Minnesota is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. It is known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. Its official motto is L’Étoile du Nord, French for “The Star of the North”.
Minnesota has been inhabited by various indigenous peoples since the Woodland period of the 11th century BCE. Between roughly 200 and 500 CE, two areas of the indigenous Hopewell tradition emerged: the Laural Complex in the north, and Tremplau Hopewell in the Mississippi River Valley. The subsequent Upper Mississippian culture, consisting of the Oneota people and other Siouan speakers, lasted through the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century. French explorers and missionaries were the earliest Europeans to enter the region, encountering the Dakota, Ojibwe, and various Anishinaabe tribes.
Much of what is now Minnesota formed part of the vast French holding of Louisiana, which the United States purchased in 1803. After several subsequent territorial reorganizations, the Minnesota Territory was admitted to the Union in 1858.
Minnesota’s growth initially centered on timber, agriculture and railroads. During the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, European immigrants arrived in significant numbers, particularly from Scandinavia, Germany, and Central Europe; a significant influx has been linked to the failed European Revolutions of 1848.
