Minnesota



 is a  located in the  of the. The 12th-largest state by area in the U.S., it is the 21st most populous, with just over five million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the and admitted to the Union as the 32nd state on,. The state is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", and those and the other waters for which the state is named, together with state and national forests and parks, offer residents and tourists a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities.

Nearly 60% of Minnesota's live in the   known as the Twin Cities, the center of, , and , and home to an internationally known  community. The remainder of the state, often referred to as "" or "Outstate Minnesota", consists of western s now given over to intensive ; eastern, also heavily and settled; and the less-populated northern. While the state's residents are primarily and of  ancestry, substantial influxes of, , and n immigrants have joined the descendants of  immigrants and of the original  inhabitants.

The extremes of the climate contrast with the moderation of Minnesota’s people. The state is known for its -to- and social policies, its civic involvement, and high. It ranks among the healthiest states by a number of measures, and has one of the most highly educated and populations.

Etymology
The word Minnesota comes from the name for the : Mnisota. The root Mni (also spelled mini or minne) means "water". Mnisota can be translated as sky-tinted water or somewhat clouded water. demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it mnisota. Many locations in the state have similar names, such as ("waterfall", not "laughing waters" as is commonly thought),  ("white water"),  ("big water"),  ("crooked water"), and, which is a combination of mni and polis, the Greek word for "city."

Geography
Minnesota is the northernmost state outside of Alaska; its isolated in  is the only part of the 48  lying north of the. Minnesota is in the U.S. region known as the. The state shares a water border with  and  on the northeast; the remainder of the eastern border is with. is to the south, and  are west, and the  s of  and  are north. With 87,014 square miles (225,365 km²), or approximately 2.25% of the United States, Minnesota is the 12th largest state.

Geology and terrain


Minnesota contains some of the oldest rocks found on earth, es some 3.6 billion years old, or 80% as old as the planet. About 2.7 billion years ago, ic poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ; the remains of this  rock formed the  in northeast Minnesota. The roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of seas formed the  of northern Minnesota. Following a period of 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.

In more recent times, massive ice sheets at least one thick ravaged the landscape of the state and sculpted its current terrain. The left 12,000 years ago. These glaciers covered all of Minnesota except the far southeast, an area characterized by steep hills and streams that cut into the. This area is known as the for its absence of glacial drift. Much of the remainder of the state outside of the northeast has 50 feet (15 m) or more of  left behind as the last glaciers retreated. 13,000 years ago gigantic formed in the northwest; the lake's outflow, the, carved the valley of the , and its bottom created the fertile lands of the  valley. Minnesota is geologically quiet today; it experiences s infrequently, and most of them are minor. The state's high point is at 2,301 feet (701 m), which is only 13 miles (20.9 km) away from the low of 602 feet (183 m) at the shore of. Notwithstanding dramatic local differences in elevation, much of the state is a gently rolling.

Two s meet in the northeastern part of Minnesota in rural, forming a triple. can follow the south to the, the  east to the , or the  to the.

The state's nickname, The Land of 10,000 Lakes, is no exaggeration; there are 11,842 lakes over 10 s (.04 km²) in size. The Minnesota portion of is the largest at 962,700 acres (3,896 km²) and deepest (at 1,290 ft, 393 m) body of water in the state. Minnesota has 6,564 natural rivers and streams that cumulatively flow for 69,000 miles (111,000 km). The begins its journey from its  at  and crosses the  border  downstream. It is joined by the at, by the  near , by the  at , and by many smaller streams. The, in the bed of glacial Lake Agassiz, drains the northwest part of the state northward toward Canada's. Approximately 10.6 million acres (42,900 km²) of wetlands are contained within Minnesota's borders, the most of any state except Alaska.

Flora and fauna
Three of 's s converge in Minnesota: in the southwestern and western parts of the state, the   of the southeast and east-central, and the northern. The northern coniferous forests are a vast wilderness of and  trees mixed with patchy stands of  and. Much of Minnesota's northern forest has been logged, leaving only a few patches of today in areas such as in the  and the  where the  has some 400,000 acres (1,600 km²) of unlogged land. Although logging continues, regrowth keeps about one third of the state forested. While loss of habitat has affected native animals such as the, , and , and  thrive. The state has the nation's largest population of outside Alaska, and supports healthy populations of  and. Located on the, Minnesota hosts migratory waterfowl such as and , and game birds such as , , and. It is home to including the, , and. The lakes teem with the sport fish such as, , , and , and streams in the southeast are populated by , , and.

