Minnesota () is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state on May 11, 1858. Known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the state's name comes from a Dakota word for "sky-tinted water". Those waters, together with forests, parks, and wilderness areas, offer residents and tourists a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities.

Nearly 60% of Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area known as the "Twin Cities", the center of transportation, business, industry and education, and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now cleared, farmed and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation.

Minnesota is known for its relatively liberal social and political orientation, and has a high rate of civic participation and voter turnout. Minnesota ranks among the healthiest states, and has a highly literate population. The large majority of residents are of Scandinavian and German descent. The state is known as a center of Scandinavian American culture. Ethnic diversity has increased in recent decades. Substantial influxes of African, Asian, and Latin American immigrants have joined the descendants of European immigrants and the original Native American inhabitants.

Etymology

The word ''Minnesota'' comes from the Dakota name for the Minnesota River: ''Mnisota''. The root ''mni'' (also spelled ''mini'' or ''minne'') means, "water". ''Mnisota'' can be translated as ''sky-tinted water'' or ''somewhat clouded water''. Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it ''mnisota''. Many locations in the state have similar names, such as Minnehaha Falls ("waterfall"), Minneiska ("white water"), Minneota ("much water"), Minnetonka ("big water"), Minnetrista ("crooked water"), and Minneapolis, which is a combination of ''mni'' and ''polis'', the Greek word for "city".

Geography

Minnesota is the northernmost U.S. state apart from Alaska; its isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods is the only part of the 48 contiguous states lying north of the 49th Parallel. The state is part of the U.S. region known as the Upper Midwest. The state shares a Lake Superior water border with Michigan and Wisconsin on the northeast; the remainder of the eastern border is with Wisconsin. Iowa is to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba to the north. With 86,943 square miles (225,181 km²), or approximately 2.25% of the United States, Minnesota is the twelfth-largest state.

Geology and terrain

Minnesota contains some of the oldest rocks found on earth, gneisses some 3.6 billion years old, or 80% as old as the planet. About 2.7 billion years ago, basaltic lava poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ocean; the remains of this volcanic rock formed the Canadian Shield in northeast Minnesota. The roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of Precambrian seas formed the Iron Range of northern Minnesota. Following a period of volcanism 1.1 billion years ago, Minnesota's geological activity has been more subdued, with no volcanism or mountain formation, but with repeated incursions of the sea, which left behind multiple strata of sedimentary rock.

In more recent times, massive ice sheets at least one kilometer thick ravaged the landscape of the state and sculpted its current terrain. The Wisconsin glaciation left 12,000 years ago. These glaciers covered all of Minnesota except the far southeast, an area characterized by steep hills and streams that cut into the bedrock. This area is known as the Driftless Zone for its absence of glacial drift. Much of the remainder of the state outside of the northeast has 50 feet (15 m) or more of glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. Gigantic Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest 13,000 years ago. Its bed created the fertile Red River valley, and its outflow, glacial River Warren, carved the valley of the Minnesota River. Minnesota is geologically quiet today; it experiences earthquakes infrequently, and most of them are minor.

The state's high point is Eagle Mountain at 2,301 feet (701 m), which is only 13 miles (20.9 km) away from the low of 602 feet (183 m) at the shore of Lake Superior. Notwithstanding dramatic local differences in elevation, much of the state is a gently rolling peneplain.

Two major drainage divides meet in the northeastern part of Minnesota in rural Hibbing, forming a triple watershed. Precipitation can follow the Mississippi River south to the Gulf of Mexico, the Saint Lawrence Seaway east to the Atlantic Ocean, or the Hudson Bay watershed to the Arctic Ocean.

The state's nickname, ''The Land of 10,000 Lakes'', is no exaggeration; there are 11,842 Minnesota lakes over 10 acres (.04 km²) in size. The Minnesota portion of Lake Superior is the largest at 962,700 acres (3,896 km²) and deepest (at ) body of water in the state. Minnesota has 6,564 natural rivers and streams that cumulatively flow for 69,000 miles (111,000 km). The Mississippi River begins its journey from its headwaters at Lake Itasca and crosses the Iowa border downstream. It is joined by the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling, by the St. Croix River near Hastings, by the Chippewa River at Wabasha, and by many smaller streams. The Red River, in the bed of glacial Lake Agassiz, drains the northwest part of the state northward toward Canada's Hudson Bay. Approximately 10.6 million acres (42,900 km²) of wetlands are contained within Minnesota's borders, the most of any state except Alaska.

Flora and fauna

Minnesota has four ecological provinces: ''Prairie Parkland'' in the southwestern and western parts of the state, the ''Eastern Broadleaf Forest'' (Big Woods) in the southeast, extending in a narrowing strip to the northwestern part of the state, where it transitions into ''Tallgrass Aspen Parkland'', and the northern ''Laurentian Mixed Forest'', a transitional forest between the northern boreal forest and broadleaf forests to the south. These northern forests are a vast wilderness of pine and spruce trees mixed with patchy stands of birch and poplar.

Much of Minnesota's northern forest underwent logging at some time, leaving only a few patches of old growth forest today in areas such as in the Chippewa National Forest and the Superior National Forest where the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has some of unlogged land. Although logging continues, regrowth keeps about one third of the state forested. Nearly all of Minnesota's prairies and oak savannas have been destroyed or fragmented because of farming, grazing, logging, and suburban development.

While loss of habitat has affected native animals such as the pine marten, elk, woodland caribou, and bison, others like whitetail deer and bobcat thrive. The state has the nation's largest population of timber wolves outside Alaska, and supports healthy populations of black bear and moose. Located on the Mississippi Flyway, Minnesota hosts migratory waterfowl such as geese and ducks, and game birds such as grouse, pheasants, and turkeys. It is home to birds of prey including the bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, and snowy owl. The lakes teem with sport fish such as walleye, bass, muskellunge, and northern pike, and streams in the southeast are populated by brook, brown, and rainbow trout.

Climate

Minnesota endures temperature extremes characteristic of its continental climate; with cold winters and hot summers. The record high and low span is 174 degrees Fahrenheit (from at Tower on February 2, 1996 to at Moorhead on July 6, 1936) Fahrenheit (span of 96C°; from -51 °C to 45 °C). Meteorological events include rain, snow, blizzards, thunderstorms, hail, derechos, tornadoes, and high-velocity straight-line winds. The growing season varies from 90 days per year in the Iron Range to 160 days in southeast Minnesota near the Mississippi River, and mean average temperatures range from 37 °F (2 °C) to 49 °F (9 °C). Average summer dew points range from about 58 °F (14.4 °C) in the south to about 48 °F (8.9 °C) in the north. Depending on location, average annual precipitation ranges from 19 in (48.3 cm) to 35 in (88.9 cm), and droughts occur every 10 to 50 years.

Protected lands

Minnesota's first state park, Itasca State Park, was established in 1891, and is the source of the Mississippi River. Today Minnesota has 72 state parks and recreation areas, 58 state forests covering about four million acres (16,000 km²), and numerous state wildlife preserves, all managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. There are 5.5 million acres (22,000 km²) in the Chippewa and Superior National Forests. The Superior National Forest in the northeast contains the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which encompasses over a million acres (4,000 km²) and a thousand lakes. To its west is Voyageurs National Park. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA), is a long corridor along the Mississippi River through the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area connecting a variety of sites of historic, cultural, and geologic interest.

History

Before European settlement, Minnesota was populated by the Anishinaabe, the Dakota, and other Native Americans. The first Europeans were French fur traders that arrived in the 17th century. Late that century, Ojibwe Indians migrated westward to Minnesota, causing tensions with the Sioux. Explorers such as Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, Father Louis Hennepin, Jonathan Carver, Henry Schoolcraft, and Joseph Nicollet, among others, mapped out the state.

