Everything about Minnesota totally explained
Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it
mnisota.
Geography
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. Minnesota is in the U.S. region known as the
Upper Midwest. The state shares a
Lake Superior water border with
Michigan and
Wisconsin on the northeast; the remainder of the eastern border is with
Wisconsin.
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, Minnesota is the 12
th largest state.
Geology and terrain
gneisses some 3.6 billion years old, or 80% as old as the planet. 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. The roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of
Precambrian seas formed the
Iron Range of northern Minnesota. Following a period of
volcanism 1.1 billion years ago, Minnesota's geological activity has been more subdued, with no volcanism or mountain formation, but with repeated incursions of the sea which left behind multiple strata of sedimentary rock. Much of the remainder of the state outside of the northeast has 50 feet (15 m) or more of
glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. 13,000 years ago gigantic
Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest; the lake's outflow, the
glacial River Warren, carved the valley of the
Minnesota River, and its bottom created the fertile lands of the
Red River valley.
Minnesota has four ecological provinces:
Prairie Parkland in the southwestern and western parts of the state, the
Eastern Broadleaf Forest (
Big Woods) in the southeast, extending in a narrowing strip to the northwestern part of the state, where it transitions into
Tallgrass Aspen Parklands, and the northern
Laurentian Mixed Forest, a transitional forest between the northern
boreal forest and broadleaf forests to the south. These northern forests are a vast wilderness of
pine and
spruce trees mixed with patchy stands of
birch and
poplar. Much of Minnesota's northern forest has been logged, leaving only a few patches of
old growth forest today in areas such as in the
Chippewa National Forest and the
Superior National Forest where the
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has some 400,000 acres (1,600 km²) of unlogged land. Although logging continues, regrowth keeps about one third of the state forested. Nearly all of Minnesota's prairies and oak savannas have been destroyed or fragmented because of farming, grazing, logging, and suburban development.
While loss of habitat has affected native animals such as the
pine marten,
elk, and
bison, others like
whitetail deer and
bobcat thrive. The state has the nation's largest population of
timber wolves outside Alaska, and supports healthy populations of
black bear and
moose. Located on the
Mississippi Flyway, Minnesota hosts migratory waterfowl such as
geese and
ducks, and game birds such as
grouse,
pheasants, and
turkeys. It is home to
birds of prey including the
bald eagle,
red-tailed hawk, and
snowy owl. The lakes teem with the sport fish such as
walleye,
bass,
muskellunge, and
northern pike, and streams in the southeast are populated by
brook,
brown, and
rainbow trout.
Climate
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). Meteorological events include
rain,
snow,
blizzards,
thunderstorms,
hail,
derechos,
tornadoes, and high-velocity
straight-line winds. The growing season varies from 90 days per year in the
Iron Range to 160 days in southeast Minnesota near the Mississippi River, and mean average temperatures range from 36 °F (2 °C) to 49 °F (9 °C). Average summer
dew points range from about 58 °F (14.4 °C) in the south to about 48 °F (8.9 °C) in the north. Depending on location, average annual precipitation ranges from 19 in (48.3 cm) to 35 in (88.9 cm), and droughts occur every 10 to 50 years. Today Minnesota has
72 state parks and recreation areas,
58 state forests covering about four million acres (16,000 km²), and numerous state wildlife preserves, all managed by the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. There are 5.5 million acres (22,000 km²) in the
Chippewa and
Superior National Forests. The Superior National Forest in the northeast contains the
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which encompasses over a million acres (4,000 km²) and a thousand lakes. To its west is
Voyageurs National Park. The
Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA), is a long corridor along the Mississippi River through the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area connecting a variety of sites of historic, cultural, and geologic interest.
History
Before European settlement, Minnesota was populated by the
Anishinaabe, the
Dakota, and other
Native Americans. The first
Europeans were
French fur traders that arrived in the 1600s. Late that century, the
Ojibwe Indians migrated westward to Minnesota, causing tensions with the Sioux. Explorers such as
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, Father
Louis Hennepin,
Jonathan Carver,
Henry Schoolcraft, and
Joseph Nicollet, among others, mapped out the state.
