Faribault County, Minnesota  Faribault County () is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 14,553. Its county seat is Blue Earth. The county was founded in 1855. It was named for Jean-Baptiste Faribault, a settler and French fur trader among the Sioux Indians. Faribault County lies on the south side of Minnesota. Its southern border abuts the north border of the state of Iowa. The Blue Earth River flows northerly through the west-central part of the county; it enters from Iowa as two branches, West Branch and Middle Branch, merging at 5 miles (8 km) into the county. It is joined by East Branch near the city of Blue Earth, thence flows northward into Blue Earth County. The Maple River flows west-northwestward through the upper central part of the county, entering from Freeborn County and exiting to Blue Earth County. The Cobb River also flows through the NE part of the county, from Freeborn to Blue Earth county. The county terrain consists of semi-arid rolling hills, devoted to agriculture. The SE portion is a glacial moraine near Kiester, and is known as the Kiester Moraine. The county has an area of , of which is land and (1.3%) is water. As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 16,181 people, 6,652 households, and 4,476 families in the county. The population density was 22.7/sqmi (8.77/km²). There were 7,247 housing units at an average density of 10.2/sqmi (3.93/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.11% White, 0.24% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.36% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 3.50% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 45.5% were of German, 21.2% Norwegian and 5.1% Irish ancestry. There were 6,652 households out of which 28.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.80% were married couples living together, 6.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.70% were non-families. 29.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.