\begin{minipage}[position]{width}
text
\end{minipage}
The minipage environment is similar to a
\parbox command. It takes
the same optional position argument and mandatory width argument. You
may use other paragraph-making environments such as the
list-making and
tabular environments inside a minipage. You can
also use the minipage environment or
\parbox command to put one or
more paragraphs
inside of a picture environment or as a
table item, for example.
There is no paragraph indentation in the minipage environment. That is, LaTeX sets \parindent to zero; however, you may override this with a \setlength command.
Footnotes in a minipage environment are handled in a way that is particularly useful for putting footnotes in figures or tables. A \footnote command puts the footnote at the bottom of the minipage instead of at the bottom of the page, and it uses the mpfootnote counter instead of the ordinary footnote counter. If you want the footnote in a minipage environment to be placed at the bottom of the actual page, in the usual fashion, use the \footnotemark and \footnotetext commands.
Note: if you put one minipage inside another if you are using footnotes, they may wind up at the bottom of the wrong minipage.