title: Ecuador

text: Ecuador's population is ethnically diverse and the estimates put Ecuador's population at . The largest ethnic group () is the "Mestizos", who are mixed race people of Amerindian and European descent, typically from Spanish colonists, in some cases this term can also include Amerindians that are culturally more Spanish influenced, and constitute about 71% of the population (although including the Montubio, a term used for coastal Mestizo population, brings this up to about 79%). The White Ecuadorians (White Latin American) are a minority accounting for 6.1% of the population of Ecuador and can be found throughout all of Ecuador, primarily around the urban areas. Even though Ecuador's white population during its colonial era were mainly descendants from Spain, today Ecuador's white population is a result of a mixture of European immigrants, predominantly from Spain with people from Italy, Germany, France, and Switzerland who have settled in the early 20th century. In addition, there is a small European Jewish (Ecuadorian Jews) population, which is based mainly in Quito and to a lesser extent in Guayaquil. Ecuador also has a small population of Asian origins, mainly those from West Asia, like the economically well off descendants of Lebanese and Palestinian immigrants, who are either Christian or Muslim (see Islam in Ecuador), and an East Asian community mainly consisting of those of Japanese and Chinese descent, whose ancestors arrived as miners, farmhands and fishermen in the late 19th century. Amerindians account for 7% of the current population. The mostly rural Montubio population of the coastal provinces of Ecuador, who might be classified as Pardo account for 7.4% of the population. The Afro-Ecuadorians are a minority population (7%) in Ecuador, that includes the Mulattos and "zambos", and are largely based in the Esmeraldas province and to a lesser degree in the predominantly Mestizo provinces of Coastal Ecuador – Guayas and Manabi. In the Highland Andes where a predominantly Mestizo, white and Amerindian population exist, the African presence is almost non-existent except for a small community in the province of Imbabura called Chota Valley. 5,000 Romani people live in Ecuador.


title: Ecuador

text: According to the Ecuadorian National Institute of Statistics and Census, 91.95% of the country's population have a religion, 7.94% are atheists and 0.11% are agnostics. Among the people who have a religion, 80.44% are Roman Catholic Latin Rite (see List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Ecuador), 11.30% are Evangelical Protestants, 1.29% are Jehovah's Witnesses and 6.97% other (mainly Jewish, Buddhists and Latter-day Saints).


title: Ecuador

text: In the rural parts of Ecuador, Amerindian beliefs and Catholicism are sometimes syncretized. Most festivals and annual parades are based on religious celebrations, many incorporating a mixture of rites and icons.


title: Ecuador

text: There is a small number of Eastern Orthodox Christians, Amerindian religions, Muslims (see Islam in Ecuador), Buddhists and Baháʼí. According to their own estimates, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accounts for about 1.4% of the population, or 211,165 members at the end of 2012. According to their own sources, in 2017 there were 92,752 Jehovah's Witnesses in the country.


title: Ecuador

text: The first Jews arrived in Ecuador in the 16th and 17th centuries. Many of them are Sephardic Anusim (Crypto-Jews) and many still speak Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino) language. Today the Jewish Community of Ecuador (Comunidad Judía del Ecuador) has its seat in Quito and has approximately 200 members. Nevertheless, this number is declining because young people leave the country for the United States or Israel. The Community has a Jewish Center with a synagogue, a country club, and a cemetery. It supports the "Albert Einstein School", where Jewish history, religion, and Hebrew classes are offered. There are very small communities in Cuenca. The "Comunidad de Culto Israelita" reunites the Jews of Guayaquil. This community works independently from the "Jewish Community of Ecuador" and is composed of only 30 people.


title: Ecuador

text: The current structure of the Ecuadorian public health care system dates back to 1967. The Ministry of the Public Health (Ministerio de Salud Pública del Ecuador) is the responsible entity of the regulation and creation of the public health policies and health care plans. The Minister of Public Health is appointed directly by the President of the Republic. The current minister, or Ecuadorian general surgeon, is Ximena Garzón.


title: Ecuador

text: The philosophy of the Ministry of Public Health is the social support and service to the most vulnerable population, and its main plan of action lies around communitarian health and preventive medicine. Many USA medical groups often visit regions away from the big cities to provide medical health to poor communities at their own expenses. It is known as medical missions some are Christian Organizations.


title: Ecuador

text: The public healthcare system allows patients to be treated without an appointment in public general hospitals by general practitioners and specialists in the outpatient clinic ("Consulta Externa") at no cost. This is done in the four basic specialties of pediatric, gynecology, clinic medicine, and surgery. There are also public hospitals specialized to treat chronic diseases, target a particular group of the population, or provide better treatment in some medical specialties. Some examples in this group are the Gynecologic Hospitals, or Maternities, Children Hospitals, Geriatric Hospitals, and Oncology Institutes.


title: Ecuador

text: Although well-equipped general hospitals are found in the major cities or capitals of provinces, there are basic hospitals in the smaller towns and canton cities for family care consultation and treatments in pediatrics, gynecology, clinical medicine, and surgery.


title: Ecuador

text: Community health care centers (Centros de Salud) are found inside metropolitan areas of cities and in rural areas. These are day hospitals that provide treatment to patients whose hospitalization is under 24 hours.


title: Ecuador

text: The doctors assigned to rural communities, where the Amerindian population can be substantial, have small clinics under their responsibility for the treatment of patients in the same fashion as the day hospitals in the major cities. The treatment in this case respects the culture of the community.


title: Ecuador

text: The public healthcare system should not be confused with the Ecuadorian Social Security healthcare service, which is dedicated to individuals with formal employment and who are affiliated obligatorily through their employers. Citizens with no formal employment may still contribute to the social security system voluntarily and have access to the medical services rendered by the social security system. The Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS) has several major hospitals and medical sub-centers under its administration across the nation.


title: Ecuador

text: Ecuador currently ranks 20, in most efficient health care countries, compared to 111 back in the year 2000. Ecuadorians have a life expectancy of 77.1 years. The infant mortality rate is 13 per 1,000 live births, a major improvement from approximately 76 in the early 1980s and 140 in 1950. 23% of children under five are chronically malnourished. Population in some rural areas have no access to potable water, and its supply is provided by mean of water tankers. There are 686 malaria cases per 100,000 people. Basic health care, including doctor's visits, basic surgeries, and basic medications, has been provided free since 2008. However, some public hospitals are in poor condition and often lack necessary supplies to attend the high demand of patients. Private hospitals and clinics are well equipped but still expensive for the majority of the population.


title: Ecuador

text: Between 2008 and 2016, new public hospitals have been built, the number of civil servants has increased significantly and salaries have been increased. In 2008, the government introduced universal and compulsory social security coverage. In 2015, corruption remains a problem. Overbilling is recorded in 20% of public establishments and in 80% of private establishments.


title: Ecuador

text: The Ecuadorian Constitution requires that all children attend school until they achieve a "basic level of education", which is estimated at nine school years. In 1996, the net primary enrollment rate was 96.9%, and 71.8% of children stayed in school until the fifth grade / age 10. The cost of primary and secondary education is borne by the government, but families often face significant additional expenses such as fees and transportation costs.


title: Ecuador

text: Provision of public schools falls far below the levels needed, and class sizes are often very large, and families of limited means often find it necessary to pay for education. In rural areas, only 10% of the children go on to high school. In a 2015 report, The Ministry of Education states that in 2014 the mean number of school years completed in rural areas is 7.39 as compared to 10.86 in urban areas.


title: Ecuador

text: The Ecuadorian constitution recognizes the "pluri-nationality" of those who want to exercise their affiliation with their native ethnic groups. Thus, in addition to "criollos", "mestizos", and Afro-Ecuadorians, some people belong to the Amerindian nations scattered in a few places in the coast, Quechua Andean villages, and the Amazonian jungle.


title: Ecuador

text: According to genealogical DNA testing done in 2015, the average Ecuadorian is estimated to be 52.96% Amerindian, 41.77% European, and 5.26% Sub-Saharan African overall. Prior to this, a genetic study done in 2008 by the University of Brasilia, estimated that Ecuadorian genetic admixture was 64.6% Amerindian, 31.0% European, and 4.4% African.


title: Ecuador

text: The five largest cities in the country are Quito (2.78 million inhabitants), Guayaquil (2.72 million inhabitants), Cuenca (636,996 inhabitants), Santo Domingo (458,580 inhabitants), and Ambato (387,309 inhabitants). The most populated metropolitan areas of the country are those of Guayaquil, Quito, Cuenca, Manabí Centro (Portoviejo-Manta) and Ambato.


title: Ecuador

text: Ecuador houses a small East Asian community mainly consisting of those of Japanese and Chinese descent, whose ancestors arrived as miners, farmhands and fishermen in the late 19th century.


title: Ecuador

text: In the early years of World War II, Ecuador still admitted a certain number of immigrants, and in 1939, when several South American countries refused to accept 165 Jewish refugees from Germany aboard the ship "Koenigstein", Ecuador granted them entry permits.


title: Ecuador

text: Migration from Lebanon to Ecuador started as early as 1875. Early impoverished migrants tended to work as independent sidewalk vendors, rather than as wage workers in agriculture or others' businesses. Though they emigrated to escape Ottoman Turkish religious oppresion, they were called "Turks" by Ecuadorians because they carried Ottoman passports. There were further waves of immigration in the first half of the 20th century; by 1930, there were 577 Lebanese immigrants and 489 of their descendants residing in the country. A 1986 estimate from Lebanon's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated 100,000 Lebanese descendants. They reside mostly in Quito and Guayaquil. They are predominantly of the Christian Catholic faith.