The portion of the state east of the Mississippi River became a part of the United States at the end of the American Revolutionary War, when the Second Treaty of Paris was signed. Land west of the Mississippi River was acquired with the Louisiana Purchase, although a portion of the Red River Valley was disputed until the Treaty of 1818. In 1805, Zebulon Pike bargained with Native Americans to acquire land at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. The construction of Fort Snelling followed between 1819 and 1825. Its soldiers built a grist mill and a sawmill at Saint Anthony Falls, the first of the water-powered industries around which the city of Minneapolis later grew. Meanwhile, squatters, government officials, and tourists had settled near the fort. In 1839, the Army forced them to move downriver, and they settled in the area that became St. Paul. Minnesota Territory was formed on March 3, 1849. Thousands of people had come to build farms and cut timber, and Minnesota became the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858.

Treaties between European settlers and the Dakota and Ojibwe gradually forced the natives off their lands and on to smaller reservations. As conditions deteriorated for the Dakota, tensions rose, leading to the Dakota War of 1862. The result of the six-week war was the execution of 38 Dakota — the largest mass execution in United States history — and the exile of most of the rest of the Dakota to the Crow Creek Reservation in Nebraska. As many as 800 white settlers died during the war.

Logging and farming were mainstays of Minnesota's early economy. The sawmills at Saint Anthony Falls, and logging centers like Marine on St. Croix, Stillwater, and Winona, processed high volumes of lumber. These cities were situated on rivers that were ideal for transportation. Later, Saint Anthony Falls was tapped to provide power for flour mills. Innovations by Minneapolis millers led to the production of Minnesota "patent" flour, which commanded almost double the price of "bakers" or "clear" flour, which it replaced. By 1900, Minnesota mills, led by Pillsbury, Northwestern and the Washburn-Crosby Company (a forerunner of General Mills), were grinding 14.1% of the nation's grain.

The state's iron-mining industry was established with the discovery of iron in the Vermilion Range and the Mesabi Range in the 1880s, and in the Cuyuna Range in the early 20th century. The ore was shipped by rail to Duluth and Two Harbors, then loaded onto ships and transported eastward over the Great Lakes.

Industrial development and the rise of manufacturing caused the population to shift gradually from rural areas to cities during the early 20th century. Nevertheless, farming remained prevalent. Minnesota's economy was hard-hit by the Great Depression, resulting in lower prices for farmers, layoffs among iron miners, and labor unrest. Compounding the adversity, western Minnesota and the Dakotas were hit by drought from 1931 to 1935. New Deal programs provided some economic turnaround. The Civilian Conservation Corps and other programs around the state established some jobs for Indians on their reservations, and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 provided the tribes with a mechanism of self-government. This provided natives a greater voice within the state, and promoted more respect for tribal customs because religious ceremonies and native languages were no longer suppressed.

After World War II, industrial development quickened. New technology increased farm productivity through automation of feedlots for hogs and cattle, machine milking at dairy farms, and raising chickens in large buildings. Planting became more specialized with hybridization of corn and wheat, and the use of farm machinery such as tractors and combines became the norm. University of Minnesota professor Norman Borlaug contributed to these developments as part of the Green Revolution. Suburban development accelerated due to increased postwar housing demand and convenient transportation. Increased mobility, in turn, enabled more specialized jobs.

Minnesota became a center of technology after World War II. Engineering Research Associates was formed in 1946 to develop computers for the United States Navy. It later merged with Remington Rand, and then became Sperry Rand. William Norris left Sperry in 1957 to form Control Data Corporation (CDC). Cray Research was formed when Seymour Cray left CDC to form his own company. Medical device maker Medtronic also started business in the Twin Cities in 1949.

Cities and towns

Saint Paul, located in east-central Minnesota along the banks of the Mississippi River, has been Minnesota's capital city since 1849, first as capital of the Territory of Minnesota, and then as state capital since 1858.

Saint Paul is adjacent to Minnesota's most populous city, Minneapolis; they and their suburbs are known collectively as the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the thirteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States and home to about 60% of the state's population. The remainder of the state is known as "Greater Minnesota" or "Outstate Minnesota".

The state has sixteen cities with populations above 50,000 (based on 2010 census). In descending order of size they are Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Rochester, Duluth, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth, Saint Cloud, Eagan, Woodbury, Maple Grove, Coon Rapids, Eden Prairie, Burnsville, Blaine and Lakeville. Of these only Rochester, Duluth, and Saint Cloud are outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Minnesota's population continues to grow, primarily in the urban centers. The populations of metropolitan Sherburne and Scott Counties doubled between 1980 and 2000, while 40 of the state's 87 counties lost residents over the same decades.

Demographics

Population

From fewer than 6,100 people in 1850, Minnesota's population grew to over 1.7 million by 1900. Each of the next six decades saw a 15% increase in population, reaching 3.4 million in 1960. Growth then slowed, rising 11% to 3.8 million in 1970, and an average of 9% over the next three decades to 4.9 million in the 2000 Census. As of 2010, the state's population was 5,303,925 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The rate of population change along with age and gender distributions approximate the national average. Minnesota's growing minority groups, however, still form a significantly smaller percentage of the population than in the nation as a whole. The center of population of Minnesota is located in Hennepin County, in the city of Rogers.

Ancestry

The principal ancestries of Minnesota's residents in 2010 has been surveyed to be the following:

37.9% German

32.1% Scandinavian (16.8% Norwegian, 9.5% Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Icelandic, and Faroese)

11.7% Irish

6.3% English

5.1% Polish

4.2% French

3.7% Czech

Ancestries claimed by less than 3% of the population include American, Italian, and Dutch, each between 2 and 3%; Sub-Saharan African and East African, Scottish, French Canadian, Scotch-Irish and Mexican, each between 1 and 1.9%; and less than 1% each for Russian, Welsh, Bosnian, Swiss, Arab, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Greek, Slovak, Lithuanian, Portuguese, and West Indian.

The state's racial composition in the 2008 American Community Survey was:

White: 88.0% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 85.6%)

African American: 4.4%

American Indian and Alaska Native: 1.0%

Asian: 3.5%

Pacific Islander: <0.1%

Other races: 1.4%

Multiracial: 1.8%

Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 4.0%

Religion

The majority of Minnesotans are Protestants, including a significant Lutheran affiliation owing to the state's largely Northern European ethnic makeup, though Roman Catholics make up the largest single Christian denomination. A 2010 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that 32.0% of Minnesotans were affiliated with Mainline Protestant traditions, 21.0% with Evangelical Protestants, 28.0% with Roman Catholic, 1.0% each with Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Black Protestant traditions, smaller amounts for other faiths, and 13.0% unaffiliated. This is broadly consistent with the results of the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, which also gives detail on percentages of many individual denominations. Although Christianity is dominant, there is a long history of non-Christian faiths. Ashkenazi Jewish pioneers set up Saint Paul's first synagogue in 1856.

Economy

Once primarily a producer of raw materials, Minnesota's economy has transformed in the last 200 years to emphasize finished products and services. Perhaps the most significant characteristic of the economy is its diversity; the relative outputs of its business sectors closely match the United States as a whole. The economy of Minnesota had a gross domestic product of $262 billion in 2008. Thirty-three of the United States' top 1,000 publicly traded companies (by revenue in 2008) are headquartered in Minnesota, including Target, UnitedHealth Group, 3M, Medtronic, General Mills, U.S. Bancorp, Ameriprise, Hormel, Land O' Lakes, SuperValu, Best Buy and Valspar. Private companies based in Minnesota include Cargill, the largest privately owned company in the United States, and Carlson Companies, the parent company of Radisson Hotels.

The per capita personal income in 2008 was $42,772, the tenth-highest in the nation. The three-year median household income from 2002 to 2004 was $55,914, ranking fifth in the U.S. and first among the 36 states not on the Atlantic coast.

As of June 2011, the state's unemployment rate is 6.7%.

