasca State Park, the official source of the Mississippi River. The state has 71 state parks (List of Minnesota state parks), 53 state forests (List of Minnesota state forests), two national forests (List of U.S. national forests) and many other wildlife preserves and regional parks. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is in charge of managing state parks and forests.

Areas under the management of the National Park Service include:

History

Main article: History of Minnesota

Early history

Ojibwa women in canoe, Leech Lake
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Ojibwa women in canoe, Leech Lake

Prior to European colonization, the Minnesota region was primarily inhabited by the Native American tribes of Ojibwa (Sometimes called Chippewa, or Anishinaabe) and Dakota, with some Winnebago presence in the southeastern part of the region. The Cheyenne and Gros Ventre tribes were present in the region prior to the arrival of the Ojibwa and Dakota tribes. The economy was chiefly based on hunter-gatherer activities.

European exploration

According to local tradition, the first European visitors were Swedish and Norwegian Vikings in the 14th century. The evidence for this is largely based on the controversial Kensington Runestone, which many historians consider to be an elaborate hoax.

The earliest European settlement may have been near what is now Stillwater, on the St. Croix River, though many histories focus on Fort Snelling, the military settlement that took place farther west.

Noted European explorers of Minnesota:

Fort Snelling

Fort Snelling, built at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, was one of the earliest U.S. military presences in the state. The land had been acquired in 1805, but construction of the fort was not started until 1819, at a time when Americans were concerned about disruption to the fur trade due to British control of the fur trade and warfare between Indian tribes. Construction was completed in 1825, and Colonel Josiah Snelling and his officers and soldiers left their imprint on the area. They built roads, planted crops, built a grist mill and a sawmill at Saint Anthony Falls, and mediated disputes between Dakota and Ojibwe. Meanwhile, tourists, government officials, settlers, and immigrants from Lord Selkirk's unsuccessful colony in Canada started settling in the vicinity of the fort. The Army eventually forced those settlers, including the colorful Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, to move downriver in 1839. They settled in the area that became Saint Paul, Minnesota. Fort Snelling is now a historic site operated by the Minnesota Historical Society.

During this time Fort Snelling played a key role in the infamous Dred Scott case. Slaves Dred Scott and his wife were taken to the fort by their master, John Emerson. They lived at the fort and elsewhere in territories where slavery was prohibited. After Emerson's death, the Scotts argued that since they had lived in free territory, they were no longer slaves. Ultimately, the Supreme Court sided against the Scotts. Dred Scott Field, located just a short distance away in Bloomington, is named in the memory of Fort Snelling's significance in one of the most important legal precedents in U.S. History.

Minnesota Territory

Map of Minnesota Territory 1849-1858
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Map of Minnesota Territory 1849-1858

Part of what would become Minnesota was granted to the United States by the Second Treaty of Paris at the end of the American Revolution in 1783, the fledgling states having been granted all of the land east of the Mississippi River. This included what would become modern day Saint Paul (but only part of Minneapolis), including the northeast, north-central and east-central portions of the state. Most of the state, however, was purchased from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The northern border between Minnesota and British North America was for a long time disputed. At the time it was erroneously believed that the Mississippi River ran well into modern Canada, making some earlier agreements flawed. Parts of northern Minnesota were considered to be in Ruperts Land. The exact definition of the boundary was not addressed until the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, which set the border at the 49th parallel west of the Lake of the Woods (except for a small chunk of land now dubbed the Northwest Angle). Border disputes east of the Lake of the Woods continued until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842.

Throughout the first half of the 19th century, the northeastern portion of the state was a part of the Northwest Territory, then the Illinois Territory, then the Michigan Territory, and finally the Wisconsin Territory. The west and south areas of the state were not formally organized until 1838, when they became part of the Iowa Territory.

After Wisconsin and Iowa achieved statehood, the Minnesota Territory was carved out of the remaining land and established on March 3, 1849. At that time, the Minnesota Territory extended far into what is now North Dakota and South Dakota, all the way to the Missouri River. The eastern half of the Minnesota Territory became the country's 32nd state on May 11, 1858. The remaining western part fell unorganized until its incorporation into the Dakota Territory on March 2, 1861.

