St. Louis County, Minnesota

St. Louis County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 200,528. Its is. It is the largest county by area in Minnesota, and the largest in the east of the  (if water area is excluded, it is second largest, behind, Maine). Major industries include production and. At one time, of  was a major part of the economy. Parts of the and  s are in the county.

St. Louis County was founded on, as Doty County and had its name changed to Newton County on ,. On, , St. Louis County to the east became while Newton County was renamed St. Louis County. Originally Doty County and Newton County consisted of the area east and south of the. The area east of Vermilion River and north of was part of Superior County (which then became St. Louis County, and then Lake County). Upon establishment of this St. Louis County, these two areas were merged, then expanded westward by incorporating parts of, which then also included most of. On, St. Louis County took its current shape when Carlton County was formed from parts of St. Louis and  Counties.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 17,767 (6,860 ). 16,123 km² (6,225 sq mi) of it is land and 1,644 km² (635 sq mi) of it (9.25%) is water. By land area, it is the largest county in Minnesota.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 200,528 people, 82,619 households, and 51,389 families residing in the county. The was 12/km² (32/sq mi). There were 95,800 housing units at an average density of 6/km² (15/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 94.86%, 0.85% or , 2.03% , 0.66% , 0.03% , 0.22% from , and 1.35% from two or more races. 0.80% of the population were or  of any race. 17.0% were of, 13.7% , 12.1% , 9.7% , 6.0% and 5.3%  ancestry according to.

There were 82,619 households out of which 27.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.30% were living together, 9.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.80% were non-families. 31.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.40% under the age of 18, 11.40% from 18 to 24, 25.90% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 16.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 96.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,306, and the median income for a family was $47,134. Males had a median income of $37,934 versus $24,235 for females. The for the county was $18,982. About 7.20% of families and 12.10% of the population were below the, including 13.10% of those under age 18 and 8.90% of those age 65 or over.

Governance
Like all counties in Minnesota, Saint Louis is governed by an elected and board of commissioners. In Minnesota, county commissions usually have five members, but Saint Louis,, and counties have seven members. Each commissioner represents a district of equal population.

The county commission elects a who presides at meetings.

Commissioners as of August 2007:

Politics
The county board of commissioners presently is experiencing high levels of conflict. Disputes among commissioners have created a situation that makes it very difficult for them to accomplish their work in a responsible manner. Two commissioners have recently been charged with sexual harassment and another has articulated his willingness to support slavery if his constituents wanted it.