Industry and commerce

Minnesota's earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture; the city of Minneapolis grew around the flour mills powered by St. Anthony Falls. Although less than 1% of the population is employed in the agricultural sector, it remains a major part of the state's economy, ranking 6th in the nation in the value of products sold. The state is the U.S.'s largest producer of sugar beets, sweet corn, and green peas for processing, and farm-raised turkeys. Forestry remains strong, including logging, pulpwood processing and paper production, and forest products manufacturing. Minnesota was famous for its soft-ore mines, which produced a significant portion of the world's iron ore for over a century. Although the high-grade ore is now depleted, taconite mining continues, using processes developed locally to save the industry. In 2004, the state produced 75% of the country's usable iron ore. The mining boom created the port of Duluth which continues to be important for shipping ore, coal, and agricultural products. The manufacturing sector now includes technology and biomedical firms in addition to the older food processors and heavy industry. The nation's first indoor shopping mall was Edina's Southdale Center and its largest is Bloomington's Mall of America.

Minnesota is one of 42 U.S. states with its own lottery; its games include Powerball, Hot Lotto (both multi-state), and Gopher 5.

Energy use and production

The state produces ethanol fuel and is the first to mandate its use, a 10% mix (E10), and a 20% mix (E20) in 2013. There are more than 310 service stations supplying E85 fuel. A 2% biodiesel blend has been required in diesel fuel since 2005. As of December 2006 the state was the country's fourth-largest producer of wind power, with 895 megawatts installed and another 200 megawatts planned, much of it on the windy Buffalo Ridge in the southwest part of the state.

State taxes

Minnesota has a slightly progressive income tax structure; the three brackets of state income tax rates are 5.35%, 7.05% and 7.85%. As of 2008, Minnesota was ranked as 12th in the nation for per capita total state and local taxes. In 2008, Minnesotans paid 10.2% of their income in state and local taxes, compared to the US average of 9.7% of income. This ranks Minnesota 12th among the states for total state and local tax burden. The state sales tax in Minnesota is 6.875%, but there is no sales tax on clothing, prescription drug medications, some services, or food items for home consumption. The state legislature may allow municipalities to institute local sales taxes and special local taxes, such as the 0.5% supplemental sales tax in Minneapolis. Excise taxes are levied on alcohol, tobacco, and motor fuel. The state imposes a use tax on items purchased elsewhere but used within Minnesota. Owners of real property in Minnesota pay property tax to their county, municipality, school district, and special taxing districts.

Culture

Fine and performing arts

thumb|right|The Minneapolis Institute of Arts' [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts north facade, designed by McKim, Mead, and White.]] Minnesota's major fine art museums include the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center, and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum. The Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra are prominent full-time professional musical ensembles that perform concerts and offer educational programs to the community. Attendance at theatrical, musical, and comedy events in the area is strong. The Guthrie Theater moved into a new building in 2006, boasting three stages and overlooking the Mississippi River. In the United States, the Twin Cities' number of theater seats per capita ranks behind only New York City; with some 2.3 million theater tickets sold annually. The Minnesota Fringe Festival is an annual celebration of theatre, dance, improvisation, puppetry, kids' shows, visual art, and musicals. The summer festival consists of over 800 performances over 11 days in Minneapolis, and is the largest non-juried performing arts festival in the United States.

Literature

The rigors and rewards of pioneer life on the prairie were the subject of ''Giants in the Earth'' by Ole Rolvaag and of the ''Little House'' series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Small-town life was attacked by Sinclair Lewis in the novel ''Main Street'', and more gently and affectionately satirized by Garrison Keillor in his tales of Lake Wobegon. St. Paul native F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote of the social insecurities and aspirations of the young city in stories such as ''Winter Dreams'' and ''The Ice Palace'' (published in ''Flappers and Philosophers''). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem ''The Song of Hiawatha'' was inspired by Minnesota and names many of the state's places and bodies of water.

Entertainment

Minnesotan musicians of many genres include rock star Prince, harmony singers The Andrews Sisters, rockabilly star Eddie Cochran, folk musician Bob Dylan, surf band The Trashmen, garage rock band The Castaways, pop songwriters Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, indie rock artists Jonny Lang and Soul Asylum, independent hip-hop labels Rhymesayers Entertainment and Doomtree and cult favorites such as Hüsker Dü and The Replacements.

Minnesotans have made significant contributions to comedy, theater, and film. Ole and Lena jokes are best appreciated when delivered in the accent of Scandinavian Americans. Garrison Keillor is known around the country for resurrecting old-style radio comedy with ''A Prairie Home Companion'', which has aired since the 1970s. Local television had the satirical show ''The Bedtime Nooz'' in the 1960s, while area natives Lizz Winstead and Craig Kilborn helped create the increasingly influential ''Daily Show'' decades later. Actors from the state include Eddie Albert, Judy Garland, Jessica Lange, Seann William Scott, Josh Hartnett, Jessica Biel, Vince Vaughn, Rachel Leigh Cook, Steve Zahn, Kevin Sorbo, and Winona Ryder. Joel and Ethan Coen, Terry Gilliam and Mike Todd contributed to the art of film, and others brought the offbeat cult shows ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' and ''Let's Bowl'' to national cable from the Twin Cities.

Popular culture

Stereotypical Minnesotan traits include manners known as "Minnesota nice", Lutheranism, a strong sense of community and shared culture, and their distinctive brand of North Central American English sprinkled with Scandinavian-sounding words such as ''uff da''. Potlucks, usually with a variety of hotdish casseroles, are popular at community functions, especially church activities. Minnesota's Scandinavian heritage makes lutefisk a traditional holiday dish. Movies like ''Fargo'', ''Juno'', ''A Serious Man'', ''Drop Dead Gorgeous'', ''New in Town'', ''Grumpy Old Men'' and ''Grumpier Old Men''; the television series ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'', ''The Golden Girls'', the ''Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and ''Coach''; the radio show ''A Prairie Home Companion''; and the book ''How to Talk Minnesotan'' lampoon (and celebrate) Minnesotan culture, speech and mannerisms.

The Minnesota State Fair, advertised as ''The Great Minnesota Get-Together'', is an icon of state culture. In a state of 5.2 million people, there were almost 1.8 million visitors to the fair in 2009, breaking the previous record set in 2001. The fair covers the variety of life in Minnesota, including fine art, science, agriculture, food preparation, 4H displays, music, the midway, and corporate merchandising. It is known for its displays of seed art, butter sculptures of dairy princesses, the birthing barn, and the "fattest pig" competition. One can also find dozens of varieties of food on a stick, such as Pronto Pups, cheese curds, and deep fried candy bars. On a smaller scale, many of these attractions are offered at numerous county fairs.

Other large annual festivals include the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Minneapolis' Aquatennial and Mill City Music Festival, Moondance Jam in Walker, Sonshine Christian music festival in Willmar, the Judy Garland Festival in Grand Rapids, Eelpout Festival on Leech Lake, and WE Fest in Detroit Lakes.

Health

The people of Minnesota have a high rate of participation in outdoor activities; the state is ranked first in the percentage of residents who engage in regular exercise.

Minnesotans have low rates of premature death, infant mortality, cardiovascular disease, and occupational fatalities, long life expectancies, and a high rate of health insurance. These and other measures have led two groups to rank Minnesota as the healthiest state in the nation, but in one of these rankings Minnesota descended from first to sixth in the nation between 2005 and 2009, due to low levels of public health funding and prevalence of binge drinking.

On October 1, 2007 Minnesota became the seventeenth state to enact a statewide smoking ban in restaurants and bars with the enactment of Freedom to Breathe Act.

Medical care is provided by a comprehensive network of hospitals and clinics, headed by two institutions with international reputations. The University of Minnesota Medical School is a highly rated teaching institution that has made a number of breakthroughs in treatment, and its research activities contribute significantly to the state's growing biotechnology industry. The Mayo Clinic, a world-renowned medical practice, is based in Rochester. Mayo and the University are partners in the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics, a state-funded program that conducts research into cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart health, obesity, and other areas.