Civil War era and Sioux Uprising

Although Minnesota was a relatively new state when the American Civil War started, the state was the first to contribute troops to the Union effort. Overall, about 22,000 Minnesotans served in the war. The 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry was particularly important to the Battle of Gettysburg. Meanwhile, trouble was brewing back in Minnesota as the Sioux Uprising of 1862 broke out. The Dakota had signed the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux and Treaty of Mendota in 1851 because they were concerned that without money from the United States government, they would starve. They were initially given a strip of land of ten miles north and south of the Minnesota River, but they were later forced to sell the northern half of the land. In 1862, crop failures left the Dakota with food shortages, and government money was delayed. The conflict was ignited when four young Dakota men, searching for food, shot a family of white settlers. The ensuing battles at the Lower Sioux Agency, Fort Ridgely, Birch Coulee, and Wood Lake punctuated a six-week war. After the war ended, 425 Indians were tried for their participation in the war, and 303 men were convicted and sentenced to death. Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple pled to President Abraham Lincoln for clemency, and the death sentences of all but 38 men were reduced to prison terms. On December 26, 1862, the 38 men were hanged in the largest mass execution in the United States. Many of the remaining Dakota Indians were confined in a prison camp at Fort Snelling over the winter of 1862-1863, and they were later exiled to the Crow Creek Reservation, then later to a reservation near Niobrara, Nebraska. A small number of Dakota Indians managed to return to Minnesota in the 1880s and established small communities near Granite Falls, Morton, Prior Lake, and Red Wing.

Early settlement and development

One area of early economic development in Minnesota was the logging industry. Loggers found the white pine especially valuable, and it was plentiful in the northeastern section of the state and in the St. Croix River valley. In the days before railroads, lumbermen relied mostly on river transportation to bring logs to market, which made Minnesota's timber resources attractive. Towns like Marine on St. Croix and Stillwater became important lumber centers fed by the St. Croix River, while Winona was supplied by areas in southern Minnesota and along the Minnesota River. Meanwhile, St. Anthony, on the east bank of the Mississippi River in what became Minneapolis, became an important lumber milling center supplied by the Rum River. The unregulated logging practices of the time and a severe drought took their toll in 1894, when the Great Hinckley Fire ravaged 350,000 acres around Hinckley.

After the Civil War, Minnesota also became an attractive region for immigration and settlement as farmland. Minnesota's population in 1870 was 439,000, and this number tripled during the two subsequent decades. The Homestead Act made it easy for settlers to claim land, which was regarded as being cheap and fertile. The railroad industry, led by the Northern Pacific Railway and St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (a predecessor of the Great Northern Railway), advertised the many possibilities of the state and worked to get immigrants to settle in Minnesota. Other railroads, such as the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad and the Milwaukee Road, played an important role in the early days of Minnesota's statehood. Later railways, such as the Soo Line Railroad and Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway, served as outlets for Minneapolis grain and other products, although they were not as involved in attracting settlers.

Saint Anthony Falls also played an important part in the development of Minneapolis. The settlement on the east side of the river was originally the city of St. Anthony, while Minneapolis was exclusively on the west side. (The two cities later merged in 1872.) The power of the waterfall fueled sawmills, but it was later tapped to serve grist mills. In 1870, 13 of the state's 507 flour mills were located around the falls. At the time, most flour came from local grain ground for local consumption, but advances in transportation and milling technology combined to give Minneapolis a dominance in the milling industry. Spring wheat could be sown in the spring and harvested in late summer, but it posed special problems for milling. To get around these problems, Minneapolis millers implemented innovative processes to remove the husks of the wheat kernels and to gradually pulverize the middlings. This strategy resulted in the production of Minnesota "patent" flour, widely regarded as the finest bread flour of its time. Pillsbury and the Washburn-Crosby Company (a forerunner of General Mills) became the leaders in the Minneapolis milling industry. In 1900, Minnesota mills were grinding 14.1 percent of the nation's grain. This leadership in milling declined as milling was no longer dependent on water power, but the dominance of the mills contributed greatly to the economy of Minneapolis and Minnesota as a whole.

