Minnesota
Minnesota is the 32nd
state of the
United States, having joined the Union on
May 11,
1858. \nIts name is from the Dakota people's name for the river now called the
Minnesota River,
mini sota, meaning "water that reflects the sky," or "sky-tinted water." The state's name is abbreviated
Minn. or
MN.
Minnesota, along with neighboring states
North Dakota,
South Dakota,
Iowa, and
Wisconsin, form a region called the "
Upper Midwest," a subsection of the Midwestern
United States.
The
USS Minnesota was named in honor of this state.
History
\nMain article: History of Minnesota
History prior to joining the United States
\n* Originally inhabited by Native Americans, in particular the Ojibwe (Chippewa, Anishinaabe) and Dakota.\n* Economy originally consisted of hunter-gather lifemode, which changed over time as Europeans settled in the area and further exploited the state's natural resources.\n* First European visitors were, according to local tradition, Swedish and Norwegian Vikings, in the 14th century, as testified by the controversial Kensington Runestone.\n* First European settlement was the area now known as the city of Stillwater, on the St. Croix River.\n* Fort Snelling, located at the confluence of the Minnesota River and the Mississippi River, was one of the earliest U.S. military presences in the state. It is now a historic site.
Joins the U.S.
\nMinnesota was designated a territory on March 3, 1849, but that territory was not coextensive with the present state, since the territory included what later became the territory of Dakota, and later still became the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. The eastern half of the territory of Minnesota became the present state of Minnesota—the 32nd state—on May 11, 1858.
Law and Government
\n* Executive. The current governor—Tim Pawlenty, a Republican—started his term on January 6, 2003. The full list of governors, and the dates they took office, is available at List of Governors of Minnesota.\n* Legislature. Minnesota has a bicameral legislature (Senate and House). 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). Senators serve for four years, and representatives serve for two years. As of July 2004, the state House of Representatives is controlled by the Republican Party, with the state Senate being controlled by the DFL. As of July 5, 2004, there is one Independence Party legislator, former Republican State Senator Sheila Kiscaden (IP-Rochester).\n* Judiciary. The state court system has three levels:\n**Trial courts. The state is split into 10 judicial districts, with 257 judges. Most state cases start in the trial courts.\n**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.\n**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 disuputes over legislative elections.\n**The state has two special courts created by state law as executive-branch agencies:\n***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\n***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\n**Federal cases are heard in the federal district courts in Minneapolis, St. Paul, or Duluth. Minnesota is part of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is located in St. Paul. Appeals beyond this level go to the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C\n*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. 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.
Geography
\nSee: List of Minnesota counties
- Minnesota covers 79,610 square miles (2.25% of the United States). It is famous for its lakes, having in excess of 15,000, depending on the source of the count. Much of the state is flat, having been eroded during repeated glacial periods (most recently the Wisconsin Glacier). The Minnesota portion of Lake Superior is the largest body of water in the state.\n* Minnesota is home to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA), as well as a number of state and county parks, most notably Itasca State Park, the source of the Mississippi River. \n* After its rivers and lakes, Minnesota's most prominent physical feature is the Iron Range This is a range of low mountains that run across the northern part of the state. It is called the Iron Range because when discovered, it had some of the largest deposits of iron ore in the country. Although the high-grade iron ore was mostly mined out during World War II, taconite is still mined across the Iron Range.\n* It is bordered on the north by Canada (Manitoba and Ontario), on the east by Wisconsin and Lake Superior, on the south by Iowa, and on the west by North Dakota and South Dakota. It is the northernmost of the 48 contiguous states (Alaska reaches significantly farther north), reaching to 49° 23' 4" north latitude, due to a small piece of the state known as the Northwest Angle.\n* The capital is St. Paul, which sits on the opposite bank of the Mississippi River to the largest city, Minneapolis, (together known as the Twin Cities). Other prominent cities include Duluth, St. Cloud, Mankato, Rochester (home of the world-famous Mayo Clinic), and Bloomington.\n*The state's average elevation is 1,200 feet, with a high point at Eagle Mountain (2,301 feet) and a low at the surface of Lake Superior (602 feet)\n*The state is famously cold in the winters, with a record low of -60°F measured at Tower, MN on February 2, 1996. Surprisingly, due to the flows of the jet stream, parts of Alaska often see relatively warm temperatures when Minnesota is experiencing extreme cold. As part of the Great Plains region, however, it also experiences warm summers, with a record high of 114°F reached in 1917 and 1936. The average temperature in January (the coldest month) is 11.2°F, and the average in the warmest month of July is 73.1°F. The average annual precipitation is 28.32 inches, with a snowfall figure of 49.6 inches.
