Minnesota (an Indian name, signifying 'sky-tinted water'), the nineteenth in population of the states of the American Union, and the northernmost in the Mississippi valley, extends from 43° 30' to 49° N. lat., and from 91° to 97° W. long. It is bounded on the N. by Manitoba and Ontario, E. by Lake Superior and Wisconsin, S. by Iowa, and W. by North and South Dakota. Its area is 83,530 sq. m., or nearly as large as Great Britain. In Minnesota are the remote sources of the great rivers Mississippi, Red River of the North, and St Lawrence, whose waters, flowing in different directions, reach respectively the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. Within the state the Minnesota River is the largest tributary of the Mississippi. Between the St Croix River and Red River of the North are hundreds of clear lakes, the largest of which are Red Lake (530 sq. m.), Mille Lacs, and Leech Lake. About two-thirds of the state is prairie, but in the northern portion there are extensive pine-forests, and in the north-east great marshes, bearing a scanty growth of tamarack and fir. The minerals include iron (which is profitably worked), slate, granite, and other rocks, and the red pipestone. The climate is bracing in winter, very dry and equable; the mean for the year 1889 was 45°. The rainfall is sufficient and well distributed throughout the year.
Minnesota is an agricultural and especially a wheat-producing state; its manufactures as yet are principally flour and lumber mills. The principal crops in 1889 were: wheat, 46,660,583 bushels; oats, 48,253,799 bushels; maize, 22,115,769 bushels; potatoes, 6,444,137 bushels. The facilities for commerce are great. The Mississippi is navigable as high as St Paul; the lakes, with Duluth for a port, open a waterway to the Atlantic; and there are over 6000 miles of railway in the state.
Education is well cared for. At the end of 1890 the permanent school fund exceeded $8,000,000; and during that year over 280,000 pupils were on the roll. There are four state normal schools, and a state university at Minneapolis, besides Macalester College (Presbyterian) and Hamline University (Methodist) at St Paul, Carleton College (Congregationalist) at Northfield, Episcopal schools at Faribault, and a Presbyterian college for women at Albert Lea.
History.—Minnesota was visited by French explorers in 1659–60, and the portion west of the Mississippi was part of the province of Louisiana purchased by the United States from France in 1803. Fort Snelling, at the mouth of the Minnesota River, was built and occupied in 1821. In 1837 the Chippeway Indians surrendered all the land east of the Mississippi; immigration then began, and Minnesota became a territory in 1849, a state in 1858. It claims the distinction of having, through its governor, offered the first regiment for the defence of the Union; and during the civil war, out of 40,000 citizens able to bear arms, it sent 24,000 into the army. In August 1862 occurred a terrible massacre by the Indians, who attacked the frontier settlements and in ten days killed some 800 men, women, and children. As a consequence, the Sioux and Winnebagoes were removed from the state, and their hunting-grounds are now occupied by farms and prosperous towns. The principal cities are the capital, St Paul (133,301), Minneapolis (164,738), and Duluth (32,725). Pop. (1860) 172,023; (1880) 780,773; (1890) 1,301,826, including a large proportion of Scandinavians and Germans.