MINNESOTA (USA)

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Minneapolis & St Paul

Though Minnesota is more than a thousand miles from either coast, it's virtually a seaboard state, thanks to Lake Superior, connected to the Atlantic via the St Lawrence Seaway. The glaciers that, millions of years ago, flattened all but its southeast corner gouged out more than 15,000 lakes, and major rivers run along the eastern and western borders. Ninety-five percent of the population lives within ten minutes of a body of water, and the very name Minnesota is a Sioux word meaning "land of sky-tinted water."

More than half of Minnesota's hardy inhabitants, who endure some of the fiercest winters in the nation, live in the southeast, around the so-called Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul . These attractive and basically friendly rivals together rank as the Midwest's great civic double act for their combined cultural, recreational and business opportunities. Smaller cities include the northern shipping port of Duluth , the gateway to the Scenic Hwy-61 lakeshore drive, and Rochester , near pretty river towns like Red Wing and Winona. The tranquil waters of Voyageurs National Park lie halfway along the state's boundary with Canada.

In recent years, the state has earned a reputation as the "Hollywood of the North," thanks to its increased use as an affordable, talent-rich filmmaking locale. Internationally acclaimed fraternal filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, responsible for the Oscar-winning, Minnesota-set Fargo , were raised in the Twin Cities' suburb of St Louis Park.

Minneapolis/St Paul airport , home base for Northwest Airlines, handles routes to Europe as well as domestic flights. Amtrak trains cross the state once a day east and west from Chicago and Seattle, with stops in Winona, Red Wing, St Paul, St Cloud, Staples and Detroit Lakes. Greyhound, founded upstate in Hibbing although no longer based there, is the largest of the several bus companies plying Minnesota's roads. Seven buses per day make the nine-hour journey to Chicago from the Twin Cities. Duluth, St Louis and Kansas City are also served several times daily from the state's major metropolises.