Industrial development

The pace of development in Minnesota turned to more industrial forms of development at the end of the 19th century. In 1882, a hydroelectric power plant was built at St. Anthony Falls, marking one of the first developments of hydroelectric power in the United States. Meanwhile, iron mining began in northern Minnesota with the opening of the Soudan Mine in 1884. The Vermilion Range was surveyed and mapped by a party financed by Charlemagne Tower, for whom the town of Tower is named. Ely also started as a mining town with the foundation of the Chandler Mine in 1888. Soon after, the Mesabi Range was established when ore was found just under the surface of the ground in Mountain Iron. The Mesabi Range ultimately had much more ore than the Vermilion Range, and it was easy to extract because it was so close to the surface. As a result, open-pit mines became well-established on the Mesabi Range, with 111 mines operating by 1904. To ship the iron ore to refineries, railroads such as the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway were built from the iron ranges to Two Harbors and Duluth. Large ore docks were used at these cities to load the iron ore onto ships for transport east on the Great Lakes. The mining industry also helped to propel Duluth from a small town to a large, thriving city. In 1904, iron was discovered in the Cuyuna Range in Crow Wing County. Between 1904 and 1984, when mining ceased, more than 106 million tons of ore were mined. Iron from the Cuyuna Range also contained significant proportions of manganese.

Cities and towns

The capital city of Minnesota is Saint Paul, located in the east-central part of the state along the Mississippi River. Saint Paul is neighbored by Minnesota's largest and most populous city, Minneapolis; together they and their suburbs are known as the Twin Cities. The Twin Cities metropolitan area is home to three-fifths of the state's population and is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the United States. The remainder of the state is known as Greater Minnesota or Outstate Minnesota.

Minnesota cities with a population above fifty thousand (as of 2000) are, in descending order: Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Rochester, Duluth, Bloomington, Plymouth, Brooklyn Park, Eagan, St. Cloud, Coon Rapids, Burnsville, Eden Prairie, Maple Grove, Minnetonka, Blaine, and Woodbury. Of these, only Rochester, Duluth, and St. Cloud are outside the Twin Cities area.

See the Minnesota infobox at the bottom of this article for a list of notable cities, or List of cities in Minnesota for all cities and towns.

Demographics

Minnesota Population Density Map
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Minnesota Population Density Map

Minnesota's population was estimated to be 5,132,799 in 2005, increases of 36,253 or 0.7% from the prior year and 213,307 or 4.3%, since 2000. The latter gain resulted from a natural increase since 2000 of 161,252 people (that is 358,012 births minus 196,760 deaths) and net migration of 54,032 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 70,800 people, while migration within the country produced a net loss of 16,768 people.

As of 2004 6.1% of Minnesota residents were foreign-born (compared to 11.1% for the nation).

Race and ancestry

The racial makeup of the state as of 2004 : According to the 2004 U.S. Census, the largest reported ancestries are German (37.3%), Norwegian (17.0%), Irish (12.2%), and Swedish (10.0%).

More recent immigrant communities include the third-largest Hmong population in the United States (from the Laos/Thailand/Vietnam region) and the second largest urban center of Hmong population in the world (concentrated in St. Paul), and a large community of Somali refugees.

Population distribution

The population distribution by age is (Northeast Midwest Institute):
  • 0-18 - 1,361,616 (29.7%)
  • 19-34 - 1,068,850 (21.7%)
  • 35-64 - 1,894,747 (38.6%)
  • 65+ - 594,266 (12.1%)

Religion

Basilica of St. Mary, Minnesota
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Basilica of St. Mary, Minnesota

Most Minnesotans are Christians. In recent years, immigrants have added other religions, including Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism.