The portion of the state east of the
Mississippi River became a part of the United States at the end of the
American Revolutionary War, when the
Second Treaty of Paris was signed. Land west of the Mississippi River was acquired with the
Louisiana Purchase, although a portion of the
Red River Valley was disputed until the
Treaty of 1818. Its soldiers built a
grist mill and a
sawmill at
Saint Anthony Falls, the first of the water-powered industries around which the city of
Minneapolis later grew. Meanwhile, squatters, government officials, and tourists had settled near the fort. In 1839, the Army forced them to move downriver, and they settled in the area that became
St. Paul.
Minnesota Territory was formed on
March 3,
1849. Thousands of people had come to build
farms and cut
timber, and Minnesota became the
32nd U.S. state on
May 11,
1858.
Treaties between whites and the Dakota and Ojibwe gradually forced the natives off their lands and onto smaller reservations. As conditions deteriorated for the Dakota, tensions rose, leading to the
Dakota War of 1862. The result of the six-week war was the execution of 38 Dakota—the largest mass execution in United States history—and the exile of most of the rest of the Dakota to the
Crow Creek Reservation in
Nebraska.
Logging and farming were mainstays of Minnesota's early economy. The sawmills at Saint Anthony Falls, and logging centers like
Marine on St. Croix,
Stillwater, and
Winona, processed high volumes of lumber. These cities were situated on rivers that were ideal for transportation. By 1900, Minnesota mills, led by
Pillsbury and the Washburn-Crosby Company (a forerunner of
General Mills), were grinding 14.1% of the nation's grain.
The state's
iron-mining industry was established with the discovery of iron in the
Vermilion Range and the
Mesabi Range in the 1880s, and in the
Cuyuna Range in the early 1900s. The ore was shipped by rail to
Duluth and
Two Harbors, then loaded onto ships and transported eastward over the
Great Lakes.
Cray Research was formed when
Seymour Cray left CDC to form his own company. Medical device maker
Medtronic also started business in the Twin Cities in 1949.
On
August 1,
2007, Minnesota had the international spotlight cast on it when the
I-35W bridge spanning the Mississippi river collapsed, killing 13.
Cities and towns
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
Territory of Minnesota, and then as state capital since 1858.
Saint Paul is adjacent to Minnesota's most populous city,
Minneapolis; they and their suburbs are known collectively as the
Twin Cities metropolitan area, the 16
th largest metropolitan area in the United States and home to about 60% of the state's population (as of April 2005). The remainder of the state is known as "
Greater Minnesota" or "Outstate Minnesota".
Minnesota has 17 cities with populations above fifty thousand (based on 2005 estimates). In descending order they're
Minneapolis,
Saint Paul,
Rochester,
Duluth,
Bloomington,
Plymouth,
Brooklyn Park,
Eagan,
Coon Rapids,
St. Cloud,
Burnsville,
Eden Prairie,
Maple Grove,
Woodbury,
Blaine,
Lakeville, and
Minnetonka.
Demographics
Population
From fewer than 6,100 people in 1850, Minnesota's population grew to over 1.75 million by 1900. Each of the next six decades saw a 15% rise in population, reaching 3.41 million in 1960. Growth then slowed, rising 11% to 3.8 million in 1970, and an average of 9% over the next three decades to 4.91 million in the 2000 census. The rate of population change, and age and gender distributions, approximate the national average. Minnesota's growing minority groups, however, still form a significantly smaller proportion of the population than in the nation as a whole. The
center of population of Minnesota is located in
Hennepin County, in the city of
Rogers.
Race and ancestry
Over 75% of Minnesota's residents are of
Western European descent, with the largest reported ancestries being
German (38%),
Norwegian (17%),
Irish (12%), and
Swedish (10%). As of 2006, 6.6% of residents were foreign-born, compared to 12.5% for the nation. The state has had the reputation of being relatively homogeneous, but that's changing. The Hispanic population of Minnesota is increasing rapidly, and recent
immigrants have come from all over the world, including
Hmong,
Somalis,
Vietnamese,
Indians and emigrants from the former
Soviet bloc.
