Michigan is a Midwestern state of the United States. It was named after Lake Michigan.
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Bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair, Michigan has the longest freshwater shoreline in the United States, the longest total shoreline after Alaska (including island shorelines), and more recreational boats than any other state in the union. A person in Michigan is never more than 85 miles (137 km) from open Great Lakes water and is never more than 6 miles from a natural water source.
Michigan is the only bi-peninsular state. The Lower Peninsula of Michigan, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is sometimes dubbed "the Mitten," owing to its shape. When asked where in Michigan one comes from, a resident of the Lower Peninsula may often point to the corresponding part of his or her hand. The Upper Peninsula (U.P.) is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The Upper Peninsula (whose residents are often called "Yoopers") is economically important for tourism and its natural resources.
The Upper and Lower Peninsulas are connected by the five-mile-long Mackinac Bridge, which is the third longest suspension bridge in the world. The Great Lakes that border Michigan are Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Michigan also abuts Lake Saint Clair, which is between Lake Erie and Lake Huron.
Michigan is constituted of two peninsulas that lie between 82°30' to about 90º30' west longitude, and are separated by the Straits of Mackinac.
The state is bounded on the south by the states of Ohio and Indiana, sharing both land and water boundaries with both. Michigan's western boundaries are almost entirely water boundaries, from south to north, with Illinois and Wisconsin in Lake Michigan; then a land boundary with Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula, that is principally demarcated by the Menominee and Montreal rivers; then water boundaries again, in Lake Superior, with Wisconsin and Minnesota to the west, capped by Ontario to the north.
The northern boundary then runs completely through Lake Superior, from the western boundary with Minnesota to a point north of and around Isle Royale, thence travelling southeastward through the lake in a reasonably straight line to the Sault Ste. Marie area. Ontario is the sole neighbour to the north and east, and is Michigan's largest trading partner. Windsor, Ontario, once the south bank of Detroit, Upper Canada, has the distinction of being the only part of Canada which lies to the due south of a part of the lower 48 continguous United States. The eastern boundary ends in Lake Erie with a three-way convergence of Michigan, Ohio and Ontario. Michigan also shares a water boundary with the Canadian First Nation reserve of Walpole Island.
Michigan encompasses 58,110 square miles (150,504 km²) of land, 38,575 square miles (99,909 km²) of Great Lakes waters and 1,305 square miles (3,380 km²) of inland waters. At a total of 97,990 square miles (253,793 km²), it is the largest state east of the Mississippi River (inclusive of its territorial waters). It is the 10th largest state in the Union.
The heavily forested Upper Peninsula is relatively mountainous in the west. The Porcupine Mountains, which are the oldest mountains in North America, rise to an altitude of almost 2,000 feet above sea level and form the watershed between the streams flowing into Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. The surface on either side of this range is rugged. The state's highest point is Mount Arvon at 1,979 feet (603 m). The peninsula is as large as Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island combined, but has less than 330,000 inhabitants, who are sometimes called "Yoopers" (from "U.P.'ers") and whose speech (the "Yooper dialect") has been heavily influenced by the large number of Scandinavian and Canadian immigrants who settled the area during the mining boom of the late 1800's.
The Lower Peninsula, shaped like a mitten, is 277 miles (446 km) long from north to south and 195 miles (314 km) from east to west and occupies nearly two-thirds of the state's land area. The surface of the peninsula is generally level, broken by conical hills rising to an elevation difference not exceeding 200 feet. It is divided by a low water divide running north and south. The larger portion of the state is on the west of this and gradually slopes toward Lake Michigan. The highest point in the Lower Peninsula is not definitely established but is either Briar Hill at 1,705 feet (520 m), or one of several points nearby. The lowest point is the surface of Lake Erie at 571 feet (174 m).
The geographic orientation of Michigan's peninsulas make for a long distance between the ends of the state. Ironwood, in the far western Upper Peninsula, lies 630 highway miles (1,015 km) from the Toledo, Ohio suburb of Lambertville in the Lower Peninsula's southeastern corner. The geographic isolation of the Upper Peninsula from Michigan's political and population centers makes it culturally and economically distinct, and the feeling that Lansing and Detroit do not care about the U.P. has led to occasional calls for secession from Michigan and admission as a new state called "Superior."
There are numerous lakes and marshes in both peninsulas, and the coast is much indented. Keweenaw, Whitefish, and the Big and Little Bays De Noc are the principal indentations on the Upper Peninsula, while the Grand and Little Traverse, Thunder, and Saginaw bays indent the Lower Peninsula. After Alaska, Michigan has the longest shoreline of any state—2,288 miles (3,681 km). An additional 879 miles (1,415 km) can be added if islands are included. This roughly equals the length of the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Florida. The state has numerous large islands, the principal ones being the Manitou, Beaver, and Fox groups in Lake Michigan; Isle Royale and Grande Isle in Lake Superior; Marquette, Bois Blanc, and Mackinac Islands in Lake Huron; and Nebish, Sugar, and Drummond Islands in St. Mary's River.
