Michigan

Michigan is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States. The state's name, Michigan, originates from the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". With a population of about 10 million, Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area, and is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies. Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula is often noted as shaped like a mitten. 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. The state has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair. Michigan also has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. A person in the state is never more than six miles (9.7 km) from a natural water source or more than 85 miles (137 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline. Although Michigan developed a diverse economy, it is widely known as the center of the U.S. automotive industry, which developed as a major economic force in the early 20th century. It is home to the country's three major automobile companies (whose headquarters are all within the Detroit metropolitan area).

Michigan is known under different nicknames; aka The Great Lakes State (previously used on license plates), or Water Wonderland and Water-Winter Wonderland (previously used on license plates), or The Wolverine State, or The Mitten State and detailed official information about Michigan can be found on the homepage at www. michigan.gov.

As shown in the location map of Michigan that Michigan is located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States. Being located in the Great lakes region, the state is not single continuous land area rather made up of two small pieces of lands or peninsula, which is separated by the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac. The Upper Peninsula is much significant economically for the Michigan state US because of availability of natural resources. Besides, this region is also an attraction of point for the tourists as well.

As given on the map of Michigan US that the state shares International boundary i.e. with Canada. Michigan borders Ohio and Indiana on the south, in the north-western side Wisconsin makes boundary with the Michigan. As you can see on the Michigan map US, the state largely makes its border with water body; western boundaries are almost entirely water boundaries, from south to north.

Michigan is authentic through and through. Nowhere else do you experience the simple pleasures of life so directly and unadulterated. White sandy beaches of sugar merge into extensive forests that cover their spectacular colourful autumn dress every year before winter. Here the nature of the Midwest shows its most impressive side - with fabulous lake and shore landscapes, impenetrable forests, dramatic cliffs and beautiful dunes.

Overlooking Lake Michigan, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful attractions in America. The iconic experience here? Climbing the dunes before running or sliding back down!

The US State Michigan occupies 146,455 m², about 1,6 % of the total territory of the USA of 9,148,020 m². The total population of the US State Michigan with 9,962,311 inhabitants (in 2017) has already increased by 0,24 % in this millennium. Almost 40 years ago there were 700,233 fewer people. The capital Lansing alone has 116,986 inhabitants.

Lansing is the only state capital that is not the county seat. Detroit had a population of just over 1 million residents in 1990 and now has just over 680,000 residents.

While sparsely populated, the Upper Peninsula is important for tourism thanks to its abundance of natural resources, while the Lower Peninsula is a center of manufacturing, forestry, agriculture, services, and high-tech industry. Michigan consists of two peninsulas that lie between 82°30' to about 90°30' west longitude, and are separated by the Straits of Mackinac. The 45th parallel north runs through the state—marked by highway signs and the Polar-Equator Trail - along a line including Mission Point Light near Traverse City, the towns of Gaylord and Alpena in the Lower Peninsula and Menominee in the Upper Peninsula. With the exception of two small areas that are drained by the Mississippi River by way of the Wisconsin River in the Upper Peninsula and by way of the Kankakee-Illinois River in the Lower Peninsula, Michigan is drained by the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence watershed and is the only state with the majority of its land thus drained. The Great Lakes that border Michigan from east to west are Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. It has more public golf courses, registered boats and lighthouses than any other state. The state is bounded on the south by the states of Ohio and Indiana, sharing 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 around by the Canadian province of Ontario to the north and east.