Portal:Minnesota/Featured Articles

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Minneapolis (pronounced: /ˌmɪni'æpəlɪs/) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Hennepin County. The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital. Known as the Twin Cities, these two cities form the core of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.5 million residents. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population of the city of Minneapolis at 372,811 people in 2005.^[1] The Metropolitan Council estimate for 2006 was 387,970.

Once a hub for timber and flour milling, Minneapolis is the primary business center in the vast expanse between Chicago, Illinois and Seattle, Washington.^[2] The community has a long tradition of charitable support through progressive public social programs and through private and corporate philanthropy.

Public park systems are modeled after Minneapolis, where lakes are used for recreation year-around, and a park is within one-half mile (.8 km) of every home. Regional theater was pioneered at the city's Guthrie Theater and is part of a strong local tradition in the performing arts.

The name Minneapolis is attributed to the city's first schoolmaster, who combined Minnehaha and mni, the Dakota word for water, and polis, the Greek word for city.^[3] Minneapolis is nicknamed the City of Lakes and the Mill City.^[2]

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The history of Minnesota is the story of a U.S. state shaped by its original Native American residents, European exploration and settlement, and the emergence of industries made possible by the state's natural resources. Minnesota achieved prominence through fur trading, logging, and farming, and later, railroads, flour milling and iron mining. While those industries remain important, the state's economy is now driven by banking, computers and health care.

The first settlers followed herds of large game to the region during the last Ice Age, and from them descended the Anishinaabe, the Sioux, and the other Native American inhabitants. Fur traders from France arrived during the 1600s. Europeans, moving west during the 1800s, drove out most of the Native Americans. Fort Snelling, built to protect United States territorial interests, brought early settlers to the area. Early settlers used Saint Anthony Falls for powering sawmills in the area that became Minneapolis, while others settled downriver in the area that became Saint Paul.

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Minnesota (IPA: [ˌmɪnəˈsoʊtə]) (Audio (US) (help·info)) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12^th largest state in the U.S., and the 21^st most populous, with over five million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the 32^nd state in 1858. While the state's residents have been primarily white, Northern European, and Lutheran, substantial influxes of African, Asian, and Hispanic immigrants have joined the descendants of European immigrants and Native American descendants of its original inhabitants.

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The music of Minnesota has played a role in the historical and cultural development of Minnesota. As with the culture of Minnesota in general, the state's music scene centers on the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, and most of the Minnesotan artists who have become nationally popular either came from that area or debuted there. Rural Minnesota has also produced a flourishing folk music scene, with a long tradition of traditional Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian music.^[4]Minnesota's modern local music scene is home to thousands of local bands, many of which perform with some regularity.^[5] Some performers from nearby regions of neighboring states, such as western Wisconsin and Fargo, North Dakota, are often considered a part of the Minnesota music scene.

Minneapolis has produced a number of famous performers, such as Bob Dylan, who was born in Hibbing and began his musical career in the Minneapolis area, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who eventually formed The Time and produced for Gladys Knight and Janet Jackson. Minneapolis' most influential contributions to American popular music began in the 1970s and 1980s, when the city's music scene "expanded the state's cultural identity" and launched the careers of acclaimed performers like the multi-platinum soul singer Prince, and cult favorites The Replacements and Hüsker Dü. More recently, the Twin Cities has played a role in the national hip-hop scene with artists such as Atmosphere and P.O.S.^[6]

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