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World ▫ North America ▫ USA ▫ Minnesota
Minnesota Minnesota Flag

(pronounced: /ˌmɪnəˈsoʊtə/) is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. The twelfth-largest state by area in the U.S., it is the 21st most populous, with just over five million residents as of 2006. 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," and 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 vigorous outdoor lifestyle.

Nearly 60% of Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis-St. 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. While the state's residents are primarily white and of Western European ancestry, substantial influxes of African, Asian, and Latin America 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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Great dive locations in Minnesota:


Minnesota is a state in the Midwest of the USA. Known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, it technically has well over 15,000. The northern tip of Minnesota that juts into Lake of the Woods is the most northern point in the lower 48 states of the USA.

Regions

  • Twin Cities
  • Northwestern Minnesota
  • Northeastern Minnesota
  • Southern Minnesota


    • Cities

  • Bloomington
  • Duluth
  • Mankato
  • Minneapolis
  • Northfield
  • Pipestone
  • Rochester
  • St. Cloud
  • St. Paul


    • Other destinations

  • Mall of America
  • Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
  • Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
  • Flandrau State Park
  • Itasca State Park
  • Lake Superior
  • Minnesota Zoo
  • Pipestone National Monument
  • Voyageurs National Park


    • Talk

    The stereotypical Minnesotan dialect as popularized in the film Fargo is more prevalent in northern (Iron Range) and rural parts of the state than it is in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, but it is by no means non-existant even there. The dialect is characterized by long vowels (especially Os as found in the word "boat"). The sing-songy intonation is less common with each generation removed from the Scandinavian ancestors. Typically words ending with 'ag' have a long 'a', eg. 'bag' rhymes with 'bake' not 'back'. Other vowels are sometimes affected as well. Native Americans (primarily Ojibwe) have an accent of their own.

    In addition to a unique dialect, Minnesota also has several phrases and colloquial expressions that can be overheard somewhat frequently. These include:
  • Uff-da (Norwegian exclamation meaning "Off it!" Typically used as a response to surprising or exasperating circumstances.
  • You betcha (You bet/of course)
  • Hot dish (Casserole)
  • Oh yah (Yes)
  • Lutefisk (A traditional Scandinavian food of dried white fish soaked in lye, lutefisk is known for its smell and is very good with butter)
  • Choppers (leather mittens with wool inserts, used for the really cold days)
  • Twenty below (shorthand for 20 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit), or -30'C (without windchill), which is when choppers start becoming necessary)
  • Sorels (brand name of preferred winter boots, leather/rubber exterior, felt inserts)
  • boughten (adjective for a store-bought item, as opposed to home-made, as in 'boughten bread')
  • sled (slang term for a snowmobile)
  • popple (aspen or poplar tree, one of the most common trees in northern Minnesota and important part of the logging industry)
  • the forty (40 acres, or quarter-mile by quarter-mile of land, about 16 hectares)
  • Acrost (Scandinavian influenced regional pronunciation of "across")


    • A soft drink is typically called 'pop' although people in metropolitan areas may call it 'soda'. Rural areas almost never call it soda, even in newspaper advertisements.

    Sentences frequently end with a preposition, such as "Are you coming with?". If the sentence doesn't end with a preposition, the filler word 'then' may be appended, as in "So how's the car been running then?" Pronouns are dropped when assumed to be understood, "Took the car to the dealer, told me it just needed a new battery". People tend to speak modestly without extra superlatives or direct commands "Most folks turn off their cell phones before church starts, you know." Garrison Keillor, a radio personality and humorist, often plays this up in his "Prairie Home Companion" which takes place in the fictional town of Lake Wobegon, somewhere near St. Cloud.

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