55 Facts About Minnesota

Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now partially cleared, farmed, and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation.

Minnesota, which gets its name from the Dakota language, has been inhabited by various indigenous peoples since the Woodland period of the 11th century BCE.

Much of what is Minnesota formed part of the vast French holding of Louisiana, which the United States purchased in 1803.

Minnesota is considered Democratic-leaning, having voted for every Democratic presidential nominee since 1976, longer than any other U S state.

Since the late 20th century, the core of Minnesota's economy has diversified, shifting from traditional industries such as agriculture and resource extraction to services, finance, and health care; it is consequently one of the richest in terms of GDP and per capita income.

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In more recent decades, Minnesota has become more multicultural, driven by both larger domestic migration and immigration from Latin America, Asia, the Horn of Africa, and the Middle East; the state has the nation's largest population of Somali Americans and second largest Hmong population.

The Anishinaabe were migrating into Minnesota, causing tensions with the Dakota people, and dislocated the Mdewakanton from their homelands along Mille Lacs Lake.

Minnesota was part of several territorial organizations between acquisition and statehood.

William Crooks, commander of 6th Minnesota, had a palisade erected around the encampment on Pike Island, just below the fort, to protect native people from the soldiers and settlers.

Minnesota's economy was hit hard by the Great Depression, resulting in lower prices for farmers, layoffs among iron miners, and labor unrest.

Minnesota is the second northernmost U S state 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.

Minnesota has some of the earth's oldest rocks, gneisses that are about 3.

Minnesota is geologically quiet today; it experiences earthquakes infrequently, most of them minor.

Minnesota has 6, 564 natural rivers and streams that cumulatively flow for 69, 000 miles.

Minnesota has four ecological provinces: prairie parkland, in the southwestern and western parts of the state; the eastern broadleaf forest 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 and the broadleaf forests to the south.

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

Today Minnesota has 72 state parks and recreation areas, 58 state forests covering about four million acres, and numerous state wildlife preserves, all managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Minnesota's population continues to grow, primarily in the urban centers.

Minnesota has the country's largest Somali population, with an estimated 57, 000 people, the largest concentration outside of the Horn of Africa.

Minnesota is home to more than 30 mosques, mostly in the Twin Cities metro area.

Once primarily a producer of raw materials, Minnesota's economy has transformed to emphasize finished products and services.

Minnesota's economy had a gross domestic product 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, 3M, General Mills, U S Bancorp, Ameriprise, Hormel, Land O' Lakes, SuperValu, Best Buy, and Valspar.

Private companies based in Minnesota include Cargill, the largest privately owned company in the United States, and Carlson Companies, the parent company of Radisson Hotels.

Minnesota is a large producer of corn and soybeans, and has the most food cooperatives per capita in the United States.

Minnesota was famous for its soft-ore mines, which produced a significant portion of the world's iron ore for more than a century.

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

Minnesota is ranked in the top ten for wind energy production.

Minnesota has a progressive income tax structure; the four brackets of state income tax rates are 5.

Owners of real property in Minnesota pay property tax to their county, municipality, school district, and special taxing districts.

Minnesota's leading fine art museums include the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Walker Art Center, the Frederick R Weisman Art Museum, and The Museum of Russian Art.

The Minnesota Fringe Festival in Minneapolis is an annual celebration of theatre, dance, improvisation, puppetry, kids' shows, visual art, and musicals with more than 800 performances over 11 days.

Minnesota musicians include Prince, Bob Dylan, Eddie Cochran, The Andrews Sisters, The Castaways, The Trashmen, Soul Asylum, David Ellefson, Chad Smith, John Wozniak, Husker Du, Semisonic, The Replacements, Owl City, Holly Henry, Motion City Soundtrack, Atmosphere, and Dessa.

Life in Minnesota has been depicted or used as a backdrop, in movies such as Fargo, Grumpy Old Men, Grumpier Old Men, Juno, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Young Adult, A Serious Man, New in Town, Rio, The Mighty Ducks films, and in famous television series like Little House on the Prairie, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls, Coach, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, How I Met Your Mother and Fargo.

The fair covers the variety of Minnesota life, including fine art, science, agriculture, food preparation, 4-H displays, music, the midway, and corporate merchandising.

The University of Minnesota Medical School is a high-rated teaching institution that has made a number of breakthroughs in treatment, and its research activities contribute significantly to the state's growing biotechnology industry.

In 2009, according to the U S Census Bureau, Minnesota had the second-highest proportion of high school graduates, with 91.

In 2014, Minnesota students earned the tenth-highest average composite score in the nation on the ACT exam.

Transportation in Minnesota is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Transportation at the state level and by regional and local governments at the local level.

Public transit services are available in the regional urban centers in Minnesota including Metro Transit in the Twin Cities, opt-out suburban operators Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, SouthWest Transit, Plymouth Metrolink, Maple Grove Transit and others.

Minnesota is governed pursuant to the Minnesota Constitution, which was adopted October 13, 1857, roughly one year before statehood.

Minnesota Legislature is a bicameral body consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Minnesota's United States senators are Democrats Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.

State of Minnesota was created by the United States federal government in the traditional and cultural range of lands occupied by the Dakota and Anishinaabe peoples as well as other Native American groups.

Minnesota is known for a politically active citizenry, and populism has been a long-standing force among the state's political parties.

Minnesota is the only state in the nation that did not vote for Ronald Reagan in either of his presidential campaigns.

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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.

The Minnesota Daily is the largest student-run newspaper in the U S Sites offering daily news on the Web include The UpTake, MinnPost, the Twin Cities Daily Planet, business news site Finance and Commerce and Washington D C -based Minnesota Independent.

The University of Minnesota-owned station is still on the air, and since 1993 broadcasts a college rock format.

Minnesota has an active program of organized amateur and professional sports.

Minnesota Vikings have played in the National Football League since their admission as an expansion franchise in 1961.

Minnesota Twins have played in the Major League Baseball in the Twin Cities since 1961.

The Minnesota Timberwolves joined the NBA in 1989, and have played in Target Center since 1990.

Minnesota United FC joined Major League Soccer as an expansion team in 2017, having played in the lower-division North American Soccer League from 2010 to 2016.

Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I school competing in the Big Ten Conference.

Minnesota has more miles of bike trails than any other state, and a growing network of hiking trails, including the 235-mile Superior Hiking Trail in the northeast.