1.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
2.
Minnesota
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Minnesota is a state in the midwestern and northern regions of the United States. Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U. S. state on May 11,1858, the state has a large number of lakes, and is known by the slogan Land of 10,000 Lakes. Its official motto is LÉtoile du Nord, Minnesota is the 12th largest in area and the 21st most populous of the U. S. Minnesota is known for its progressive political orientation and its high rate of civic participation and voter turnout. Until European settlement, Minnesota was inhabited by the Dakota and Ojibwe/Anishinaabe, in recent decades, immigration from Asia, the Horn of Africa, and Latin America has broadened its historic demographic and cultural composition. Minnesotas standard of living index is among the highest in the United States, Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it mnisota. Many places in the state have similar names, such as Minnehaha Falls, Minneiska, Minneota, Minnetonka, Minnetrista, and Minneapolis, a combination of mni and polis, Minnesota is the second northernmost U. S. state. Its isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods county is the 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 and it shares a Lake Superior water border with Michigan and a land and water border with Wisconsin to the east. Iowa is to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota are to the west, with 86,943 square miles, or approximately 2.25 percent of the United States, Minnesota is the 12th-largest state. Minnesota has some of the Earths oldest rocks, gneisses that are about 3.6 billion years old. About 2.7 billion years ago, basaltic lava poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ocean, 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, in more recent times, massive ice sheets at least one kilometer thick ravaged the landscape of the state and sculpted its terrain. The Wisconsin glaciation left 12,000 years ago and 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 the northeast has 50 feet or more of glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. Gigantic Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest 13,000 years ago and its bed created the fertile Red River valley, and its outflow, glacial River Warren, carved the valley of the Minnesota River and the Upper Mississippi downstream from Fort Snelling. Minnesota is geologically quiet today, it experiences earthquakes infrequently, the states high point is Eagle Mountain at 2,301 feet, which is only 13 miles away from the low of 601 feet at the shore of Lake Superior. Notwithstanding dramatic local differences in elevation, much of the state is a rolling peneplain. Two major drainage divides meet in Minnesotas northeast 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
3.
Two Harbors, Minnesota
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Two Harbors is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Minnesota, United States, along the shore of Lake Superior. The population was 3,745 at the 2010 census Minnesota Highway 61 serves as a route in Two Harbors. Gooseberry Falls State Park is located 13 miles to the northeast, in the early years Two Harbors consisted of two separate communities called Agate Bay and Burlington. The village of Burlington along Burlington Bay was platted in 1856, first incorporated on May 23,1857, the first residence constructed in Agate Bay was owned by Thomas Sexton, he created a fourteen by sixteen foot shack. The early settlers lived in conditions, which was common for both the area and time. Their homes were made of logs and had dirt floors, diets often consisted of homegrown vegetables and animals that could be caught in the area. The village of Agate Bay was created with the camp as work on the new railroad began in 1883. The village of Two Harbors was platted in 1885 but was not incorporated until 1888, early transportation to the village was by boats under contract with the new Duluth & Iron Range Railroad. It took only one day to get from Duluth to Two Harbors. By 1886 the D&IR completed the Lake Division connecting Duluth and Two Harbors with passenger service extended to Ely MN. Thirty five logging camps were set up within the vicinity, one of these located on Fourth Avenue, on February 26,1907, the village reincorporated as the City of Two Harbors. The towns history is included in the Lake County Historical Depot Museum, by 1883 the Minnesota Iron Company had purchased all but four acres of Thomas Sextons land around Agate Bay. Sexton leased his remaining four acres to merchants seeking to capitalize on the 600 man workforce arriving to build the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad and he divided his four acres into 32 lots. As with any town of the day it was a largely male population. The infamous four acre plot earned the nickname Whiskey Row, and was said to exist for the purpose of relieving a man from his pay. Contrary to popular myth Whiskey Row was not destroyed by a fire in 1888, there was fire but it occurred before the first load of ore arrived in July 1884 and only seven buildings were damaged. It was reported that the affected were in Duluth the next day purchasing materials to rebuild. The demise of Whiskey row occurred the following year, the railroad rapidly expanded its rail and shipping operations and it needed all of the shoreline for its new coal handling and storage facility
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State park
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State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use state as a political subdivision. State parks are established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U. S. state, some of the Mexican states, the term is also used in the Australian state of Victoria. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to parks, but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, in general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions such as the Adirondack Park in New York and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California. As of 2014, there were 10,234 state park units in the United States, there are some 739 million annual visits to the countrys state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles of trail,217,367 campsites, many states include designations beyond state park in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas, state beaches, some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York, however several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by the state of Georgia as a park since 1825. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its forests as The State Park but, needing money. The first state park with the designation of state park was Mackinac Island State Park in 1895, list of U. S. state parks National Association of State Park Directors Wilderness preservation systems in the United States Ahlgren, Carol. The Civilian Conservation Corps and Wisconsin State Park Development, the State Park Movement in America, A Critical Review excerpt and text search Larson, Zeb. Silver Falls State Park and the Early Environmental Movement, oregon Historical Quarterly 112#1 pp, 34-57 in JSTOR Newton, Norman T. When Forests Trumped Parks, The Maryland Experience, 1906-1950, Maryland Historical Magazine 101#2 pp, 203-224
5.