Economy
\n* State income\n** The average state income in Minnesota in 1999 was $30,742 (according to the State Demographic Center—the Northeast Midwest Institute gives the figure as $30,793). This compares to a national average of $28,546. 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.\n* Major industries/products\n** The
Twin Cities are home to a diverse range of major businesses, including
3M Co (formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.),
Northwest Airlines,
Target Corporation (including
Target Stores and
Mervyn's),
U.S. Bancorp, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (formerly Lutheran Brotherhood), Medtronic, Cray Computers,
Imation, and a regional headquarters of
Wells Fargo & Co The city of Rochester is the headquarters of the
Mayo Clinic, and has a significant manufacturing presence in
International Business Machines. The largest
shopping mall in the United States, the
Mall of America, is located in
Bloomington.\n** A large proportion of the state's economy is still
agricultural. Additionally, northern Minnesota is a source for
iron ore and
wood products, though these are both declining industries.\n* State Taxes\n** Minnesota is regarded as a high-
tax state by some. It has an
income and
sales tax, as well as levying taxes on a common range of goods such as
tobacco,
gasoline, and
alcohol. The state does not charge sales tax on
clothing,
services (massages, haircuts, auto work, etc), or non-prepared food items.\n** 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). The Gross State Product was just under $173 billion in 1999 (Northeast Midwest Institute), with approximately $17.5 billion in exports in 2000\n** Retail sales per capita were $10,260 in 1997, higher than the U.S. average of $9,190 (U.S. Census Bureau).
Demographics
\n* The state population, as of 2002, is 5,019,720 (1.74% of the nation), with a growth rate of 12.4% in the last 10 years (compared to 13.1% for the nation).\n* 88.2% of the state is white (excluding Hispanic/Latino), 3.5% Black/African American, 2.9% Hispanic/Latino, 2.9% Asian. Minnesotans traditionally count themselves as of
Nordic descent (approximately 1.5 million people claim Danish, Finnish, Norwegian or Swedish ancestry), though more families originated in Germany (approximately 2 million). More modern immigrant communities include the third-largest
Hmong population in the United States (from the
Laos/
Cambodia/
Vietnam region), and a large presence from
Somalia.\n* The population distribution by age is (Northeast Midwest Institute):\n** 0-18 - 1,361,616 (27.7%)\n** 19-34 - 1,068,850 (21.7%)\n** 35-64 - 1,894,747 (38.6%)\n** 65+ - 594,266 (12.1%)\n* Religious makeup of state\n** Minnesotans are largely
Catholic and
mainline Protestant. The largest
Protestant body in the state is the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In recent years, new immigrants have added to the religious mix in Minnesota. There are now
mosques throughout the state, as well as
Buddhist temples and
Hindu mandirs.
Education
\nColleges and universities
\n{|\n|valign="top"|\n*Alfred Adler Institute\n*American Lutheran Theological Seminary\n*Association Free Lutheran Bible School and Seminary\n*Augsburg College\n*
Bethany Lutheran College\n*
Bethel College and Seminary\n*Capella University\n*
Carleton College\n*
College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University\n*College of St. Catherine\n*College of St. Scholastica\n*College of Visual Arts\n*Concordia College, Moorhead\n*Concordia University, Saint Paul\n*
Crown College\n*Gustavus Adolphus College\n*
Hamline University\n*Luther Seminary\n*
Macalester College\n*Martin Luther College\n*Minneapolis College of Art and Design\n*Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC)\n*Minnesota Bible College
|valign="top"|\n*
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU)\n**
Bemidji State University\n**
Minnesota State University Mankato\n**
Minnesota State University Moorhead\n**
Metropolitan State University\n**
Southwest Minnesota State University\n**
St. Cloud State University\n**
Winona State University\n*North Central University\n*
Northwestern College\n*Oak Hills Christian College\n*
Pillsbury Baptist Bible College\n*Saint Mary's University of Minnesota\n*
Saint Olaf College\n*University Center Rochester\n*
University of Minnesota System\n**University of Minnesota Crookston\n**
University of Minnesota Duluth\n**
University of Minnesota Morris\n**
University of Minnesota Twin Cities\n*
University of Saint Thomas \n*Walden University\n*William Mitchell College of Law
|}
Professional sports teams
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Miscellaneous information
Symbols and emblems
\n* State Bird - Loon\n* State Butterfly -
Monarch\n* State Drink -
Milk\n* State Fish -
Walleye\n* State Flower -
Pink and White Showy Lady Slipper\n* State Gemstone - Lake Superior
Agate\n* State Grain -
Wild rice\n* Territory Motto (intended) -
Quae sursum volo videre (“I wish to see what is beyond”)\n* Territory Motto (actual) -
Quo sursum velo videre (“I cover to see what is above” is the closest translation)\n* State Motto - L'Étoile du Nord (“Star of the North”)\n* State Muffin -
Blueberry (adopted as part of a school project on how a bill becomes law)\n* State Mushroom -
Morel (sponge mushroom; honeycomb morel)\n* State Picture - Grace\n* State Song - "Hail! Minnesota"\n* State Tree -
Red Pine\n* Nicknames - Gopher State; North Star State; Land of 10,000 Lakes
Early explorers
\n*Michel Aco\n*Father
Louis Hennepin\n*
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut\n*
Zebulon Pike\n*
Henry Schoolcraft\n*
Joseph Nicollet\n*Father
Jacques Marquette
External links
\n*State of Minnesota\n*
Minnesota history timeline\n*
Minnesota Historical Society\n\n
Category: Political divisions of the United States Category:Minnesota
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