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Minnesota

Minnesota
US State
NicknameNorth Star State;
Land of 10,000 Lakes; The Gopher State
MottoL’Étoile du Nord (French: The Star of the North)
DemonymMinnesotan
CapitalSaint Paul
Largest cityMinneapolis
Largest metro areaMinneapolis-Saint Paul
Area
Area Ranked12th
Total86939 sq mi 225181 km2
Widthc. 200 � 350 mi c. 320 � 560 km
Lengthc. 400 mi c. 640 km
% water8.4
Population
Pop. Rank21st
Total5,303,925 (2010) U.S. Census Bureau
Density65.3 /sq mi 25.21 /km2
Median income$55,802 (10th)
Elevation
Highest pointEagle Mountain
2301 ft 701 m
Mean1198 ft 365 m
Lowest pointLake Superior
601 ft 183 m
Other information
Admission to UnionMay 11, 1858 (32nd)
GovernorMark Dayton (DFL)
Lieutenant GovernorYvonne Prettner Solon (DFL)
LegislatureMinnesota Legislature
Upper houseSenate
Lower houseHouse of Representatives
U.S. SenatorsAmy Klobuchar (DFL)
Al Franken (DFL)
U.S. House delegation4 Democrats, 4 Republicans
Timezone
Time zoneCentral: UTC-6/-5

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Minnesota c-enaudio=en-us-Minnesota.oggmɪnɨˈsoʊtə is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state on May 11, 1858. Known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the state's name comes from a Dakota word for "sky-tinted water". Those waters, together with forests, parks, and wilderness areas, offer residents and tourists a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities.

Nearly 60% of Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area known as the "Twin Cities", the center of transportation, business, industry and education, and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now cleared, farmed and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation.

Minnesota is known for its relatively liberal social and political orientation, and has a high rate of civic participation and voter turnout. Minnesota ranks among the healthiest states, and has a highly literate population. The large majority of residents are of Scandinavian and German descent. The state is known as a center of Scandinavian American culture. Ethnic diversity has increased in recent decades. Substantial influxes of African, Asian, and Latin American immigrants have joined the descendants of European immigrants and the original Native American inhabitants.


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