The city is abundantly rich in water with twenty lakes and wetlands, the Mississippi riverfront, creeks and waterfalls, many connected by parkways in the Chain of Lakes and the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway. The Minneapolis park system has been called the best-designed, best-financed and best-maintained in America. The economy of Minneapolis today is based in commerce, finance, rail and trucking services, health care, and industry.

The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital. Known as the Twin Cities, these two cities form the core of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.2 million residents.

Beginning in the 1990s, a large Latino population arrived, along with refugees from Africa, especially from Somalia. Into the 21st century, Minneapolis continues its heritage of welcoming newcomers. The metropolitan area is an immigrant gateway with a 127% increase in foreign-born residents between 1990 and 2000.

U.S. Census Bureau estimates in 2006 show the population of Minneapolis to be 369,051, a 3.5% drop since the 2000 census. Compared to the U.S. national average in 2005, the city has fewer white, Hispanic, senior, and unemployed people, while it has more people aged over 18 and more with a college degree. Minneapolis has the fourth highest percent of people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual, with 12.5%.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Minneapolis".