Watonwan County, Minnesota

Watonwan County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 11,876. Its is. The county was organized in 1860, two years after Minnesota was granted statehood.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,139 (440 ). 1,125 km² (435 sq mi) of it is land and 14 km² (5 sq mi) of it (1.23%) is water. The county is drained by the and its tributaries; the river flows eastwardly through the northern part of the county.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:MN-4.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:MN-15.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:MN-30.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:MN-60.svg|20px]]

Lakes

 * Bergdahl Lake: in
 * Bullhead Lake: in
 * Butterfield Lake: in
 * Case Lake: in
 * Cottonwood Lake: in
 * Ewy Lake: in
 * Fedji Lake: in
 * Irish Lake: in
 * Long Lake: in
 * Mary Lake: in
 * Mud Lake: in
 * Kansas Lake: in
 * School Lake: in
 * School Lake: there is another School Lake in
 * St. James Lake: in
 * Sulem Lake: in
 * Wood Lake: mostly in, but the northern fifth stretches into

Adjacent counties

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 11,876 people, 4,627 households, and 3,141 families residing in the county. The was 11/km² (27/sq mi). There were 5,036 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (12/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 88.54%, 0.37% or , 0.21% , 0.87% , 0.02% , 8.78% from , and 1.21% from two or more races. 15.19% of the population were or  of any race. 40.9% were of, 17.3% and 5.8%  ancestry according to.

There were 4,627 households out of which 32.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.60% were living together, 7.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.10% were non-families. 28.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.60% under the age of 18, 7.80% from 18 to 24, 24.30% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, and 18.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,441, and the median income for a family was $42,321. Males had a median income of $29,242 versus $19,788 for females. The for the county was $16,413. About 7.80% of families and 9.80% of the population were below the, including 13.50% of those under age 18 and 8.80% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns
† Ormsby is located in both Watonwan and.