Minnesota

When Europeans arrived in North America, the Dakota people lived in what is now Minnesota. The first Europeans to enter the region were French voyageurs and fur traders who arrived in the 17th century. They used the Grand Portage to access trapping and trading areas further into Minnesota. The Anishinaabe (also known as Ojibwe or Chippewa) were migrating into Minnesota, and formed an Alliance with the Dakota. European powers destabilized the region economically and politically, resulting in the alliance's collapse and the Dakota-Ojibwe War, and dislocated the Mdewakanton from its homelands along Mille Lacs Lake. Explorers such as Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, Father Louis Hennepin, Jonathan Carver, Henry Schoolcraft, and Joseph Nicollet mapped the state.

The region was part of Spanish Louisiana from 1762 to 1802. The portion of the state east of the Mississippi River became part of the United States at the end of the American Revolutionary War, when the Second Treaty of Paris was signed. Land west of the Mississippi was acquired with the Louisiana Purchase, though the Hudson's Bay Company disputed the Red River Valley until the Treaty of 1818, when the border on the 49th parallel was agreed upon.

In 1805, Zebulon Pike bargained with Native Americans to acquire land at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers to create a military reservation. The construction of Fort Snelling followed between 1819 and 1825. Its soldiers built a grist mill and a sawmill at Saint Anthony Falls, which were harbingers of the water-powered industries around which Minneapolis later grew. Meanwhile, squatters, government officials, and others had settled near the fort; in 1839 the army forced them off military lands, and most moved downriver, just outside the military reservation, to the area that became St. Paul.

Minnesota was part of several territorial organizations between acquisition and statehood. From 1812 to 1821 it was part of the Territory of Missouri that corresponded with much of the Louisiana Purchase. It was briefly an unorganized territory (1821–1834) and was later consolidated with Wisconsin, Iowa and half the Dakotas to form the short-lived Territory of Michigan (1834–1836). From 1836 to 1848, Minnesota and Iowa were part of the Territory of Wisconsin. From 1838 to 1846, Minnesota west of the Mississippi River was part of the Territory of Iowa. …

Minnesota is the second northernmost U.S. state (after Alaska) and northernmost contiguous state, as the isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods County is the only part of the 48 contiguous states north of the 49th parallel. The state is part of the U.S. region known as the Upper Midwest and part of North America's Great Lakes region. It shares a Lake Superior water border with Michigan and a land and water border with Wisconsin to the east. Iowa is to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota are to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba are to the north. With 86,943 square miles (225,180 km), or approximately 2.25% of the United States, Minnesota is the 12th-largest state.

Minnesota has some of the earth's oldest rocks, gneisses that are about 3.6 billion years old (80% as old as the planet). About 2.7 billion years ago basaltic lava poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ocean; the remains of this volcanic rock formed the Canadian Shield in northeast Minnesota. The roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of Precambrian seas formed the Iron Range of northern Minnesota. Since a period of volcanism 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 kilometer thick ravaged the state's landscape and sculpted its terrain. The Wisconsin glaciation 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 bedrock. This area is known as the Driftless Zone for its absence of glacial drift. Much of the remainder of the state has 50 feet (15 m) or more of glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. Gigantic Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest 13,000 years ago. Its flatbed now is the fertile Red River valley, and its outflow, glacial River Warren, carved the valley of the Minnesota River and the Upper Mississippi downstream from Fort Snelling. …

According to the United States Census Bureau and the Minnesota State Demographic Center, Minnesota had a population of about 5.7 million in 2020, making it the 22nd-most populous U.S. state. Its fertility rate in 2021 was slightly below the replacement rate at 1.75, but the state has seen growth over the past century through more births than deaths, and significant immigration. A destination for European immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, primarily from Scandinavia, Germany, and Ireland, it now attracts people from Latin America, primarily Mexico; East Africa, particularly Somalis and Ethiopians; and South and Southeast Asia, especially Hmong, Vietnamese, Karen, and Indian people. The state has a diverse population in terms of age, birthplace, ancestry, and socioeconomic status, with a well-educated populace and a median household income around $77,000.

Minnesota's racial demographics have significantly diversified since its early settlement period. As of 2020, according to U.S. census data, the white population had fallen to 77.5% from over 98% in the early to mid-20th century. Concurrently, other racial populations have markedly increased. The Black population has risen to 7%, the Asian population to 5.3%, and those identifying as two or more races to 6.1%.

