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Minnesota is a
state located in the
Midwestern
region of the United
States. 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
Minnesota Territory
and admitted to the Union as the 32nd
state on May 11,
1858. The state is known as the
"Land of 10,000 Lakes"; those
lakes 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 residents live in the
Minneapolis-Saint
Paul metropolitan
area known as the Twin Cities, the center
of
transportation, business,
and industry, and home to an
internationally known
arts
community. The remainder of the state, often
referred to as "Greater
Minnesota" or "Outstate Minnesota", consists of
western prairies now given
over to intensive agriculture;
eastern deciduous forests,
also heavily
farmed and settled; and the less populated
northern boreal forest. The
state's image of being populated by
whites of
Nordic and
German descent has some truth, but diversity is
increasing; substantial influxes of
African,
Asian, and
Latin American immigrants have joined the
descendants of European
immigrants and of the original
Native American inhabitants.
The extremes
of the climate contrast with the moderation of
Minnesota’s people. The state is known for its
moderate-to-
progressive
politics and social
policies, its civic involvement, and high
voter turnout. It ranks
among the healthiest states by a number of measures,
and has one of the most highly educated and
literate
populations.
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