Climate
Minnesota endures characteristic of its ; with cold winters and hot summers, the record high and low span 174 degrees  (96.6 °C). Meteorological events include, , , , s, , , and high-velocity. The growing season varies from 90 days per year in the 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 s 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. Minnesota has experienced record low temperatures of -60 on February 2, 1996 in Tower Minnesota on the southeast shore of Lake Vermillion

Protected lands
Minnesota is home to a variety of wilderness, park, and other open spaces. Minnesota's first state park,, was established in 1891, and is the of the Mississippi River. Today Minnesota has and recreation areas,  covering about four million acres (16,000 km²), and numerous state wildlife preserves, all managed by the. There are 5.5 million acres (22,000 km²) in the and s.  The Superior National Forest in the northeast contains the, which encompasses over a million acres (4,000 km²) and a thousand lakes. To its west is, the state's only national park.

History
Before European settlement, Minnesota was populated by the, the , and other. The first ans were rs who arrived in the 1600s. Late that century, the Indians migrated westward to Minnesota, causing tensions with the Sioux. Explorers such as, Father , , , and , among others, mapped out the state.

The portion of the state east of the became a part of the United States at the end of the, when the  was signed. Land west of the Mississippi River was acquired with the, although a portion of the was disputed until the. In 1805, bargained with Native Americans to acquire land at the  of the  and  rivers. The construction of followed between 1819 and 1825. Its soldiers built a and a  at, the first of the water-powered industries around which the city of  later grew. Meanwhile, squatters, government officials, and tourists had settled in the vicinity of the fort. In 1839, the Army forced them to move downriver, and they settled in the area that became. was formed on,. Thousands of people had come to build s and cut, and Minnesota became the on ,.

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. 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 in.

Logging and farming were mainstays of Minnesota's early economy. The sawmills at Saint Anthony Falls, and logging centers like, , and , processed high volumes of lumber. These cities were situated on rivers that were ideal for transportation. Later, Saint Anthony Falls was tapped to provide power for. Innovations by Minneapolis millers led to the production of Minnesota "patent" flour, which commanded almost double the price of "bakers" or "clear" flour, which it replaced. By 1900, Minnesota mills, led by and the Washburn-Crosby Company (a forerunner of ), were grinding 14.1% of the nation's grain.

The state's -mining industry was established with the discovery of iron in the and the  in the 1880s, and in the  in the early 1900s. The ore was shipped by rail to and, then loaded onto ships and transported eastward over the.

Industrial development and the rise of manufacturing caused the population to shift gradually from rural areas to cities during the early 1900s. Nevertheless, farming remained prevalent. Minnesota's economy was hard-hit by the, resulting in lower prices for farmers, layoffs among iron miners, and labor unrest. Compounding the adversity, western Minnesota and the Dakotas were hit by from 1931 to 1935. programs provided some economic turnaround. The and other programs around the state established some jobs for Indians on their reservations, and the  of 1934 provided the tribes with a mechanism of self-government. This provided natives a greater voice within the state, and promoted more respect for tribal customs because religious ceremonies and native languages were no longer suppressed.

After, industrial development quickened. New technology increased farm productivity through automation of s for hogs and cattle, machine milking at dairy farms, and raising chickens in large buildings. Planting became more specialized with ization of corn and wheat, and the use of farm machinery such as s and became the norm. professor contributed to these developments as part of the. an development accelerated due to increased postwar housing demand and convenient transportation. Increased mobility, in turn, enabled more specialized jobs.

Minnesota became a center of technology after the war. was formed in 1946 to develop computers for the. It later merged with, and then became. left Sperry in 1957 to form (CDC). was formed when left CDC to form his own company. Medical device maker also started business in the Twin Cities in 1949.

Cities and towns
, located in east-central Minnesota along the banks of the Mississippi River, has been Minnesota's since 1849, first as capital of the, and then as state capital since 1858.

Saint Paul is adjacent to Minnesota's most populous city, ; they and their suburbs are known collectively as the, the 16th 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 "" or "Outstate Minnesota".

Minnesota has 17 cities with populations above fifty thousand (based on 2005 estimates). In descending order they are, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and. Of these listed, only Rochester, Duluth, and St. Cloud are outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Minnesota's population continues to grow, primarily in the urban centers. The populations of metropolitan and  doubled between 1980 and 2000, while 40 of the state's 87 counties lost residents over the same decades.

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. As of, , the state's population was estimated at 5,167,101 by the U.S. Census Bureau. 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 of Minnesota is located in, in the city of.

