 Following
the visits of several French explorers, fur traders, and
missionaries, including Jacques Marquette, Louis Joliet, and
sieur de la Salle, the region was claimed for Louis XIV by
Daniel Greysolon, sieur Duluth, in 1679.
The U.S.
acquired eastern Minnesota from Great Britain after the
Revolutionary War and 20 years later bought the western part
from France in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Much of the
region was explored by U.S. Army Lt. Zebulon M. Pike before the
northern strip of Minnesota bordering Canada was ceded by
Britain in 1818.
The state
is rich in natural resources. A few square miles of land in the
north in the Mesabi, Cuyuna, and Vermillion ranges produce more
than 75% of the nation's iron ore. The state's farms rank high
in yields of corn, wheat, rye, alfalfa, and sugar beets. Other
leading farm products include butter, eggs, milk, potatoes,
green peas, barley, soybeans, oats, and livestock.
Minnesota's factory production includes nonelectrical machinery,
fabricated metals, flour-mill products, plastics, electronic
computers, scientific instruments, and processed foods. It is
also one of the nation's leaders in the printing and
paper-products industries.
Minneapolis is the trade center of the Midwest, and the
headquarters of the world's largest super-computer and grain
distributor. St. Paul is the nation's biggest publisher of
calendars and law books. These "twin cities" are the nation's
third-largest trucking center. Duluth has the nation's largest
inland harbor and now handles a significant amount of foreign
trade. Rochester is the home of the Mayo Clinic, an
internationally famous medical center.
Today,
tourism is a major revenue producer in Minnesota, with arts,
fishing, hunting, water sports, and winter sports bringing in
millions of visitors each year.
Among the
most popular attractions are the St. Paul Winter Carnival; the
Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, the Institute of Arts, Walker Art
Center, and Minnehaha Park, in Minneapolis; Boundary Waters
Canoe Area; Voyageurs National Park; North Shore Drive; the
Minnesota Zoological Gardens; and the state's more than 10,000
lakes.
Nickname: North Star State;
Gopher State; Land of 10,000 Lakes
Origin of name:
From a Dakota Indian word meaning
"sky-tinted water"
10 largest cities (1999 est.):
Minneapolis, 353,395; St. Paul, 256,213; Bloomington, 86,226;
Duluth, 80,980; Rochester, 80,768; Brooklyn Park, 63,758; Coon
Rapids, 63,479; Plymouth, 62,152; Burnsville, 60,308; Eagan,
59,972
Land area: 79,617 sq mi. (206,207
sq km)
Geographic center: In Crow Wing
Co., 10 mi. SW of Brainerd
Number of counties:
87
Largest county by population and area:
Hennepin, 1,064,419 (1999 est.); St. Louis, 6,226 sq mi.
State forests: 55
State parks: 66 (226,000 ac.)
Residents: Minnesotan
1999 resident population est.:
4,775,508
1990 resident census population (rank):
4,375,099 (20). Male:
2,145,183; Female:
2,229,916. White: 4,130,395
(94.4%); Black: 94,944
(2.2%); American Indian:
49,909 (1.1%); Asian: 77,886
(1.8%); Other race: 21,965
(0.5%); Hispanic: 53,884
(1.2%). 1990 percent population under
18: 26.7; 65 and over:
12.5; median age: 32.4. |