The state's racial composition in 2006 was:
Religion
Although
Christianity dominates the religious persuasion of residents, there's a long history of non-Christian faith.
German-
Jewish pioneers formed Saint Paul's first
synagogue in 1856, and there are now appreciable numbers of adherents to Islam, Buddhism, and other traditions. But Protestantism is adhered to by the majority of Minnesotans, and Roman Catholics are the largest single denomination. A 2008 survey by the
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that 32% of Minnesotans were affiliated with
Protestant traditions, 21% with Evangelical Protestants, 28% with
Roman Catholic, 1% each with Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, and Black Protestant traditions, smaller amounts for other faiths, and 13% unaffiliated. This is broadly consistent with the results of the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, which also gives detail on percentages of many individual denominations.
Economy
Once primarily a producer of raw materials, Minnesota's economy has transformed in the last 200 years to emphasize finished products and services. Perhaps the most significant characteristic of the economy is its diversity; the relative outputs of its business sectors closely match the United States as a whole. The economy of Minnesota had a
gross domestic product of $234 billion in 2005. Thirty-six of the United States' top 1,000 publicly traded companies (by revenue in 2006) are headquartered in Minnesota, including
Target,
UnitedHealth Group,
3M,
Medtronic,
General Mills,
U.S. Bancorp, and
Best Buy. The second-largest privately owned U.S. company,
Cargill, is headquartered in
Wayzata. Minnesota's state budget is currently facing a $935 million deficit.
The
per capita income in 2005 was $37,290, the tenth-highest in the nation. The three-year
median household income from 2002-2004 was $55,914, ranking fifth in the U.S. and first among the 36 states not on the Atlantic coast. White families earned more income than the national average but among the population under age 18, more than 20% of Asians and Hispanics, more than 40% of African Americans and more than 40% of Native American girls in Minnesota lived in poverty.
Industry and commerce
Minnesota's earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture; the city of Minneapolis grew around the
flour mills powered by
St. Anthony Falls. Although less than 1% of the population is employed in the agricultural sector, it remains a major part of the state's economy, ranking 6
th in the nation in the value of products sold. The state is the U.S.'s largest producer of
sugar beets,
sweet corn, and
green peas for processing, and farm-raised
turkeys.
Forestry remains strong, including
logging,
pulpwood processing and paper production, and forest products manufacturing. Minnesota was famous for its soft-ore mines, which produced a significant portion of the world's
iron ore for over a century. Although the high-grade ore is now depleted,
taconite mining continues, using processes developed locally to save the industry. In 2004, the state produced 75% of the country's usable iron ore. and a 20% mix (E20) in 2013. There are more than 310 service stations supplying
E85 fuel. A 2%
biodiesel blend has been required in
diesel fuel since 2005. As of December 2006 the state was the country's fourth-largest producer of
wind power, with 895
megawatts installed and another 200 megawatts planned, much of it on the windy
Buffalo Ridge in the southwest part of the state.
State taxes
Minnesota has a slightly
progressive income tax structure; the three brackets of state
income tax rates are 5.35%, 7.05% and 7.85%. Minnesota is ranked as the 6th highest in the nation for per capita total state taxes. The
sales tax in Minnesota is 6.5%, but there's no sales tax on
clothing,
prescription medications, some
services, or
food items for home consumption. The
state legislature may allow municipalities to institute local sales taxes and special local taxes, such as the 0.5% supplemental sales tax in Minneapolis.
Excise taxes are levied on alcohol, tobacco, and motor fuel. The state imposes a
use tax on items purchased elsewhere but used within Minnesota. with some 2.3 million theater tickets sold annually. The
Minnesota Fringe Festival is an annual celebration of
theatre,
dance,
improvisation,
puppetry, kids' shows,
visual art, and musicals. The summer festival consists of over 800 performances over 11 days in Minneapolis, and is the largest non-juried performing arts festival in the United States.
