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Introduction
Minneapolis, city in
southeastern Minnesota. The seat
of Hennepin County, the city is
located by the Falls of Saint
Anthony, at the head of
navigation of the Mississippi
River. It is the largest city in
Minnesota and one of the largest
cities in the upper Midwest,
and, with the adjacent city of
Saint Paul to the east,
dominates the economic and
cultural life of this extensive
region. Minneapolis and Saint
Paul are known as the Twin
Cities.
Economy
Minneapolis is the
center of one of the
richest agricultural
areas of the United
States and is a regional
hub of transportation,
commerce, and finance.
Leading industries
include
medical-instrument
manufacturing; medical
research; processing of
food and dairy products;
printing and publishing;
and the manufacture of
machinery, electrical
and electronic
equipment, metal and
paper products,
precision instruments,
and transport machinery.
It is a rail and highway
hub; Minneapolis-Saint
Paul International
Airport is located south
of the city.
Population
Minneapolis had
a population of
382,618 in 2000,
an increase over
the 1990
population of
368,383. The
Minneapolis-Saint
Paul
metropolitan
area had
2,968,806
inhabitants in
2000; its
population was
2,538,834 in
1990. According
to the 2000
census, whites
constitute 65.1
percent of the
population of
Minneapolis;
blacks, 18
percent; Asians,
6.1 percent;
Native
Americans, 2.2
percent; Native
Hawaiians and
other Pacific
Islanders, 0.1
percent; and
people of mixed
heritage or not
reporting race,
8.5 percent.
Hispanics, who
may be of any
race, constitute
7.6 percent of
the population.
The
Urban
Landscape
Minneapolis
covers
142.2 sq
km (54.9
sq mi)
and
occupies
a
relatively
flat
terrain.
Within
the city
limits
are 22
natural
lakes,
remnants
of
glacial
activity.
The
Mississippi
River
crosses
the city
from the
north to
southeast,
drops 20
m (65
ft) at
the
Falls of
Saint
Anthony,
then
follows
a deep
gorge to
its
confluence
with the
Minnesota
River.
Minnehaha
Creek
flows
east
through
the city
over
Minnehaha
Falls
and into
the
Mississippi
River.
The
city’s
lakes
and
riverfronts
form
part of
the
extensive
municipal
park
system.
The
downtown
area
is
located
west
of
the
Mississippi
River,
adjacent
to
the
Falls
of
Saint
Anthony.
Part
of
the
district’s
principal
thoroughfare,
Nicollet
Avenue,
has
been
converted
into
a
ten-block
shopping
center,
known
as
Nicollet
Mall,
reserved
for
pedestrians
and
public
transportation;
at
one
end
is
Gateway
Center,
a
complex
that
includes
several
high-rise
government
and
office
buildings.
Pedestrians
may
also
cross
from
building
to
building
using
skyways,
glass-enclosed
bridges
that
cross
many
downtown
streets.
The
Mall
of
America,
the
largest
retail
and
entertainment
complex
in
the
United
States,
is
located
in
nearby
Bloomington.
Educational and Cultural Institutions
Among the city’s institutions of higher education are facilities of the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota (1851), Augsburg College (1869), North Central Bible College (1930), and Minneapolis College of Art and Design (1886). Prominent cultural facilities include the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; the Walker Art Center, which has a fine collection of 20th-century art; the Frederick R. Weisman Museum, designed by American architect Frank Gehry; and the American Swedish Institute. The Minnesota Orchestra and the Guthrie Theater Company are based in the city. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, completed in the early 1980s, is the home of the Minnesota Twins baseball team and the Minnesota Vikings football team. The Minnesota Timberwolves professional basketball team plays at the Target Center sports facility.
History
The area now occupied by Minneapolis was inhabited by the Sioux when the Franciscan missionary Louis Hennepin visited in 1680 and named the Falls of Saint Anthony. In 1820 Fort Snelling was built at the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, to pave the way for settlers moving west. The area west of the Mississippi was opened for legal settlement in 1855. Minneapolis was incorporated as a village in 1856 and as a city in 1867. Its name is derived from the Sioux minne, meaning “water,” a reference to the numerous lakes and streams of the area, and the Greek polis, meaning “city.” Saint Anthony, a community on the east side of the river, was chartered as a village in 1855 and as a city in 1860. In 1872 it became part of Minneapolis.
Early growth in Minneapolis was promoted by lumbering in the region’s hardwood forests. Later, wheat from the western Minnesota prairies and lumber from the pine and fir forests of northeast Minnesota sustained the economic boom. German and Scandinavian immigrants account for the city’s increased population during this period. Lumber production peaked in 1899 and disappeared by 1920 with the exhaustion of forest reserves. By 1870 Minneapolis was one of the nation’s leading flour producers, with a dozen mills operating at the falls. Flour milling peaked in 1915, then waned as milling companies became diversified food manufacturers. Minneapolis, however, remains a leading grain market. The American Indian Movement (AIM) was organized in Minneapolis in 1968 with the original purpose of providing assistance to the city’s Native American population. An aggressive plan of construction and development transformed much of the downtown area in the 1990s.
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