Minnesota is a state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the south, and North Dakota and South Dakota to the west. It is the 12th-largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd-most populous, with around 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes"; the state includes 14,420 bodies of fresh water covering at least ten acres each. Roughly a third of the state is forested. Much of the remainder is prairie and farmland. More than 60% of Minnesotans live in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area ; the large metropolis is Minnesota's main political, economic, and cultural hub, along with being the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Other minor metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas include Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester, and St. Cloud.
The state flag of the U.S. state of Minnesota consists of a dark blue field representing the night sky and the state's shape, an eight-pointed star representing the North Star, and a bright blue field representing the state's abundant waters; the star is based on one prominently featured in the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda.
The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system or Minnesota State, previously branded as MnSCU, comprises 26 state colleges and 7 state universities with 54 campuses throughout Minnesota. The system is the largest higher education system in Minnesota and the third largest in the United States, educating more than 300,000 students annually. It is governed by a 15-member board of trustees appointed by the governor, which has broad authority to run the system. The Minnesota State system office is located in the Wells Fargo Place building in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Timothy James Walz is an American politician, former educator, and retired United States Army non-commissioned officer who has served since 2019 as the 41st governor of Minnesota. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019, and the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee from 2017 to 2019. Walz was the Democratic nominee for vice president in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
The attorney general of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Thirty individuals have held the office of Attorney General since statehood. The incumbent is Keith Ellison, a DFLer.
The state auditor of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Nineteen individuals have held the office of state auditor since statehood. The incumbent is Julie Blaha, a DFLer.
Minnesota State Highway 66 (MN 66) was a highway in south-central Minnesota, which ran from its intersection with Blue Earth County Roads 1 and 10 near Good Thunder and continued north to its northern terminus at its interchange with U.S. Highway 169 / State Highway 60 in the city of Mankato. The highway is currently known as Blue Earth County Road 1.
The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state, and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs.
Margaret Anderson Kelliher is an American politician, Director of the Minneapolis Department of Public Works, former Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, she represented District 60A, which includes portions of the city of Minneapolis in Hennepin County, located in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. First elected in 1999, she served until 2011, also serving as the Speaker from 2007 to 2011. She is the second woman to hold the position of House speaker. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the DFL nomination for Governor of Minnesota in the 2010 gubernatorial election, losing to former Senator Mark Dayton. Anderson left the Minnesota House of Representatives at the conclusion of her term in 2011 and re-entered politics when she ran for the DFL nomination to the U.S. House of Representatives in Minnesota's 5th congressional district in 2018, losing to Ilhan Omar. Since 2019 Kelliher, has worked in transportation management roles for the government, first as Commissioner of MnDOT, and later as Director of Public Works for the City of Minneapolis. She currently serves as the City Operations Officer for the City of Minneapolis.
The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive.
Michelle Louise Helene Fischbach is an American attorney and politician who is the U.S. representative from Minnesota's 7th congressional district. The district, which is very rural, is Minnesota's largest by area and includes most of the western part of the state. A Republican, Fischbach served as the 49th lieutenant governor of Minnesota from 2018 until 2019. As of 2024, she is the last Republican to have held statewide office in Minnesota.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Minnesota have the same legal rights as non-LGBTQ people. Minnesota became the first U.S. state to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in 1993, protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in the fields of employment, housing, and public accommodations. In 2013, the state legalized same-sex marriage, after a bill allowing such marriages was passed by the Minnesota Legislature and subsequently signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton. This followed a 2012 ballot measure in which voters rejected constitutionally banning same-sex marriage.
Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is a state agency of Minnesota. Its headquarters are in Minneapolis.
Mankato West High School is a public secondary school located in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. According to the school district in 2016, Mankato West enrolls about 1150 students in four grades, grades 9–12. In 1992–93 the school was designated as a "Blue Ribbon School of Excellence" by the United States Department of Education.
Peggy Flanagan is an American politician, community organizer, and Native American activist serving as the 50th lieutenant governor of Minnesota since 2019. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Flanagan served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019.
Cannabis in Minnesota is legal for recreational use since August 2023. Governor Tim Walz signed House File 100 on May 30, 2023, legalizing the use, possession, and cultivation of cannabis within the state. The state's new Office of Cannabis Management will establish a regulatory framework for commercial cultivation and sales, with exceptions for tribal nations.
Nolan West is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2017. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, West represents District 37B in the northern Twin Cities metropolitan area, which includes the city of Blaine and parts of Anoka County.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota is part of an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the state of Minnesota. The first confirmed case was reported on March 6, 2020. Governor Tim Walz declared a state of emergency on March 13.
Madison Lake is a lake in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, United States. The lake covers an area of 1,446 acres (5.85 km2) and is 59 feet (18 m) deep at its deepest point. It is named after President James Madison The city of Madison Lake, Minnesota is located on the Northwest shoreline of the lake. The lake and the Point Pleasant resort have been long-noted fishing destinations. Madison Lake is part of the Le Sueur River watershed.