Religious affiliations in Minnesota:

Economy

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Minnesota's total state product in 2005 was $233.3 billion. Per capita personal income in 2004 was $36,184, 8th in the nation[Bureau of Economic Analysis: Regional Economic Accounts] Retrieved 06/22/06. The average household income in 1999 was approximately $48,000, ranking eighth in the nation (U.S. Census Bureau). The county averages range from $17,369 (Todd County) to $42,313 (Hennepin County, a portion of the Metro area). In general, salaries are lowest in more rural areas, particularly in the northwest portion of the state.

Retail sales per capita were $10,260 in 1997, higher than the U.S. average of $9,190 (U.S. Census Bureau). The Twin Cities suburb of Roseville has the highest per capita sales, which recorded $14,870 per capita, but total revenues are much higher in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington, and Edina).

Industry and Commerce

Minnesota's economy has been transformed from one based on raw materials to one based on finished products and services. The earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture. Agriculture is still a major part of the economy even though only a small percentage of the population (around 2%) consider themselves to be farmers. Minnesota is a leading US producer of sugar beets, soybeans, and corn. State agribusiness has changed from mere production to processing and the manufacture of value-added food products by companies such as General Mills and Cargill (milling), Hormel Foods Corporation of Austin (prepackaged and processed meat products), and the Schwan Food Company of Marshall (frozen foods).

Foresty, another early industry, remains strong with logging, pulpwood processing, and forest products manufacturing.

Minnesota was famous for its soft-ore iron mines which produced a significant portion of the world's iron ore for over a century. Although the natural ore is now depleted, taconite mining remains strong using processes developed locally to save the industry. 3M Co. (formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.), a company having its origins in mining, today is a diversified manufacturer of industrial and consumer products.

As might be expected in state with an outdoor orientation, boats and other recreational products are manufactured by a number of companies, and Polaris Industries makes snowmobiles and other off-road recreational vehicles.

Retail is represented by Target Corporation, Best Buy, and International Dairy Queen, all headquarted in the Twin Cities. The largest shopping mall in the United States, the Mall of America, is located in Bloomington. Ecolab provides sanitation services and supplies.

Financial institutions include U.S. Bancorp, TCF Bank, and Wells Fargo & Co.; insurers include St. Paul Travelers and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

An active high-technology sector is represented by Honeywell, Cray Computers, Imation, and a large International Business Machines plant in Rochester. Medtronic represents a growing biomedical industry spawned by univerisity research, and Rochester is the headquarters of the world-famous Mayo Clinic.

Energy use and production

A fair amount of ethanol fuel is produced in the state, and a 10% mix of ethanol into consumer gasoline has been mandated since 1997 (as of January 2006, Minnesota is the only U.S. state with such a mandate). 20% ethanol will be mandated in 2013. A 2% biodiesel blend has also been required in diesel fuel since 2005. Many farmers also now operate wind turbines to produce electricity, particularly in the windy southwest region. As of June 2006, the state is the country's fourth-largest wind energy producer after California, Texas, and Iowa, with 744 megawatts installed and an additional 128 MW planned [Wind Energy Projects Throughout the United States of America] Accessed 06/22/2006.

Like many Midwestern states, Minnesota is heavily dependent on natural gas for home heating. Just over two-thirds of homes use the fuel. The state does not produce any petroleum of its own but boasts the largest oil refinery of any non-oil-producing state, the Pine Bend Refinery. One of the longest pipelines in the world, the Lakehead Pipeline, also traverses northern Minnesota. Most of the petroleum used in the state comes from Canada and the northwestern United States.

State taxes

Minnesota has 3 brackets of income tax rates, ranging from 5.35 percent to 7.85 percent. The sales tax in Minnesota for most items is 6.5 percent. The state does not charge sales tax on clothing, some services [Sales tax fact sheets] Accessed 06/22/2006, or food items for home consumption, but does tax prepared food, candy and soft drinks.[Minn Stat 297A.61 Subd 33] Accessed 06/22/06. The state also imposes a use tax on items purchased elsewhere but used within Minnesota. Minnesota property owners pay property tax to their county. Three factors that affect the tax bill are: the amount the local governments spend to provide services to the community, the estimated market value of the property, and the classification of the property (how it is used).

