This map of Minnesota cities, townships, and counties was published by MnGeo in January 2019. The primary data set for the map is the "Cities, Townships, and Unorganized Territories" (MnCTU) data maintained by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Other reference data on the map include County Seats and Other Cities, County Boundaries, Interstate, US Trunk, and State Trunk Highways, Major Rivers, Lakes, County and State Boundaries. The download is a PDF file with embedded layers that can be printed at E-scale (36" x 48").

This medium-scale (nominally 1:24,000) dataset represents the boundaries of cities, townships, and unorganized territories (CTUs) in Minnesota. The Minnesota Geospatial Information Office created the initial CTU dataset by updating a municipal boundary file maintained by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). Update information was gathered primarily from boundary adjustment records maintained by the Office of Administrative Hearings, Municipal Boundary Adjustment Unit. MnDOT has maintained the file since 2014.

Note: Cities and Townships represented in this dataset are political (civil) townships as recognized by the State of MN, not congressional or public land survey townships. Unorganized territory subdivisions are those defined by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, which often differ from those defined by a county.

Check other metadata records in this package for more information on CTUInformation.


Link to ESRI Feature Service:

City, Township, and Unorganized Territory in Minnesota: City, Township, and Unorganized Territory

ReST service documentation for developers

NCED is currently involved in researching the effectiveness of anaglyph maps in the classroom and are working with educators and scientists to interpret various Earth-surface processes. Based on the findings of the research, various activities and interpretive information will be developed and available for educators to use in their classrooms. Keep checking back with this website because activities and maps are always being updated. We believe that anaglyph maps are an important tool in helping students see the world and are working to further develop materials and activities to support educators in their use of the maps.

This website has various 3-D maps and supporting materials that are available for download. Maps can be printed, viewed on computer monitors, or projected on to screens for larger audiences. Keep an eye on our website for more maps, activities and new information. Let us know how you use anaglyph maps in your classroom. Email any ideas or activities you have to ncedmaps@umn.edu

Anaglyph paper maps are a cost effective offshoot of the GeoWall Project. Geowall is a high end visualization tool developed for use in the University of Minnesota's Geology and Geophysics Department. Because of its effectiveness it has been expanded to 300 institutions across the United States. GeoWall projects 3-D images and allows students to see 3-D representations but is limited because of the technology. Paper maps are a cost effective solution that allows anaglyph technology to be used in classroom and field-based applications.

Maps are best when viewed with RED/CYAN anaglyph glasses!

A note on downloading: "viewable" maps are .jpg files; "high-quality downloads" are .tif files. While it is possible to view the latter in a web-browser in most cases, the download may be slow. As an alternative, try right-clicking on the link to the high-quality download and choosing "save" from the pop-up menu that results. Save the file to your own machine, then try opening the saved copy. This may be faster than clicking directly on the link to open it in the browser.

World Map: 3-D map that highlights oceanic bathymetry and plate boundaries.

Continental United States: 3-D grayscale map of the Lower 48.

Western United States: 3-D grayscale map of the Western United States with state boundaries.

Regional Map: 3-D greyscale map stretching from Hudson Bay to the Central Great Plains. This map includes the Western Great Lakes and the Canadian Shield.

Minnesota Map: 3-D greyscale map of Minnesota with county and state boundaries.

Twin Cities: 3-D map extending beyond Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Twin Cities Confluence Map: 3-D map highlighting the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. This map includes most of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Minneapolis, MN: 3-D topographical map of South Minneapolis.

Bassets Creek, Minneapolis: 3-D topographical map of the Bassets Creek watershed.

North Minneapolis: 3-D topographical map highlighting North Minneapolis and the Mississippi River.

St. Paul, MN: 3-D topographical map of St. Paul.

Western Suburbs, Twin Cities: 3-D topographical map of St. Louis Park, Hopkins and Minnetonka area.

Minnesota River Valley Suburbs, Twin Cities: 3-D topographical map of Bloomington, Eden Prairie and Edina area.

Southern Suburbs, Twin Cities: 3-D topographical map of Burnsville, Lakeville and Prior Lake area.

Southeast Suburbs, Twin Cities: 3-D topographical map of South St. Paul, Mendota Heights, Apple Valley and Eagan area.

