Locating Minnesota

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Minnesota is located in the Midwestern portion of the United States of America. Iowa lies to its south, South and North Dakota to its west, Wisconsin to its east, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba to its north. Minnesota is the northernmost state in the continental United States with its northern border reaching to 49° 23' 4" north latitude. Duluth, Minnesota, perched upon the western tip of Lake Superior, stands as the westernmost port city on the chain of Great Lakes.

Minnesota is the homeland of the Dakota, Lakota, Nakota, Anishinabe, Cheyenne, and Cree peoples. Today there are approximately 35,000 American Indians in Minnesota. Dakota people live on reservations in the southern part of the state and in urban areas. The Anishinabe have reservations in northern Minnesota but about one-half of the Anishinabe population lives near Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minnesota's first immigrants came westward from New England and displaced the Dakota and Anishinabe people from their land. Immigrant groups of Swedes, Germans, and Norwegians arrived in the 1880s and established homesteads on land that have been forcibly taken from the natives by the U.S. government. Shortly thereafter these settlers were joined by large groups of Finns, Poles, and Czechs. Today small black and Latino communities exist throughout the state with the largest groups in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul). In 1998, Minnesota became home to the nation's largest ethnic Hmong population. In 2005, Minnesota began recieving an influx of refugees from Somalia, Sudan, and Ethiopia. Most of them are fleeing violence in their home country.

Source: Encyclopædia Britannica Online