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A look at Minnesota ahead of Tuesday's GOP caucus

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The Associated Press Updated 2:46 PM Tuesday, February 7, 2012

A profile of Minnesota, site of a Republican presidential caucus on Tuesday:

NUMBERS:

Population: 5,344,861 (2011 estimate)

AGE:

Median age: 37.4

Percentage of population 65 and over: 12.9 percent

RACE:

85.3 percent white, 5.2 percent black, 4.7 percent Hispanic or Latino origin, 4 percent Asian, 1.1 percent American Indian

LANGUAGE:

Language other than English spoken at home: 10.3 percent

EDUCATION:

High school graduate or higher: 91.3 percent

Bachelor's degree or higher: 31.4 percent

MONEY:

Median household income: $57,243

People below poverty level: 10.6 percent

Housing units occupied by owners: 73 percent

Housing units occupied by renters: 27 percent

2008 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS:

Barack Obama, 54 percent; John McCain, 44 percent

REGISTERED VOTERS:

3,090,122 (Minnesota does not have registration by party)

MINNESOTA QUICK FACTS:

— The name Minnesota comes from a Dakota Indian word that means "sky-tinted water."

— A majority of Minnesotans are of German or Scandinavian descent, but the state is also home to growing Hispanic, Hmong and Somali populations.

— While Minnesota license plates refer to the state as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," the state actually has 11,842 lakes larger than 10 acres, plus 6,564 natural rivers and streams totaling 69,200 miles.

— Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline, more than California, Florida and Hawaii combined.

— Among religious traditions, the state is 32 percent mainline Protestant, 21 percent evangelical Protestant, 29 percent Roman Catholic and 1 percent Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist, according to The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

— The Mall of America in Bloomington, the country's largest shopping and entertainment complex, is the size of 78 football fields — 9.5 million square feet.

— The original name of the settlement that became the capital St. Paul was Pig's Eye, named for French-Canadian whiskey trader Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, who was blind in one eye.

— Minnesota is the country's largest producer of iron ore and turkeys.

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Sources: 2010 and 2011 U.S. Census data, Minnesota Secretary of State's Office, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota State Government North Star Portal, U.S. Geological Survey, National Turkey Federation.

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February 07, 2012 07:40 PM EST

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