Hastings is a city in Dakota and Washington counties, in the U.S. state of Minnesota, near the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers. Its population was 22,172 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dakota County, which contains most of it as well as a small part extending into Washington County. It is named for the first elected governor of the state of Minnesota, Henry Hastings Sibley.