Information Minnesota
Minnesota, nicknamed North Star State, is located in the north of the United States of America and is five times larger than the Netherlands. Because there are more than 12,000 lakes in Minnesota, it is also referred to as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, with Lake Superior being the largest freshwater lake in the world. The state is divided into three zones. In the north there are large areas with conifers, in the west prairies and fields and in the northeast you will find deciduous trees. The capital of Minnesota is not the large Minneapolis but the smaller St.Paul. See all cities in Minnesota.
Geography
Minnesota is located in the northern United States of America and belongs to both the Great Lakes and Midwest regions. The state borders the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario in America, it borders Wisconsin, Iowa and Nort & South Dakota. The state is 570 kilometers from east to west and 650 kilometers from north to south. In the north lies Northwest Angle, a very beautiful nature reserve that can only be reached via Canada.
‘The state consists of two types of landscapes, forests and hills in the northeast and the flat prairies in the south. The highest point in Minnesota is the 701-foot-tall Eagle Mountain. Minnesota has a number of large lakes including Lake Superior “belonging to the Great Lakes”, Lake of the Woods and the Lower and Upper Red Lake. Minnesota’s major rivers are the Mississippi River, the Red River, and the St. Croix River.
History
The original inhabitants of Minnesota were the Indian tribes of the Sioux, Ojibwe and the Chippewa. French explorers were the first Europeans to visit the area in the 17th century and established some settlements in the early 18th century.
In 1763 the area that belonged to French Canada came into the hands of the English and in 1783 in the hands of the United States. In 1819, explorer Zebulon Pike built the first American fort. Minnesota officially joined the United States of America as the 32nd state on May 11, 1858.
Economy
The main source of income today comes from industry. The main industrial products are foodstuffs, paper, chemicals, plastics and electronics. Agriculture with oats, wheat, maize, sugar beet, barley and soybeans still makes a major economic contribution to the state. Livestock is the largest agricultural sector, especially pig, beef and poultry farms.
More than half of all iron production in the United States comes from Minnesota. Tourism also plays an important role in the state’s economy, especially around Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods.
| Abbreviation: | MN |
| Nickname: | North Star State |
| Joined the US as the 32nd state on: | May 11, 1858 |
| Capital city: | Saint Paul |
| Census: | 5,344.861 |
| Surface: | 225,365 km² |
| Geography: | Bordering Canada, Wisconsin, Iowa, North & South Dakota |
| Governor: | Tim Walz |
| State motto: | Star of the North |
| California official website: | mn.gov |
