Michigan
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| State nickname: Wolverine State | |||||
| Other U.S. States | |||||
| Capital | Lansing | ||||
| Largest city | Detroit | ||||
| Governor | Jennifer Granholm | ||||
| Official languages |
None | ||||
| Area (rank) | 250,941 km² (11th) | ||||
| - Land | 147,255 km² | ||||
| - Water (%) | 103,687 km² (41.3%) | ||||
| Population as of 2000 Census | |||||
| - Population (rank) | 9,938,444 (8th) | ||||
| - Density (rank) | 67.55 /km² (15th) | ||||
| Admittance into Union | |||||
| - Date (order) | January 26, 1837 (26th) | ||||
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 (Some Upper Peninsula counties bordering Wisconsin are Central time.) | ||||
| Latitude | 41°41'N to 47°30'N | ||||
| Longitude | 82°26'W to 90°31'W | ||||
| Width : Length | 385 km : 790 km | ||||
| Elevation | |||||
| - Highest | 603 meters | ||||
| - Mean | 275 meters | ||||
| - Lowest | 174 meters | ||||
| ISO 3166-2 | US-MI | ||||
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Michigan is a state in the United States. The name is derived from Lake Michigan, which in turn is believed to come from the Chippewa Indian word meicigama, meaning "great water." Bounded by four of the Great Lakes, Michigan has the longest state shoreline in the continental United States, and more recreational boats than any state in the union.
The state is primarily known as the birthplace of the automobile industry. However, it is also home to a thriving tourist industry, with destinations such as Traverse City, Mackinac Island and the entire Upper Peninsula drawing vacationers, hunters and nature enthusiasts from across the United States and Canada.
When outsiders think "Michigan," they often conjure images of gritty, industrial Detroit. In reality, the state is a vast rural territory, graced with thousands of square miles of pristine wilderness. The clang and clamor of the Motor City's crowded freeways and labor-union battles stand in vivid counterpoint to the tranquility found in virtually every corner of the famously glove-shaped state.
An individual from Michigan is called a "Michigander" or "Michiganian." A resident of Michigan's Upper Peninsula ("the U.P.") is often called a "Yooper" (for "U-Per"). In turn, residents of the lower peninsula may be jokingly referred to as "trolls" -- because they "live below the Mackinac Bridge."
Its U.S. postal abbreviation is "MI" (old style: "Mich."). The U.S. Navy's USS Michigan was named in honor of the state.
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History
Once a thriving lumber capital and supplier of iron and copper minerals, Michigan's economy underwent a massive shift at the turn of the 20th 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. It was a development that not only transformed Detroit and Michigan, but permanently altered the socio-economic climate of the United States.
Today, many automotive manufacturing plants remain. However, Detroit's industrial base steadily eroded after World War II, as auto companies abandoned some of the area's industrial parks in favor of less expensive labor found overseas and in the largely non-unionized southern United States.
Early European history
- 1622 Étienne Brûlé and his fellow explorers from Grenoble, France, were probably the first white men to see Lake Superior.
- 1668 Père (Father) Jacques Marquette establishes Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, first European settlement in Michigan
- 1701 Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac, with his lieutenant Alphonse de Tonty, established a trading post on the Detroit River which they named Fort Pontchartrain; present site of Detroit.
U.S. history
- 1805 Michigan Territory was created, with Detroit designated as the seat of government. William Hull appointed as governor. Detroit was destroyed by fire.
- 1828 Territorial Capitol was built at Detroit at a cost of $24,500.
- 1835 First Constitutional Convention. Stevens T. Mason inaugurated as the first Governor. Stevens T. Mason started a minor conflict with Ohio over the city of Toledo, (now Toledo, Ohio) known as the Toledo War the same year: Ohio was awarded Toledo but Michigan was given a majority of Michigan's upper peninsula.
- 1837 Admitted as a free state into the union (the 26th state), it was admitted with the slave state of Arkansas
Major historical events
- January 26, 1837 Michigan became the 26th US State.
