Minnesota is part of the Upper Midwest Region of the United States. Known as the land of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesota is a landlocked state, meaning it is surrounded by other U.S. states and does not have access to an ocean without traveling outside of the state. To the north of Minnesota, you will find the border between Minnesota and Canada. With Wisconsin in the east and Iowa in the south, Minnesota borders both North Dakota and South Dakota in the west.
Minnesota is a state with a width of 351 miles and a length of 600 miles. The total area of Minnesota is 86,936 square miles. Approximately 8.4% of Minnesota is water, while the other 91.6% is made up of land. These percentages are the equivalent of 7,326 square miles and 83,574 square miles, respectively. Based on total area, Minnesota ranks as the twelfth largest state in the U.S.
On average, Minnesota is at an elevation of 1,200 feet above sea level. The highest point of elevation is atop Eagle Mountain at an altitude of 2,301 feet. At its lowest elevation, Minnesota is 602 feet above sea level at a point that is located near Lake Superior.
Minnesota’s GPS coordinates are composed of latitude 46.7296° N and longitude 94.6859° W. The geographic center of a state pinpoints the most central point of the land. For Minnesota, this point has been indicated as having a latitude of 46° 1.5' N and a longitude of 95° 19.6' W.
The most extreme points of a state are indicative of how far the border extends in each of the four cardinal directions. Every state has a point of extremity in every direction. In the east, Minnesota’s furthest point is a few miles outside of Pigeon Point, located in Cook County, Minnesota. The GPS coordinates of 48°0′51.27″ N and 89°28′59.94″ W point to the border that divides Minnesota, Ontario, and Michigan. In the west, Minnesota stretches all the way to the city of St. Vincent. The northernmost point of Minnesota is located in Lake of the Woods County in an area called Angle Inlet. The southernmost point is along the border between Iowa and Minnesota.