title: Ecuador

text: In the early 1900s there was immigration from Italians, Germans, Portuguese, French, Britons, Irish and Greeks. The town of Ancón experienced of wave of immigration from the UK starting in 1911, when the Government of Ecuador conceded 98 mines, occupying an area of 38,842 hectares, to the British oil company Anglo Ecuadorian Oilfields. Today, the Anglo American Oilfields or Anglo American plc is the world's largest producer of platinum, with around 40% of world output, as well as being a major producer of diamonds, copper, nickel, iron ore and steelmaking coal. Alberto Spencer is one famed Briton that hailed from Ancon. The town has now become an attraction due to the austere British homes in "El Barrio Ingles" situated in a contrasting tropical setting.


title: Ecuador

text: In the 1950s the Italians were the third largest national group in terms of numbers of immigrants. It can be noted that, after World War I, people from Liguria, still constituted the majority of the flow, even though they then represented only one third of the total number of immigrants in Ecuador. This situation came from the improvement of the economic situation in Liguria. The classic paradigm of the Italian immigrant today was not that of the small trader from Liguria as it had been before; those who emigrated to Ecuador were professionals and technicians, employees and religious people from South-Central Italy. It must be remembered that many immigrants, a remarkable number of Italians among them, moved to the Ecuadorian port from Peru to escape from the Peruvian war with Chile. The Italian government came to be more interested in the emigration phenomenon in Ecuador because of the necessity of finding an outlet for the large number of immigrants who traditionally went to the United States but who could no longer enter this country because of the new measures that imposed restrictions in the 1920s. Most of these communities and their descendants are located in the Guayas region of the country.


title: Ecuador

text: Throughout the 20th century, immigration also came from other Latin American countries due to civil wars, economic crises, and dictatorships. The most notable are those coming from Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.


title: Ecuador

text: Starting from 2002, there has been an exponential and significant growth in Colombian and Venezuelan refugees. Colombians have historically found refuge in its neighboring country during times of civil unrest. Recently, Venezuelans have become a notable presence in Ecuadorian cities as many flee the economic and political Venezuelan crisis. Authorities argue that an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 Colombians live in Ecuador, porous borders and lack of formal registration disallow concrete numbers.


title: Ecuador

text: From 2007, the Ecuador government created multiple initiatives to attract Ecuadorians abroad mostly from the United States, Italy, and Spain to return after many left during the 90s economic crisis. These policies resulted in the a rapid and significant rise in the flow of returning nationals, most notably during the 2008 economic crisis that affected Europe and North America.


title: Ecuador

text: Perks that draws many expats to Ecuador is its low cost of living, the low crime rate, and the unique culture of the highlands. Everything from gas to groceries costs far less than in North America, making it a popular choice for those who are looking to make the most of their retirement budget. Swiss style chalets and Spanish colonial homes can be found peering over the meandering green valleys of the Andes.


title: Ecuador

text: Ecuador's mainstream culture is defined by its "mestizo" majority, and, like their ancestry, it is traditionally of Spanish heritage, influenced in different degrees by Amerindian traditions and in some cases by African elements. The first and most substantial wave of modern immigration to Ecuador consisted of Spanish colonists, following the arrival of Europeans in 1499. A lower number of other Europeans and North Americans migrated to the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and, in smaller numbers, Poles, Lithuanians, English, Irish, and Croats during and after the Second World War.


title: Ecuador

text: Since African slavery was not the workforce of the Spanish colonies in the Andes Mountains, given the subjugation of the Amerindian people through proselytization and "encomiendas", the minority population of African descent is mostly found in the coastal northern province of Esmeraldas. This is largely owing to the 17th-century shipwreck of a slave-trading galleon off the northern coast of Ecuador. The few African survivors swam to the shore and penetrated the then-thick jungle under the leadership of Anton, the chief of the group, where they remained as free men maintaining their original culture, not influenced by the typical elements found in other provinces of the coast or in the Andean region. A little later, freed slaves from Colombia known as "cimarrones" joined them. In the small Chota Valley of the province of Imbabura exists a small community of Africans among the province's predominantly mestizo population. These blacks are descendants of Africans, who were brought over from Colombia by Jesuits to work their colonial sugar plantations as slaves. As a general rule, small elements of zambos and mulattoes coexisted among the overwhelming mestizo population of coastal Ecuador throughout its history as gold miners in Loja, Zaruma, and Zamora and as shipbuilders and plantation workers around the city of Guayaquil. Today you can find a small community of Africans in the Catamayo valley of the predominantly mestizo population of Loja.


title: Ecuador

text: Ecuador's Amerindian communities are integrated into the mainstream culture to varying degrees, but some may also practice their own native cultures, particularly the more remote Amerindian communities of the Amazon basin. Spanish is spoken as the first language by more than 90% of the population and as a first or second language by more than 98%. Part of Ecuador's population can speak Amerindian languages, in some cases as a second language. Two percent of the population speak only Amerindian languages.


title: Ecuador

text: Most Ecuadorians speak Spanish as their first language, with its ubiquity permeating and dominating most of the country, though there are many who speak an Amerindian language, such as Kichwa (not the same as Quechua, the Peruvian variant), which is one of the Quechuan languages and is spoken by approximately 2.5 million people in Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. Other Amerindian languages spoken in Ecuador include Awapit (spoken by the Awá), A'ingae (spoken by the Cofan), Shuar Chicham (spoken by the Shuar), Achuar-Shiwiar (spoken by the Achuar and the Shiwiar), Cha'palaachi (spoken by the Chachi), Tsa'fiki (spoken by the Tsáchila), Paicoca (spoken by the Siona and Secoya), and Wao Tededeo (spoken by the Waorani). Use of these Amerindian languages is, however, gradually diminishing due to Spanish's widespread use in education. Though most features of Ecuadorian Spanish are universal to the Spanish-speaking world, there are several idiosyncrasies.


title: Ecuador

text: The music of Ecuador has a long history. Pasillo is a genre of indigenous Latin music. In Ecuador it is the "national genre of music". Through the years, many cultures have brought their influences together to create new types of music. There are also different kinds of traditional music like albazo, pasacalle, fox incaico, tonada, capishca, Bomba (highly established in Afro-Ecuadorian societies), and so on. Tecnocumbia and Rockola are clear examples of the influence of foreign cultures. One of the most traditional forms of dancing in Ecuador is Sanjuanito. It is originally from northern Ecuador (Otavalo-Imbabura). Sanjuanito is a type of dance music played during festivities by the mestizo and Amerindian communities. According to the Ecuadorian musicologist Segundo Luis Moreno, Sanjuanito was danced by Amerindian people during San Juan Bautista's birthday. This important date was established by the Spaniards on 24 June, coincidentally the same date when Amerindian people celebrated their rituals of Inti Raymi.


title: Ecuador

text: Ecuadorian cuisine is diverse, varying with the altitude and associated agricultural conditions. Most regions in Ecuador follow the traditional three-course meal of soup, a course that includes rice and a protein, and then dessert and coffee to finish.


title: Ecuador

text: In the highland region, various dishes of pork, chicken, beef, and "cuy" (guinea pig) are popular and are served with a variety of grains (especially rice and mote) or potatoes.


title: Ecuador

text: In the coastal region, seafood is very popular, with fish, shrimp, and "ceviche" being key parts of the diet. Generally, ceviches are served with fried plantain (chifles or patacones), popcorn, or tostado. Plantain- and peanut-based dishes are the basis of most coastal meals. Encocados (dishes that contain a coconut sauce) are also very popular. "Churrasco" is a staple food of the coastal region, especially Guayaquil. "Arroz con menestra y carne asada" (rice with beans and grilled beef) is one of the traditional dishes of Guayaquil, as is fried plantain, which is often served with it. This region is a leading producer of bananas, cocoa beans (to make chocolate), shrimp, tilapia, mango, and passion fruit, among other products.


title: Ecuador

text: In the Amazon region, a dietary staple is the "yuca", elsewhere called cassava. Many fruits are available in this region, including bananas, tree grapes, and peach palms.


title: Ecuador

text: Early literature in colonial Ecuador, as in the rest of Spanish America, was influenced by the Spanish Golden Age. One of the earliest examples is Jacinto Collahuazo, an Amerindian chief of a northern village in today's Ibarra, born in the late 1600s. Despite the early repression and discrimination of the native people by the Spanish, Collahuazo learned to read and write in Castilian, but his work was written in Quechua. The use of Quipu was banned by the Spanish, and in order to preserve their work, many Inca poets had to resort to the use of the Latin alphabet to write in their native Quechua language. The history behind the Inca drama "Ollantay", the oldest literary piece in existence for any Amerindian language in America, shares some similarities with the work of Collahuazo. Collahuazo was imprisoned and all of his work burned. The existence of his literary work came to light many centuries later, when a crew of masons was restoring the walls of a colonial church in Quito and found a hidden manuscript. The salvaged fragment is a Spanish translation from Quechua of the "Elegy to the Dead of Atahualpa", a poem written by Collahuazo, which describes the sadness and impotence of the Inca people of having lost their king Atahualpa.


title: Ecuador

text: Other early Ecuadorian writers include the Jesuits Juan Bautista Aguirre, born in Daule in 1725, and Father Juan de Velasco, born in Riobamba in 1727. De Velasco wrote about the nations and chiefdoms that had existed in the "Kingdom of Quito" (today Ecuador) before the arrival of the Spanish. His historical accounts are nationalistic, featuring a romantic perspective of precolonial history.


title: Ecuador

text: Famous authors from the late colonial and early republic period include Eugenio Espejo, a printer and main author of the first newspaper in Ecuadorian colonial times; Jose Joaquin de Olmedo (born in Guayaquil), famous for his ode to Simón Bolívar titled "Victoria de Junin"; Juan Montalvo, a prominent essayist and novelist; Juan Leon Mera, famous for his work "Cumanda" or "Tragedy among Savages" and the Ecuadorian National Anthem; Juan A. Martinez with "A la Costa"; Dolores Veintimilla; and others.


