Geography of Minnesota "The Cities"), and "Outstate" or "Greater Minnesota". The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area comprises eleven Minnesota counties centered around Minneapolis, the state's largest city, and adjoining Saint Paul, the capital; plus two Wisconsin counties. About three out of every five residents of the state live in this conurbation. Greater Minnesota is less urbanized than the Twin Cities. It is also geographically more diverse, with farmlands to the south and west, lake country in central Minnesota, and forests in the northern part of the state. Approximately 40% of Minnesotans live in Greater Minnesota. Its major population centers include Duluth, Rochester, Moorhead, St.
Minnesota State Highway 44 had continued farther west, extending over what is now "County Highway 44" in Fillmore County. The section of present-day "County 44" between Harmony and U.S. Highway 63 (south of Spring Valley) was designated Highway 44 between 1972 and 1995. Minnesota State Highway 44 Minnesota State Highway 44 (MN 44) is a highway in southeast Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with U.S. 52 in Canton Township, near Prosper, and continues east to its eastern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 16 in Hokah, near La Crescent. Highway 44 is in length. Highway 44 serves as an east–west route between