Literature
The rigors and rewards of pioneer life on the
prairie were the subject of
Giants in the Earth by
Ole Rolvaag and of the
Little House series of children's books by
Laura Ingalls Wilder. Small-town life was savaged by
Sinclair Lewis in the novel
Main Street, and more gently and affectionately satirized by
Garrison Keillor in his tales of
Lake Wobegon. St. Paul native
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote of the social insecurities and aspirations of the young city in stories such as
Winter Dreams and
The Ice Palace (published in
Flappers and Philosophers).
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.
Entertainment
Prince, harmony singers
The Andrews Sisters,
rockabilly star
Eddie Cochran, folk musician
Bob Dylan, garage rock band
The Castaways, pop songwriters
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis,
Jonny Lang, and
Soul Asylum. Minnesota has also produced cult favorites such as
Hüsker Dü and
The Replacements.
Minnesotans have made significant contributions to comedy, theater, and film.
Ole and Lena jokes are best appreciated when delivered in the accent of
Scandinavian Americans.
Garrison Keillor is known around the country for resurrecting old-style
radio comedy with
A Prairie Home Companion, which has aired since the 1970s. Local
television had the
satirical show
The Bedtime Nooz in the 1960s, while area natives
Lizz Winstead and
Craig Kilborn helped create the increasingly influential
Daily Show decades later. Actors from the state include
Eddie Albert,
Judy Garland,
Jessica Lange, and
Winona Ryder.
Joel and Ethan Coen,
Terry Gilliam and
Mike Todd contributed to the art of
film, and others brought the offbeat
cult shows Mystery Science Theater 3000 and
Let's Bowl to national
cable from the Twin Cities.
Popular culture
Stereotypical Minnesotan traits include manners known as "
Minnesota nice,"
Lutheranism, a strong sense of community and shared culture, and a distinctive
Upper Midwestern accent sprinkled with Scandinavian-sounding words such as
uff da.
Potlucks, usually with a variety of
hotdish casseroles, are popular at community functions, especially church activities. Minnesota's Scandinavian heritage makes
lutefisk a traditional holiday dish. Movies like
Fargo,
Drop Dead Gorgeous,
Grumpy Old Men and
Grumpier Old Men, the
radio show A Prairie Home Companion and the book
How to Talk Minnesotan lampoon (and celebrate) Minnesotan culture, speech and mannerisms.
The
Minnesota State Fair, advertised as
The Great Minnesota Get-Together, is an icon of state culture. In a state of 5.1 million people, there were nearly 1.7 million visitors to the fair in 2006. The fair covers the variety of life in Minnesota, including
fine art,
science,
agriculture, food preparation,
4H displays, music,
the midway, and corporate merchandising. It is known for its displays of
seed art,
butter sculptures of
dairy princesses, the birthing barn, and dozens of varieties of food on a stick, such as
Pronto Pups,
cheese curds, and deep fried candy bars. On a smaller scale, these attractions are also offered at the state's many county fairs.
Other large annual festivals include the
Saint Paul Winter Carnival, Minneapolis'
Aquatennial and Mill City Music Festival,
Moondance Jam in Walker, and
Detroit Lakes' 10,000 Lakes Festival and WE Fest.
Health and education
Health
The people of Minnesota have a high rate of participation in outdoor activities; the state is ranked first in the percentage of residents who engage in regular exercise. Minnesotans have the nation's lowest premature death rate, third-lowest
infant mortality rate, and the second-longest life expectancies. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 91% of Minnesotans have health insurance, more than in any other state. These and other measures have led one group to rank Minnesota as the second-healthiest state in the nation, and another to rank it fourth.
On
1 October 2007, Minnesota became the 17th state to enact a statewide smoking ban in restaurants and bars with the enactment of
Freedom to Breathe Act of 2007.
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 is a highly 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. The
Mayo Clinic, a world-renowned medical practice, is based in
Rochester. 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.