Race and ancestry
Over 75% of Minnesota's residents are of descent, with the largest reported ancestries being  (39%),  (17.2%),  (11.9%), and  (9.6%). As of 2005, 6.3% of residents were foreign-born, compared to 12.4% for the nation. The state has had the reputation of being relatively homogeneous, but that is changing. The Hispanic population of Minnesota is increasing rapidly, and recent s have come from all over the world, including, , , ns and emigrants from the former.

The state's racial composition in 2005 was:


 * 86.3% (non-Hispanic);
 * 4.1% (non-Hispanic);
 * 3.6%, a category that includes people of many races;
 * 3.4% /Pacific Islander;
 * 1.1% /Alaskan Native;
 * 1.5% ;
 * 1.8% other races.

Religion
A 2001 survey indicated that 25% of Minnesota's population was, and 24% was. Other religious groups represented were (5%),  (4%), s (2%), the  (2%), and the  (2%). Christians with unstated or other denominational affiliations, including other, totaled 13%, bringing the total Christian population to 77%. Non-Christian religions, such as, , , and , together represented 3% of the population. Fourteen percent of respondents answered "no religion" on the survey, and 6% refused to answer.

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 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, , , , , , and. The second-largest privately owned U.S. company,, is headquartered in. The in 2005 was $37,290, the tenth-highest in the nation. The three-year from 2002-2004 was $55,914, ranking fifth in the U.S. and first among the 36 states not on the Atlantic coast.

Industry and commerce
Minnesota's earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture; the city of Minneapolis grew around the powered by. Although less than 1% of the population is employed in the agricultural sector, it remains a major part of the state's economy, ranking 6th in the nation in the value of products sold. The state is the U.S.'s largest producer of, , and for processing, and farm-raised. remains strong, including, 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 for over a century. Although the high-grade ore is now depleted, mining continues, using processes developed locally to save the industry. In 2004, the state produced 75% of the country's usable iron ore. The mining boom created the port of which continues to be important for shipping ore, coal, and agricultural products. The manufacturing sector now includes technology and firms in addition to the older food processors and heavy industry. The nation's first indoor was   and its largest is.

Energy use and production
The state produces and is the first to mandate its use, a 10% mix  since 1997, and a 20% mix (E20) in 2013. There are more than 310 service stations supplying fuel. A 2% blend has been required in  since 2005. As of December 2006 the state was the country's fourth-largest producer of, with 895 s installed and another 200 megawatts planned, much of it on the windy  in the southwest part of the state.

State taxes
Minnesota has a slightly structure; the three brackets of state  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 in Minnesota is 6.5%, but there is no sales tax on,  , some s, or  items for home consumption. The may allow municipalities to institute local sales taxes and special local taxes, such as the 0.5% supplemental sales tax in Minneapolis. are levied on alcohol, tobacco, and motor fuel. The state imposes a on items purchased elsewhere but used within Minnesota. Owners of in Minnesota pay  to their county, municipality, school district, and special taxing districts.

Fine and performing arts
The Twin Cities area is considered the artistic capital of the Upper Midwest. Its major museums include the, the , and the. The and the  are full-time professional s that perform concerts and offer educational programs to the community. Attendance at, al, and events in the area is strong, which may be attributed to the cold winters, the large population of post-secondary students, and a generally vibrant economy. The moved into a new building in 2006, boasting three stages and overlooking the Mississippi River. In the U.S., the Twin Cities' number of theater seats per capita ranks behind only ; with some 2.3 million theater tickets sold annually. The Minneapolis is an annual celebration of, , , , kids' shows, , and musicals. The summer festival consists of over 800 performances in 11 days, and is the largest non-juried performing arts festival in the United States.

Literature
The rigors and rewards of pioneer life on the were the subject of Giants in the Earth by  and of the  series of children's books by. Small-town life was savaged by in the novel , and more gently and affectionately satirized by  in his tales of. St. Paul native wrote of the social insecurities and aspirations of the young city in stories such as ' and The Ice Palace (published in '). 's famous epic poem  was inspired by Minnesota and many places and bodies of water in the state are named in the poem.

Entertainment


Minnesotan musicians of many genres include soul star, harmony singers , star , folk musician , pop songwriters , , and. Minnesota has also produced cult favorites such as and. Minnesotans have made significant contributions to comedy, theater, and film. jokes are best appreciated when delivered in the accent of n Americans. is known around the country for resurrecting old-style with , which has aired since the 1970s. Local had the  show The Bedtime Nooz in the 1960s, while area natives  and  helped create the increasingly influential  decades later. Actors from the state include, , , , , , , , and. , and  contributed to the art of, and others brought the offbeat  ' and ' to national  from the Twin Cities.

