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The Iron Range is the name given to much of northeastern Minnesota in the United States. The range is a region with multiple distinct bands of iron ore, of which the Mesabi Range is by far the largest.
The Iron Range is largely the same area as the Arrowhead region of Minnesota, which consists of seven counties: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and St. Louis. From a geological perspective, the Iron Range includes:
- Mesabi Range, largely within Itasca and St. Louis counties;
- Vermilion Range, northeast of the Mesabi, in St. Louis and Lake counties;
- Gunflint Range is in the extreme northern portion of Cook County and extends into Canada; and
- Cuyuna Range, southwest of the Mesabi, largely within Crow Wing County.
The size of the Mesabi Range leads many Minnesotans to equate it directly with the Iron Range, in exclusion of the other, smaller ranges.
The Iron Range Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Board (IRRRB), sometimes known simply as Iron Range Resources (http://ironrangeresources.org/), is an economic development agency funded partly by taxes levied by the state on taconite-producing companies and charged with creating jobs. Detractors consider it an example of pork barrel politics.
Important cities
The Iron Range does not contain any large cities; some of the larger communities in the region include Hibbing and Virginia.
Culture
The area has a recognizably Scandinavian heritage, like most of northern Minnesota. A strong "Minnesota accent", said to be of Nordic origin, is present in the area, especially among the older part of the populace, hence the popular nickname, "Da Range".
Climate
The Iron Range is known for unrelentingly harsh winters, and pleasant, albeit mosquito-infested summers. The average year-round temperature is in the 30's °F (between about 2 °C and 4 °C). Temperatures below -40 °F/°C occur somewhere in the region during most winters. For example, statistics from the Midwestern Regional Climate Center climate summaries (http://mcc.sws.uiuc.edu/html/MWclimate_data_summaries.htm/), record that Virginia has an mean annual temperature of 38 °F, with an average January low temperature of -6.2 °F (about -21 °C) and July high of 77.4 °F (25 °C). Precipitation there averages 27 in (690 mm) annually and snowfall 53.2 in (135 cm).
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