Education

One of the first acts of the Minnesota Legislature when it opened in 1858 was the creation of a normal school at Winona. This commitment to education has contributed to a literate and well-educated population; the state ranked 13th on the 2006–2007 Morgan Quitno Smartest State Award, and is first in the percentage of residents with at least a high school diploma. But while more than 90% of high school seniors graduated in 2006, about 6% of white, 28% of African American, 30% of Asian American and more than 34% of Hispanic and Native American students dropped out of school. In 2007 Minnesota students earned the highest average score in the nation on the ACT exam. While Minnesota has chosen not to implement school vouchers, it is home to the first charter school.

The state supports a network of public universities and colleges, including 32 institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, and five major campuses of the University of Minnesota. It is also home to more than 20 private colleges and universities, six of which rank among the nation's top 100 liberal arts colleges, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Transportation

Transportation in Minnesota is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT for short and used in the local news media). Principal transportation corridors radiate from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and Duluth. The major Interstate highways are I-35, I-90, and I-94, with I-35 and I-94 passing through the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, and I-90 going east-west along the southern edge of the state. In 2006, a constitutional amendment was passed that required sales and use taxes on motor vehicles to fund transportation, with at least 40% dedicated to public transit. There are nearly two dozen rail corridors in Minnesota, most of which go through Minneapolis-St. Paul or Duluth. There is water transportation along the Mississippi River system and from the ports of Lake Superior.

Minnesota's principal airport is Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), a major passenger and freight hub for Delta Air Lines and Sun Country Airlines. Most other domestic carriers serve the airport. Large commercial jet service is provided at Duluth and Rochester, with scheduled commuter service to six smaller cities via Delta Connection Contracted Carriers Comair Airlines, Mesaba Airlines, SkyWest Airlines, Compass Airlines' and Pinnacle Airlines.

Amtrak's daily ''Empire Builder'' (Chicago–Seattle/Portland) train runs through Minnesota, calling at Midway Station in St. Paul and five other stations. Intercity bus providers include Jefferson Lines, Greyhound, and Megabus. Local public transit is provided by bus networks in the larger cities and by two rail lines: The Northstar Line commuter rail service runs from Big Lake to downtown Minneapolis, and the Hiawatha Line electrified light rail service runs from the Northstar's terminus to the MSP Airport and Bloomington.

Law and government

As with the federal government of the United States, power in Minnesota is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.

Executive

The executive branch is headed by the governor. Governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat, took office on January 3, 2011, to become the first Democratic Governor to hold the seat in two decades. The governor has a cabinet consisting of the leaders of various state government agencies, called commissioners. The other elected constitutional offices are secretary of state, attorney general, and state auditor.

Legislature

The Minnesota Legislature is a bicameral body consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The state has sixty-seven districts, each covering about sixty thousand people. Each district has one senator and two representatives (each district being divided into ''A'' and ''B'' sections). Senators serve for four years and representatives for two years. In the November 2010 election, the Minnesota Republican Party gained twenty-five house seats, giving them control of the House of Representatives by a 72-62 margin. The 2010 election also saw Minnesota voters elect a Republican majority in the Senate for the first time since 1972.

Judiciary

Minnesota's court system has three levels. Most cases start in the district courts, which are courts of general jurisdiction. There are 272 district court judges in ten judicial districts. Appeals from the trial courts and challenges to certain governmental decisions are heard by the Minnesota Court of Appeals, consisting of nineteen judges who typically sit in three-judge panels. The seven-justice Minnesota Supreme Court hears all appeals from the Tax Court, the Worker's Compensation Court of Appeals, first-degree murder convictions, and discretionary appeals from the Court of Appeals; it also has original jurisdiction over election disputes.

Two specialized courts within administrative agencies have been established: the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals, and the Tax Court, which deals with non-criminal tax cases.

Regional

In addition to the city and county levels of government found in the United States, Minnesota has other entities that provide governmental oversight and planning. Some actions in the Twin Cities metropolitan area are coordinated by the Metropolitan Council, and many lakes and rivers are overseen by watershed districts and soil and water conservation districts.

There are seven Anishinaabe reservations and four Dakota communities in Minnesota. These communities are self-governing.

Federal

Minnesota's United States senators are Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Democrat Al Franken. The outcome of the 2008 U.S. Senate election in Minnesota was contested until June 30 the next year; when the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in favor of Franken, Republican Norm Coleman conceded defeat, and the vacant seat was filled. The state has eight congressional districts; they are represented by Tim Walz (1st district; DFL), John Kline (2nd; R), Erik Paulsen (3rd; R), Betty McCollum (4th; DFL), Keith Ellison (5th; DFL), Michele Bachmann (6th; R), Collin Peterson (7th; DFL), and Chip Cravaack (8th; R).

Federal court cases are heard in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, which holds court in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Fergus Falls. Appeals are heard by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is based in St. Louis, Missouri and routinely also hears cases in St. Paul.

Politics

+ Election results from statewide races
Year	! Office	Minnesota Republican Party>GOP	Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party>DFL	! Others
	2004
	1998	Minnesota gubernatorial election, 1998	Governor
	1992

Minnesota is known for a politically active citizenry, and populism has been a longstanding force among the state's political parties. Minnesota has a consistently high voter turnout, due in part to its liberal voter registration laws, with virtually no evidence of voter fraud. In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, 77.9% of eligible Minnesotans voted—the highest percentage of any U.S. state—versus the national average of 61.2%. Previously unregistered voters can register on election day at their polls with evidence of residency.

Hubert Humphrey brought national attention to the state with his address at the 1948 Democratic National Convention. Eugene McCarthy's anti-war stance and popularity in the 1968 New Hampshire primary likely convinced Lyndon B. Johnson to drop out of the presidential election. Minnesotans have consistently cast their Electoral College votes for Democratic presidential candidates since 1976, longer than any other state. Minnesota is the only state in the nation that did not vote for Ronald Reagan in either of his presidential runs. Minnesota has gone to the Democratic Party in every Presidential Election since 1960, with the exception of 1972, when it was carried by Richard Nixon and the Republican Party.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties have major party status in Minnesota, but its state-level "Democratic" party is actually a separate party, officially known as the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). Formed out of a 1944 alliance of the Minnesota Democratic and Farmer-Labor parties, the DFL now serves as a de-facto proxy to the federal Democratic Party, and its distinction from the Democratic Party, while still official, is now a functional technicality.

The state has had active third party movements. The Reform Party, now the Independence Party, was able to elect former mayor of Brooklyn Park and professional wrestler Jesse Ventura to the governorship in 1998. The Independence Party has received enough support to keep major party status. The Green Party, while no longer having major party status, has a large presence in municipal government, notably in Minneapolis and Duluth, where it competes directly with the DFL party for local offices. Official "Major party" status in Minnesota (which grants state funding for elections) is reserved to parties whose candidates receive 5% or more of the vote in any statewide election (e.g., Governor, Secretary of State, U.S. President).

The state's U.S. Senate seats have generally been split since the early 1990s, and in the 108th and 109th Congresses, Minnesota's congressional delegation was split, with four representatives and one senator from each party. In the 2006 midterm election, Democrats were elected to all state offices except for governor and lieutenant governor, where Republicans Tim Pawlenty and Carol Molnau narrowly won re-election. The DFL also posted double-digit gains in both houses of the legislature, elected Amy Klobuchar to the U.S. Senate, and increased the party's U.S. House caucus by one. Keith Ellison (DFL) was elected as the first African American U.S. Representative from Minnesota as well as the first Muslim elected to Congress nationwide. In 2008 DFLer and former comedian and radio talk show host Al Franken beat incumbent Republican Norm Coleman in the United States Senate race by only a few hundred votes out of 3 million cast.

In the election of 2010, Republicans took control of both chambers of the Minnesota legislature for the first time in 38 years, and Democratic-Farmer-Labor party took the governor's office for the first time in 20 years.

Media

The Twin Cities area is the fifteenth largest media market in the United States as ranked by Nielsen Media Research. The state's other top markets are Fargo-Moorhead (118th nationally), Duluth-Superior (137th), Rochester-Mason City-Austin (152nd), and Mankato (200th).

