Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 lakes and this is no exaggeration In fact, Minnesota has nearly 12,000 lakes of at least ten acres, and is smaller ones are counted, the number soars past 15,000. The state has so many lakes that some end up with the same name. Minnesota has 201 Mud Lakes, 154 Long Lakes, and 123 Rice Lakes. Minnesota itself means "sky-tinted water" in the Dakota Language. The Dakota were Native Americans who lived in Minnesota for hundreds of years before the Europeans came.