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Michigan

Michigan (/ˈmɪʃɪɡən/ MISH-ig-ən) is a state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern United States. It borders Wisconsin to the northwest in the Upper Peninsula, and Indiana and Ohio to the south in the Lower Peninsula; it is also connected by Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie to Minnesota and Illinois, and the Canadian province of Ontario. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of 96,716 sq mi (250,490 km2), Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the largest by area east of the Mississippi River.[b] Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies. The name derives from a gallicized variant of the original Ojibwe word ᒥᓯᑲᒥ (mishigami),[c] meaning "large water" or "large lake".[2][7]

This article is about the U.S. state. For other uses, see Michigan (disambiguation).

Michigan

January 26, 1837 (26th)

96,716 sq mi (250,493 km2)

58,110 sq mi (150,504 km2)

38,606 sq mi (99,990 km2)  41.8%

456[2] mi (734 km)

386[2] mi (621 km)

900 ft (270 m)

1,979 ft (603 m)

571 ft (174 m)

10,077,331[4]

174/sq mi (67.1/km2)

Michigander, Michiganian, Yooper (Upper Peninsula)[6]

None (English, de facto)

English 91.11%
Spanish 3.86%
Arabic 1.05%
Other 4.92%

41°41 N to 48°18 N

82°7 W to 90°25 W

American robin (Turdus migratorius)

Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)

Apple blossom (Malus domestica)
Wildflower: Dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris)

Unofficial: Wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus)
Game animal: White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta)

Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus)

Mastodon (Mammut americanum)

Michigan consists of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula resembles the shape of a mitten, and comprises a majority of the state's land area. The Upper Peninsula (often called "the U.P.") is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile (8 km) channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The Mackinac Bridge connects the peninsulas. Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the United States, being bordered by four of the five Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair.[8] It also has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds.[9] Michigan has the second-most water area of any state, behind only Alaska.[10]


The area was first occupied by a succession of Native American tribes over thousands of years. In the 17th century, French explorers claimed it as part of the New France colony, when it was largely inhabited by indigenous peoples. French and Canadian traders and settlers, Métis, and others migrated to the area, settling largely along the waterways. After France's defeat in the French and Indian War in 1762, the region came under British rule. Britain ceded the territory to the newly independent United States after its defeat in the American Revolutionary War.


The area was part of the larger Northwest Territory until 1800, when western Michigan became part of the Indiana Territory. Michigan Territory was formed in 1805, but some of the northern border with Canada was not agreed upon until after the War of 1812. Michigan was admitted into the Union in 1837 as the 26th state, a free one. It soon became an important center of industry and trade in the Great Lakes region, attracting immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from many European countries. Immigrants from Finland, Macedonia, and the Netherlands were especially numerous.[11] Migration from Appalachia and of Black Southerners as part of the Great Migration increased in the 1930s,[12][13] with many settling in Metro Detroit.


Although Michigan has developed a diverse economy, in the early 20th century it became widely known as the center of the U.S. automotive industry, which developed as a major national economic force. It is home to the country's three major automobile companies (whose headquarters are all in Metro Detroit). Once exploited for logging and mining, today the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula is important for tourism because of its abundance of natural resources.[14][15] The Lower Peninsula is a center of manufacturing, forestry, agriculture, services, and high-tech industry.

North America's busiest international border, crossing the Detroit River

Ambassador Bridge

a twin-span bridge (Port Huron, Michigan, and Point Edward, Ontario, but the larger city of Sarnia is usually referred to on the Canadian side)

Blue Water Bridge

Blue Water Ferry (, and Sombra, Ontario)

Marine City, Michigan

Canadian Pacific Railway tunnel

(Detroit and Windsor)

Detroit–Windsor Truck Ferry

Detroit–Windsor Tunnel

(Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario)

International Bridge

(Port Huron and Sarnia)

St. Clair River Railway Tunnel

Ferry (Algonac, Michigan, and Walpole Island First Nation, Ontario)

Walpole Island

, Japan[181]

Shiga Prefecture

, People's Republic of China[182]

Sichuan Province

Index of Michigan-related articles

: organized list of topics about Michigan

Outline of Michigan

3 ships

USS Michigan

Geographic data related to at OpenStreetMap

Michigan

State of Michigan government website

Energy Data & Statistics for Michigan

Info Michigan, detailed information on 630 cities

Michigan Historic Markers

Historical Society of Michigan

.

Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Bibliographies for Michigan by region, counties, etc.

Michigan State Guide from the Library of Congress

Michigan Official Travel Site

Michigan Official Business Site

Michigan Official Talent Site

from the US Department of Agriculture

Michigan State Fact Sheet

The Michigan Municipal League

USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Michigan

at Curlie

Michigan