The state's rivers are small, short and shallow, and few are navigable. The principal ones include the Au Sable, Thunder Bay, Cheboygan, and Saginaw, all of which flow into Lake Huron; the Ontonagon, and Tahquamenon, which flow into Lake Superior; and the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand, and Escanaba, which flow into Lake Michigan. The state has 11,037 inland lakes and 38,575 square miles (62,067 km) of Great Lakes waters and rivers and 1,305 square miles of inland water on top of that. No point in Michigan is more than 6 miles (10 km) from an inland lake or more than 85 miles (137 km) from one of the Great Lakes.
Detroit is the only major city in the United States from which one must travel southward to cross the border into Canada. Metropolitan Detroit/Ann Arbor/Flint/Windsor is also the world's largest international metropolitan area.
The state is home to several national parks, including: Isle Royale National Park, Keweenaw National Historical Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and Father Marquette National Memorial. The North Country National Scenic Trail also passes through Michigan.
Michigan was home to various Native Americans centuries before colonization by Europeans. When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous and influential tribes were Algonquian peoples - specifically, the Ottawa, the Anishnabe (called "Chippewa" in French, after their language, "Ojibwe"), and the Potawatomi. The Anishnabe were the most populous, estimated at between 25,000 and 35,000 within Michigan, where they were located throughout in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula.
The Anishabe also lived in northern Ontario, northern Wisconsin, southern Manitoba, and northern and north-central Minnesota. The Ottawa lived primarily south of the Straits of Mackinac in northern and western Michigan, while the Potawatomi were primarily in the southwest. The three nations co-existed peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. Other First Nations people in Michigan, in the south and east, were the Mascouten, the Miami, and the Wyandot, who are better known by their French name, "Huron".
During the War of 1812, Michigan Territory (effectively consisting of Detroit and the surrounding area) was captured by the British and nominally returned to Upper Canada until the Congress of Vienna, which implemented Metternich's policy, "Status Quo Ante Bellum" or "Just as Things Were Before the War." That meant Michigan stayed American, and the agreement to establish a joint U.S.-U.K. boundary commission also remained valid. Subsequent to the findings of that commission in 1817, control of the Upper Peninsula and of islands in the St. Clair River delta was transferred from Ontario to Michigan in 1818, and Drummond Island (to which the British had moved their Michilimackinac army base) was transferred in 1847.
The population grew slowly until the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, which brought a large influx of settlers. By the 1830s, Michigan had some 80,000 residents, which was more than enough to apply for statehood. A state government was formed in 1836, although Congressional recognition of the state languished because of a boundary dispute with Ohio, with both sides claiming a 468 square mile (1,210 km²) strip of land that included the newly incorporated city of Toledo on Lake Erie and an area to the west then known as the "Great Black Swamp." The dispute came to be called the Toledo War, with Michigan and Ohio militia maneuvering in the area but never coming to blows. Ultimately, Congress awarded the "Toledo Strip" to Ohio, and Michigan, having received the western part of the Upper Peninsula as a concession, formally entered the Union on January 26, 1837.
Thought to be useless at the time, the Upper Peninsula was soon discovered to be a rich and important source of lumber, iron, and copper, which would become the state's most sought-after natural resources. Geologist Douglass Houghton and land surveyor William Austin Burt were among the first to document and discover many of these resources, which led to a nation-wide increase of interest in the state.
Michigan's economy underwent a massive change at the turn of the 20th century. The birth of the automotive industry, with Henry Ford's first plant in the Highland Park enclave of Detroit, marked the beginning of a new era in transportation. It was a development that not only transformed Detroit and Michigan, but permanently altered the socio-economic climate of the United States and much of the world. Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in Michigan, is also a center of automotive manufacturing. Since 1838, the city has also been noted for its thriving furniture industry.
Since World War II, Michigan's industrial base has eroded as the auto industry began to abandon the state's industrial parks in favor of less expensive labor found overseas and in southern U.S. states. Nevertheless, with more than 10 million residents, Michigan remains a large and influential state and ranks eighth in population among the 50 states.
Interstate highways
Interstate 75 is the main thoroughfare between Detroit and Flint, and it extends all the way to Sault Saint Marie and provides access to Sault Saint Marie, Ontario. The interstate crosses the Mackinac Bridge between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. Branching highways include I-275 and I-375 in Detroit; I-475 in Flint; I-675 in Saginaw.
Interstate 69 enters the state near the Michigan-Ohio-Indiana border, and it extends to Port Huron and provides access to the Blue Water Bridge crossing into Sarnia, Ontario.
Interstate 94 enters the western end of the state at the Indiana border, and it travels east to Detroit and then northeast to Port Huron and ties in with I-69.
Interstate 96 runs east-west between Detroit and Muskegon. I-496 loops around Lansing. I-196 branches off from this highway at Grand Rapids and connects to I-94 near Benton Harbor. I-696 branches off from this highway at Novi and connects to I-94 near St Clair Shores and Eastpointe.
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U.S. State Highways
Include: US 12, US 10, US 223, US 23, US 127, US 27, US 31, US 131, US 2, US 41, US 45, US 141.
Major bridges include the Ambassador Bridge, Blue Water Bridge, Mackinac Bridge, and International Bridge. Michigan also has the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel crossing into Canada.
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