Broadcast television in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest started on April 27, 1948, when KSTP-TV began broadcasting. Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns KSTP, is now the only locally owned television company in Minnesota. There are currently 39 analog broadcast stations and 23 digital channels broadcast over Minnesota.

The four largest daily newspapers are the ''Star Tribune'' in Minneapolis, the ''Pioneer Press'' in Saint Paul, the ''Duluth News Tribune'' in Duluth and ''The Minnesota Daily'', the largest student-run newspaper in the U.S. Sites offering daily news on the Web include ''The UpTake'', ''MinnPost'', the Twin Cities ''Daily Planet'', business news site ''Finance and Commerce'' and Washington D.C.-based ''Minnesota Independent''. Weeklies including ''City Pages'' and monthly publications such as ''Minnesota Monthly'' are available.

Two of the largest public radio networks, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) and Public Radio International (PRI), are based in the state. MPR has the largest audience of any regional public radio network in the nation, broadcasting on 37 radio stations. PRI weekly provides more than 400 hours of programming to almost 800 affiliates. The state's oldest radio station, KUOM-AM, was launched in 1922 and is among the 10 oldest radio stations in the United States. The University of Minnesota-owned station is still on the air, and since 1993 broadcasts a college rock format.

Sports and recreation

Organized sports

Minnesota has professional men's teams in all major sports. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome is home to the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. The building formerly hosted The Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball, winners of the 1987 and 1991 World Series. The Twins began playing in the new outdoor Target Field in 2010. The Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association play in the Target Center. The National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild team reached 300 consecutive sold-out games in St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center on January 16, 2008. The NSC Minnesota Stars replaced the United Soccer League Minnesota Thunder in 2010 and plays at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

Minor league baseball is represented both by major league-sponsored teams and independent teams such as the popular St. Paul Saints.

Professional women's sports include the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association, the Minnesota Lightning of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the Minnesota Vixen of the Independent Women's Football League, and the Minnesota Whitecaps of the National Women's Hockey League.

The Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I school, with the university's sports teams competing in either the Big Ten Conference or the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Four additional schools in the state compete in NCAA Division I ice hockey: the University of Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State University, Mankato, St. Cloud State University, and Bemidji State University. There are nine NCAA Division II colleges in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, and nineteen NCAA Division III colleges in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.

Winter Olympic Games medallists from the state include twelve of the twenty members of the gold medal 1980 ice hockey team (coached by Minnesota native Herb Brooks) and the bronze medallist U.S. men's curling team in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Swimmer Tom Malchow won an Olympic gold medal in the 2000 Summer games and a silver medal in 1996.

Grandma's Marathon is run every summer along the scenic North Shore of Lake Superior, and the Twin Cities Marathon winds around lakes and the Mississippi River during the peak of the fall color season.

Outdoor recreation

Minnesotans participate in high levels of physical activity, and many of these activities are outdoors. The strong interest of Minnesotans in environmentalism has been attributed to the popularity of these pursuits.

In the warmer months, these activities often involve water. Weekend and longer trips to family cabins on Minnesota's numerous lakes are a way of life for many residents. Activities include water sports such as water skiing, which originated in the state, boating, canoeing, and fishing. More than 36% of Minnesotans fish, second only to Alaska.

Fishing does not cease when the lakes freeze; ice fishing has been around since the arrival of early Scandinavian immigrants. Minnesotans have learned to embrace their long, harsh winters in ice sports such as skating, hockey, curling, and broomball, and snow sports such as cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling.

State and national forests and the seventy-two state parks are used year-round for hunting, camping, and hiking. There are almost of snowmobile trails statewide. Minnesota has more miles of bike trails than any other state, and a growing network of hiking trails, including the Superior Hiking Trail in the northeast. Many hiking and bike trails are used for cross-country skiing during the winter.

State symbols

Minnesota's state symbols:

State bird: Common Loon

State butterfly: Monarch

State drink: Milk

State fish: Walleye

State flower: Pink and white lady slipper

State fruit: Honeycrisp apple

State gemstone: Lake Superior agate

State grain: Wild rice

State motto: L'Étoile du Nord ("The Star of the North")

State muffin: Blueberry

State mushroom: Morel

State photograph: Grace

State song: "Hail! Minnesota"

State sport: Ice hockey

State tree: Red Pine also known as Norway Pine

Nicknames:

* "Land of 10,000 Lakes"

* "North Star State"

* "Gopher State"

* "Land of Sky-Blue Waters"

* "Bread and Butter State" (A reference to the grain and dairy products Minnesota produces)

See also

References

External links

General

Government

State of Minnesota Official site

Minnesota State Legislature

Minnesota Judicial Branch

Hyperlinked state constitution

Full text of state constitution

Energy Data & Statistics for Minnesota- From the U.S. Department of Energy

Tourism & recreation

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Minnesota DNR Outdoor Activities

Culture & history

Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame

Minnesota Historical Society

Minnesota history timeline

Minnesota Historical Society's online timeline

A History of Minneapolis: Early History: Resources

Minnesota Place Names

Forests, Fields, and the Falls: Connecting Minnesota

Maps and Demographics

Minnesota State Demographic Center

Minnesota Health and Demographic Data

USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Minnesota

Minnesota Demographics Facts

Minnesota State Highway Map

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection

John R. Borchert Map Library

Minnesota Geological Survey

Category:States and territories established in 1858 Category:States of the United States

af:Minnesota am:ሚንሶታ ang:Minnesota ar:مينيسوتا an:Minnesota arc:ܡܢܝܣܘܬܐ frp:Minnesota ast:Minnesota az:Minnesota bn:মিনেসোটা zh-min-nan:Minnesota be:Штат Мінесота be-x-old:Мінэсота bcl:Minnesota bi:Minnesota bs:Minnesota br:Minnesota bg:Минесота ca:Minnesota cv:Миннесота cs:Minnesota cy:Minnesota da:Minnesota de:Minnesota nv:Mínisóodah Hahoodzo et:Minnesota el:Μινεσότα es:Minnesota eo:Minesoto eu:Minnesota fa:مینه‌سوتا hif:Minnesota fo:Minnesota fr:Minnesota fy:Minnesota ga:Minnesota gv:Minnesota gag:Minnesota gd:Minnesota gl:Minnesota hak:Mìn-nì-sû-tha̍t xal:Минисөт ko:미네소타 주 haw:Minekoka hy:Մինեսոտա hi:मिनेसोटा hr:Minnesota io:Minnesota ig:Minésótạ bpy:মিনেসোটা id:Minnesota ia:Minnesota iu:ᒦᓃᓲᑖ/miiniisuutaa ik:Minnesota os:Миннесотæ is:Minnesota it:Minnesota he:מינסוטה jv:Minnesota pam:Minnesota ka:მინესოტა kw:Minnesota sw:Minnesota ht:Minesota ku:Minnesota mrj:Миннесота lad:Minnesota la:Minnesota lv:Minesota lt:Minesota lij:Minnesota li:Minnesota lmo:Minnesota hu:Minnesota mk:Минесота mg:Minnesota ml:മിനസോട്ട mi:Minnesota mr:मिनेसोटा arz:مينيسوتا ms:Minnesota mn:Миннесота nah:Minnesota nl:Minnesota ja:ミネソタ州 frr:Minnesota no:Minnesota nn:Minnesota oc:Minnesòta uz:Minnesota pnb:منسسوٹا pms:Minnesota nds:Minnesota pl:Minnesota pt:Minnesota ro:Minnesota rm:Minnesota qu:Minnesota suyu ru:Миннесота sq:Minnesota scn:Minnesota simple:Minnesota sk:Minnesota sl:Minnesota so:Minnesota ckb:مینێسۆتا sr:Минесота fi:Minnesota sv:Minnesota tl:Minesota ta:மினசோட்டா tt:Миннесота te:మిన్నసోటా th:รัฐมินนิโซตา tr:Minnesota uk:Міннесота ur:مینیسوٹا ug:Minnésota Shitati vi:Minnesota vo:Minnesota war:Minnesota yi:מינעסאטע yo:Minnesota diq:Minnesota bat-smg:Mėnesouta zh:明尼蘇達州

name	Fareed Zakaria
birthname	Fareed Rafiq Zakaria
Birth date	January 20, 1964
Birth place	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
alma mater	Yale University (AB)Harvard University (PhD)
occupation	Journalist, commentator, author
spouse	Paula Throckmorton Zakaria
children	Omar, Lila, Sofia
credits	''Time'' magazine, contributing editor (2010)''Fareed Zakaria GPS'', host (2008–present) ''Newsweek International'', editor (2000–2010) ''Foreign Exchange'', host (2005–2007) ''Foreign Affairs'', former managing editor
url	}}

Fareed Rafiq Zakaria (; Konkani/Hindi: फ़रीद राफ़िक़ ज़कारिया, Urdu: ; born January 20, 1964) is an Indian-American journalist and author. From 2000 to 2010, he was a columnist for ''Newsweek'' and editor of ''Newsweek International''. In 2010 he became editor-at-large of ''Time magazine''. He is also the host of CNN's ''Fareed Zakaria GPS'', and a frequent commentator and author about issues related to international relations, trade and American foreign policy.