In the 2017 American Community Survey, 5.1% of Minnesota's population were of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race): Mexican (3.5%), Puerto Rican (0.2%), Cuban (0.1%), and other Hispanic or Latino origin (1.2%). The ancestry groups claimed by more than 5% of the population were German (33.8%), Norwegian (15.3%), Irish (10.5%), Swedish (8.1%), and English (5.4%). Minnesota has the country's largest Somali population, and the largest Hmong population per capita. Minnesota also has the largest Norwegian American and Swedish American populations.

Since the 1960s, Minnesota's immigrant population has been shaped by its status as a major area for refugee resettlement. As of 2018, Minnesota had the largest refugee population per capita of any state, with 2% of the country's population but 13% of its refugees. The largest groups of refugees over the past decades have been Hmongs, Somalis, Ethiopians, and Vietnamese; other major refugee groups that have recently been settling in Minnesota include Burmese, Liberians, Ecuadorians, Congolese, Russians, and Ukrainians. …

Once primarily a producer of raw materials, Minnesota's economy has transformed 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.

In 2025, Minnesota's gross domestic product was $531.4 billion, with 33 of the United States' top 1,000 publicly traded companies by revenue headquartered in Minnesota, including Target, UnitedHealth Group, 3M, General Mills, U.S. Bancorp, Ameriprise, Hormel, Land O' Lakes, SuperValu, Best Buy, and Valspar. Private companies based in Minnesota include Cargill, the largest privately owned company in the United States, and Carlson Companies, the parent company of Radisson Hotels.

Minnesota's per capita personal income was $78,538 in 2025, the 13th-highest in the nation. Its 2019 median household income was $74,593, ranking thirteenth in the U.S. and fifth among the 36 states not on the Atlantic coast. As of May 2025, the unemployment rate was 3.3%.

Minnesota's earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture. Minneapolis grew around the flour mills powered by St. Anthony Falls. Although less than 1% of the population is now employed in the agricultural sector, it remains a major part of the state's economy, ranking sixth in the nation in the value of products sold. The state is the nation's largest producer of sugar beets, sweet corn, peas for processing, and farm-raised turkeys. Minnesota is a large producer of corn and soybeans, and has the most food cooperatives per capita in the United States.

Forestry remains strong, including logging, pulpwood 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 iron ore for more than a century. Although the high-grade ore is now depleted, taconite mining continues, using processes developed locally to save the industry. In 2016 the state produced 60% of the country's usable iron ore. The mining boom created the port of Duluth, which continues to be important for shipping ore, coal, and agricultural products.

The manufacturing sector now includes technology and biomedical firms, in addition to the older food processors and heavy industry. …

Minnesota is governed pursuant to the Minnesota Constitution, which was adopted on October 13, 1857, roughly one year before statehood. Like all U.S. states and the federal government, Minnesota has a republican system of political representation with power divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The state constitution includes a bill of rights that reaffirms many of the same rights and freedoms as its federal counterpart, with some protected more strongly and explicitly.

The executive branch is led by Minnesota's governor, currently Tim Walz, a DFLer who took office on January 7, 2019. Walz was also Kamala Harris's running mate in the 2024 United States presidential election. As chief executive, the governor appoints the heads of state agencies and is responsible for faithful execution of the law. As commander-in-chief of the state's armed forces, the governor also has command and control over the Minnesota National Guard. A cabinet consisting of the lieutenant governor and the heads of Minnesota's 22 state agencies consults and assists the governor in the business of state government.

Aside from the governor and lieutenant governor, who are elected on a joint ticket, Minnesotans separately elect three other constitutional officers: a secretary of state, an attorney general, and a state auditor. These five "executive officers" together constitute the Executive Council, which has certain statutory responsibilities in matters of state finance, emergency management, and public lands administration.

The Minnesota Legislature is a bicameral body consisting of the Minnesota Senate and the Minnesota House of Representatives. The state has 67 legislative districts, each with about 85,000 people. Each district has one senator and two representatives, with each senatorial district divided into A and B sections for members of the House. Representatives serve two-year terms, and senators are up for election every four years and in the first state election after a census.

After the 2022 state elections, both the House and Senate had a slim DFL majority. Since the 2024 Minnesota House of Representatives election, the House has had 67 DFLers and 67 Republicans.

Minnesota's court system has three levels. Most cases start in the district courts, which are courts of general jurisdiction. …