City (pop., 2000: 382,618), eastern Minnesota, U.S. The state's largest city, it is situated on the Mississippi River near the mouth of the Minnesota River .
With St. Paul across the river it forms the Twin Cities metropolitan area. First visited by French missionary Louis Hennepin in 1680, the area developed as a military outpost. On the eastern bank was the village of St. Anthony (inc. 1855), on the western bank, Minneapolis village (inc. 1856). In 1872 the two merged as the city of Minneapolis, which developed as a centre of the lumber and wheat industries. Still a grain market for the surrounding agricultural region, it is also a manufacturing centre. Its educational institutions include the University of Minnesota.