Dakota
County is
the
third-most
populous
county in
the U.S.
state of
Minnesota,
located in
the east
central
portion of
the state.
As of the
2010 United
States
Census, the
population
was 398,552.
The county
seat is
Hastings.
Dakota
County is
named for
the Dakota
Sioux tribal
bands who
inhabited
the area.
The name is
recorded as
"Dahkotah"
in the
United
States
Census
records
until 1851.
Dakota
County is
included in
the
Minneapolis–St.
Paul–Bloomington,
MN–WI
Metropolitan
Statistical
Area, the
sixteenth
largest
metropolitan
area in the
United
States with
about 3.3
million
residents.
The county
is bordered
by the
Minnesota
and
Mississippi
Rivers on
the north,
and the
state of
Wisconsin on
the east.