In 2010, the government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contribution towards journalism.

Early life

Zakaria was born in Mumbai (then Bombay), Maharashtra, India, to a Konkani Muslim family. His father, Rafiq Zakaria, was a politician associated with the Indian National Congress and an Islamic scholar. His mother, Fatima Zakaria, was for a time the editor of the ''Sunday Times of India''.

Zakaria attended the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University, where he was president of the Yale Political Union, editor-in-chief of the Yale Political Monthly, a member of the Scroll and Key society, and a member of the Party of the Right. He later earned a Doctor of Philosophy in political science from Harvard University in 1993, where he studied under Samuel P. Huntington and Stanley Hoffmann.

Career

After directing a research project on American foreign policy at Harvard, Zakaria became managing editor of ''Foreign Affairs'' magazine in 1992. In October 2000, he was named editor of ''Newsweek International'', and wrote a weekly foreign affairs column. In August 2010 it was announced that he was moving from ''Newsweek'' to ''Time'' magazine, to serve as a contributing editor and columnist.

He has written on a variety of subjects for the ''New York Times'', the ''Wall Street Journal'', ''The New Yorker'', and as a wine columnist for the web magazine ''Slate''.

Zakaria is the author of ''From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role'' (Princeton, 1998), ''The Future of Freedom'' (Norton, 2003), and ''The Post-American World'' (2008); he has also co-edited ''The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World'' (Basic Books).

In 2007, ''Foreign Policy'' and ''Prospect'' magazines named him one of the 100 leading public intellectuals in the world.

Zakaria was a news analyst with ABC's ''This Week with George Stephanopoulos'' (2002–2007); he hosted the weekly TV news show, ''Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria'' on PBS (2005–2008); his weekly show, ''Fareed Zakaria GPS'' (Global Public Square) premiered on CNN in June 2008. As of November 2011, It airs on Sundays at 10:00am and 1:00pm Eastern Daylight Time.

Political views

Zakaria self-identifies as a "centrist", though he has been described variously as a political liberal, a conservative, or a moderate. George Stephanopoulos said of him in 2003, "He’s so well versed in politics, and he can’t be pigeonholed. I can’t be sure whenever I turn to him where he’s going to be coming from or what he’s going to say." Zakaria wrote in February 2008 that "Conservatism grew powerful in the 1970s and 1980s because it proposed solutions appropriate to the problems of the age", adding that "a new world requires new thinking". He supported Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign and also for president. In January 2009 ''Forbes'' referred to Zakaria as one of the 25 most influential liberals in the American media. Zakaria has stated that he tries not to be devoted to any type of ideology, saying "I feel that's part of my job... which is not to pick sides but to explain what I think is happening on the ground. I can't say, 'This is my team and I'm going to root for them no matter what they do.'"

He has suggested that social media be used to collect ideas for amendments to the U. S. Constitution.

Zakaria's books include ''The Future of Freedom'' and ''The Post-American World''. ''The Future of Freedom'' argues that what is defined as democracy in the Western world is actually "liberal democracy," a combination of liberal constitutionalism and participatory politics. Zakaria points out that protection of liberty and the rule of law actually preceded popular elections by centuries in Western Europe, and that when countries only adopt elections without the protection of liberty, they create "illiberal democracy." ''The Post-American World'', published in 2008 before the financial crisis, argued that the most important trend of modern times is the "rise of the rest," the economic emergence of China, India, Brazil and other countries that are rapidly gaining ground.

After the 9/11 attacks, in a Newsweek cover essay, "Why They Hate Us," Zakaria argued that Islamic extremism was not fundamentally rooted in Islam, nor could it be claimed a reaction to American foreign policy. He portrayed Osama bin Laden as one in a long line of extremists who used religion to justify mass murder. Zakaria argued for an inter-generational effort to create more open and dynamic societies in Arab countries, and thereby helping Islam enter the modern world.

Zakaria initially supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He said at the time, “The place is so dysfunctional... any stirring of the pot is good. America’s involvement in the region is for the good." He argued for a United Nations-sanctioned operation with a much larger force—approximately 400,000 troops—than was actually employed by the administration of President George W. Bush. After the invasion, he frequently criticized the way the Bush administration was running the occupation of Iraq. He continued to argue that a functioning democracy in Iraq would be a powerful new model for Arab politics but believes that at this point, an honest accounting would have to say that the costs of the invasion and occupation have been much higher than the benefits. He opposed the Iraq surge in March 2007, writing that it would work militarily but not politically, still leaving Iraq divided among its three communities. Instead he advocated that Washington push hard for a political settlement between the Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, and Kurds, and begin a reduction in forces to only 60,000 troops. In January 2009, he stated flatly that the surge "succeeded," militarily and did better politically than he would have predicted.

From 2006, Zakaria has also criticized what he views as "fear-based" American policies employed not only in combating terrorism, but also in enforcing immigration and drug smuggling laws, and has argued in favor of decriminalization of drugs and citizenship for presently illegal immigrants to the United States of all backgrounds.

Before the 2008 US Presidential election, Zakaria endorsed Barack Obama on his CNN program. In May 2011 The New York Times reported that President Obama has "sounded out prominent journalists like Fareed Zakaria ... and Thomas L. Friedman" concerning Middle East issues.

Wolfowitz meeting

In his 2006 book ''State of Denial'', ''Washington Post'' journalist Bob Woodward described a November 29, 2001, meeting of Middle East analysts, including Zakaria, that was convened at the request of the then Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. According to a ''New York Times'' story on Woodward's book, the Wolfowitz meeting ultimately produced a report for President George W. Bush that supported the subsequent invasion of Iraq. Zakaria, however, later told ''The New York Times'' that he had briefly attended what he thought was "a brainstorming session". He was not told that a report would be prepared for the President, and the report did not have his name on it.

Personal

Zakaria is a naturalized American citizen. He currently resides in New York City with his wife, Paula Throckmorton Zakaria, son Omar, and daughters Lila and Sofia.

Awards

Zakaria was conferred ''India Abroad'' Person of the Year 2008 award on March 20, 2009, in New York. Filmmaker Mira Nair, who won the award for year 2007, honored her successor. He has received honorary degrees at the University of Miami, Oberlin College, Bates College, Brown University, and Johns Hopkins University.

In January 2010, Zakaria was given the Padma Bhushan award by the Indian government for his contribution to the field of journalism.

In 2005, Zakaria was awarded the Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize from the Anti-Defamation League ("ADL"). In July 2010 the ADL expressed its opposition to the Park51 Islamic cultural center and mosque, planned for a site that is two blocks from the World Trade Center site. Zakaria returned the award in protest, saying that he could not "in good conscience keep it anymore". In support of his decision, he stated that the larger issue in the controversy is freedom of religion in America, even while acknowledging that he is not a religious person. He also wrote that a "moderate, mainstream version of Islam" is essential to winning the war on terror. On the August 8, 2010, edition of ''Fareed Zakaria GPS'', Zakaria addressed the issue, stating that in returning his award, he had hoped that the ADL would reconsider their stance.

