St. Cloud, Minnesota

St. Cloud or Saint Cloud (; French: [sɛ̃ klu]) is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-most populous city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stearns County, though it also extends into Benton and Sherburne counties. The city lies along the Mississippi River and is named after Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris named for the 6th-century monk Clodoald. The St. Cloud metropolitan area has an estimated 206,000 residents and is Minnesota's fifth-largest metropolitan statistical area. St. Cloud is 65 miles (105 km) northwest of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis–St. Paul along Interstate 94, U.S. Highway 52 (conjoined with I-94), U.S. Highway 10, Minnesota State Highway 15, and Minnesota State Highway 23. The St. Cloud metropolitan area is included in the greater Minneapolis–St. Paul combined statistical area. St. Cloud is home to St. Cloud State University, Minnesota's third-largest public university, located near the Beaver Islands, a group of around 30 undeveloped islands in the Mississippi River. These islands, part of a 12-mile designated wild and scenic river segment, attract kayakers and canoeists. The city also owns and operates Minnesota's largest municipally managed hydroelectric dam on the Mississippi River, which generates nearly nine megawatts of electricity, about 10% of the total output from the state's 11 hydroelectric dams on the river.