Minnesota is a state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now partially cleared, farmed, and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation. Roughly a third of the state is covered in forests, and it is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" for having over 14,000 bodies of fresh water covering at least ten acres each. More than 60% of Minnesotans live in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, known as the "Twin Cities", the state's main political, economic, and cultural hub. With a population of about 3.7 million, the Twin Cities is the 16th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Other minor metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas in the state include Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester, and St. Cloud.
Todd County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,262. Its county seat is Long Prairie.
Rice County is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,097. Its county seat is Faribault.
Lyon County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,269. Its county seat is Marshall.
Lake of the Woods County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,763, making it the second-least populous county in Minnesota. Its county seat is Baudette.
Koochiching County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,062. Its county seat is International Falls. A portion of the Bois Forte Indian Reservation is in the county. A small part of Voyageurs National Park extends into its boundary, with Lake of the Woods County to its northwest.
Goodhue County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,582. Its county seat is Red Wing. Nearly all of Prairie Island Indian Community is within the county.
Freeborn County is a county in the state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,895. Its county seat is Albert Lea. Freeborn County comprises the Albert Lea Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Crow Wing County is a county in the East Central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 66,123. Its county seat is Brainerd. The county was formed in 1857, and was organized in 1870.
The Northwest Angle, known simply as the Angle by locals, and coextensive with Angle Township, is a pene-exclave of northern Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota. Except for surveying errors, it is the only place in the contiguous United States north of the 49th parallel, which forms the border between the U.S. and Canada from the Northwest Angle westward to the Strait of Georgia. The land area of the Angle is separated from the rest of Minnesota by Lake of the Woods, but shares a land border with Canada. It is one of six non-island locations in the 48 contiguous states that are practical exclaves of the U.S. It is the northernmost township in Minnesota and contains the northernmost point in the contiguous 48 states. The unincorporated community of Angle Inlet is in the Northwest Angle.
Lake of the Woods is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over 70 miles (110 km) long and wide, containing more than 14,552 islands and 65,000 miles (105,000 km) of shoreline. It is fed by the Rainy River, Shoal Lake, Kakagi Lake and other smaller rivers. The lake drains into the Winnipeg River and then into Lake Winnipeg. Ultimately, its outflow goes north through the Nelson River to Hudson Bay.
The 49th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 49° north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.
Angle Inlet is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Angle Township, Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 54 as of the 2020 census. The community is part of the Northwest Angle, the only place in the contiguous United States north of the 49th parallel; it is the northernmost census-designated place in the contiguous United States. The French built Fort Saint Charles nearby in 1732.
The Canada–United States border is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary is 8,891 km (5,525 mi) long. The land border has two sections: Canada's border with the contiguous United States to its south, and with the U.S. state of Alaska to its west. The bi-national International Boundary Commission deals with matters relating to marking and maintaining the boundary, and the International Joint Commission deals with issues concerning boundary waters. The agencies currently responsible for facilitating legal passage through the international boundary are the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Big Stone Lake is a long, narrow freshwater lake and reservoir on the border between western Minnesota and northeastern South Dakota in the United States.
Elm Point, Minnesota, is a small uninhabited cape and a practical exclave of the United States in Lake Township, Roseau County, Minnesota, United States. It is surrounded on the west, south, and east by Lake of the Woods, and on the north by the Canadian First Nation community of Buffalo Point in southeastern Manitoba. Part of Elm Point is privately owned and part of it is state land managed by the Department of Natural Resources as part of the Border Wildlife Management Area. It is located southwest of the much larger exclave known as the Northwest Angle. There is a line of felled trees marking the international border, which runs nominally along the 49th parallel, although in this area it runs slightly to the south due to 19th-century surveying errors.
Kabetogama is an unincorporated community in Kabetogama Township, Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States, located within the Kabetogama State Forest.
The northwesternmost point of the Lake of the Woods was a critical landmark for the boundary between United States territory and the British possessions to the north. This point, on the shore of the Lake of the Woods, was referred to in the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and in later treaties including the Treaty of 1818. The point lies at the corner of the Northwest Angle in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and is thus the northernmost point of the contiguous United States. After Canadian Confederation, the point became the basis for the border between the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario.
The Northwest Angle State Forest is a state forest located in Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota. The name of the forest is derived from its location near the Northwest Angle, the northernmost point of the contiguous United States. The forest borders the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, and the Red Lake Indian Reservation. The forest is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
