Michigan (MISH-ig-əə n) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern USA. It shares water and land limits with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, Indiana and Illinois to the southwest, Ohio to the southeast, and the Canadian province of Ontario to the eastern, northeast and north. With a population of 10. 14 million and a location of 96,716 sq mi (250,490 km2), Michigan is the tenth-largest state by populace, the 11th-largest by location, and the largest by total area eastern of the Mississippi River. The state capital is Lansing, while its most populous city is Detroit. The City Detroit region in Southeast Michigan is amongst the nation's most populous and largest urbane economies. Various other crucial metropolitan areas consist of Grand Rapids, Flint, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, the Tri-Cities, and Muskegon. Michigan contains 2 peninsulas: the greatly forested Upper Peninsula (typically called "the U. P. "), which sticks out eastward from north Wisconsin, and the much more populated Lower Peninsula, stretching north from Ohio and Indiana. The peninsulas are divided by the Straits of Mackinac, which links Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and are linked by the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge along Interstate 75. Surrounding 4 of the 5 Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair, Michigan has the lengthiest freshwater coast of any U. S. political class, measuring 3,288 miles. The state places 2nd behind Alaska in water insurance coverage by square miles and first in percentage, with approximately 42%, and it likewise has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. The Great Lakes area has mostly been populated for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples such as the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, and Wyandot. Some people contend that the region's name is stemmed from the Ojibwe word ᒥᓯᑲᒥ ᒥ ᓯ ᑲ ᒥ (mishigami), meaning "large water" or "huge lake". While others state that it originates from the Mishiiken Tribe of Mackinac Island, additionally called Michinemackinawgo by Ottawa chronicler Andrew Blackbird, whose surrounding lands were referred to as Mishiiken-imakinakom, later shortened to Michilimackinac. In the 17th century, French travelers declared the area for New France. French settlers and Métis developed fts and negotiations. After France's defeat in the French and Indian War in 1762, the area came under British control and later the U. S. complying with the Treaty of Paris (1783 ), though control continued to be contested with Aboriginal tribes till treaties in between 1795 and 1842. The location was part of the bigger Northwest Area; the Michigan Region was arranged in 1805. Michigan was confessed as the 26th state on January 26, 1837, getting in as a totally free state and promptly becoming a commercial and profession hub that attracted European immigrants, specifically from Finland, Macedonia, and the Netherlands. In the 1930s, movement from Appalachia and the Center East and the Great Movement of Black Southerners additionally formed the state, specifically in City Detroit. Michigan has a varied economic climate with a gross state item of $725. 897 billion as of Q1 2025, ranking 14th amongst the 50 states. Although the state has actually established a diverse economic climate, in the early 20th century it came to be extensively known as the facility of the U. S. automotive sector, which created as a significant national economic force. It is home to the country's 3 significant automobile business (whose head offices are done in City Detroit).Once made use of for logging and mining, today the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula is very important for tourist as a result of its wealth of natural deposits. The Lower Peninsula is a center of production, forestry, agriculture, solutions, and sophisticated industry.
.
