Bay County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 107,771. The county seat is Bay City. Bay County is included in the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Michigan (ⁱ/ˈmɪʃɨɡən/) is a state located in the Great Lakes region of the Midwestern United States. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". Michigan is the 8th most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area. Its capital is Lansing, and the largest city is Detroit. Michigan was admitted into the Union on January 26, 1837 as the 26th state.

Michigan 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 is one of the leading U.S. states for recreational boating. The state 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. It is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River.

Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is often noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula (often referred to as "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 two peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge. The Upper Peninsula is economically important due to its status as a tourist destination. There is also a variety of natural resources to be found there, including a sizable amount of iron ore.

Bay County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. The population as of the 2010 census was 168,852. Its county seat is Panama City, Florida. The county is best known for its white sand beaches and crystal blue water, where large pods of dolphins swim year-round. These beaches attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world each year.

Bay County is coextensive with the Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, one of the metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) designated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and used for statistical purposes by the Census Bureau and other agencies. The OMB has designated Panama City, Lynn Haven, and Panama City Beach as the metropolitan statistical area's principal cities. The Panama City, Florida Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area was first defined in 1981. Lynn Haven was added as a principal city in 2003. On November 20, 2008, the MSA took on its present name when Panama City Beach was designated a principal city by the Office of Management and Budget.