Minnesota businesses and individuals paid an average of 11.8% of their income in state and local taxes in 1998, down from 12.7% in 1996 (Minnesota Department of Revenue).

Transportation

Ground Transportation

Land transportation in Minnesota is primarily centered on the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Almost all north-south through railroads and long-distance four-lane expressways go to or through the Twin Cities. Most east-west through routes do also, the exceptions being a corridor from the North Dakota border to the port of Duluth/Superior comprised of two BNSF rail routes and U.S. Route 2, and a corridor across southern Minnesota from South Dakota to the Mississippi River and Wisconsin with I-90, Minnesota State Highway 60 and U.S. Route 14, and the DM&E Railroad.

Highway system

Minnesota's major Interstate highways are I-35, I-90, and I-94. I-535 is a spur route from Duluth to Superior, Wisconsin. In the Twin Cities I-35 splits into I-35W through Minneapolis and I-35E through St. Paul. I-94 has one spur, Interstate 394 from Minneapolis to the western suburbs, and two loop routes, Interstate 494 and Interstate 694, which form a beltway around the Twin Cities.

The interstates are part of a class of routes know as interregional corridors, which also includes U.S. Routes 2, 8, 10, 14, 52, 53, 61, 63, 169, and 212 and Minnesota State Higways 23, 34, 36, 60, 210, and 371. Interregional corridors represent two percent of the state's highways but account for one-third of all vehicle miles traveled. Less heavily travelled regional corridors include U.S. Routes 12, 59, 71, and 75, and a number of state highways.

Railroads

Major freight railroads in Minnesota include BNSF Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railroad, and the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad. Principal ladings include coal from the Powder River Basin to ports and eastern power plants, grain and other agricultural products from farm to processors and ports, taconite (a form of iron ore) from northeastern Minnesota to Lake Superior ports or on all-rail routes to steel mills, timber and forest products, and intermodal traffic.

The state is served by one intercity passenger rail line, Amtrak's Empire Builder, which stops daily in each direction at Winona, Red Wing, St. Paul, St. Cloud, Staples, and Detroit Lakes.

Public transit

The Hiawatha Line light rail opened in 2004
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The Hiawatha Line light rail opened in 2004

Bus transit systems exists in Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud, Mankato, Moorhead and the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The latter is served by the Metro Transit system, which has an extensive system with over 200 routes. Some metro areas have opted to create their own bus systems, such as Southwest Metro Transit and the Minnesota Valley Transportation Authority.

There are no heavy-rail commuter rail systems extant in the state, but one is in the development stages. The 82-mile Northstar Corridor line is envisioned to connect Minneapolis with St. Cloud along the BNSF Railroad[Facts and Figures] Accessed 07/01/2006. A bonding bill was signed in 2006 to build 40 miles of this route to Big Lake by 2009[Legislature passes $1 billion public works bill] Accessed 07/01/2006.

Light Rail
''Main article: Light Rail in Minnesota
Metro Transit also operates one light rail line, the Hiawatha Line. Completed in 2004, this line runs from downtown Minneapolis to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America. The line has been very successful, receiving a 65% higher ridership than expected in its first year of service[Facts about trains and construction] Accessed 07/01/2006. Another line, the Central Corridor, which would connect downtown Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul, is in the planning stages.

