Minneapolis–Saint Paul

Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a major metropolitan area built around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in east central Minnesota.[6] The area is commonly known as the Twin Cities after its two largest cities, Minneapolis, the most populous city in the state and home of the largest university in the state, and Saint Paul, the state capital, which directly borders Minneapolis to the east. It is an example of twin cities in the sense of geographical proximity. Minnesotans often refer to the two together (or the seven-county metro area collectively) simply as “the Cities”.

There are varying definitions what should be considered the “Twin Cities”. Many refer to the “Twin Cities” as the seven-county region which is governed under the Metropolitan Council regional governmental agency and planning organization. The United States Office of Management and Budget officially designates 15 counties as the “Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington MN–WI Metropolitan Statistical Area”, the 16th largest metropolitan statistical area with a population of 3,690,261 according to 2020 census estimate. The larger 21-county Minneapolis–St. Paul MN–WI Combined Statistical Area, which is also the 16th largest, has a population of 4,046,181 according to 2020 census estimates.