Northeast Suburbs, Twin Cities: 3-D topographical map of White Bear Lake, Maplewood and Roseville area.

Northwest Suburbs, Mississippi River, Twin Cities: 3-D topographical map of North Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center and Maple Grove area.

Blaine, MN: 3-D map of Blaine and the Mississippi River.

White Bear Lake, MN: 3-D topographical map of White Bear Lake and the surrounding area.

Maple Grove, MN: 3-D topographical mmap of the NW suburbs of the Twin Cities.

A dataset listing Minnesota counties by population for 2024.

description: Raster-based land cover data sets are derived from 30-meter resolution Thematic Mapper satellite imagery. These data sets were created at the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. The Land Management Information Center converted these data files into EPPL7 format to be used with EPPL7 mapping products. There are currently three themes in this data set: 1. Landsat Level-1 Land Cover Classification of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, 2000: This coverage consists of 6 classes including: urban/developed, agriculture (planted or cultivated), forest, non-forested vegetation, water, not classified. 2. Landsat Level-2 Land Cover Classification of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, 2000: This coverage consists of 12 classes including: 0-4% impervious, 5-10% impervious, 11-25% impervious, 26-50% impervious 51-75% impervious, 76-100% impervious, Cropland, Planted trees & grasses, Coniferous, Deciduous, Upland shrubland & herbaceous, Lowland shrubland & herbaceous, Water. Definitions for these classes are based on the Minnesota Land Cover Classification System (MLCCS). 3. Impervious Surface Classification of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, 2000: Landsat TM data have been used to map the percentage of impervious surface area of the seven-county TCMA for the year 2000. Impervious surfaces are defined as areas impenetrable by water - including roads, rooftops, sidewalks and parking lots. The coverage provides information on the percentage of impervious surface on a 30-meter pixel basis for all urban areas. The impervious surface layer was derived from a single date of Landsat-5 TM data. Following the classification of land cover types, a regression model relating percent impervious surface area to Landsat TM greenness values was used to estimate the percent impervious surface area for pixels classified as urban or developed. Classification of the Landsat TM data provides a means to map and quantify the degree of impervious surface area, an indicator of environmental quality, over large geographic areas and over time.; abstract: Raster-based land cover data sets are derived from 30-meter resolution Thematic Mapper satellite imagery. These data sets were created at the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. The Land Management Information Center converted these data files into EPPL7 format to be used with EPPL7 mapping products. There are currently three themes in this data set: 1. Landsat Level-1 Land Cover Classification of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, 2000: This coverage consists of 6 classes including: urban/developed, agriculture (planted or cultivated), forest, non-forested vegetation, water, not classified. 2. Landsat Level-2 Land Cover Classification of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, 2000: This coverage consists of 12 classes including: 0-4% impervious, 5-10% impervious, 11-25% impervious, 26-50% impervious 51-75% impervious, 76-100% impervious, Cropland, Planted trees & grasses, Coniferous, Deciduous, Upland shrubland & herbaceous, Lowland shrubland & herbaceous, Water. Definitions for these classes are based on the Minnesota Land Cover Classification System (MLCCS). 3. Impervious Surface Classification of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, 2000: Landsat TM data have been used to map the percentage of impervious surface area of the seven-county TCMA for the year 2000. Impervious surfaces are defined as areas impenetrable by water - including roads, rooftops, sidewalks and parking lots. The coverage provides information on the percentage of impervious surface on a 30-meter pixel basis for all urban areas. The impervious surface layer was derived from a single date of Landsat-5 TM data. Following the classification of land cover types, a regression model relating percent impervious surface area to Landsat TM greenness values was used to estimate the percent impervious surface area for pixels classified as urban or developed. Classification of the Landsat TM data provides a means to map and quantify the degree of impervious surface area, an indicator of environmental quality, over large geographic areas and over time.

This map shows the solar irradiance and photovoltaics of the rooftops that are 17,000 square feet or larger. The study area was the entire city of Duluth, MN, by using rooftop data from the city municipality, and DEM from MNTopo solar irradiance could be calculated for the study areas. This solar irradiation map was created for the use of solar panel installation on the tops of large buildings to power the neighborhoods in the city of Duluth. Within this study area, buildings can be selected and the annual solar photovoltaics can be displayed.