title: Ecuador

text: Contemporary Ecuadorian writers include the novelist Jorge Enrique Adoum; the poet Jorge Carrera Andrade; the essayist Benjamín Carrión; the poets Medardo Angel Silva, Jorge Carrera Andrade, and Luis Alberto Costales; the novelist Enrique Gil Gilbert; the novelist Jorge Icaza (author of the novel "Huasipungo", translated to many languages); the short story author Pablo Palacio; and the novelist Alicia Yanez Cossio.


title: Ecuador

text: In spite of Ecuador's considerable mystique, it is rarely featured as a setting in contemporary western literature. One exception is "The Ecuadorian Deception", a murder mystery/thriller authored by American Bear Mills. In it, George d'Hout, a website designer from the United States is lured under false pretenses to Guayaquil. A corrupt American archaeologist is behind the plot, believing d'Hout holds the keys to locating a treasure hidden by a buccaneer ancestor. The story is based on a real pirate by the name of George d'Hout who terrorized Guayaquil in the 16th Century.


title: Ecuador

text: The best known art styles from Ecuador belonged to the "Escuela Quiteña" (Quito School), which developed from the 16th to 18th centuries, examples of which are on display in various old churches in Quito. Ecuadorian painters include Eduardo Kingman, Oswaldo Guayasamín, and Camilo Egas from the Indiginist Movement; Manuel Rendon, Jaime Zapata, Enrique Tábara, Aníbal Villacís, Theo Constanté, Luis Molinari, Araceli Gilbert, Judith Gutierrez, Félix Arauz, and Estuardo Maldonado from the Informalist Movement; Teddy Cobeña from expressionism and figurative style and Luis Burgos Flor with his abstract, futuristic style. The Amerindian people of Tigua, Ecuador, are also world-renowned for their traditional paintings.


title: Ecuador

text: The most popular sport in Ecuador, as in most South American countries, is football. Its best known professional teams include; Emelec from Guayaquil, Liga De Quito from Quito; Barcelona S.C. from Guayaquil, the most popular team in Ecuador, also the team with most local championships; Deportivo Quito, and El Nacional from Quito; Olmedo from Riobamba; and Deportivo Cuenca from Cuenca. Currently the most successful football team in Ecuador is LDU Quito, and it is the only Ecuadorian team that has won the "Copa Libertadores", the "Copa Sudamericana", and the "Recopa Sudamericana"; they were also runners-up in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. The matches of the Ecuador national team are the most-watched sporting events in the country. Ecuador has qualified for the final rounds of the 2002, the 2006, & the 2014 FIFA World Cups. The 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign was considered a huge success for the country and its inhabitants. Ecuador finished in second place in the CONMEBOL qualifiers behind Argentina and above the team that would become World Champions, Brazil. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ecuador finished ahead of Poland and Costa Rica finishing second behind Germany in Group A in the 2006 World Cup. They were defeated by England in the second round.


title: Ecuador

text: Jefferson Pérez, former 20-km (12 mi) racewalker Jefferson Pérez, won a gold medal at the 1996 games, and a silver medal at the 12 years later. Pérez also set a world best in the 2003 World Championships of 1:17:21 for the 20-km (12 mi) distance.


title: Ecuador

text: Richard Carapaz became the first Ecuadorian to win a Grand Tour, as well as the first Ecuadorian cyclist to win an Olympic medal. He won the 2019 Giro d'Italia, and a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the men's individual road race. as well as the road race at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu, as well as some films in Hindi, Tamil and Kannada. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential actors of Telugu cinema. In a film career spanning over four decades, he won the Andhra Pradesh state's highest film award, the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, three Nandi Awards, and nine Filmfare Awards, Telugu. In 2006, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award, for his contributions to Indian cinema.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi began his acting career in 1978 with "Punadhirallu". However, "Pranam Khareedu" was released earlier at the box office. In 1987, he starred in "Swayamkrushi" which was dubbed into Russian and was screened at the Moscow International Film Festival. Chiranjeevi won the 1988 Indian Express Best Actor Award and the state Nandi Award for Best Actor awards for his performance in the film. In 1988, he co-produced "Rudraveena" which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi's 1992 film "Gharana Mogudu", is the first south Indian film to collect over 10 crore at the box office. The film was screened at the 1993 International Film Festival of India in the mainstream section. It made Chiranjeevi the highest-paid actor in India at the time catapulting him to the cover pages of national weekly magazines in India. The entertainment magazines "Filmfare" and "India Today" named him "Bigger than Bachchan", a reference to Bollywood's Amitabh Bachchan. News magazine "The Week" hailed him as "the new money machine". He was paid 1.25 crore, the highest fee for any Indian actor, for the 1992 film "Aapadbandhavudu". In 2002, Chiranjeevi was given the "Samman Award" for being the highest Income Tax payer for the 1999–2000 assessment year by the Minister of State for Finance.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: In 2008, Chiranjeevi founded the Praja Rajyam Party and contested in the 2009 Andhra Pradesh election. The party won 18 out of 294 seats and was later merged into the Indian National Congress in 2011. Chiranjeevi was appointed as the Minister of State with independent charge for the Ministry of Tourism on 27 October 2012 and served until 15 May 2014. In 2013, he inaugurated the Incredible India "Exhibition", a joint participation of the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at the 66th Cannes Film Festival. Chiranjeevi represented Incredible India at the 14th International Indian Film Academy Awards ceremony held in Macau. In 2013, IBN LIVE named him as one of "the men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema". In 2022 he was awarded the IFFI Indian Film Personality of the Year Award at the 53rd IFFI.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi was born as Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad Rao on 22 August 1955 in Mogalthur, a village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India. His father Konidela Venkata Rao worked as a constable and was transferred on a regular basis. He spent his childhood in his native village with his grandparents.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi did his schooling in Nidadavolu, Gurazala, Bapatla, Ponnur, Mangalagiri and Mogalthur. He was an NCC cadet and had participated in the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi in the early '70s. He was interested in acting from a young age. He did his Intermediate at C. S. R. Sarma College in Ongole.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: After graduating with a degree in commerce from Sri Y N College at Narsapuram, Chiranjeevi moved to Chennai and joined the Madras Film Institute in 1976 to pursue a career in acting.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: On 20 February 1980, Chiranjeevi married Surekha, the daughter of Telugu comic actor Allu Ramalingaiah. They have two daughters, 1 Elder Daughter : Sushmitha and 1 Younger Daughter : Sreeja, and a Son, Ram Charan, also a lead actor in Telugu cinema.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi's younger brother, Nagendra Babu, is a film producer and actor. His youngest brother, Pawan Kalyan, is an actor-politician who founded Jana Sena, a regional political party. Allu Aravind, his brother-in-law, is a film producer. Chiranjeevi is uncle to the actors Allu Arjun, Allu Sirish, Varun Tej, Niharika, Sai Dharam Tej, and Panja Vaisshnav Tej.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Since his family worshipped Anjaneya, a Hindu deity, his mother advised him to take the screen name "Chiranjeevi", meaning "Immortal", a reference to the belief of Hanuman living forever.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi started his film career with "Punadhirallu". However, his first released film was "Pranam Khareedu". "Mana Voori Pandavulu", directed by Bapu, gave Chiranjeevi recognition from the Telugu audience. He played a small role in "Tayaramma Bangarayya". He played the anti-hero in films "I Love You" and K. Balachander's "Idi Katha Kaadu", starring Kamal Haasan.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: In a remake of the Tamil film "Avargal", Chiranjeevi portrayed the character played by Rajinikanth in the original. In 1979, Chiranjeevi had eight major film releases and then 14 films in the following year. He played lead antagonist in works such as "Mosagadu", "Rani Kasula Rangamma", "47 Natkal" /"47 Rojulu", "Nyayam Kavali" and "Ranuva Veeran".


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi began to appear in leading roles with films such as "Intlo Ramayya Veedhilo Krishnayya" (1982), directed by Kodi Ramakrishna, which was a hit at the box office. Later, he starred in "Subhalekha", directed by K. Viswanath, which dealt with the social malady of the dowry system. It brought him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu and Viswanath's third Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu. He also appeared in movies such as "Idi Pellantara", "Sitadevi", "Tingu Rangadu", "Bandhalu Anubandhalu" and "Mondi Ghatam". He acted in multi-star movies such as "Patnam Vachina Pativrathalu" and "Billa Ranga", and later appeared in "Manchu Pallaki".


title: Chiranjeevi

text: "Khaidi" was a box office success and Chiranjeevi attained stardom with this movie. In 1984, he continued doing action films. A series of box office hits at this time include; "Mantri Gari Viyyankudu", "Sangharshana", "Goonda", "Challenge", "Hero", "Donga", "Jwala", "Adavi Donga", "Kondaveeti Raja", "Rakshasudu". In 1985, he received his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance in "Vijetha".


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi received his first Nandi Award for Best Actor for "Swayamkrushi" (1987), directed by K. Viswanath. "Pasivadi Pranam" (1987), "Yamudiki Mogudu" (1988) and "Manchi Donga" (1988) also did well at the box office. Chiranjeevi co-produced and acted in "Rudraveena" (1988), which won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, and the Nandi Special Jury Award. Chiranjeevi then experimented with "Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari", a socio-fantasy directed by K. Raghavendra Rao and produced by Ashwini Dutt. Other experimental works at this time include works such as "Kondaveeti Donga", the first Telugu film to be released on a 70mm 6-Track Stereophonic sound, the western genre Kodamasimham and the social problem action film "Gang Leader" (1991), which were box-office hits and led to Chiranjeevi being regarded as the "boss of Telugu cinema".


