Minneapolis

Minneapolis, city, Minnesota, United States. The name is derived from the Greek polis, “city”, and the Sioux minne, “water”, a reference to the numerous lakes and streams in the area. It is one of the largest cities in the upper Midwest, and the Twin Cities—as Minneapolis and the nearby St Paul, to the east, are known—dominate the economic and cultural life of this extensive region. Minneapolis occupies relatively flat terrain. Within the city limits are 22 natural lakes, remnants of glacial activity. The Mississippi River crosses the city from the north to south-east, drops 20 m (65 ft) at the Falls of St Anthony, then follows a deep gorge below the falls towards its confluence with the Minnesota River. Minnehaha Creek flows east through the city over Minnehaha Falls and into the Mississippi River. Population 372,811 (2005 estimate).

Minneapolis is the centre of one of the richest agricultural areas of the United States and a regional hub of transport, commerce, and finance. Leading industries include medical instrument manufacturing and research; processing of food and dairy products; printing and publishing; and the manufacture of machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, metal and paper products, precision instruments, and transport machinery. Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport is located south of the city.

Among the city's institutions of higher education are facilities of the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota, Augsburg College (1869), and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (1886). Gateway Center is a complex that includes several high-rise government and office buildings. Also notable are the skyways—glass-enclosed bridges that cross many downtown streets. The Mall of America, the largest retail and entertainment complex in the United States, is located in nearby Bloomington. Prominent cultural facilities include the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (1915), the Walker Art Center, the Weisman Museum, and the American Swedish Institute (1903-1907). The city is the home of the Minnesota Orchestra and the Guthrie Theater Company. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, completed in the early 1980s, is the home of the Minnesota Twins baseball team and the Minnesota Vikings American football team. The city's lake, creek, and river frontages form part of the extensive municipal park system.

The area now occupied by Minneapolis was inhabited by the Sioux when the Franciscan missionary Louis Hennepin visited in 1680 and named the Falls of St Anthony. In 1819 Fort Snelling was built at the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers to pave the way for settlers moving west. St Anthony, on the east side of the river, was merged with Fort Snelling (1872), forming the city of Minneapolis.

The early growth of Minneapolis was based on logging in the region's hardwood forests. Later, wheat from the western Minnesota prairies and timber from the pine and fir forests of north-east Minnesota sustained the economic boom. Timber production peaked in 1899, disappearing by 1920 with the exhaustion of forest reserves. By 1870 Minneapolis was the nation's leading flour producer, with a dozen mills operating at the falls. Flour milling peaked in 1915, then waned as milling companies became diversified food manufacturers. Minneapolis, however, remains a leading grain market. The American Indian Movement (AIM) was organized in Minneapolis in 1968. An aggressive programme of construction and development transformed much of the central area in the 1980s and 1990s, and the Utility Relocation project for the Light Rail Transit network began in 2000.