Zakaria has accepted invitations to give commencement addresses to the 2012 graduating classes at Harvard University and Duke University.

Bibliography

''The Post-American World, Release 2.0, Fareed Zakaria, (W.W. Norton & Company; 2011) ISBN 0-393-08180-0

''The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria, (W.W. Norton & Company; 2008) ISBN 0-393-06235-X

''The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad'', Fareed Zakaria, (W.W. Norton & Company; 2003) ISBN 0-393-04764-4

''From Wealth to Power'', Fareed Zakaria, (Princeton University Press; 1998) ISBN 0-691-04496-1

''The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World Essays from 75 Years of Foreign Affairs'', edited by James F. Hoge and Fareed Zakaria, (Basic Books; 1997) ISBN 0-465-00170-X

References

External links

FareedZakaria.com Official site

Fareed Zakaria's uFollow page with an index of his columns and posts

Global Public Square at ''CNN''

Column archive at ''The Daily Star''

Column archive (through 2010) at ''Newsweek''

;Interviews and articles

Andrew Mangino. "Trustee Zakaria '86 found his niche at Yale". ''Yale Daily News''

Fareed Zakaria interview - KCTS9-TV PBS Seattle

"The Interpreter". ''Village Voice'' profile. August 9, 2005.

Q&A; with Fareed Zakaria on five-year anniversary of 9/11 attacks. South Asian Journalists Association blog. September 10, 2006.

Washington Post, PostGlobal Moderator

"Sweet Justice". Zakaria says that German wines get a bad rap. ''Slate (magazine)''.

Marion Maneker. "Man of the World". ''New York'' magazine profile.

Coverage of his many appearances on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". Sajaforum.org

Review roundup of "The Post-American World" at SAJA Forum

One-on-One with Thomas L. Friedman. Omnivoracious. September 7, 2008

Audio: Fareed Zakaria in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion show ''The Forum''

Category:1964 births Category:American columnists Category:American essayists Category:American foreign policy writers Category:American magazine editors Category:American Muslims Category:Harvard University alumni Category:American writers of Indian descent Category:Indian emigrants to the United States Category:Indian columnists Category:Indian essayists Category:Indian Muslims Category:Indian political writers Category:International relations scholars Category:Living people Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:Newsweek people Category:People from Mumbai Category:People from New York City Category:Political realists Category:Yale University alumni Category:Konkani Muslims Category:Indian magazine editors Category:American journalists of Asian descent Category:Time (magazine) people Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan

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Name	Christian Ponder
Currentteam	Minnesota Vikings
Currentnumber	7
Currentposition	Quarterback
Birth date	February 25, 1988
Birth place	Dallas, Texas
Heightft	6
Heightin	2
Weight	229
College	Florida State
Draftyear	2011
Draftround	1
Draftpick	12
Pastteams	Minnesota Vikings (–present)
Status	Signed 4 year/$11M Deal
Highlights	2011 Senior Bowl MVP 2010 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Finalist 2010 James Tatum Award Winner
Nfl	}}

Christian Ponder (born February 25, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Vikings with the twelfth overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, and signed with them on July 31, 2011, shortly after the 2011 NFL lockout ended. He played college football as the starting quarterback for the Florida State Seminoles at Florida State University. He won the starting job from Drew Weatherford prior to the 2008 season.

Early years

Ponder was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Grapevine, Texas. His father, David Ponder, played college football for Florida State as a defensive lineman from 1980 to 1983, and thus Christian Ponder is one of several father-son duos who have both played for Bobby Bowden, who coached the Seminoles until the end of the 2009 season. Christian Ponder attended Colleyville Heritage High School, where he played football. In 2004, he was the starting quarterback and threw for 1,500 yards and seven touchdowns. As a senior, he recorded 2,214 passing yards and 20 touchdowns and 911 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.

''The Dallas Morning News'' named him to their all-district first team. Scout.com named him the 20th-ranked quarterback prospect, while Rivals.com rated him the 14th-ranked pro-style quarterback and the 50th-ranked college prospect from Texas. He received scholarship offers from Baylor, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, North Carolina, and Texas Christian.

College career

In 2006, Ponder sat out his true freshman season at Florida State on redshirt status. In 2007, he served as the back-up behind starting quarterback Drew Weatherford. Ponder saw action against Virginia Tech when Weatherford was taken out of the game due to an injury in the second quarter. Although Florida State lost, 40–21, Ponder completed eight out of 18 passing attempts for 105 yards and one touchdown.

Before the 2008 season, Ponder was named the starting quarterback ahead of senior Weatherford. ''The Miami Herald'' said that the decision showed the coaching staff put "a premium on mobility over maturity." Ponder started in all 13 games, and completed 177 passes on 318 attempts for 2,006 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He also made 119 rushing attempts for 423 yards and four touchdowns. The Seminoles finished the season with a 9–4 record, including a victory over Wisconsin in the Champs Sports Bowl. At season's end, Ponder was named the team's most valuable offensive player.

In 2009, Ponder was well on his way to a career season when he suffered a season ending shoulder injury at Clemson. Through the first eight games of the season, he led the ACC in passing average per game and was one of the national leaders in yards and passing efficiency. He threw for over 2,700 yards and 14 touchdowns and considered jumping to the NFL a year early. However, after hitting Clemson safety DeAndre McDaniel on an interception return, Ponder separated his shoulder and missed the rest of the season. This ended his professional hopes, at least for one year. He resumed his role as the starting quarterback in 2010.

Before the 2010 season, Ponder was named to the Maxwell Award watch list. Florida State launched a campaign promoting Ponder as a Heisman Trophy candidate in July 2010. During the 2010 season, Ponder battled numerous setbacks to his health, including a swollen bursa sac in his throwing elbow. He re-injured the elbow numerous times during the season, and had to have it drained three times.

The 2010 season, Ponder's senior year and only year under coach Jimbo Fisher, had seen the greatest amount of success for the quarterback. Ponder was the first Seminole quarterback since Chris Weinke in 1999 to lead his team to victories over both its in-state rivals, Miami and Florida. He also won the 2010 James Tatum award, given to the nation's top student-athlete, and a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award. Ponder graduated from Florida State in two and a half years with a degree in finance and a 3.73 GPA, then an MBA, and is studying for his second graduate degree, in sports management. At the 2011 Under Armour Senior Bowl, Ponder won MVP honors after throwing for 2 TD's and leading the South to a win over the heavily favoured North.

Professional career

{{nfl predraft | height ft = 6 | height in = 2 | weight = 229 | dash = 4.63 | ten split = 1.57 | twenty split = 2.62 | shuttle = 4.09 | cone drill = 6.85 | vertical = 34 | broad ft = 9 | broad in = 8 | bench = x | wonderlic = 35 | arm span = 32⅛ | hand span = 10¼ | note = All values from 2011 NFL Scouting Combine. }}

Minnesota Vikings

Ponder was selected 12th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Ponder announced in his introduction press conference that he intended to wear jersey number 7 in the NFL.

References

Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:People from Tarrant County, Texas Category:Players of American football from Texas Category:Florida State Seminoles football players Category:American football quarterbacks Category:Minnesota Vikings players

fr:Christian Ponder

name	Paul Oscar
background	solo_singer
birth name	Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson
alias	Páll Óskar; Paul Oscar
birth date	March 16, 1970
origin	Reykjavík, Iceland
genre	Pop music
occupation	Pop singer, songwriter and disc jockey
years active	1993–present
label	Paul Oscar Productions (P.O.P.)
website	Myspace.com/palloskar
notable instruments	}}

Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson (born 16 March 1970), known internationally as Páll Óskar and Paul Oscar, is an Icelandic pop singer, songwriter and disc jockey. He had a musical childhood, singing at private functions, with choirs and for media advertisements, but was affected by bullying in school and tension between his parents at home. He came out as gay to his family at the age of 16 years.