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi's Bollywood performances were appreciated in "Pratibandh" (1990) and "Aaj Ka Goonda Raaj". For his role in "Aapadbandhavudu" (1992), he received his second Nandi Award for Best Actor and third Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. The mid-1990s saw a career dip for Chiranjeevi with box office duds such as "Mechanic Alludu", "S. P. Parasuram", "Big Boss" and "Rikshavodu". There were exceptions, such as "Mutha Mestri", which fetched him a fourth Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu, "Mugguru Monagallu" and "Alluda Majaka" were moderately successful. In 1996, he appeared in a guest role in the Kannada film "Sipayi". After a brief lull, Chiranjeevi bounced back with "Hitler", "Master", "Bavagaru Bagunnara?", "Choodalani Vundi" and "Sneham Kosam", for which he received his fifth Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. In 1999, Chiranjeevi was to appear in a Hollywood production directed by Dushan Garsi, and produced by Rameshkrishna Murthi. The Telugu version was directed by Suresh Krissna. The movie, which was titled "The Return of the Thief of Baghdad", had its filming suspended for undisclosed reasons.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi's new decade started with "Annayya". After a brief gap, Chiranjeevi starred in "Indra", released in 2002, which broke all his previous box office records of Tollywood and won him his third Nandi Award for Best Actor and sixth Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. After that, he appeared in films with an underlying message and a social cause, including "Tagore;" "Shankar Dada M.B.B.S.", for which he won his seventh and latest Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu; and "Stalin". He was awarded the Filmfare Special Award – South in 2006 and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South at the 58th Filmfare Awards South in 2011 for his contributions to the film industry.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Following his last film in the lead role, 2007's "Shankar Dada Zindabad", Chiranjeevi did not star in any film for approximately 10 years, during which he embarked on his political career. During these 10 years, his appearances in films were limited to cameo roles. He appeared as himself in two films, starring his son Ram Charan, namely "Magadheera" (2009) and "" (2015). He also narrated "Varudu" (2010) and "Rudhramadevi" (2015). He also performed a cameo in "Jagadguru Adi Shankara" (2013) where he reprised his role as Lord Manjunatha from "Sri Manjunatha" (2001).


title: Chiranjeevi

text: From 2013 onwards, he was on the lookout for the right script to mark his comeback into cinema, in what would coincidentally happen to be his 150th film as an actor. A year following the release of the highly successful 2014 Tamil film "Kaththi", Chiranjeevi chose to remake that film in Telugu as his comeback film. The remake, titled "Khaidi No. 150", directed by V. V. Vinayak, was released during the Sankranti holiday in 2017, about 6 months short of a decade following "Shankar Dada Zindabad", to positive reviews. Critics have singled out Chiranjeevi in particular, praising him for both his performance and appearance, especially following a decade of absence from cinema. The movie collected 41.75 crore on its opening day and grossed 164 crore in its lifetime. In 2019, he starred in his first period film "Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy" based on the life of Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy; it was directed by Surender Reddy. The movie made on a budget more than 270 crore, grossed more than in its theatrical run. Chiranjeevi's last film "Acharya" was be directed by Koratala Siva and the upcoming GodFather is being released soon.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Chiranjeevi made his debut as a Television host with the fourth season of "Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu". The first episode of the fourth season was aired on 13 February 2017 on Star Maa. The game show is a Telugu-language adaptation of "Kaun Banega Crorepati".


title: Chiranjeevi

text: In 2008, Chiranjeevi started Praja Rajyam Party, a political party in the state of Andhra Pradesh. At the launch, he stated that social justice was the main agenda of his party. In the 2009 general elections, the party won 18 of the 294 seats in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. He contested from both Tirupati and Palakollu constituencies winning in Tirupati but losing out in Palakollu, in West Godavari district.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: On 6 February 2011, Chiranjeevi merged the 30-month-old Praja Rajyam Party with the Indian National Congress, after two weeks of talks with Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress, which feared the no-confidence motion in the state assembly in the wake of the emergence of Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress Party and the stronghold of Telangana agitation. After more than one year of merging his party into Congress, he was nominated to Rajya Sabha on 29 March 2012. He got elected and took the oath as a Rajya Sabha member on 3 April 2012. On 28 October 2012, he was sworn in as the Union Minister of State (Independent charge), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: After the split the state of Andhra Pradesh leaving the residuary state with huge debt and little revenue in June 2014, most members of the Andhra Pradesh wing of Congress party left in protest. Chiranjeevi, however, remained with Congress and did a campaign for it as chairman of Election Campaign Committee for 2014 parliamentary and assembly elections in the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh, however, he refrained from contesting in elections. There was also criticism that he did not campaign wholeheartedly due to the one-sided decision taken to split Andhra Pradesh. His youngest brother Pawan Kalyan, a former Praja Rajyam Party youth wing leader, launched his own political party Jana Sena Party and campaigned vigorously against Congress and in favor of Telugu Desam Party and Bharatiya Janata Party. Due to the strong anti-Congress sentiment prevailing in Andhra Pradesh, its candidates were defeated in all parliamentary and state assembly seats of Andhra Pradesh with 165 out of 175 candidates losing deposit [obtaining less than 10% of vote share].


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Since the 2014 elections, he has stayed away from active politics and since then he has not attended any meetings of Indian National Congress. His tenure as Rajya Sabha member ended in April 2018. Although he is currently not active in politics, he was issued with a new All India Congress Committee identity card in 2022 leading to speculations of his political comeback.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: On 2 October 1998, he founded the Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust (CCT), which includes Chiranjeevi Blood and Eye Banks. It is the state's largest recipient of blood and eye donations. The trust has made over 68,000 blood donations and 1,414 eye donations. The blood bank of the CCT has helped over 80,000 people and the eye bank has helped about 1,000 people in the state of Andhra Pradesh since its opening. Around 350,000 people have pledged their eyes to CCT so far, giving 1600 people eyesight through CCT. CCT has also won the "Best Voluntary Blood Bank Award" by the AP State Government for the past 4 years. On 10 June 2006, the then President of India, Abdul Kalam, inaugurated the Chiranjeevi Charitable Foundation (CCF) at Jubilee Hills Check Post in Hyderabad.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: CCT crossed the one lakh mark in collecting blood and more than 96,000 people have been helped with blood by this blood bank.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: After allegations made against the Blood Bank and Eye Bank, the state government of AP constituted a high-level committee to look into the allegations. The committee worked under the guidance of the project director of AP State AIDA Control Society, comprising experts from finance and technical fields, verified records pertaining to the collection and disposal of blood samples, blood grouping, screening, sterilisation, medical waste disposal, camps conducted, blood expiry, quality control, store room, record room and purchase of equipment.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: In July 2018, Chiranjeevi took part in the Green Challenge started by Narendra Choudary Tummala. In May 2021, Chiranjeevi set up oxygen banks and ambulances across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to meet the needs of patients affected by COVID-19.


title: Chiranjeevi

text: Director K. Balachander said "Chiranjeevi has both Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth in him. Not only can he do action, he can also act." Chiranjeevi received the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour in India in the year 2006. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Andhra University in the same year. He is a ten-time winner of Filmfare Awards South and a four-time winner of Nandi Awards. In 2014, he was awarded "International Face of Indian Cinema" at the 3rd South Indian International Movie Awards from Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor. He was the first actor from South India to be invited to the Oscars ceremony in 1987.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (also known simply as Jack Ryan) is an American political action thriller television series, based on characters from the fictional "Ryanverse" created by Tom Clancy, that premiered on August 31, 2018, on Amazon Prime Video. The series was created by Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland. Cuse serves as an executive producer alongside John Krasinski, Michael Bay, and Mace Neufeld, among others. Krasinski also stars in the series as the title character, making him the fifth actor to portray the character after Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine from the film series.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: In April 2018, Amazon renewed the series for a second season which premiered on October 31, 2019. In February 2019, Amazon renewed the series for a third season, which is set to premiere on December 21, 2022. Ahead of the third season, Amazon renewed the series for a fourth season. In May 2022, before the release of the third season, it was confirmed the series would end after four seasons, possibly aiming for a 2023 date. A spin-off starring Michael Peña as Ding Chavez is in development.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: The first season follows the titular CIA analyst as he is wrenched from the security of his desk job into the field after discovering a string of dubious bank transfers, which are being carried out by a rising Islamic extremist named Suleiman.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: On September 22, 2015, it was announced that Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland were developing a television series adaptation of Tom Clancy's "Jack Ryan" series of novels.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: The potential series was described as "a new contemporary take on the character using the novels as source material". Production companies involved with the project were slated to include Paramount Television, Platinum Dunes and Skydance Media. A week later, following a bidding war among multiple television networks, it was announced that streaming service Amazon Video had purchased the rights to the series.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: Amazon proceeded to put the production into development during which time they ordered three scripts written by Cuse and Roland. On August 16, 2016, it was announced that the production had been given a straight-to-series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: In January 2017, it was announced that Morten Tyldum would direct the pilot and that Daniel Sackheim would direct multiple episodes and produce the series.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: On April 24, 2018, it was reported that Amazon had renewed the series. The second season was set in South America, where Ryan takes on "a dangerous, declining democratic regime." On May 14, 2018, it was reported that Richard Rutkowski had served as cinematographer for the pilot and that Checco Varese had acted in the role for the following seven episodes of season one.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: On August 14, 2018, it was announced that Phil Abraham was joining the series as an executive producer and would direct the first two episodes of the second season.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: On September 4, 2018, it was reported that Dennie Gordon would direct three episodes of season two and serve as an executive producer.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: On February 13, 2019, Amazon renewed the series for a third season at the TCA press tour which is scheduled to be released on December 21, 2022.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: On October 24, 2019, Paul Scheuring was reported to be the showrunner for season three, as well as an executive producer. Scheuring stepped down as showrunner in January 2020 "after discovering he wasn't a good fit". He was replaced by Vaun Wilmott, a writer and producer on "". On October 14, 2021, before the third season release, Amazon renewed the series for a fourth season. On May 9, 2022, before the release of the third season, it was confirmed the series would end after four seasons. A spin-off revolving around Peña's character was also announced to be in development.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: On April 29, 2016, it was announced that John Krasinski had been cast in the series' title role. On November 3, 2016, it was reported that Abbie Cornish had been cast as Ryan's love interest Cathy Mueller. On December 16, 2016, it was announced that Wendell Pierce, Ali Suliman, and Dina Shihabi had been cast in series regular roles. In March 2017, it was announced that Peter Fonda, Mena Massoud, Timothy Hutton, and Al Sapienza had been cast in recurring roles. On June 5, 2017, it was reported that Amir El-Masry had joined the series in a supporting role.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: Alongside the announcement of the series' renewal, it was confirmed that Krasinski and Pierce would return for the second season. On May 4, 2018, it was reported John Hoogenakker had been promoted to a series regular for season two after previously appearing in season one in a recurring capacity. On July 20, 2018, it was announced during Amazon's San Diego Comic-Con panel that Noomi Rapace had joined the main cast for season two. In August 2018, it was announced that Michael Kelly, Jovan Adepo, Jordi Molla, Cristina Umaña, and Francisco Denis had joined the cast of season two as series regulars. On September 25, 2018, it was reported that Tom Wlaschiha had been cast in a recurring role for season two. Upon the series' fourth season renewal announcement, Michael Peña joined the cast in an undisclosed role for the fourth season. On October 18, 2021, it was reported that Cornish will reprise her role as Dr. Cathy Mueller for the fourth season.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: "Jack Ryan" was filmed in multiple locations. On May 10, 2017, Krasinski was spotted filming his scenes in Washington, D.C. For the next several days the TV series was also shot in Maryland, Virginia, Quebec, London, and Morocco. Some scenes were shot in Paris and Chamonix, France.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: The first season features approximately 1,000 visual effects shots, including the opening bombing run in the pilot episode.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: Production for season two began in mid-2018 in Europe, South America, and the United States. Shooting locations included Bogotá, Colombia (standing in for Venezuela), London, Moscow and New York.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: Production on the third season of "Jack Ryan" began in May 2021, with locations including Prague, Czech Republic. Season 3 is expected to be released on Prime Video in December 2022.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: On June 16, 2018, the series held its world premiere at the 58th Annual Monte-Carlo Television Festival at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The event included a screening of the series' pilot episode that was attended by cast members John Krasinski, Dina Shihabi and Wendell Pierce, alongside series creators, showrunners and executive producers Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: Paramount Home Media Distribution released Blu-ray and DVD disc editions of the first season of "Jack Ryan" on June 4, 2019. The Blu-ray edition includes deleted scenes and Dolby Atmos surround soundtrack not available when viewing through Amazon Prime.


