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Michigan

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Michigan is a state in the United States. Its U.S. postal abbreviation is MI (old style:Mich.). The name is derived from Lake Michigan, which in turn is believed to come from the Chippewa word meicigama, meaning "great water."

Michigan
State
Map
CountryUnited States
Admitted to the UnionJanuary 26, 1837 (26th)
CapitalLansing
Largest cityDetroit
Government
 • GovernorJennifer Granholm
 • Upper house{{{Upperhouse}}}
 • Lower house{{{Lowerhouse}}}
U.S. senators{{{Senators}}}
Population
 • Total
9,938,444
 • Density175.0/sq mi (67.55/km2)
Language
Latitude82°26'W to 90°31'W
Longitude41°41'N to 47°30'N

The state is known as the birthplace of the automotive industry. However, it also has a large tourist industry. Destinations like Traverse City, Mackinac Island, and the entire Upper Peninsula draw vacationers, hunters, and nature lovers from all over the U.S. and Canada. Michigan has the longest coastline of any state except Alaska and more recreational boats than any other state.

USS Michigan was named in honor of the state.

An individual from Michigan is called a Michigander or Michiganian. A resident of Michigan's Upper Peninsula (the UP) is often called a Yooper (and in turn, residents of the lower peninsula may be jokingly referred to as trolls because they live "below the Mackinac Bridge".)

History

Once a thriving lumber capital and supplier of iron and copper minerals, Michigan's declining natural resources gave way at the turn of the twentieth century. The birth of the automotive industry with Henry Ford's first plant in the Highland Park suburb of Detroit, marked the beginning of a new era in personal transportation that permanently changed the socio-economic climate of America. Many automotive manufacturing plants remain, however, Detroit lost its grandeur after World War II, as automotive companies abandoned huge industrial parks in the area for the cheaper labor found in Southern U.S. and offshore plants.

Early European history

U.S. history

Major historical events

Law and Government

  • Referendum and Voter Initiative: Michigan's constitution provides for voter initiative and referendum (Article II, § 9 [[1]] ), defined as "the power to propose laws and to enact and reject laws, called the initiative, and the power to approve or reject laws enacted by the legislature, called the referendum. The power of initiative extends only to laws which the legislature may enact under this constitution."

Michigan counties and townships are statutory units of government, meaning that they have only those powers expressly provided or fairly implied by state law. Cities and villages are vested with home rule powers, meaning that they can do almost anything not prohibited by law.

There are two types of townships in Michigan: general law and charter. Charter township status was created by the state legislature in 1947 and grants additional powers and stream-lined administration in order to provide greater protection against annexation by a city. As of April 2001, there were 127 charter townships in Michigan.

See: List of Michigan Governors, List of United States Senators from Michigan, List of United States Representatives from Michigan

Geography

See: List of Michigan counties   Islands of Michigan   List of Michigan rivers

Michigan borders Indiana and Ohio to the south, and Wisconsin to the southwest of the Upper Peninsula. Michigan also borders Minnesota, Illinois and Ontario but only on water boundaries in the Great Lakes system. The highest point is Mount Arvon in the Upper Peninsula at 1979 feet (603 m). The highest point in the Lower Peninsula is Briar Hill at 1705 feet (520 meters).

Michigan consists of two peninsulas:

The Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten and is 277 miles long from north to south and 195 miles from east to west. The Upper Peninsula (often called simply "The U.P.") is as big as Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island combined, but has less than 320,000 inhabitants, who are sometimes called "Yoopers" and whose speech 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.

These two sections are connected only by the Mackinac Bridge -- the third longest suspension bridge in the world. The two peninsulas are surrounded by an extensive Great Lakes shoreline. Other than Alaska, Michigan has the longest shoreline of any state -- 2,242 miles (and another 879 miles if islands are included). This equals the length of the Atlantic Coast, from Maine to Florida. The Great Lakes which touch the two peninsulas of Michigan are Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. No point in Michigan is more than 6 miles from an inland lake or more than 85 miles from one of the Great Lakes, and the state has more than 11,000 inland lakes and more than 36,000 miles of rivers and streams.

National parks

See also Protected areas of Michigan, List of Michigan state parks

Economy

See also: List of companies based in Michigan

Demographics

  • Michigan Resident Population (2000 Census): 9,938,444
  • racial/ethnic makeup of state
  • religious makeup of state
File:Michigan map.png

Important cities

See: List of cities, villages, and townships in Michigan

Education

Colleges and universities

Community Colleges and Technical Schools

Professional sports teams

Other notable sports teams

State symbols

Miscellaneous information

Michigan has 116 lighthouses. The first lighthouses in Michigan were built between 1818 and 1822. They were built to project light at night and to serve as a landmark during the day to safely guide the freighters traveling the Great Lakes. See Lighthouses in the United States.

Michigan has the most registered boats (over 1 million) of any state in the Union.

Although most famous for its automotive industry, over half of Michigan's land is forested, much of it quite remote.

Quick trivia

  • State nicknames include the Wolverine State, Great Lakes State, Mitten State, and Winter Water Wonderland.
  • The state motto, Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice is Latin for "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you", a paraphrase of a statement made by British architect Sir Christopher Wren about his influence on London.
  • The state stone, the Petoskey stone (Hexagonaria pericarnata), is composed of fossilized diatoms from long ago when the middle of the continent was covered with a shallow sea.
  • The state gem chlorastrolite, literally the green star stone, also known as the Isle Royale greenstone is found on Isle Royale and the Keweenaw.
  • The state wildflower, the Dwarf Lake Iris (Iris lacustris), is a federal-listed threatened species.
  • The state soil, Kalkaska Sand, ranges in color from black to yellowish brown, covers nearly a million acres (4,000 km²) in 29 counties.
  • Michigan is the only state composed of two separate peninsulas.

  United States

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