Popular culture
Minnesotan traits include manners known as ",", a strong sense of community and shared culture, and a distinctive sprinkled with Scandinavian-sounding words such as . s, usually with a variety of casseroles, are popular at community functions, especially church activities. Minnesota's Norwegian and Scandinavian heritage makes a traditional holiday dish. Movies like ', ', ' and ', the '  and the book ' lampoon (and celebrate) Minnesotan culture, speech and mannerisms.

The, 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, , , food preparation, displays, music, , and corporate merchandising. It is known for its displays of, sculptures of , the birthing barn, and dozens of varieties of food on a stick, such as s, , 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, Minneapolis' and Mill City Music Festival,  in Walker, and   and WE Fest.

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 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, Minnesota became the 17th state to enact a statewide smoking ban in restaurants and bars with the enactment of  of 2007.

Medical care is provided by a comprehensive network of hospitals and clinics, headed by two institutions with international reputations. The 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  industry. The, a world-renowned medical practice, is based in. Mayo and the University are partners in the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics, a state-funded program that conducts research into, , , , and other areas.

Education
One of the first acts of the Minnesota Legislature when it opened in 1858 was the creation of a at. More recently, the state ranked 13th on the 2006–2007 Smartest State Award, and is first in the percentage of residents with at least a high school diploma. With an 84% graduation rate, Minnesota ranks 5th in the nation in high school graduation and Minnesota students earn the highest average score in the nation on the. While Minnesota has chosen not to implement s, it is home to the first.

The state supports a network of public and colleges, currently comprised of 32 institutions in the, and five major campuses of the. It is also home to more than 20 private colleges and universities, six of which rank among the top 100 colleges, according to.

Transportation
Transportation in Minnesota is overseen by the. Principal transportation corridors radiate from the metropolitan area and Duluth. The major are, , and , 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 was passed that required sales and use taxes on motor vehicles to fund transportation, with at least 40% dedicated to. There are nearly two dozen corridors in Minnesota, most of which go through Minneapolis-St. Paul or Duluth. There is water transportation along the system and from the ports of.

Minnesota's principal airport is (MSP), the headquarters and major passenger and freight hub for  and. The airport is served by most other domestic carriers. Large commercial jet service is provided at Duluth and Rochester, with scheduled commuter service to six smaller cities via Northwest Airlines subsidiary.

runs through Minnesota, making stops at in St. Paul and five other stations. It is the descendant of the famous line of the same name run by the, which was built by the tycoon and ran from  to. Intercity bus service is provided by, , and. Public transit in Minnesota is currently limited to systems in the larger cities and the   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. The current governor is, a whose first term began , , and who was narrowly re-elected in 2006. The current of Minnesota is, who is also the head of the. The offices of governor and lieutenant governor have four-year terms. The governor has a consisting of the leaders of various state government agencies, called commissioners. The other elected constitutional offices are, , and.



Legislative
The is a  body consisting of the  and the. 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 (DFL) gained 19 house seats, giving them control of the House of Representatives by 85–49. The Senate is also controlled by the DFL, who in 2006 gained 6 seats to expand their majority to 44–23.

Judicial
Minnesota's court system has three levels. Most cases start in the s, 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, consisting of sixteen judges who typically sit in three-judge panels. The seven-justice hears all appeals from the Tax Court, the Worker's Compensation Court, first-degree murder convictions, and  from the Court of Appeals; it also has  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, and many lakes and rivers are overseen by s and s.

There are seven reservations and four  communities in Minnesota. These communities are self-governing.

Federal
Minnesota's two s are Republican and Democrat. The state has eight ; they are represented by,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , and.

Federal court cases are heard in the, which holds court in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and. Appeals are heard by the based in  and St. Paul.

Politics
Minnesota is known for a politically active citizenry, and has been a longstanding force among the state's. Minnesota has a consistently high, due in part to its liberal laws. In the, 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 at their  with evidence of residency.

In 1922, three and a half years after women earned the vote in Minnesota, four women were elected to the Minnesota State House. Only two of those women, Hannah Kempfer and Mabeth Hurd Paige remained in office for more than one term. Rep. Kempfer served from Ottertail County until 1940, and Rep. Paige served from until 1942. In 1975 Nancy Brataas, a pro-choice Republican from was the first woman elected to the. In 1994, Republican candidate Judi Dutcher was the first woman elected State Auditor.

In the 2004 United States presidential election Minnesota was an important Battleground Swing State. The last time Minnesota had been a key swing state was in the. As a result made 8 unprecedented campaign visits to Minnesota, visiting,  and.

brought national attention to the state with his address at the. 's anti-war stance and popularity prior to the likely convinced  to drop out of the. 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 to have never voted for.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties have major party status in Minnesota, however, its state-level "Democratic" party is actually a separate party, officially known as the (DFL). Formed out of a 1944 alliance of the Minnesota Democratic and parties, the DFL now serves as a de-facto proxy to the federal, and its distinction from the Democratic party, while still official, is now a functional technicality.