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: The series premiered to a positive critical response. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 75% with an average rating of 6.4 out of 10, based on 85 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Though not as thematically rich as some of its geopolitical predecessors, "Jack Ryan" is a satisfying addition to the genre buoyed by exceptional action sequences and a likable cast." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 66 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: In a positive review, "RogerEbert.com"s Nick Allen praised the series saying, "Expertly plotted by creators Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland, "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan" is all the more impactful for its restraint and scope, offering excellent character-based drama that's concerned with much more than just its namesake." Similarly favorable, "The Gazette"s Terry Terrones awarded the series a grade of "A−" and directed specific approval towards Krasinski's performance saying, "This version of Jack Ryan is relatable, but also admirable because the actor portraying him can balance so many aspects of the character with ease. Krasinski plays him so naturally I couldn't tell where he ended and Ryan began." In another enthusiastic appraisal, "Rolling Stone"s Alan Sepinwall accorded the series three and a half stars out of five and complimented it saying, "Like Jack Ryan himself, the Amazon show is smart and confident and thorough. That's enough to get the job done."


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: In a more mixed assessment, "TVLine"s Dave Nemetz gave the series a grade of "C+" and offered the series restrained commendation saying, "Amazon's awkwardly titled "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan" is at its best when things are exploding, delivering a number of impressively high-octane action sequences on a scale rarely seen on television. The rest of the series, though, is disappointingly mediocre ... and its choice of leading man may be a major stumbling block." In a negative critique, "Vanity Fair"s Sonia Saraiya chastised the show saying ""Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan" is hysterical. Hysterical as in histrionic; hysterical as in somehow funny; hysterical as in you wish its team had worked harder to take the temperature of the world around us before sending this highly charged and obscenely blinkered James Bond manqué into the world." Equally dismissive, "Paste"s Amy Amatangelo criticized the series saying, "But more often than not, the show plods along with no real sense of urgency. I often had to restrain myself from scrolling through my phone. I was that bored while I was watching. Those indoctrinated into the Jack Ryan canon via the books or the movies will find the eight-episode series is faithful to the spirit of all that preceded it. I'm just not sure we needed it at all."


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: The series has been criticized for a scene in the episode "Black 22" in which a character uses the word tranny. LGBT activist Eliel Cruz alleged that the scene treats a major cause of violence against trans women as "a throwaway joke." Similarly, the series has also received criticism in French publications for its depiction of the country, specifically in the episodes "French Connection" and "Black 22", where various scenes have been condemned. Stéphanie Guerrin of "Le Parisien" expressed her concern for the dialogue spoken by and about the French saying, "This series of dangerously caricatural comments leaves one wondering." "Le Point"s Bastien Haugel specifically took grievance, in an otherwise positive review, with the portrayal of a French policeman who espoused anti-Muslim views calling it "dangerously caricatural".


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: Previews of season two, in which Ryan ends up on a mission to Venezuela to "bring stability to a country on the brink of collapse", has been criticized by the government of Venezuela for allegedly promoting an invasion of the country by the United States. Venezuela's Minister of Cultural Affairs, Ernesto Villegas, described previews of the show as "Crass war propaganda disguised as entertainment". Venezuelan actor Francisco Denis, who plays Ubarri, a senior Venezuelan government official in the new season, responded to his government's criticism by highlighting the fictional character of the series. "I don't think the CIA needs [a show like] this to intervene or not in a country," he said. Denis did regret that the series has included mistakes such as the fictitious meeting of the Venezuelan president with the CIA—which, in his opinion, would never occur under the current administrations—or presenting the most powerful man in the country as "basking in luxury".


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds an approval rating of 67% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7 out of 10. The site's critics consensus reads: ""Jack Ryan"s second season is both more refined and more predictable, doubling down on its espionage set-pieces while toning down its titular character's moral complexities to create a more straight-forward spy show." Metacritic, based upon 6 critics, assigned the season a score of 56 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Jack Ryan (TV series)

text: Tim Goodman of "The Hollywood Reporter" gave a favorable review: "Jack Ryan is still fun, despite being a little bit ridiculous and predictable ... Not all the events described above make perfect sense and there's definitely some bloat here storytelling-wise, but that never seems to cut into the pacing. It's a strong, appealing cast and an entertaining story — the same successful formula as the first season and a welcome return visitor to the living room".


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now partially cleared, farmed, and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation. Roughly a third of the state is covered in forests, and it is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" for having over 14,000 bodies of fresh water of at least ten acres. More than 60% of Minnesotans live in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, known as the "Twin Cities", the state's main political, economic, and cultural hub. With a population of about 3.7 million, the Twin Cities is the 16th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Other minor metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas in the state include Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester, and St. Cloud.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota, which gets its name from the Dakota language, has been inhabited by various indigenous peoples since the Woodland period of the 11th century BCE. Between roughly 200 and 500 CE, two areas of the indigenous Hopewell tradition emerged: the Laurel complex in the north, and Trempealeau Hopewell in the Mississippi River Valley in the south. The Upper Mississippian culture, consisting of the Oneota people and other Siouan speakers, emerged around 1000 CE and lasted through the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century. French explorers and missionaries were the earliest Europeans to enter the region, encountering the Dakota, Ojibwe, and various Anishinaabe tribes. Much of what is now Minnesota formed part of the vast French holding of Louisiana, which the United States purchased in 1803. After several territorial reorganizations, the Minnesota Territory was admitted to the Union as the 32nd state in 1858. Minnesota's official motto, , is the only state motto in French; meaning "The Star of the North", it was adopted shortly after statehood and reflects both the state's early French explorers and its position as the northernmost state in the contiguous U.S.


title: Minnesota

text: As part of the American frontier, Minnesota attracted settlers and homesteaders from across the country, with its growth initially centered on timber, agriculture, and railroad construction. Into the early 20th century, European immigrants arrived in significant numbers, particularly from Scandinavia, Germany, and Central Europe; many were linked to the failed revolutions of 1848, which partly influenced the state's development as a center of labor and social activism. Minnesota's rapid industrialization and urbanization precipitated major social, economic, and political changes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the state was at the forefront of labor rights, women's suffrage, and political reform. Minnesota is considered Democratic-leaning, having voted for every Democratic presidential nominee since 1976, longer than any other U.S. state.


title: Minnesota

text: Since the late 20th century, the core of Minnesota's economy has diversified, shifting from traditional industries such as agriculture and resource extraction to services, finance, and health care; it is consequently one of the richest in terms of GDP and per capita income. The state is home to 11 federally recognized Native American reservations (seven Ojibwe, four Dakota), and remains a center of Scandinavian and German cultures with an influence of Lutheranism. In more recent decades, Minnesota has become more multicultural, driven by both larger domestic migration and immigration from Latin America, Asia, the Horn of Africa, and the Middle East; the state has the nation's largest population of Somali Americans and second largest Hmong population. Minnesota's standard of living and level of education are among the highest in the U.S., and it is ranked among the best states in metrics such as employment, median income, safety, and governance.


title: Minnesota

text: The word "Minnesota" comes from the Dakota name for the Minnesota River, which got its name from one of two words in Dakota: "mní sóta", which means "clear blue water", or "Mníssota", which means "cloudy water". Dakota people demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it "mní sóta". Many places in the state have similar Dakota names, such as Minnehaha Falls ("curling water" or waterfall), Minneiska ("white water"), Minneota ("much water"), Minnetonka ("big water"), Minnetrista ("crooked water"), and Minneapolis, a hybrid word combining Dakota "mní" ("water") and "-polis" (Greek for "city").