Water transportation

Much of Minnesota's early transportation followed the numerous rivers and lakes. Early European explorers and settlers followed the routes used by the Voyageurs in the fur trading days, and later on steamboat services operated on the principal rivers. Commercial water transportation now is limited to the shipment of bulk commodities on two routes. Barges haul grain and other products down the Mississippi River system from the ports of Minneapolis (the head of navigation), Savage (on the Minnesota River), St. Paul, Red Wing and Winona to downstream river ports, and to ports on the Gulf of Mexico for transhipment to ocean-going cargo ships. Cargo vessels known as lakers haul grain, coal, and iron ore from the Lake Superior ports of Duluth-Superior, Two Harbors, Silver Bay, and Taconite Harbor through Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes, while ocean-going ships referred to as salties operate from the Twin Ports out the St. Lawrence Seaway to the ocean.[link]

Air Transportation

Minnesota’s principal airport is Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), the headquarters and a major passenger and freight hub for Northwest Airlines. MSP is also a hub for Sun Country Airlines, and is served by most other domestic carriers. Large commercial jet service is also provided to and from airports at Duluth and Rochester. Scheduled commuter service also is available at Bemidji, Brainerd, Hibbing, International Falls, St. Cloud, and Thief River Falls.

Law and government

Minnesota State Capitol building in Saint Paul
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Minnesota State Capitol building in Saint Paul
As in the national government of the United States, power in Minnesota is divided into three main branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.



Executive

The executive branch is headed by the governor, currently Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, whose term began 6 January, 2003. The current lieutenant governor of Minnesota is Carol Molnau. Molnau also currently serves as the head of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Both the governor and lieutenant governor have four-year terms. The governor has a cabinet consisting of the leaders of various government agencies in the state, called commissioners.
The other constitutional offices are secretary of state, attorney general and state auditor.


See Also:  List of Governors of Minnesota



Legislature

The Minnesota Legislature is a bicameral body consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The state has 67 districts, each covering about 60,000 people. Each district has one senator and two representatives (each district being divided into A and B sections). Senators serve for four years and representatives for two years. In the November 2004 election, the Republican Party retained control of the Minnesota House of Representatives by a single seat (68-66), having lost a total of 13 seats. The Minnesota Senate is controlled by the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). After picking up two seats in local special elections on 16 November, 2005, and 27 December, 2005, the DFL now controls the Senate (38-29).



Courts


State Courts

Minnesota's court system has three levels:

  • Trial courts. The state is split into 10 judicial districts, with 257 judges. Most state cases start in the trial courts.
  • Minnesota Court of Appeals. This body hears appeals on cases tried in the trial courts. There are 16 judges, who divide into three-judge panels to hear appeals in courts across the state.
  • Minnesota Supreme Court. The seven justices on the Supreme Court hear appeals from the Court of Appeals, the Tax Court, and the Worker's Compensation Court. The court automatically reviews first-degree murder convictions, and settles disputes over legislative elections.
The state has two special courts created by state law as executive-branch agencies:

  • The Tax Court deals with non-criminal tax cases across the state. It has three judges appointed by the governor to six-year terms, following approval from the state Senate
  • The Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals deals with cases involving worker injuries referred to it on appeal, or transferred from district court. It has five judges appointed by the governor to six-year terms, following approval from the state Senate.


Federal Courts in Minnesota

Federal cases are heard in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, which holds court in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Fergus Falls. Minnesota is part of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is based in St. Louis, Missouri. Appeals beyond this level go to the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C..



Other governments

In addition to the standard city and county levels of government found in the United States, Minnesota also has other entities that provide governmental oversight and planning. Some actions in the Twin Cities metropolitan area are coordinated by the Metropolitan Council, and many lakes and rivers are overseen by watershed districts and soil and water conservation districts.



Politics

Minnesota is known for active yet quirky politics, with populism being a longstanding force among all of the state's political parties. Minnesota politics include such oddities as Jesse Ventura, a professional wrestler turned governor and R.T. Rybak, a protester turned crowd-surfing mayor. Minnesota has had consistenly high voter turnout; in the 2004 U.S. presidential election 77.2% of eligible Minnesotans voted, the highest of any U.S. state [United States Elections Project] Retrieved 06/22/06. Political conservatism is less strongly linked to church attendance in most of Minnesota than in other parts of the country, which some would argue is a reflection of the prevalance of mainline Christian denominations rather than evangelical churches. 


