Facts about Minnesota

Minnesota's first state park, Itasca State Park, was established in 1891, and is the source of the Mississippi River.

The remainder of the state is known as "Greater Minnesota" or "Outstate Minnesota."

Minnesota is in the U.S. region known as the Upper Midwest.

The Minotaur had the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull.

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

The Richardsonian Romanesque Pillsbury Hall is the second-oldest building on the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis campus.

Minnesota endures temperature extremes characteristic of its continental climate; with cold winters and hot summers, the record high and low span 174 degrees Fahrenheit (96.6°C).

By 1900, Minnesota mills, led by Pillsbury and the Washburn-Crosby Company (a forerunner of General Mills), were grinding 14.1 percent of the nation's grain.

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America.

Located along the Mississippi Flyway, Minnesota hosts migratory waterfowl such as geese and ducks, and game birds such as grouse, pheasants, and turkeys.

Before European settlement, Minnesota was populated by the Anishinaabe, the Dakota, and other Native Americans.

Public transit in Minnesota is currently limited to bus systems in the larger cities and the Hiawatha Line light rail corridor in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Minnesota is also home to more than 20 private colleges and universities; four are ranked among the top 100 liberal arts colleges, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Innovations by Minneapolis millers led to the production of Minnesota "patent" flour, which commanded almost double the price of "bakers" or "clear" flour that it replaced.

The center of population of Minnesota is located in Hennepin County, in the city of Rogers.

University of Minnesota professor Norman Borlaug contributed to these developments as part of the Green Revolution.

Compounding the adversity, western Minnesota and the Dakotas were plagued by drought from 1931 to 1935.

The name Minnesota comes from the word for the Minnesota River in the Dakota language, Mnisota.

The state supports a network of public universities and colleges, currently comprised of 32 institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, and major campuses of the University of Minnesota system.

Today Minnesota has 72 state parks and recreation areas, 58 state forests covering about four million acres (16,000 kmІ), and numerous state wildlife preserves, all managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

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

Minnesota's major political parties include the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), the Republican Party of Minnesota, and the Independence Party of Minnesota (IP).

Amtrak's Empire Builder runs through Minnesota, making stops at Midway Station in St. Paul and five other stations.

Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the 32nd state on May 11, 1858.

Minnesota has been a leader in such national movements as those to guarantee the rights of women, homosexuals, and American Indians.

Minnesota's principal airport is Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), the headquarters and major passenger and freight hub for Northwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines.

Minnesota is the only state in the nation whose electoral votes were not won by Ronald Reagan in either 1980 or 1984.

Two continental divides meet in the northeastern part of Minnesota in rural Hibbing, forming a triple watershed.

Thousands of people had come to build farms and cut timber, and Minnesota became the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858.

Minnesota is geologically quiet today; it experiences very minor earthquakes very infrequently.

The extremes of the climate contrast with the moderation of Minnesota’s people.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 91 percent of Minnesotans have health insurance, more than in any other state.

Medical care is provided by a comprehensive network of hospitals and clinics, headed by two institutions with international reputations, the University of Minnesota Medical School and the Mayo Clinic.

Minnesota is known for a politically active citizenry, with populism being a longstanding force among the state's political parties.

Once primarily a producer of raw materials, Minnesota's economy has transformed in the last 150 years to emphasize finished products and services.

In 1805, Zebulon Pike bargained with Native Americans to acquire land at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers.

Over 75 percent of Minnesota's residents are of Western European descent, with the largest reported ancestries being German (39 percent), Norwegian (17.2 percent), Irish (11.9 percent), and Swedish (9.6 percent).

The common loon, as state bird, is Minnesota's best-known symbol.

About 2.7 billion years ago, basaltic lava poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ocean; the remains of this volcanic rock formed the Canadian Shield in northeast Minnesota.

Minnesotans have consistently cast their Electoral College votes for Democratic presidential candidates since 1976, longer than any other state.

Mayo and the University are partners in the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics, a state-funded program that conducts research into cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart health, obesity, and other areas.

Minnesotans have the nation's lowest premature death rate, third-lowest infant mortality rate, and the second-longest life expectancies in America.

The DFL was created in 1944 when the Minnesota Democratic Party and Farmer-Labor Party merged.

The University of Minnesota Medical School has a highly rated teaching hospital; the Medical School's research activities contribute significantly to the state's growing biotechnology industry.

Three of North America's biomes converge in Minnesota: prairie grasslands in the southwestern and western parts of the state, the Big Woods deciduous forest of the southeast, and the northern boreal forest.

Late that century, the Ojibwe Indians migrated westward to Minnesota, causing tensions with the Sioux.

Minnesota is the northernmost state outside of Alaska; its isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods is the only part of the 48 contiguous states lying north of the 49th Parallel.

Logging and farming were mainstays of Minnesota's early economy.

Today Minnesota has 72 state parks and recreation areas, 58 state forests covering about four million acres (16,000 kmІ), and numerous state wildlife preserves, all managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Minnesota has 17 cities with populations above fifty thousand (based on 2005 estimates).

Saint Paul, located in east-central Minnesota along the banks of the Mississippi River, has been Minnesota's capital city since 1849, first as capital of the Minnesota Territory, and then as state capital since 1858.

Transportation in Minnesota is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Minnesota's state symbols represent its history, diverse landscapes, and its peoples' love of the outdoors.

Minnesota's earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture; the city of Minneapolis grew around the flour mills powered by St. Anthony Falls.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous epic poem The Song of Hiawatha was inspired by Minnesota and many places and bodies of water in the state are named in the poem.

From fewer than 6,100 people in 1850, Minnesota's population grew to over 1.75 million by 1900.

Minnesota contains some of the oldest rocks found on earth, gneisses some 3.6 billion years old, or 80 percent as old as the planet.

Minnesota's growing minority groups, however, still form a significantly smaller proportion of the population than in the nation as a whole.

The University of Minnesota is a large university with several campuses spread throughout the state.

The Minnesota portion of Lake Superior is the largest at 1,504 square miles (3,896 kmІ) and deepest (1,290 ft/393 m) body of water in the state.

The growing season varies from 90 days per year in the Iron Range to 160 days in southeastern Minnesota near the Mississippi River, and mean average temperatures range from 36°F (2°C) to 49°F (9°C).

The rose came to symbolize the Republic of Georgia's non-violent bid for freedom during its Rose Revolution in 2003.

Minnesota Territory was formed on March 3, 1849.

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

The per capita income for Minnesota in 2005 was $37,290—the tenth-highest in the nation.

Approximately 10.6 million acres (42,900 kmІ) of wetlands are contained within Minnesota's borders; only Alaska has more.

Minnesota's principal airport is Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), the headquarters and major passenger and freight hub for Northwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines.

One of the first acts of the Minnesota Legislature when it opened in 1858 was the creation of a normal school at Winona.

Minnesota's nickname is The Land of 10,000 Lakes; there are 11,842 lakes over 10 acres (.04 kmІ) in size.

The diversified economy of Minnesota had a gross domestic product of US$234 billion in 2005.

Minnesota became a center of technology after the war.

Minnesota is home to a variety of wilderness, park, and other open spaces.