title: Minnesota

text: When Europeans arrived in North America, the Dakota people lived in what is now Minnesota. The first Europeans to enter the region were French voyageurs, fur traders who arrived in the 17th century. They used the Grand Portage to access trapping and trading areas further into Minnesota. The Anishinaabe (also known as Ojibwe or Chippewa) were migrating into Minnesota, causing tensions with the Dakota people, and dislocated the Mdewakanton from their homelands along Mille Lacs Lake. Explorers such as Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, Father Louis Hennepin, Jonathan Carver, Henry Schoolcraft, and Joseph Nicollet mapped the state.


title: Minnesota

text: The region was part of Spanish Louisiana from 1762 to 1802. The portion of the state east of the Mississippi River became part of the United States at the end of the American Revolutionary War, when the Second Treaty of Paris was signed. Land west of the Mississippi was acquired with the Louisiana Purchase, though the Hudson Bay Company disputed the Red River Valley until the Treaty of 1818, when the border on the 49th parallel was agreed upon. In 1805 Zebulon Pike bargained with Native Americans to acquire land at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers to create a military reservation. The construction of Fort Snelling followed between 1819 and 1825. Its soldiers built a grist mill and a sawmill at Saint Anthony Falls, which were harbingers of the water-powered industries around which Minneapolis later grew. Meanwhile, squatters, government officials, and others had settled near the fort; in 1839 the army forced them off military lands, and most moved downriver, just outside the military reservation, to the area that became St. Paul.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota was part of several territorial organizations between acquisition and statehood. From 1812 to 1821 it was part of the Territory of Missouri that corresponded with much of the Louisiana Purchase. It was briefly an unorganized territory (1821–1834) and was later consolidated with Wisconsin, Iowa and half the Dakotas to form the short-lived Territory of Michigan (1834–1836). From 1836 to 1848 Minnesota and Iowa were part of the Territory of Wisconsin. From 1838 to 1846 Minnesota west of the Mississippi River was part of the Territory of Iowa. Minnesota east of the Mississippi was part of Wisconsin until 1848. When Iowa gained statehood western Minnesota was in an Unorganized Territory again. Minnesota Territory was formed on March 3, 1849. The first territorial legislature, held on September 2, 1849, was dominated by men of New England ancestry. Thousands of pioneers had come to create farms and cut timber. Minnesota became the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858. The founding population was so overwhelmingly of New England origins that the state was dubbed "the New England of the West".


title: Minnesota

text: Treaties between the U.S. Government and the eastern Dakota and Ojibwe gradually forced the natives off their lands and onto reservations. As conditions deteriorated for the eastern Dakota, tensions rose, leading to the Dakota War of 1862. The conflict was ignited when four young Dakota men, searching for food, killed a family of white settlers on August 17. That night, a faction of Little Crow's eastern Dakota decided to try and drive all settlers out of the Minnesota River valley. In the weeks that followed, Dakota warriors killed hundreds of settlers, causing thousands to flee the area. The six-week war ended with the defeat of the eastern Dakota and 2,000 in custody, who were eventually exiled to the Crow Creek Reservation by the Great Sioux Reservation in Dakota Territory. The remaining 4,500 to 5,000 Dakota mostly fled the state into Rupert's Land. As many as 800 settlers were killed during the war.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota Governor Alexander Ramsey subsequently declared that "the Sioux Indians of Minnesota must be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of the state” and placed a bounty of $25/scalp on the heads of the eastern Dakota men. Over 1,600 eastern Dakota women, children, and elderly walked from the Lower Sioux Agency to Fort Snelling to be held until the spring thaw allowed riverboats to take them out of Minnesota to Crow Creek Indian Reservation. William Crooks, commander of 6th Minnesota, had a palisade erected around the encampment on Pike Island, just below the fort, to protect native people from the soldiers and settlers. Conditions there were poor and between 125 and 300 died of disease. Around 400 Dakota men were tried after the war. 303 were sentenced to death, but Abraham Lincoln reviewed the convictions and approved 39 of the death sentences. In December 1862, 38 of them were hanged.


title: Minnesota

text: In early 1863, Ramsey resigned as governor to become the Federal Indian Commissioner. His successor, Governor Henry Swift, raised the bounty to $200/scalp. A total of $325 was paid out to four people collecting bounties, including for Little Crow who was killed in July 1863. Upon becoming Indian Commissioner, Ramsey set out to get Ojibwe lands too. In 1863 he negotiated the Treaty of Old Crossing, whereby the Ojibwe ceded all their land in northern Minnesota and moved to reservations.


title: Minnesota

text: Logging, farming, and railroads were mainstays of Minnesota's early economy. The sawmills at Saint Anthony Falls and logging centers of Pine City, Marine on St. Croix, Stillwater, and Winona processed vast quantities of timber. These cities were on rivers that were ideal for transportation. St. Anthony Falls was later tapped to provide power for flour mills. Innovations by Minneapolis millers led to the production of Minnesota "patent" flour, which commanded almost double the price of "bakers'" or "clear" flour which it replaced. By 1900 Minnesota mills, led by Pillsbury, Northwestern, and the Washburn-Crosby Company (an ancestor of General Mills), were grinding 14.1% of the nation's grain.


title: Minnesota

text: The state's iron-mining industry was established with the discovery of iron in the Vermilion and Mesabi ranges in the 1880s, followed by the Cuyuna Range in the early 1900s. The ore went by rail to Duluth and Two Harbors for ship transport east via the Great Lakes.


title: Minnesota

text: Industrial development and the rise of manufacturing caused the population to shift gradually from rural areas to cities during the early 20th century. Nevertheless, farming remained prevalent. Minnesota's economy was hit hard by the Great Depression, resulting in lower prices for farmers, layoffs among iron miners, and labor unrest. Compounding the adversity, western Minnesota and the Dakotas were hit by drought from 1931 to 1935. New Deal programs provided some economic turnaround. The Civilian Conservation Corps and other programs around the state established some jobs for Indians on their reservations, and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 provided the tribes with a mechanism of self-government. This gave Natives a greater voice within the state and promoted more respect for tribal customs because religious ceremonies and native languages were no longer suppressed.


title: Minnesota

text: After World War II, industrial development quickened. New technology increased farm productivity through automation of feedlots for hogs and cattle, machine milking at dairy farms, and raising chickens in large buildings. Planting became more specialized, with hybridization of corn and wheat, and farm machinery such as tractors and combines became the norm. University of Minnesota professor Norman Borlaug contributed to these developments as part of the Green Revolution. Suburban development accelerated due to increased postwar housing demand and convenient transportation. Increased mobility in turn enabled more specialized jobs.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota became a center of technology after World War II. Engineering Research Associates was formed in 1946 to develop computers for the United States Navy. It later merged with Remington Rand, and then became Sperry Rand. William Norris left Sperry in 1957 to form Control Data Corporation (CDC). Cray Research was formed when Seymour Cray left CDC to form his own company. Medical device maker Medtronic also started business in the Twin Cities in 1949.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota is the second northernmost U.S. state (after Alaska) and northernmost contiguous state, as the isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods County is the only part of the 48 contiguous states north of the 49th parallel. The state is part of the U.S. region known as the Upper Midwest and part of North America's Great Lakes Region. 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, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba are to the north. With , or approximately 2.25% of the United States, Minnesota is the 12th-largest state.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota has some of the earth's oldest rocks, gneisses that are about 3.6billion years old (80% as old as the planet). About 2.7billion years ago basaltic lava poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ocean; the remains of this volcanic rock formed the Canadian Shield in northeast Minnesota. The roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of Precambrian seas formed the Iron Range of northern Minnesota. Since a period of volcanism 1.1billion years ago, Minnesota's geological activity has been more subdued, with no volcanism or mountain formation, but with repeated incursions of the sea, which left behind multiple strata of sedimentary rock.


title: Minnesota

text: In more recent times, massive ice sheets at least one kilometer thick ravaged the state's landscape and sculpted its terrain. The Wisconsin glaciation left 12,000 years ago. 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 has fifty feet (15m) or more of glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. Gigantic Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest 13,000 years ago. Its flatbed now is 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, most of them minor.


title: Minnesota

text: The state's high point is Eagle Mountain at 2,301 feet (701m), which is only away from the low point of 601 feet (183m) at the shore of Lake Superior. Notwithstanding dramatic local differences in elevation, much of the state is a gently rolling peneplain.


title: Minnesota

text: Two major drainage divides meet in Minnesota's 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.


title: Minnesota

text: The state's nickname "Land of 10,000 Lakes" is apt, as there are 11,842 Minnesota lakes over in size. Minnesota's portion of Lake Superior is the largest at and deepest (at ) body of water in the state. Minnesota has 6,564 natural rivers and streams that cumulatively flow for . The Mississippi River begins its journey from its headwaters at Lake Itasca and crosses the Iowa border downstream. It is joined by the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling, by the St. Croix River near Hastings, by the Chippewa River at Wabasha, and by many smaller streams. The Red River drains the northwest part of the state northward toward Canada's Hudson Bay. Approximately of wetlands are within Minnesota's borders, the most of any state outside Alaska.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota has four ecological provinces: prairie parkland, in the southwestern and western parts of the state; the eastern broadleaf forest (Big Woods) in the southeast, extending in a narrowing strip to the state's northwestern part, where it transitions into tallgrass aspen parkland; and the northern Laurentian mixed forest, a transitional forest between the northern boreal forest and the broadleaf forests to the south. These northern forests are a vast wilderness of pine and spruce trees mixed with patchy stands of birch and poplar.


title: Minnesota

text: Much of Minnesota's northern forest has undergone logging, leaving only a few patches of old growth forest today in areas such as the Chippewa National Forest and the Superior National Forest, where the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has some of unlogged land. Although logging continues, regrowth and replanting keep about a third of the state forested. Nearly all Minnesota's prairies and oak savannas have been fragmented by farming, grazing, logging, and suburban development.


