Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota is the capital of, and second-largest city in, the state of Minnesota. Estimated population for 1999 is 256,213 (source: http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/metro-city/placebyst/SC99T7_MN.txt). It and the nearby city of Minneapolis, Minnesota form the core of an area known as the Twin Cities. It is located in Ramsey County, just south of 45 degrees north latitude (the suburb of Roseville has a marker near an obscure intersection identifying the exact location of the 45th parallel).

Areas of interest include the Science Museum of Minnesota, the State Capitol building, and the city's Civic Center. Refer to the City's website for additional information. It is also home to the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Saint Paul Saints baseball team, and the Minnesota Wild hockey team.

Nearby attractions include the Mississippi River, the Mall of America, and the Minnesota State Fair. The latter occurs in the two weeks prior to and including Labor Day weekend, and takes place just north of Saint Paul in the suburb of Falcon Heights, also home to the misnamed "Saint Paul Campus" of the University of Minnesota (Univ./MN's website). The Cathedral of Saint Paul is home to the Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, and numerous other religious organizations exist in the metropolitan area.

Major corporations headquartered in the Saint Paul area include 3M, source of products such as Thinsulate™ and "Post-It"™ notes; the Saint Paul Companies, a major insurance firm. Others are based here, too, but I can't remember them off the top of my head.

Also known as: "St. Paul", "Twin Cities".

(In the interest of disclosing potential bias, the original author of the above grew up in 
Roseville, Minnesota.)