In the last half of the 20th century Minnesota has leaned Democratic but now is viewed as more a swing state.  Nevertheless Minnesotans have voted for Democrats for president ever since 1976, longer than any other state. Minnesota and the District of Columbia were the only electoral votes not won by incumbent Republican President Ronald Reagan.  Minnesota voters instead chose former Vice President and Senator Walter Mondale, a Minnesota native. He or Hubert Humphrey were on the Democratic ticket as candidates for President or Vice President in the 1964, 1968, 1976, 1980 and 1984 elections. In 2004, John Kerry narrowly won the state's 10 electoral votes by a margin of three percentage points with 51.1% of the vote. Republican strength is greatest in southern Minnesota and the suburbs of Minneapolis, especially in the area west of the city, and in developing outer suburban communities. Democrats are very strong in Minneapolis/St. Paul proper and in the Iron Range and Duluth in northeastern Minnesota.


The state has had active third party movements. The Reform Party was able to elect the former mayor of Brooklyn Park, and former professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura to the governorship in 1998. However, Ventura left the Reform Party in 2000 when Pat Buchanan took control. Ventura maintained close ties to the Independence Party, but chose not to seek reelection. In 2002 the Independence Party ran former Democratic congressman Tim Penny in an unsuccessful bid for the governorship. Penny earned 16% of the vote.  The state's Green Party has elected several city council members and other local office-holders in Duluth, Minneapolis and Winona, and has made strong runs for state legislature during the past two election cycles. In 2000, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader received just over 5% of the presidential votes cast, gaining Major Party status for the Green Party of Minnesota.


''See also: List of political parties in Minnesota, United States presidential election, 2004, in Minnesota



Culture

Stereotypical Minnesotan traits include Lutheranism (with 26 percent of the state's population, the largest denomination) "Minnesota nice," "hot dish" (a Minnesotan term for casserole), "lutefisk" (a pungent preparation of fish from Scandinavian recipes that include soaking in lye), very close family ties (and a strong sense of duty to their families, healthy and dysfunctional alike), a strong sense of community and shared culture with many other Minnesotans instead of just with one's town or city, Minnesota's form of Upper Midwest American English (including Scandinavian-sounding words like "uff-da"), and a distinctive type of upper Midwestern accent. Native Americans have a moderate presence in Minnesota, and some tribes operate casinos which have been said to be among the most profitable in the country. The earliest European exploration and settlement was by the French, and settlement from Scandinavian countries along with Germany followed. The Métis people, a mixed French and Native American culture, were a presence in the early state and territorial days, but largely moved north into Canada. Minnesota is not strongly associated with any particular food, though in recent years dishes like wild rice sausage have come from the state. The state is known as being very committed to education and as such, has a very educated population throughout the state.


Modern immigrants have come from all over the world in recent decades, with Hmong, Somali, Vietnamese, Indians, Middle Easterners, and the former Soviet bloc all being well-represented. Some Chinese and Japanese have had long presences in the state as well. Mexican and Hispanic immigrants are a growing segment, the Latino population of Minnesota is expected to triple over the next 30 years [Resource record: Minnesota's population continues to become more diverse] Accessed 06/22/06. Many modern immigrants are attracted by the state's historically strong commitments toward education and social services and many come sponsored and assisted by congregations committed to service and social justice.


Outdoor activities are major parts of the lives of many Minnesotans. Fishing is popular in Minnesota, over 36% of Minnesotans fish, second only to Alaska[Managing for Results] Page 19, Accessed 06/26/06. During the winter ice fishing is popular, as it has been since the early Scandinavian immigrants arrived. Hunting is another common activity. Families frequently own or share cabins on central and northern tracts of land in forests and adjoining lakes, and weekend trips out to these properties are common. The 71 state parks which protect diverse landscapes in a state of nature are quite popular. A concern for environmentalism is shared by most state residents in one form or another, vegans and hunters alike. As with other northwoods states (such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine), residents like to joke that the mosquito is the state bird. The state bird is actually the common loon, whose distinctive cry can often be heard by campers in the northern part of the state and can even on occasion be found as far south as Minneapolis.