- 1838 Patriot War
- 1847 A law was passed by the State Legislature to locate the State Capital "in the township of Lansing, in the county of Ingham."
- 1879 New State Capitol dedicated in Lansing. The structure cost $1,510,130.
- 1890s and 1900s Ford, Chrysler and General Motors founded in southeastern Michigan.
- 1937 Flint Sit-down Strike ends with official recognition of the United Auto Workers by General Motors.
- 1957 Five-mile long Mackinac Bridge opened November 1.
- 1967 Race riots strike the city of Detroit. After 5 days of rioting, 43 people lay dead, 1189 injured and over 7000 people had been arrested. This had lasting effects on the entire metro region and is one of the reasons the Detroit area is one of the most segergated areas in the United States.
- 1974 Gerald R. Ford of Grand Rapids became the 38th President of the United States.
- 1976 Throw away bottles banned by referendum vote.
- 1987 Michigan celebrated 150 years of statehood.
Law and Government
- Capital: Lansing
- Law/Government of state
- governor -- current, previous governors
- Current: Jennifer Granholm
- Michigan Legislature -- bicameral
- structure of state judicary
- state constitution
- governor -- current, previous governors
- 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 and
- the Upper Peninsula
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 heavily forested 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" (from "U.P.'ers") 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 five mile long 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.
Detroit, Michigan is the only city in the United States that is due north of Canada.
National parks
- Isle Royale National Park
- Keweenaw National Historical Park
- Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
- Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
- Father Marquette National Memorial
See also Protected areas of Michigan, List of Michigan state parks
Economy
See also: List of companies based in Michigan
- State income
- Major industries/products
- Automobiles (General Motors, Ford, Daimler-Chrysler), Amway, Cereal (Kellogg's), Copper, Furniture (Steelcase, Herman Miller), Iron
- state taxes
Demographics
- Michigan Resident Population (2003 U.S. Census Bureau estimate): 10,079,985
The racial makeup of the state is:
- 80.2% White
- 14.2% Black
- 0.6% American Indian
- 1.8% Asian
- 3.3% Hispanic
- 1.3% other
- 1.9% mixed race
See also Highway map of Michigan
Important cities
See: List of cities, villages, and townships in Michigan
- Detroit (Motor City, Motown)
- Grand Rapids (The Furniture City)
- Lansing (the state capital)
- Ann Arbor (the home of the University of Michigan)
- Traverse City (the Cherry Capital of the World)
Education
Colleges and universities
Community Colleges and Technical Schools
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Professional sports teams
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Other notable sports teams
- Detroit Fury, Arena Football League
- Detroit Demolition, National Women's Football Association
- Grand Rapids Rampage, Arena Football League
- Grand Rapids Griffins, American Hockey League
- Muskegon Fury, United Hockey League
- Port Huron Beacons, United Hockey League
- Flint Generals, United Hockey League
- Plymouth Whalers, Ontario Hockey League
- Saginaw Spirit, Ontario Hockey League
State symbols
- State motto: Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice
- State song: My Michigan (official, but disputed amongst Michiganders)
- State bird: American Robin
- State mammal: White-tailed Deer
- State fish: Brook Trout
- State reptile: Painted Turtle
- State fossil: Mastodont
- State flower: Apple Blossom
- State wildflower: Dwarf Lake Iris
- State tree: White Pine
- State stone: Petoskey stone
- State gem: Isle Royale greenstone
- State soil: Kalkaska Sand
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.
Related articles
- List of Governors of Michigan
- List of Michigan-related topics
- List of highways in Michigan
- List of Michigan counties
- List of people from Michigan
External links
| Government | Tourism | Culture & History |
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| Political divisions of the United States | | ||||||
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bg:Мичиган da:Michigan de:Michigan es:Michigan eo:Miŝigano fr:Michigan id:Michigan it:Michigan nl:Michigan ja:ミシガン州 no:Michigan pl:Michigan (stan w USA) sr:Мичиген sv:Michigan uk:Мічиґан zh:密歇根州