Education
One of the first acts of the Minnesota Legislature when it opened in 1858 was the creation of a
normal school at
Winona. More recently, the state ranked 13
th on the 2006–2007
Morgan Quitno Smartest State Award, and is first in the percentage of residents with at least a high school diploma. More than 90% of high school seniors graduated in 2006, but about 6% of white, 28% of African American, 30% of Asian American and more than 34% of Hispanic and Native American students dropped out of school. While Minnesota has chosen not to implement
school vouchers, it's home to the first
charter school.
The state supports a network of public
universities and colleges, currently comprised of 32 institutions in the
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, and five major campuses of the
University of Minnesota. It is also home to more than 20 private colleges and universities, four of which rank among the top 100
liberal arts colleges, according to
U.S. News and World Report.
Transportation
Transportation in Minnesota is overseen by the
Minnesota Department of Transportation. Principal transportation corridors radiate from the
Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and Duluth. The major
Interstate highways are
I-35,
I-90, and
I-94, with I-35 and I-94 passing through the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, and I-90 going east-west along the southern edge of the state. In 2006, a
constitutional amendment was passed that required sales and use taxes on motor vehicles to fund transportation, with at least 40% dedicated to
public transit. There are nearly two dozen
rail corridors in Minnesota, most of which go through Minneapolis-St. Paul or Duluth. There is water transportation along the
Mississippi River system and from the ports of
Lake Superior.
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. Most other domestic carriers serve the airport. Large commercial jet service is provided at Duluth and Rochester, with scheduled commuter service to six smaller cities via Northwest Airlines subsidiary
Mesaba Airlines.
Amtrak's Empire Builder runs through Minnesota, making stops at
Midway Station in St. Paul and five other stations. Intercity bus service is provided by
Greyhound,
Jefferson Lines, and
Coach USA. 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.
Law and government
As with the federal government of the United States, power in Minnesota is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
Executive
The executive branch is headed by the
governor. The current governor is
Tim Pawlenty, a
Republican whose first term began
January 6,
2003, and who was narrowly re-elected in 2006. The current
Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota is
Carol Molnau, who was also the head of the
Minnesota Department of Transportation until the Senate refused to confirm her appointment in February 2008. The offices of governor and lieutenant governor have four-year terms. The governor has a
cabinet consisting of the leaders of various state government agencies, called commissioners. The other elected constitutional offices are
secretary of state,
attorney general, and
state auditor.
Legislative
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 2006 election, the
Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) gained 19 house seats, giving them control of the House of Representatives by 85–49. The Senate is also controlled by the DFL. In early 2008, the DFL picked up an additional seat in a special election to expand their majority to 45–22. The DFL now controls a
veto-proof majority in the Senate.
Judicial
Minnesota's court system has three levels. Most cases start in the
district courts, which are courts of general jurisdiction. There are 272 district court judges in ten judicial districts. Appeals from the trial courts and challenges to certain governmental decisions are heard by the
Minnesota Court of Appeals, consisting of sixteen judges who typically sit in three-judge panels. The seven-justice
Minnesota Supreme Court hears all appeals from the Tax Court, the Worker's Compensation Court, first-degree murder convictions, and
discretionary appeals from the Court of Appeals; it also has
original jurisdiction over election disputes.
Two specialized courts within administrative agencies have been established: the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals, and the Tax Court, which deals with non-criminal tax cases.
Regional
Below the city and county levels of government found in the United States, Minnesota 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.
There are seven
Anishinaabe reservations and four
Dakota communities in Minnesota. These communities are self-governing.
Federal
Minnesota's two
United States senators are Republican
Norm Coleman and Democrat
Amy Klobuchar. The state has eight
congressional districts; they're represented by
Tim Walz (
1st district),
John Kline (
2nd),
Jim Ramstad (
3rd),
Betty McCollum (
4th),
Keith Ellison (
5th),
Michele Bachmann (
6th),
Collin Peterson (
7th), and
James Oberstar (
8th).
Federal court 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. Appeals are heard by the
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals based in
St. Louis, Missouri and St. Paul.
Politics
populism has been a longstanding force among the state's
political parties. Minnesota has a consistently high
voter turnout, due in part to its liberal
voter registration laws, with virtually no evidence of voter fraud. In the
2004 U.S. presidential election, 77.2% of eligible Minnesotans voted—the most of any U.S. state—versus the national average of 60.93%. Previously unregistered voters can register on
election day at their
polls with evidence of residency.