Paul Oscar's musical range spans traditional Icelandic songs, ballads, love songs, disco, house and techno. He released his first album, ''Stuð'' (''Groove''), in 1993 while in New York City, and also sang with Icelandic groups Milljónamæringarnir (The Millionaires) and Casino while establishing a career as a solo artiste. His album of ballads, ''Palli'', was the best-selling Icelandic album of 1995. Paul Oscar came to international attention when he performed "''Minn hinsti dans''" ("My Final Dance"), Iceland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997. His most recent album is ''Silfursafnið'' (''The Silver Collection'', 2008). In Reykjavík, Paul Oscar performs regularly as a disc jockey in clubs and appears on radio and TV shows.

Early life

The youngest of seven children of Hjálmtýr E. Hjálmtýsson, a bank clerk, and Margrét Matthíasdóttir, a writer, Paul Oscar was born on 16 March 1970 in Reykjavík. As a child he displayed artistic talent in drawing, writing fairy tales and singing – his mother had him sing for the women in her sewing club and at family birthday parties. He also spent much time singing in choirs and in media commercials, and recorded his first album at the age of seven. His first leading role in a professional theatre production was at 12 years of age in the musical version of ''Rubber Tarzan'', a popular Danish children's novel by Ole Lund Kirkegaard (1940–1979). His voice broke two weeks after the musical's last performance, and he did not sing for the next few years.

Although Paul Oscar's family encouraged his musical talent, his parents did not get along with each other, and he was bullied by his schoolmates. Paul Oscar recalled: "My nickname was Little Palli, and Palli was chubby, nerdy, someone who never got jokes right, who was afraid of other men." At 13 he realized that he found men attractive, and came out to his family at 16. "For the first day, there was nice talk of acceptance, though my father did raise his voice. On the second day, and the third, and the fourth, there was this terrible silence. They treated me like an alien." However, his mother was supportive. She said: "If Páll has the talent to fall in love, he should nurture that talent. And he has as much a right to sit down at my table with his partner as anybody else does with their partner."

Paul Oscar rediscovered his voice at the age of 18, singing bass with the Hamrahlíð college choir for two years. In 1990 he won a talent contest for his college; later that year at the time of his graduation, he played Frank-N-Furter to great success in the college's production of ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''. Around the same time, he began appearing in drag shows at a notorious Reykjavík nightclub. After the club closed, he became a radio jockey on independent radio station FM 90,9. He also appeared in a film, ''Svo á jörðu sem á himni'' (''As in Heaven'', 1992).

Professional career

In the summer of 1993, Paul Oscar left Iceland for New York City, where he met fellow Icelanders Jóhann Jóhannsson and Sigurjón Kjartansson who were then on tour with heavy metal band HAM. Paul Oscar became their groupie, and about the same time released his first album, ''Stuð'' (''Groove''). In October 1993, Paul Oscar started singing with a band called Milljónamæringarnir (The Millionaires), which released the albums ''Milljón á mann'' (''A Million for Each'', 1994), ''Allur pakkinn'' (''The Whole Lot'', 1999) and ''Þetta er nú meiri vitleysan'' (''This is Completely Foolish'', 2001).

1995 saw Paul Oscar make his début as a solo artiste. In that year he formed his own recording company, Paul Oscar Productions (P.O.P.) and released an album of ballads entitled ''Palli'' which he personally arranged, performed and produced. It was the best-selling Icelandic album of 1995. This was followed by his album ''Seif'' in 1996.

Paul Oscar was Iceland's entrant in the annual Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. He performed the song "''Minn hinsti dans''" ("My Final Dance"), which he co-wrote, backed by four women dressed in latex playing suggestively on a sofa behind him. Although the song only reached 20th place in a field of 25, the daring presentation attracted wide attention, especially amongst gay audiences, and made him known internationally. In 1998 he was invited to appear in ''A Song for Eurotrash'', a one-off special of the British Channel 4 TV series ''Eurotrash'' that was based on the Eurovision Song Contest. He also presented a musical feature ''Popp i Reykjavík'' (''Pop in Reykjavík'').

Paul Oscar worked with easy-listening group Casino on their album ''Stereo'' (1998). He followed this with three albums: the English-language album ''Deep Inside'' (1999); and two collaborations with harpist Monika Abendroth, ''Ef ég sofna ekki'' (''If I Won't Sleep Tonight'', 2001) and ''Ljósin heima'' (''The Lights at Home'', 2003) (his sister Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir (Diddú) also appeared on the latter album). His musical range spans traditional Icelandic songs, ballads, love songs in the style of Burt Bacharach, disco, house and techno.

At home in Reykjavík, Paul Oscar performs regularly as a disc jockey in clubs and appears on radio and TV shows. He was a judge in the third season of ''Idol stjörnuleit'' (''Idol Starsearch'', 2005), Iceland's version of the UK reality TV series ''Pop Idol''; and in ''The X Factor'' (2006), also modelled on the UK's ''The X Factor''. In 2002 he appeared as Dr. Love in the teenage movie ''Gemsar'' (''Made in Iceland'').

He has a reputation for being brash, even rude, when it comes to discussing gay concerns, especially gay sex. Matthías Matthíasson, Director of Samtökin '78, Iceland's gay and lesbian rights group, has commented: "He says things I could never say. But he is an exquisite addition to the gay voice in Iceland." As a gay activist, Paul Oscar helped to organize a Gay Pride Festival in Reykjavík in 2005.

Paul Oscar has said he realizes that "as a working place Iceland will be too small for me. Actually, it already is. But I am an Icelander. I will always keep a home here. My roots are so valuable to me. I wouldn't change them for a sack of gold."

Personal life

Regarding his personal life, Paul Oscar has said: "I have a lot of work still to do. I have had three relationships that, from the outside, looked picture perfect, I suppose. But they were actually quite rotten and false, abusive to me. What I am doing now is learning to fall in love with myself."

Paul Oscar's father Hjálmtýr E. Hjálmtýsson (5 July 1933 – 12 September 2002), with whom he had a difficult relationship, had roles in the Icelandic comedies ''Með allt á hreinu'' (''On Top'', 1982), ''Löggulíf'' (''A Policeman's Life'', 1985), and ''Karlakórinn Hekla'' (''The Men's Choir'', 1992). His older sister, Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir (Diddú), is an opera singer.

Selected discography

Albums

''Stuð'' (''Groove'', 1993)

''Palli'' (1995)

''Seif'' (1996)

''Deep Inside'' (1999)

''Ef ég sofna ekki'' (''If I Won't Sleep Tonight'', 2001) (in collaboration with harpist Monika Abendroth)

''Ljósin heima'' (''The Lights at Home'', 2003) (with Monika Abendroth and Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir (Diddú))

''Allt fyrir ástina'' (''All in the Name of Love'', 2007)

''Silfursafnið'' (''The Silver Collection'', 2008)

Singles

''Minn hinsti dans'' (''My Final Dance'', 1997) (Iceland's Eurovision Song Contest 1997 entry)

''Allt fyrir ástina'' (2007)

*''Allt fyrir ástina'' (''All in the Name of Love'', 2007)

*''International'' (2007)

*''Betra Lif'' (2007)

*''Er þetta ást?'' (2008)

*''Þú komst við hjartað í mér'' (2008)

''Silfursafnið'' (''The Silver Collection'', 2008)

*''Sama hvar þú ert'' (2008)

Notes

References

. Retrieved on 1 November 2007.

Further reading

External links

Paul Oscar (Páll Óskar) at MySpace Music

Paul Oscar at KDJ Eurodance Ltd. – The Eurodance Encyclopædia

Category:Icelandic actors Category:Icelandic Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1997 Category:Icelandic male singers Category:Icelandic pop musicians Category:Icelandic songwriters Category:Idol series judges Category:Reality television judges Category:The X Factor judges Category:LGBT people from Iceland Category:LGBT DJs Category:People from Reykjavík Category:1970 births Category:Living people

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