Education

One of the first acts of the Minnesota Legislature when it opened in 1858 was the creation of a Normal School at Winona. Since then, Minnesota has remained among the ten strongest states in the United States in education in most surveys. It is currently ranked 6th on the Morgan Quitno [Smartest State Award]. Minnesota has proven over the years resistant to such movements in education as school vouchers and the teaching of intelligent design. However, it is the home to one of the first charter schools.


Sports teams





Minnesota has a team in all four major professional leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL), and the University of Minnesota is part of the oldest major college conference still running (Big Ten).





























In addition to these teams, two other nationally prominent sports teams, the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA and the Dallas Stars of the NHL, originated in Minnesota (as, respectively, the Minneapolis Lakers and Minnesota North Stars).





State symbols



Naval ships named for Minnesota



Notable people and groups from Minnesota


See List of people from Minnesota.




See also



References


Cited references








General references





External links











State of Minnesota

Cities |
Townships |
Governors | 
Colleges and Universities | 
Rivers |
State Parks 




State Capital: 




Saint Paul 


Regions:




Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan area |
Outstate |
Northwest Angle |
Iron Range | 
Arrowhead |
Pipestone | 
Central |
Southeast


Major Cities:



 
Bloomington | 
Duluth | 
Minneapolis | 
Rochester | 
St. Cloud |
Saint Paul


Smaller Cities:




Albert Lea |
Alexandria | 
Anoka | 
Apple Valley |
Austin | 
Bemidji |
Blaine |
Brainerd |
Brooklyn Center |
Brooklyn Park | 
Burnsville | 
Coon Rapids | 
Cottage Grove | 
Eagan | 
Eden Prairie | 
Edina | 
Faribault | 
Fridley | 
Hibbing | 
Inver Grove Heights | 
Lakeville | 
Mankato |
Maple Grove | 
Maplewood | 
Minnetonka | 
Moorhead | 
Owatonna | 
Plymouth | 
Red Wing |
Richfield | 
Roseville | 
St. Louis Park | 
Shakopee | 
Stillwater |  
Waseca |
White Bear Lake | 
Willmar | 
Winona | 
Woodbury


Counties:



 
Aitkin | 
Anoka | 
Becker | 
Beltrami | 
Benton | 
Big Stone | 
Blue Earth | 
Brown | 
Carlton | 
Carver | 
Cass | 
Chippewa | 
Chisago | 
Clay | 
Clearwater | 
Cook | 
Cottonwood | 
Crow Wing | 
Dakota | 
Dodge | 
Douglas | 
Faribault | 
Fillmore | 
Freeborn | 
Goodhue | 
Grant | 
Hennepin | 
Houston | 
Hubbard | 
Isanti | 
Itasca | 
Jackson | 
Kanabec | 
Kandiyohi | 
Kittson | 
Koochiching | 
Lac qui Parle | 
Lake | 
Lake of the Woods | 
Le Sueur | 
Lincoln | 
Lyon | 
McLeod | 
Mahnomen | 
Marshall | 
Martin | 
Meeker | 
Mille Lacs | 
Morrison | 
Mower | 
Murray | 
Nicollet | 
Nobles | 
Norman | 
Olmsted | 
Otter Tail | 
Pennington | 
Pine | 
Pipestone | 
Polk | 
Pope | 
Ramsey | 
Red Lake | 
Redwood | 
Renville | 
Rice | 
Rock | 
Roseau | 
St. Louis | 
Scott | 
Sherburne | 
Sibley | 
Stearns | 
Steele | 
Stevens | 
Swift | 
Todd | 
Traverse | 
Wabasha | 
Wadena | 
Waseca | 
Washington | 
Watonwan | 
Wilkin | 
Winona | 
Wright | 
Yellow Medicine





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