title: Minnesota

text: While loss of habitat has affected native animals such as the pine marten, elk, woodland caribou, and bison, others like whitetail deer and bobcat thrive. Minnesota has the nation's largest population of timber wolves outside Alaska, and supports healthy populations of black bears, moose, and gophers. Located on the Mississippi Flyway, Minnesota hosts migratory waterfowl such as geese and ducks, and game birds such as grouse, pheasants, and turkeys. It is home to birds of prey, including the largest number of breeding pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states as of 2007, red-tailed hawks, and snowy owls. Hawk Ridge is one of the premier bird watching sites in North America. The lakes teem with sport fish such as walleye, bass, muskellunge, and northern pike, and brook, brown, and rainbow trout populate streams in the southeast and northeast.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota experiences temperature extremes characteristic of its continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers. The lowest temperature recorded was at Tower on February 2, 1996, and the highest was at Moorhead on July 6, 1936. Meteorological events include rain, snow, blizzards, thunderstorms, hail, derechos, tornadoes, and high-velocity straight-line winds. The growing season varies from 90 days in the far northeast to 160 days in southeast Minnesota near the Mississippi River, and average temperatures range from . Average summer dewpoints range from about in the south to about in the north. Average annual precipitation ranges from , and droughts occur every 10 to 50 years.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota's first state park, Itasca State Park, was established in 1891, and is the source of the Mississippi River. Today Minnesota has 72 state parks and recreation areas, 58 state forests covering about four million acres (16,000km), and numerous state wildlife preserves, all managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The Chippewa and Superior national forests comprise . The Superior National Forest in the northeast contains the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which encompasses over a million acres (4,000km) and a thousand lakes. To its west is Voyageurs National Park. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) is a corridor along the Mississippi River through the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Area connecting a variety of sites of historic, cultural, and geologic interest.


title: Minnesota

text: Saint Paul, in east-central Minnesota along the banks of the Mississippi River, has been Minnesota's capital city since 1849, first as capital of the Territory of Minnesota, and then as the state capital since 1858.


title: Minnesota

text: Saint Paul is adjacent to Minnesota's most populous city, Minneapolis; they and their suburbs are collectively known as the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the country's 16th-largest metropolitan area and home to about 55% of the state's population. The remainder of the state is known as "Greater Minnesota" or "Outstate Minnesota".


title: Minnesota

text: The state has 17 cities with populations above 50,000 as of the 2010 census. In descending order of population, they are Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Rochester, Duluth, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth, Saint Cloud, Woodbury, Eagan, Maple Grove, Coon Rapids, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Blaine, and Lakeville. Of these, only Rochester, Duluth, and Saint Cloud are outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota's population continues to grow, primarily in the urban centers. The populations of metropolitan Sherburne and Scott counties doubled between 1980 and 2000, while 40 of the state's 87 counties lost residents over the same period.


title: Minnesota

text: From fewer than 6,120 white settlers in 1850, Minnesota's enumerated population grew to over 1.7million by 1900 and 3.4million in 1960. Growth then slowed, rising 11% to 3.8million in 1970, and an average of 9% over the next three decades to 4.9million in the 2000 census.


title: Minnesota

text: The 2020 United States census showed Minnesota's population at 5,709,752 on April 1, 2020, a 7.65% increase since the 2010 United States census. The rate of population change, and age and gender distributions, approximate the national average. Minnesota's center of population is in Hennepin County.


title: Minnesota

text: At the 2010 census Minnesota's population was 5,303,925. The gender makeup of the state was 49.6% male and 50.4% female. 24.2% of the population was under age 18; 9.5% between 18 and 24; 26.3% from 25 to 44; 27.1% from 45 to 64; and 12.9% 65 or older.


title: Minnesota

text: According to the 2017 American Community Survey, 5.1% of Minnesota's population were of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race): Mexican (3.5%), Puerto Rican (0.2%), Cuban (0.1%), and other Hispanic or Latino origin (1.2%). The ancestry groups claimed by more than 5% of the population were German (33.8%), Norwegian (15.3%), Irish (10.5%), Swedish (8.1%), and English (5.4%). Minnesota was also a major destination for a wave of Finnish immigrants in the early 20th century, along with Wisconsin and Michigan. Among U.S. states, Minnesota has the highest number of Finnish-Americans, 100,545 as of 2019.


title: Minnesota

text: In 2011 non-Hispanic whites accounted for 72.3% of all births, but Minnesota's growing minority groups still form a smaller percentage of the population than in the nation as a whole.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota has the country's largest Somali population, with an estimated 57,000 people, the largest concentration outside of the Horn of Africa.


title: Minnesota

text: The majority of Minnesotans are Protestants, including a large Lutheran contingent, owing to the state's largely Northern European ethnic makeup. Roman Catholics (of largely German, Irish, French and Slavic descent) make up the largest single Christian denomination. A 2010 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that 32% of Minnesotans were affiliated with Mainline Protestant traditions, 21% were Evangelical Protestants, 28% Roman Catholic, 1% each Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Black Protestant, and smaller amounts of other faiths, with 13% unaffiliated. According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, the denominations with the most adherents in 2010 were the Roman Catholic Church with 1,150,367; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 737,537; and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod with 182,439. This is broadly consistent with the results of the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, which also gives detailed percentages for many individual denominations. The international Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference is headquartered in Mankato, Minnesota. Although Christianity is dominant, Minnesota has a long history with non-Christian faiths. Ashkenazi Jewish pioneers set up Saint Paul's first synagogue in 1856. Minnesota is home to more than 30 mosques, mostly in the Twin Cities metro area. The Temple of ECK, the spiritual home of Eckankar, is based in Minnesota.


title: Minnesota

text: Once primarily a producer of raw materials, Minnesota's economy has transformed to emphasize finished products and services. Perhaps the most significant characteristic of the economy is its diversity; the relative outputs of its business sectors closely match the United States as a whole. Minnesota's economy had a gross domestic product of $383billion in 2019, with 33 of the United States' top 1,000 publicly traded companies by revenue headquartered in Minnesota, including Target, UnitedHealth Group, 3M, General Mills, U.S. Bancorp, Ameriprise, Hormel, Land O' Lakes, SuperValu, Best Buy, and Valspar. Private companies based in Minnesota include Cargill, the largest privately owned company in the United States, and Carlson Companies, the parent company of Radisson Hotels.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota's per capita personal income in 2019 was $58,834, the thirteenth-highest in the nation. Its 2019 median household income was $74,593, ranking thirteenth in the U.S. and fifth among the 36 states not on the Atlantic coast.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota's earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture. Minneapolis grew around the flour mills powered by St. Anthony Falls. Although less than 1% of the population is now employed in the agricultural sector, it remains a major part of the state's economy, ranking sixth in the nation in the value of products sold. The state is the nation's largest producer of sugar beets, sweet corn, and peas for processing, and farm-raised turkeys. Minnesota is also a large producer of corn and soybeans, and has the most food cooperatives per capita in the United States. Forestry remains strong, including logging, pulpwood processing and paper production, and forest products manufacturing. Minnesota was famous for its soft-ore mines, which produced a significant portion of the world's iron ore for more than a century. Although the high-grade ore is now depleted, taconite mining continues, using processes developed locally to save the industry. In 2016 the state produced 60% of the country's usable iron ore. The mining boom created the port of Duluth, which continues to be important for shipping ore, coal, and agricultural products. The manufacturing sector now includes technology and biomedical firms, in addition to the older food processors and heavy industry. The nation's first indoor shopping mall was Edina's Southdale Center, and its largest is Bloomington's Mall of America.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota is one of 45 U.S. states with its own lottery; its games include multi-jurisdiction draws, in-house draws, and other games.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota produces ethanol fuel and is the first to mandate its use, a 10% mix (E10). In 2019 there were more than 411 service stations supplying E85 fuel, comprising 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. A 2% biodiesel blend has been required in diesel fuel since 2005. Minnesota is ranked in the top ten for wind energy production. The state gets nearly one fifth of all its electrical energy from wind.


title: Minnesota

text: Xcel Energy is the state's largest utility and is headquartered in the state; it is one of five investor-owned utilities. There are also a number of municipal utilities.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota has a progressive income tax structure; the four brackets of state income tax rates are 5.35%, 7.05%, 7.85%, and 9.85%. As of 2008 Minnesota was ranked 12th in the nation in per capita total state and local taxes. In 2008 Minnesotans paid 10.2% of their income in state and local taxes; the U.S. average was 9.7%. The state sales tax in Minnesota is 6.875%, but clothing, prescription drug medications and food items for home consumption are exempt. The state legislature may allow municipalities to institute local sales taxes and special local taxes, such as the 0.5% supplemental sales tax in Minneapolis. Excise taxes are levied on alcohol, tobacco, and motor fuel. The state imposes a use tax on items purchased elsewhere but used within Minnesota. Owners of real property in Minnesota pay property tax to their county, municipality, school district, and special taxing districts.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota's leading fine art museums include the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Walker Art Center, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, and The Museum of Russian Art (TMORA). All are in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra are prominent full-time professional musical ensembles who perform concerts and offer educational programs to the Twin Cities' community. The world-renowned Guthrie Theater moved into a new Minneapolis facility in 2006, boasting three stages and overlooking the Mississippi River. Attendance at theatrical, musical, and comedy events in the area is strong. In the United States, Minneapolis's number of theater companies ranks behind only New York City's, and about 2.3million theater tickets were sold in the Twin Cities annually as of 2006. The Minnesota Fringe Festival in Minneapolis is an annual celebration of theatre, dance, improvisation, puppetry, kids' shows, visual art, and musicals with more than 800 performances over 11 days. It is the country's largest non-juried performing arts festival.