Hubert Humphrey brought national attention to the state with his address at the
1948 Democratic National Convention.
Eugene McCarthy's anti-war stance and popularity before the
1968 Democratic National Convention likely convinced
Lyndon B. Johnson to drop out of the
presidential election. Minnesotans have consistently cast their Electoral College votes for Democratic presidential candidates since 1976, longer than any other state. Minnesota is the only state in the nation that didn't vote for
Ronald Reagan in either of his presidential runs.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties have major party status in Minnesota, but its state-level "Democratic" party is actually a separate party, officially known as the
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). Formed out of a 1944 alliance of the Minnesota Democratic and
Farmer-Labor parties, the DFL now serves as a de-facto proxy to the federal
Democratic Party, and its distinction from the Democratic Party, while still official, is now a functional technicality.
The state has had active third party movements. The
Reform Party, now the
Independence Party, was able to elect former mayor of
Brooklyn Park and
professional wrestler Jesse Ventura to the
governorship in 1998. The
Independence Party has received enough support to keep major party status. The
Green Party, while no longer having major party status, has a large presence in municipal government, notably in
Minneapolis and
Duluth, where it competes directly with the DFL party for local offices. Official "Major party" status in Minnesota (which grants state funding for elections) is reserved to parties, which receive 5% or more of the state's general vote in the U.S. Presidential election. Status is revised every four years.
Senator
Norm Coleman (R-M) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, defeating former Vice President and former U.S. Senator
Walter Mondale (D-MN), who entered the race as the Democratic candidate after Senator
Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash on October 25, 2002. Before his election to the U.S. Senate, Senator Coleman was the mayor of
Saint Paul, Minnesota from 1994 to 2002 and served 17 years with the Minnesota Attorney General Office, holding the positions of Chief Prosecutor and Solicitor General of the State of Minnesota. In 1996, after becoming increasingly frustrated with the Democratic Party, Coleman joined the Republican Party, which more closely matched his values. In his 1997 mayoral campaign for re-election as a Republican, Coleman received 59 percent of the vote.
The state's
U.S. Senate seats have generally been split since the early 1990s, and in the
108th and
109th Congresses, Minnesota's congressional delegation was split, with four representatives and one senator from each party. In the 2006 mid-term election, Democrats were elected to all state offices except for governor and lieutenant governor, where Republicans
Tim Pawlenty and
Carol Molnau narrowly won re-election. The DFL also posted double-digit gains in both houses of the legislature, elected
Amy Klobuchar to the U.S. Senate, and increased the party's U.S. House caucus by one.
Keith Ellison (DFL) was elected as the first
African American U.S. Representative from Minnesota as well as the first
Muslim elected to Congress nationwide. At the same time
Michele Bachmann became the third woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota and the first
Republican woman to represent the state on
Capitol Hill.
»
Media
The Twin Cities area is the 15
th largest
media market in the United States as ranked by
Nielsen Media Research. The state's other top markets are
Fargo-Moorhead (118
th nationally),
Duluth-Superior (137
th), Rochester-Mason City-Austin (152
nd), and
Mankato
(200
th).
Broadcast television in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest started on
April 27,
1948, when
KSTP-TV began broadcasting.
Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation, which owns KSTP, is now the only locally owned television company in Minnesota. There are currently
39 analog broadcast stations and 23
digital channels broadcast over Minnesota.
The four largest daily newspapers are the
Star Tribune in Minneapolis, the
Pioneer Press in Saint Paul, the
Duluth News Tribune in Duluth and
The Minnesota Daily, the largest student-run newspaper in the U.S. Sites offering daily news on the Web include
MinnPost, the Twin Cities
Daily Planet and Washington D.C.-based
Minnesota Monitor. Weeklies including
City Pages and monthly publications such as
Minnesota Monthly are also available.