North Shore (Lake Superior)
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The North Shore of Lake Superior runs from Duluth, Minnesota, United States, at the southwestern end of the lake, to Thunder Bay and Nipigon, Ontario, Canada, in the north to Sault Ste. The shore is characterized by alternating cliffs and cobblestone beaches, with forested hills and ridges through which scenic rivers. Lake Superior was settled by Native Americans about 8000 BC when the Wisconsin Glaciers began to retreat, by 500 BC the Laurel people had established settlements in the area and had begun to trade metal with other native peoples. The Laurel people were animists and probably created many of the present on rock faces along the North Shore. In the 12th century, on the easternmost portion of the North Shore and these people left behind small pits dug in the ground which archaeologists now call Pukaskwa Pits. On the Minnesotan portion of the North Shore there are only three sites, so it cannot be determined who lived there at the time. By the 18th century the Ojibwa had settled the length of the North Shore approximately as far as the modern Canadian–Minnesotan Border, the Minnesota portion of the North Shore was settled mostly by the Cree and the Dakota lived to the south. The first white explorer to reach Lake Superior was Frenchman Étienne Brûlé who was sent out by Samuel de Champlain to search for the Northwest Passage in 1623 or 1624 and his exploration allowed Champlain to create the first map of the lake in 1632. Charles Raymbault and Isaac Jogues, Jesuit missionaries, were the next significant explorers, in 1658 two French explorers, Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers, became the first whites to circumnavigate Lake Superior by sailing south along the North Shore. When they returned, they brought a flotilla of Native Americans with fur pelts and this warfare between the tribes along Lake Superior prevented European trade in the area for several years. In 1670, the Hudsons Bay Company was founded, which began the fur trade nonetheless, in the late 1670s, Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, helped negotiate a more permanent peace between these tribes, thus providing safe trade across Lake Superior for the French. With this, the foundations for European settlement on the North Shore were laid, Fort Kaministiquia, around modern Thunder Bay, was established in 1683. In 1688 Jacques de Noyon became the first European to visit the present-day Boundary Waters Canoe Area region west of Lake Superior, a war between Britain and France, followed by a sharp drop in fur prices, slowed exploration for several decades. In 1732 the French-Canadian La Vérendrye built Fort St. Pierre on Rainy Lake near the head of the Rainy River in order to access to the west. In 1763 according to the terms of the Treaty of Paris, in 1784 the North West Company, the newly organized rival to the Hudsons Bay Company, started moving traders into its new fort at Grand Portage. With new headquarters on the North Shore, the North West Company began to build 40 new forts and ports all along the North Shore, in 1821 the North West Company was forced to merge with the Hudsons Bay Company. With the eventual depletion of fur-bearing animals, the fur trade, many geologic surveys were taken because of these disputes, which revealed the rich mineral resources in this area. In 1854 the LaPointe Treaty ceded all Ojibwa lands to the United States, because of this white settlers moved into the region in order to mine the natural resources, thus beginning American settlements on the Minnesotan portion of the North Shore
6.
Lake Superior
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Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes of North America. The lake is shared by the Canadian province of Ontario to the north, the US state of Minnesota to the west and it is generally considered the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. It is the worlds third-largest freshwater lake by volume and the largest by volume in North America, the Ojibwe call the lake gichi-gami, meaning be a great sea. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the name as Gitche Gumee in The Song of Hiawatha, as did Gordon Lightfoot in his song, according to other sources the actual Ojibwe name is Ojibwe Gichigami or Anishinaabe Gichigami. The 1878 dictionary by Father Frederic Baraga, the first one written for the Ojibway language, the first French explorers approaching the great inland sea by way of the Ottawa River and Lake Huron during the 17th century referred to their discovery as le lac supérieur. Properly translated, the expression means Upper Lake, that is, the lake was also called Lac Tracy by 17th century Jesuit missionaries. Lake Superior empties into Lake Huron via the St. Marys River, Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world in area, and the third largest in volume, behind Lake Baikal in Siberia and Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. Lake Superior has an area of 31,700 square miles. It has a length of 350 statute miles and maximum breadth of 160 statute miles. Its average depth is 80.5 fathoms with a depth of 222.17 fathoms. Lake Superior contains 2,900 cubic miles of water, there is enough water in Lake Superior to cover the entire land mass of North and South America to a depth of 30 centimetres. The shoreline of the lake stretches 2,726 miles, while the temperature of the surface of Lake Superior varies seasonally, the temperature below 110 fathoms is an almost constant 39 °F. This variation in temperature makes the lake seasonally stratigraphic, twice per year, however, the water column reaches a uniform temperature of 39 °F from top to bottom, and the lake waters thoroughly mix. This feature makes the lake dimictic, because of its volume, Lake Superior has a retention time of 191 years. Annual storms on Lake Superior regularly feature wave heights of over 20 feet, waves well over 30 feet have been recorded. The lake is fed by over 200 rivers, the largest include the Nipigon River, the St. Louis River, the Pigeon River, the Pic River, the White River, the Michipicoten River, the Bois Brule River and the Kaministiquia River. Lake Superior drains into Lake Huron via the St. Marys River, there are rapids at the rivers upper end where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient. The Soo Locks were built to enable ships to bypass the rapids, the lakes average surface elevation is 600 feet above sea level
United States
Minnesota
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