Duluth is the regional hub for northeastern Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, and the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Duluth is a major transportation center for the transshipment of coal, taconite, agricultural products, steel, limestone, and cement. In recent years it has seen strong growth in the transshipment of wind turbine components coming and going from manufacturers in both Europe and North Dakota, and in oversized industrial machinery manufactured all around the world and destined for the tar sands oil extraction projects in northern Alberta.
Duluth is also a major scientific epicenter of aquatic biology . The City is home to the US EPA's Mid-Continent Ecology Division Laboratory and the University of MN, Duluth. From these institutions, many economically and scientifically important businesses have spawned support Duluth's economy.
Duluth is a large tourist attraction with over two million visitors a year. A million tourists pass through Duluth on their trips to the scenic North Shore by Highway 61, or to fishing and camping expeditions in Minnesota's most northern regions (Grand Marais, Superior National Forest, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Gooseberry Falls State Park, Isle Royale National Park). Thunder Bay, Ontario can be reached by following the highway into Canada along Lake Superior.