The state has had active third party movements. The, now the , was able to elect former mayor of and   to the. The has received enough support to keep major party status. The, while no longer having major party status, has a large presence in municipal government, notably in and , 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  (R-M) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, defeating former Vice President and former U.S. Senator   (D-MN), who entered the race as the Democratic candidate after Senator  died in a plane crash on October 25, 2002. Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Senator Coleman was the mayor of 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 seats have generally been split since the early 1990s, and in the  and  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 and  narrowly won re-election. The DFL also posted double-digit gains in both houses of the legislature, elected to the U.S. Senate, and increased the party's U.S. House caucus by one. was elected as the first U.S. Representative from Minnesota as well as the first  elected to Congress nationwide. At the same time became the third woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota and the first  woman to represent the state on.

Media
The Twin Cities area is the 15th largest in the United States as ranked by. The state's other top markets are (118th nationally),  (137th), Rochester-Mason City-Austin (152nd), and (200th).

in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest started on, , when began broadcasting. , which owns KSTP, is now the only locally owned television company in Minnesota. There are currently broadcast stations and 23  channels broadcast over Minnesota.

The Twin Cities metro area has the state's two largest newspapers: the ' in Minneapolis and the '. Other weekly and monthly publications (most of which are fully supported by ) are also available. The most prominent of these is the ', with competitor ' offering a free monthly.

Two of the largest networks,   (MPR) and  (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, -AM, was launched in 1922 and is among the 10 s in the. The owned station is still on the air, and since 1993 broadcasts a  format.

Organized sports


Minnesota has professional men's teams in all major sports. The is home to the  of the, and to the  of , winners of the  and. The of the  play in the. The  team has sold out more than 230 consecutive games in St. Paul's.

is represented both by major league-sponsored teams and independent teams such as the popular.

Professional women's sports include the of the, the  of the , and the  of the.

The Twin Cities campus of the is a National Collegiate Athletic Association   school, with  competing in either the  or the. Four additional schools in the state compete in NCAA Division I ice hockey: the, , , and. There are ten NCAA colleges represented by the  and the  in Minnesota, and sixteen NCAA  colleges represented by the  and.

medalists from the state include eleven of the twenty members of the  (coached by Minnesota native ) and the bronze medalist    team in the. Swimmer won an Olympic gold medal in the  and a silver medal in.

is run every summer along the scenic, and the winds around lakes and the Mississippi River during the peak of the.

Outdoor recreation
Minnesotans participate in high levels of physical activity, and many of these activities are outdoors. The strong interest of Minnesotans in has been attributed to the popularity of these pursuits.

In the warmer months these activities often involve water. Weekend and longer trips to family s on Minnesota's numerous lakes are a way of life for many residents. Activities include such as, which originated in the state, , , and. More than 36% of Minnesotans fish, second only to Alaska.

Fishing does not cease when the lakes freeze; has been around since the arrival of early n immigrants. Minnesotans have learned to embrace their long, harsh winters in ice sports such as, , , and , and snow sports such as , ing, and.

State and national s and the are used year-round for, , and. There are almost 20,000 miles of snowmobile trails statewide. Minnesota has more miles of s than any other state, and a growing network of, including the 235-mile in the northeast. Many hiking and bike trails are used for cross-country skiing during the winter.

State symbols
Minnesota's state symbols represent its history, diverse landscapes, and its people's love of the outdoors. The, as state bird, is Minnesota's best-known symbol. Its distinctive cry is heard during the summer months in the northern part of the state, and on occasion the loon can be found as far south as the lakes of Minneapolis.

State symbols:
 * State bird:
 * State butterfly:
 * State drink:
 * State fish:
 * State flower:
 * State fruit:, which was developed at the University of Minnesota; and was adopted as part of a school project on how a bill becomes law.
 * State gemstone:
 * State grain:
 * Territory Motto (actual): Quo sursum velo videre ("I cover to see what is above" is the closest translation)
 * Territory Motto (intended): Quae sursum volo videre ("I wish to see what is above")
 * State motto: ("Star of the North")
 * State muffin:
 * State mushroom:
 * State photograph:
 * State song: ""
 * State tree:, also known as Red Pine
 * Nicknames:
 * "Land of 10,000 Lakes"
 * "North Star State"
 * "Gopher State"
 * "Land of Sky-Blue Waters"
 * "Bread and Butter State"