<Tr> <Td> Est. 2017 </Td> <Td> 3,946,533 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 7.2% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="4"> U.S. Decennial Census 1790 - 1960 1900 - 1990 1990 - 2000 2010 - 2016 </Td> </Tr> <P> Minneapolis--Saint Paul is a major metropolitan area built around the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in east central Minnesota . The area is commonly known as the Twin Cities after its two largest cities, Minneapolis, the most populous city in the state, and Saint Paul, the state capital . It is an example of twin cities in the sense of geographical proximity . Minnesotans living outside of Minneapolis and Saint Paul often refer to the two together (or the seven - county metro area collectively) as The Cities . </P> <P> There are several different definitions of the region . Many refer to the Twin Cities as the seven - county region which is governed under the Metropolitan Council regional governmental agency and planning organization . The Office of Management and Budget officially designates 16 counties as the Minneapolis--St. Paul--Bloomington MN - WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, the 16th largest in the United States . The entire region known as the Minneapolis--St. Paul MN - WI Combined Statistical Area, has a population of 3,866,768, the 14th largest, according to 2015 Census estimates . </P>

How did the twin cities get their name
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