Saint Paul, city in southeastern Minnesota, capital of the state, and seat of Ramsey County. The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, at its confluence with the Minnesota River. Saint Paul is Minnesota's second largest city after neighboring Minneapolis, and together the two cities form the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Besides being the seat of the state government, Saint Paul is also a commercial, manufacturing, transportation, and educational center. Printing and publishing, insurance, and computer hardware and software development are main industries. Products include processed food, beer, machinery, electronic equipment, tape, abrasives, chemicals, printed materials, refined petroleum, and plastic items. The 3M corporation, a world leader in the manufacture of materials, has its headquarters in adjacent Maplewood. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport is located near the city.
Educational institutions in Saint Paul include a branch campus of the University of Minnesota (1851), Hamline University (1854), Luther Seminary (1869), Bethel College (1871), Macalester College (1874), the University of Saint Thomas (1885), Concordia College-Saint Paul (1893), William Mitchell College of Law (1900), Northwestern College (1902), the College of Saint Catherine (1905), and Metropolitan State University (1971).
