**History and Development**:
– First European settlement near present-day Stillwater, Minnesota
– Outpost at Fort Snelling fueled early interest in the area
– Town of Saint Anthony grew outside Fort Snelling military reservation
– Settlers quickly moved to create Minneapolis after reservation size reduction
– Villages like Pigs Eye and Lamberts Landing grew into Saint Paul
– The phrase ‘St. Paul is the last city of the East, Minneapolis the first city of the West’ reflects historical significance
**Geography and Landmarks**:
– Natural geography influenced settlement and development of the cities
– Saint Paul developed around Lamberts Landing, a key unloading point
– Saint Anthony Falls defined Minneapolis location and prominence
– Mill City Museum showcases the historical importance of the falls
– Natural landmarks like Lake Minnetonka and Minnehaha Falls featured in stories
**Transportation and Infrastructure**:
– Region once had numerous passenger rail services
– Minneapolis–Saint Paul was a rare crossing point for the Mississippi River
– Commercial rail traffic carried goods to mills in Minneapolis and Saint Paul
– Passenger travel peaked in 1888 with around 150 trains daily
– Amtrak’s Seattle/Portland to Chicago ‘Empire Builder’ route is a remnant of past interstate service
**Economy and Agriculture**:
– Washington County houses the state’s oldest farms
– Joseph Haskell was Minnesota’s first white farmer in 1840
– Afton Township on Trading Post Trail was where Haskell farmed
– Lock and Dam No. 1 on the Mississippi River is upstream from the Minnesota River
– Changes were made to the delineations of metropolitan statistical areas in 2013
**Climate and Demographics**:
– The Twin Cities have the coldest climate of any major U.S. metropolitan area
– The cities are among Minnesota’s warmest places due to their location and urban heat island effect
– Average annual temperature at the airport is 45.4°F
– Monthly average daily high temperatures range from 21.9°F in January to 83.3°F in July
– Snowfall averages 56.3 inches per year in the Twin Cities area
– The Twin Cities Metropolitan Statistical Area includes 15 counties, with 13 in Minnesota and two in Wisconsin
Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities after the area's two largest cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Minnesotans often refer to the two together (or the seven-county metro area collectively) simply as "the cities". The area is Minnesota's economic, cultural, and political center.
Minneapolis–Saint Paul
| |
|---|---|
Minneapolis (top) and Saint Paul (bottom) | |
 Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan statistical area (MSA) (in red) | |
| Country | United States |
| States | Minnesota and Wisconsin |
| Principal cities | Minneapolis, Saint Paul |
| Area | |
| • Urban | 1,021.8 sq mi (2,646 km2) |
| • Metro | 8,120 sq mi (21,000 km2) |
| Highest elevation | 1,376 ft (419 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 660 ft (200 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Urban | 2,650,890 (16th) |
| • Urban density | 2,594.3/sq mi (1,001.7/km2) |
| • MSA | 3,690,261 (16th) |
| • CSA | 4,078,788 (16th) |
| |
| GDP | |
| • MSA | $323.973 billion (2022) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Area code(s) | 320, 507, 612, 651, 715/534, 763, 952 |
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Minneapolis and Saint Paul are independent municipalities with defined borders. Minneapolis sits mostly on the west side of the Mississippi River on lake-covered terrain. Although most of the city is residential neighborhoods, it has a business-dominated downtown area with some historic industrial areas, the Mill District and the North Loop area. Saint Paul, which sits mostly on the east side of the river, has a smaller business district, many tree-lined neighborhoods, and a large collection of late-Victorian architecture. Both cities, and the surrounding smaller cities, feature lakes, hills, and creeks.
Originally inhabited by the Ojibwe and Dakota people, the cities were settled by various Europeans. Minneapolis was strongly influenced by early Scandinavian and Lutheran settlers, while Saint Paul was settled predominantly by the French, the Irish, and German Catholics. Both urban areas are home to new immigrant communities, including Mexicans, Somalis, Hmong, Indians, Oromo, Vietnamese, Cameroonians, and Liberians.
"Twin Cities" is sometimes used to refer to the seven-county region governed by the Metropolitan Council regional governmental agency and planning organization. The United States Office of Management and Budget officially designates 15 counties as the "Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington MN–WI Metropolitan Statistical Area". It is the 16th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. and third-largest metropolitan area in the Midwest, with a population of 3,690,261 at the 2020 census. The larger 21-county Minneapolis–St. Paul MN–WI Combined Statistical Area, the nation's 16th-largest combined statistical area, had a population of 4,078,788 at the 2020 census.