Two of the largest
public radio networks,
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) and
Public Radio International (PRI), are based in the state. MPR has the largest audience of any regional public radio network in the nation, broadcasting on 37 radio stations. PRI weekly provides more than 400 hours of programming to almost 800 affiliates. The state's oldest radio station,
KUOM-AM, was launched in 1922 and is among the 10
oldest radio stations in the
United States. The
University of Minnesota-owned station is still on the air, and since 1993 broadcasts a
college rock format.
Sports and recreation
Organized sports
Minnesota has professional men's teams in all major sports. The
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome is home to the
Minnesota Vikings of the
National Football League, and to the
Minnesota Twins of
Major League Baseball, winners of the
1987 and
1991 World Series. The
Minnesota Timberwolves of the
National Basketball Association play in the
Target Center. The
National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild team reached 300 consecutive sold-out games in St. Paul's
Xcel Energy Center on
January 16,
2008.
Minor league baseball is represented both by major league-sponsored teams and independent teams such as the popular
St. Paul Saints.
Professional women's sports include the
Minnesota Lynx of the
Women's National Basketball Association, the
Minnesota Vixen of the
Women's Professional Football League, and the
Minnesota Whitecaps of the
National Women's Hockey League.
The Twin Cities campus of the
University of Minnesota is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (
NCAA)
Division I school, with
sports teams competing in either the
Big Ten Conference or the
Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Four additional schools in the state compete in NCAA Division I ice hockey: the
University of Minnesota Duluth,
St. Cloud State University,
Bemidji State University, and
Minnesota State University Mankato. There are ten NCAA
Division II colleges represented by the
North Central Conference and the
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in Minnesota, and sixteen NCAA
Division III colleges represented by the
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.
Winter Olympic Games medalists from the state include eleven of the twenty members of the
gold medal 1980 ice hockey team (coached by Minnesota native
Herb Brooks) and the bronze medalist
U.S. men's curling team in the
2006 Winter Olympics. Swimmer
Tom Malchow won an Olympic gold medal in the
2000 Summer games and a silver medal in
1996.
Grandma's Marathon is run every summer along the scenic
North Shore of Lake Superior, and the
Twin Cities Marathon winds around lakes and the Mississippi River during the peak of the
fall color season.
Outdoor recreation
Minnesotans participate in high levels of physical activity, and many of these activities are outdoors. The strong interest of Minnesotans in
environmentalism has been attributed to the popularity of these pursuits.
In the warmer months, these activities often involve water. Weekend and longer trips to family
cabins on Minnesota's numerous lakes are a way of life for many residents. Activities include
water sports such as
water skiing, which originated in the state,
boating,
canoeing, and
fishing. More than 36% of Minnesotans fish, second only to Alaska.
Fishing doesn't cease when the lakes freeze;
ice fishing has been around since the arrival of early
Scandinavian immigrants. Minnesotans have learned to embrace their long, harsh winters in ice sports such as
skating,
hockey,
curling, and
broomball, and snow sports such as
cross-country skiing,
snowshoeing, and
snowmobiling.
State and national
forests and the
72 state parks are used year-round for
hunting,
camping, and
hiking. There are almost of snowmobile trails statewide. Minnesota has more miles of
bike trails than any other state, and a growing network of
hiking trails, including the
Superior Hiking Trail in the northeast. Many hiking and bike trails are used for cross-country skiing during the winter.
State symbols
Minnesota's state symbols:
State bird: Common Loon
State butterfly: Monarch
State drink: Milk
State fish: Walleye
State flower: Pink and white lady slipper
State fruit: Honeycrisp apple
State gemstone: Lake Superior agate
State grain: Wild rice
State motto: L'Étoile du Nord ("The Star of the North")
State muffin: Blueberry
State mushroom: Morel
State photograph: Grace
State song: "Hail! Minnesota"
State tree: Red Pine also known as Norway Pine
Nicknames:
- "Land of 10,000 Lakes"
- "North Star State"
- "Gopher State"
- "Land of Sky-Blue Waters"
- "Bread and Butter State"
Further Information
Get more info on 'Minnesota'.
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