title: Minnesota

text: The rigors and rewards of pioneer life on the prairie are the subject of "Giants in the Earth" by Ole Rolvaag and the "Little House" series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Small-town life is portrayed grimly by Sinclair Lewis in the novel "Main Street", and more gently and affectionately by Garrison Keillor in his tales of Lake Wobegon. St. Paul native F. Scott Fitzgerald writes of the social insecurities and aspirations of the young city in stories such as "Winter Dreams" and "The Ice Palace" (published in "Flappers and Philosophers"). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem "The Song of Hiawatha" was inspired by Minnesota and names many of the state's places and bodies of water. Minnesota native Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. Science fiction writer Marissa Lingen lives here.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota musicians include Prince, Bob Dylan, Eddie Cochran, The Andrews Sisters, The Castaways, The Trashmen, Soul Asylum, David Ellefson, Chad Smith, John Wozniak, Hüsker Dü, Semisonic, The Replacements, Owl City, Holly Henry, Motion City Soundtrack, Atmosphere, and Dessa. Minnesotans helped shape the history of music through popular American culture: the Andrews Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was an iconic tune of World War II, while the Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" and Bob Dylan epitomize two sides of the 1960s. In the 1980s, influential hit radio groups and musicians included Prince, The Original 7ven, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, The Jets, Lipps Inc., and Information Society.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesotans have also made significant contributions to comedy, theater, media, and film. The comic strip "Peanuts" was created by St. Paul native Charles M. Schulz. A Prairie Home Companion which first aired in 1974, became a long-running comedy radio show on National Public Radio. A cult scifi cable TV show, Mystery Science Theater 3000, was created by Joel Hodgson in Hopkins, and Minneapolis, MN. Another popular comedy staple developed in the 1990s, The Daily Show, was originated through Lizz Winstead and Madeleine Smithberg.


title: Minnesota

text: Joel and Ethan Coen, Terry Gilliam, Bill Pohlad, and Mike Todd contributed to the art of filmmaking as writers, directors, and producers. Notable actors from Minnesota include Loni Anderson, Richard Dean Anderson, James Arness, Jessica Biel, Rachael Leigh Cook, Julia Duffy, Mike Farrell, Judy Garland, Peter Graves, Josh Hartnett, Garrett Hedlund, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Lange, Kelly Lynch, E.G. Marshall, Laura Osnes, Melissa Peterman, Chris Pratt, Marion Ross, Jane Russell, Winona Ryder, Seann William Scott, Kevin Sorbo, Lea Thompson, Vince Vaughn, Jesse Ventura, and Steve Zahn.


title: Minnesota

text: Stereotypical traits of Minnesotans include "Minnesota nice", Lutheranism, a strong sense of community and shared culture, and a distinctive brand of North Central American English sprinkled with Scandinavian expressions. Potlucks, usually with a variety of hotdishes, are popular small-town church activities. A small segment of the Scandinavian population attend a traditional lutefisk dinner to celebrate Christmas. Life in Minnesota has also been depicted or used as a backdrop, in movies such as "Fargo", "Grumpy Old Men", "Grumpier Old Men", "Juno", "Drop Dead Gorgeous", "Young Adult", "A Serious Man", "New in Town", "Rio", "The Mighty Ducks films," and in famous television series like "Little House on the Prairie", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "The Golden Girls", "Coach", "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show", "How I Met Your Mother" and "Fargo". Major movies shot on location in Minnesota include "That Was Then... This Is Now", "Purple Rain", "Airport", "Beautiful Girls", "North Country", "Untamed Heart", "Feeling Minnesota", "Jingle All The Way", "A Simple Plan", and "The Mighty Ducks films".


title: Minnesota

text: The Minnesota State Fair, advertised as "The Great Minnesota Get-Together", is an icon of state culture. In a state of 5.5million people, there were more than 1.8million visitors to the fair in 2014, setting a new attendance record. The fair covers the variety of Minnesota life, including fine art, science, agriculture, food preparation, 4-H displays, music, the midway, and corporate merchandising. It is known for its displays of seed art, butter sculptures of dairy princesses, the birthing barn, and the "fattest pig" competition. One can also find dozens of varieties of food on a stick, such as Pronto Pups, cheese curds, and deep-fried candy bars. On a smaller scale, many of these attractions are offered at numerous county fairs.


title: Minnesota

text: Other large annual festivals include the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Minneapolis' Aquatennial and Mill City Music Festival, Moondance Jam in Walker, Sonshine Christian music festival in Willmar, the Judy Garland Festival in Grand Rapids, the Eelpout Festival on Leech Lake, and the WE Fest in Detroit Lakes.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesotans have low rates of premature death, infant mortality, cardiovascular disease, and occupational fatalities. They have long life expectancies, and high rates of health insurance and regular exercise. These and other measures have led two groups to rank Minnesota as the healthiest state in the nation; however, in one of these rankings, Minnesota descended from first to sixth in the nation between 2005 and 2009 because of low levels of public health funding and the prevalence of binge drinking. While overall health indicators are strong, Minnesota does have significant health disparities in minority populations.


title: Minnesota

text: On October 1, 2007, the Freedom to Breathe Act took effect, outlawing smoking in restaurants and bars in Minnesota.


title: Minnesota

text: The Minnesota Department of Health is the primary state health agency responsible for public policy and regulation. Medical care in the state is provided by a comprehensive network of hospitals and clinics operated by a number of large providers including Allina Hospitals & Clinics, CentraCare Health System, Essentia Health, HealthPartners, M Health Fairview and the Mayo Clinic Health System. There are two teaching hospitals and medical schools in Minnesota. The University of Minnesota Medical School is a high-rated teaching institution that has made a number of breakthroughs in treatment, and its research activities contribute significantly to the state's growing biotechnology industry. The Mayo Clinic, a world-renowned hospital based in Rochester, was founded by William Worrall Mayo, an immigrant from England.


title: Minnesota

text: "U.S. News & World Report" 2020–21 survey ranked 4,554 hospitals in the country in 12 specialized fields of care, and placed the Mayo Clinic in the top four in most fields. The hospital ranked first on the best hospitals honor roll. The only specialty where it fell outside the top ten was ophthalmology. The Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota are partners in the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics, a state-funded program that conducts research into cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart health, obesity, and other areas.


title: Minnesota

text: One of the first acts of the Minnesota Legislature when it opened in 1858 was the creation of a normal school in Winona. Minnesota's commitment to education has contributed to a literate and well-educated populace. In 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Minnesota had the second-highest proportion of high school graduates, with 91.5% of people 25 and older holding a high school diploma, and the tenth-highest proportion of people with bachelor's degrees. In 2015, Minneapolis was named the nation's "Most Literate City", while St. Paul placed fourth, according to a major annual survey. In a 2013 study conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics comparing the performance of eighth-grade students internationally in math and science, Minnesota ranked eighth in the world and third in the United States, behind Massachusetts and Vermont. In 2014, Minnesota students earned the tenth-highest average composite score in the nation on the ACT exam. In 2013, nationwide in per-student public education spending, Minnesota ranked 21st. While Minnesota has chosen not to implement school vouchers, it is home to the first charter school.


title: Minnesota

text: The state supports a network of public universities and colleges, including 37 institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, and five major campuses of the University of Minnesota system. It is also home to more than 20 private colleges and universities, six of which rank among the nation's top 100 liberal arts colleges, according to "U.S. News & World Report".


title: Minnesota

text: Transportation in Minnesota is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) at the state level and by regional and local governments at the local level. Principal transportation corridors radiate from the Twin Cities metropolitan area and along interstate corridors in Greater Minnesota. The major Interstate highways are Interstate35 (I-35), I-90, and I-94, with I-35 and I-94 connecting the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, and I-90 traveling east–west along the southern edge of the state. In 2006, a constitutional amendment was passed that required sales and use taxes on motor vehicles to fund transportation, with at least 40% dedicated to public transit. There are nearly two dozen rail corridors in Minnesota, most of which go through Minneapolis–St. Paul or Duluth. There is water transportation along the Mississippi River system and from the ports of Lake Superior.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota's principal airport is Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport (MSP), a major passenger and freight hub for Delta Air Lines and Sun Country Airlines. Most other domestic carriers serve the airport. Large commercial jet service is provided at Duluth and Rochester, with scheduled commuter service to four smaller cities via Delta Connection carriers SkyWest Airlines, Compass Airlines, and Endeavor Air.


title: Minnesota

text: Public transit services are available in the regional urban centers in Minnesota including Metro Transit in the Twin Cities, opt-out suburban operators Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, SouthWest Transit, Plymouth Metrolink, Maple Grove Transit and others. In Greater Minnesota transit services are provided by city systems such as Duluth Transit Authority, Mankato Transit System, MATBUS (Fargo-Moorhead), Rochester Public Transit, Saint Cloud Metro Bus, Winona Public Transit and others. Dial-a-Ride service is available for persons with disabilities in a majority of Minnesota Counties.


title: Minnesota

text: In addition to bus services, Amtrak's daily "Empire Builder" (Chicago–Seattle/Portland) train runs through Minnesota, calling at the Saint Paul Union Depot and five other stations. Intercity bus providers include Jefferson Lines, Greyhound, and Megabus. Local public transit is provided by bus networks in the larger cities and by two rail services. The Northstar Line commuter rail service runs from Big Lake to the Target Field station in downtown Minneapolis. From there, light rail runs to Saint Paul Union Depot on the Green Line, and to the MSP airport and the Mall of America via the Blue Line.


title: Minnesota

text: Minnesota is governed pursuant to the Minnesota Constitution, which was adopted October 13, 1857, roughly one year before statehood. Like all U.S. states and the federal government, Minnesota has a republican system of political representation with power divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The state constitution includes a bill of rights that reaffirms many of the same rights and freedoms as its federal counterpart, with some protected more strongly and explicitly.


title: Minnesota

text: The executive branch is headed by the governor, currently Tim Walz, DFL (Democratic–Farmer–Labor), who took office on January 7, 2019. The governor has a cabinet consisting of the leaders of various state government agencies, called commissioners. The other elected constitutional offices are secretary of state, attorney general, and state auditor.