Lake of the Woods County

County in north-central Minnesota, bordered to the northeast by the Rainy River at the Ontario border and to the northwest by the Lake of the Woods; area 3,357 sq km/1,296 sq mi; population (1990) 4,100. Its capital is Baudette. Most of the county is preserved as wilderness. Fishing and lumbering are the chief occupations.

The western half of the county is occupied by Beltrami Island State Forest; portions of the Red Lake Indian Reservation are scattered throughout the south and southeast.