MINNESOTA

constituent state of the United States of America. Its 84,402 square miles (218,601 square kilometres) are bounded on the north by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, on the east by Lake Superior and Wisconsin, on the south by Iowa, and on the west by South and North Dakota. A small extension of the northern boundary makes Minnesota the most northerly of the 48 coterminous U.S. states. This irregularity is the result of a general boundary agreement with Great Britain before the area had been carefully surveyed. St. Paul is the state capital. The state lies near the heart of the North American continent. Its waters flow southward through the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, eastward through the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, and northward via the Red and Rainy rivers to Hudson Bay. Minnesota, which became the 32nd state on May 11, 1858, received its name from the Dakota (Sioux) word for the Mississippi's major tributary in the state, which means Sky-Tinted Waters. Minnesota is a land of extensive woodlands, fertile prairies, and innumerable lakes, more than 12,000 of which are larger than 10 acres (four hectares) in area. The nearly 5,000 square miles of inland fresh water are a dominant feature of life in Minnesota. Its climate is continental, with cold winters and warm summers. About one in four Minnesotans is at least part Scandinavian, but Germans constitute the single largest ethnic group in the state. In the past the Minnesota economy has been dominated by the production and processing of its timber, iron ore, and agricultural resources. While agriculture remains important, the state's economy has become much more diversified since World War II, with the rapid growth of specialized manufacturing and services. constituent state of the United States of America, lying in the upper Midwestern region of the country. The Midwest. Minnesota is bounded on the north by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, on the east by Lake Superior and Wisconsin, on the south by Iowa, and on the west by South and North Dakota. The state capital is St. Paul. Until the mid-19th century, two major Indian tribes occupied what is now Minnesota: the Ojibwa (Chippewa) and the Dakota (Sioux). The earliest verifiable Europeans in the area were 17th-century French explorers searching for a Northwest Passage. The area passed under U.S. control in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase, but the first permanent U.S. settlement was not made until Fort Snelling was founded (1819). The first large wave of permanent settlers came from New England to exploit the vast forestlands that covered about two-fifths of the state. Minnesota became the 32nd state in 1858. Minnesota straddles three continental watersheds: the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, and the Red and Rainy rivers to Hudson Bay. Glaciation carved more than 15,000 lakes out of the surface. Extreme southeastern Minnesota is the only unglaciated part of the state, where streams cut their ways through layers of limestone over many thousands of years and steep rocky bluffs rise 500 feet (150 m) or more above the valleys. Minnesota's vegetation makes a sharp transition from needle-leaf and hardwood forest zones to tallgrass prairie, although little of the pre-settlement vegetation remains. Climate is extremely varied because the state stretches from the subarctic forest in the north to the Corn Belt in the south and from the Great Lakes storm belt in the east to the semiarid Great Plains in the west. July daily maximum temperatures range from 85 F (29 C) in the south to 70 F (21 C) along the shore of Lake Superior. Average daily January highs range from 25 F (-4 C) in the south to 15 F (-9 C) in the north. Average annual precipitation ranges from more than 30 inches (750 mm) in the southeast to less than 20 inches (500 mm) in the northwest. Many parts of Minnesota have continuous snow cover for at least 90 days, from about mid-December to mid-March. Minnesota's first settlers from New England were followed by large numbers of Germans, Norwegians, and Swedes, who came to establish homesteads in the 1880s. There are Finns in the northeast, Poles in the southeast and centre, and Bohemians south of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The state is largely Lutheran and Roman Catholic. In the late 20th century there were some 35,000 Indians, mostly Ojibwa, nearly half of whom lived in the Twin Cities area. The black population is barely more than 1 percent of the total. From 1980 to 1985 the state had a moderate population growth rate that was little more than half the national average. Agriculture and related businesses are Minnesota's economic mainstays. Grains, meat, and dairy products are the leading products. Mineral resources abound, especially iron ore and taconite, granite, and limestone. Manufacturing activities produce processed food, pulp and paper products, primary metals, and electronic equipment, but manufacturing employs only about one in four workers. The Twin Cities, with service by road, rail, air, and water, are the centre of Minnesota's transportation network. Grain and ore are carried by rail to the Great Lakes ports of Duluth and Superior (in adjoining Wisconsin). The MinneapolisSt. Paul International Airport is the hub of air transportation for the upper Midwest. The Twin Cities are also the cultural centre of Minnesota and of the region. They are home to the renowned Minnesota Orchestra, the Guthrie Theatre, the Walker Art Center, the University of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Dance Theatre. Outdoor recreation figures prominently in the state, and many residents take advantage of the state's numerous lakes and natural areas. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester is a world-renowned medical and health centre. Area 84,402 square miles (218,601 square km). Pop. (1990) 4,375,099. Additional reading Illustrated overviews of the state's past and present include Federal Writers' Project, Minnesota: A State Guide (1938, reprinted as The WPA Guide to Minnesota, 1985), still worth consulting; and Patricia Condon Johnston, Minnesota: Portrait of the Land and Its People (1987). John R. Borchert and Neil C. Gustafson, Atlas of Minnesota Resources & Settlement, 3rd ed. (1980), contains maps with interpretive text of the state's economic, social, and demographic conditions. Topographic maps are available in DeLorme Mapping Company, Minnesota Atlas & Gazetteer, 2nd ed. (1994). Physical features are described by George M. Schwartz and George A. Thiel, Minnesota's Rocks and Waters: A Geological Story, rev. ed. (1963); and Richard W. Ojakangas and Charles L. Matsch, Minnesota's Geology (1982). Local history and geography are combined in Warren Upham, Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance (1920, reprinted 1969). Hiram M. Drache, The Challenge of the Prairie: Life and Times of Red River Pioneers (1970), looks at family, social, religious, and economic life in the valley of the Red River of the North. June Drenning Holmquist (ed.), They Chose Minnesota: A Survey of the State's Ethnic Groups (1981), covers the years from 1850 to 1980. Merrill E. Jarchow, The Earth Brought Forth: A History of Minnesota Agriculture to 1885 (1949, reissued 1970); and Don W. Larson, Land of the Giants: A History of Minnesota Business (1979), discuss economic history. Mary Ann Grossmann and Tom Thomsen (eds.), The Minnesota Almanac, 1988, 3rd ed. (1987), compiles statistics on a variety of subjects.Studies of Minnesota's past may be found in William Watts Folwell, A History of Minnesota, rev. ed., 4 vol. (195669); Theodore C. Blegen, Minnesota, expanded ed. (1975); and William E. Lass, Minnesota, 2nd ed. (1998). Minnesota History (quarterly) contains popular articles on state history. Neil C. Gustafson The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica