The population was 68, at the census , [ 4 ] making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. Though mostly in Stearns County, St. Cloud also extends into Benton and Sherburne counties, and straddles the Mississippi River.
Joseph , Rockville , and St. The St. Cloud metropolitan area had a population of , at the census. It has been listed as the fifth-largest metro with a presence in Minnesota, behind Minneapolis—St. But the entire St. Cloud area is within Minnesota, while most of Fargo-Moorhead's population is in North Dakota and Superior, Wisconsin, contributes significant population to the Duluth area.
Cloud is 65 miles km northwest of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis—St. Paul along Interstate 94 , U. Highway 52 conjoined with I , U.
Cloud State University , Minnesota's third-largest public university, is located between the downtown area and the Beaver Islands, which form a maze for a two-mile stretch of the Mississippi. The approximately 30 undeveloped islands are a popular destination for kayak and canoe enthusiasts during safe river levels and flow.
What is now the St. Cloud area was occupied by various indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Voyageurs and coureurs des bois from New France first encountered the Ojibwe and Dakota through the highly profitable North American fur trade with local Native American peoples.
