Governor of the State of Michigan
Seal of the Governor
Flag of the Governor
Incumbent Rick Snyder since January 1, 2011
Style	The Honorable
Residence	Governor's mansions: Lansing Mackinac Island
Appointer	Popularly elected
Term length	Four years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Stevens T. Mason
Formation	January 26, 1837
Website	michigan.gov/gov

The Governor of Michigan is the chief executive of the U.S. State of Michigan. The current Governor is Rick Snyder, a member of the Republican Party.

Gubernatorial elections and term of office[link]

From statehood until the election of 1966, governors were elected to two-year terms. Elections are held in November and the governor assumes office the following January, except in the case of death or resignation. From statehood until 1851, elections were held in odd-numbered years. A new state constitution was drafted in 1850 and took effect in 1851. As part of the process bringing the constitution into effect, there was a single one-year term of governor in 1851. Thereafter elections were held on even years.

The constitution adopted in 1963 changed the governor's term to four years, starting in 1967. Since then, gubernatorial elections have been offset by two years from U.S. Presidential elections (e.g., Presidential elections were in 2000 and 2004, gubernatorial elections were in 1998 and 2002). The winner of the gubernatorial election takes office at noon on January 1 of the year following the election.

In 1992, an amendment to the Michigan constitution imposed a lifetime term limit of two four-year terms for the office of governor. Prior to this, they were not limited as to how many terms they could serve; John Engler, the governor at the time, served three terms as his first term occurred prior to the restriction. Engler was reelected in 1994 and 1998 before being term limited in 2002.

History of the office[link]

Governor Stevens T. Mason, the first governor of Michigan

Forty-eight people have been governors of the state. Prior to statehood, there were five governors of the Michigan Territory. Stevens T. Mason, Michigan's first governor, also served as a territorial governor. He was elected governor at age 24 as a member of the Democratic Party in 1835 and served until 1840. Mason was the youngest state governor in United States history.

Jennifer Granholm became the first female Governor of Michigan on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded John Engler; she served for 8 years, until January 1, 2011.

See also[link]

• Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
• List of Governors of Michigan

v t e Governors of Michigan Territorial (1805–1837) Hull Cass Porter Mason Horner State (since 1837) Mason Woodbridge Gordon Barry Felch Greenly Ransom Barry McClelland Parsons Bingham Wisner Blair Crapo Baldwin Bagley Croswell Jerome Begole Alger Luce Winans Rich Pingree Bliss Warner Osborn Ferris Sleeper Groesbeck Green Brucker Comstock Fitzgerald Murphy Fitzgerald Dickinson Van Wagoner Kelly Sigler Williams Swainson Romney Milliken Blanchard Engler Granholm Snyder

State of Michigan
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Great Lakes State, The Wolverine State, The Mitten State, Water (Winter) Wonderland
Motto(s): Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice (Latin: If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you)
Official language(s)	None (English, de-facto)
Demonym	Michigander, Michiganian or Yooper (in the Upper Peninsula)
Capital	Lansing
Largest city	Detroit
Largest metro area	Metro Detroit
Area	Ranked 11th in the U.S.
- Total	96,716 sq mi (250,493 km2)
- Width	386[1] miles (621 km)
- Length	456[1] miles (734 km)
- % water	41.5
- Latitude	41° 41' N to 48° 18' N
- Longitude	82° 7' W to 90° 25' W
Population	Ranked 8th in the U.S.
- Total	9,876,187 (2011 est)[2]
- Density	174/sq mi  (67.1/km2) Ranked 17th in the U.S.
- Median household income	$44,627 (21st)
Elevation
- Highest point	Mount Arvon[3][4] 1,979 ft (603 m)
- Mean	900 ft  (270 m)
- Lowest point	Lake Erie[3][4] 571 ft (174 m)
Before statehood	Michigan Territory
Admission to Union	January 26, 1837 (26th)
Governor	Rick Snyder (R)
Lieutenant Governor	Brian Calley (R)
Legislature	Michigan Legislature
- Upper house	Senate
- Lower house	House of Representatives
U.S. Senators	Carl Levin (D) Debbie Stabenow (D)
U.S. House delegation	9 Republicans 6 Democrats (list)
Time zones
- most of state	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
- 4 U.P. counties	Central: UTC-6/-5
Abbreviations	MI Mich. US-MI
Website	www.michigan.gov

Michigan State symbols
Animate insignia
Bird(s)	American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Fish	Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
Flower(s)	Apple blossom (Malus domestica) Wildflower: Dwarf Lake Iris (Iris lacustris)
Mammal(s)	Unofficial:Wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus) Game animal: White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Reptile	Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)
Tree	Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Inanimate insignia
Fossil	Mastodon (Mammut americanum)
Gemstone	Isle Royale greenstone or Chlorastrolite
Rock	Petoskey stone
Soil	Kalkaska Sand
Song(s)	My Michigan website
Route marker(s)
State Quarter
Released in 2004
Lists of United States state insignia

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".^[1][5] 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.^[6] Michigan is one of the leading U.S. states for recreational boating.^[7] The state has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds.^[8] 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.^[9] It is the largest state by total area^[10] 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.

History[link]

When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous tribes were Algonquian peoples, which include the Ottawa, the Ojibwe or Anishnabe (called Chippewa in French), and the Potawatomi. The Anishnabe, whose numbers are estimated to have been between 25,000 and 35,000, were the largest.

The Anishnabe were established in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan, and also inhabited northern Ontario, northern Wisconsin, southern Manitoba, and northern and north-central Minnesota. The Ottawa lived primarily south of the Straits of Mackinac in northern and western Michigan, while the Potawatomi were primarily in the southwest. The three nations co-existed peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. Other tribes in Michigan, in the south and east, were the Mascouten, the Menominee, the Miami, and the Wyandot, who are better known by their French name, Huron.

17th century[link]

Père Marquette and the Indians (1869), Wilhelm Lamprecht

French voyageurs and coureurs des bois explored and settled in Michigan in the 17th century. The first Europeans to reach what later became Michigan were those of Étienne Brûlé's expedition in 1622. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1668 on the site where Père Jacques Marquette established Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan as a base for Catholic missions.^[11] Missionaries in 1671–75 founded outlying stations at Saint Ignace and Marquette. Jesuit missionaries were well received by the Indian populations in the area, with relatively few difficulties or hostilities. In 1679, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph.

18th century[link]

Approximate area of Michigan highlighted in Guillaume de L'Isle's 1718 map.

In 1701, French explorer and army officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or "Fort Pontchartrain on-the-Strait" on the strait, known as the Detroit River, between lakes Saint Clair and Erie. Cadillac had convinced King Louis XIV's chief minister, Louis Phélypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain, that a permanent community there would strengthen French control over the upper Great Lakes and discourage British aspirations.

The hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent^[12][13] (about 0.85 acres (3,400 m²), the equivalent of just under 200 feet (61 m) per side) and named it Fort Pontchartrain. Cadillac's wife, Marie Thérèse Guyon, soon moved to Detroit, becoming one of the first European women to settle in the Michigan wilderness. The town quickly became a major fur-trading and shipping post. The Église de Saint-Anne (Church of Saint Ann) was founded the same year. While the original building does not survive, the congregation of that name continues to be active today. Cadillac later departed to serve as the French governor of Louisiana from 1710 to 1716.

At the same time, the French strengthened Fort Michilimackinac at the Straits of Mackinac to better control their lucrative fur-trading empire. By the mid-18th century, the French also occupied forts at present-day Niles and Sault Ste. Marie, though most of the rest of the region remained unsettled by Europeans.

From 1660 to the end of French rule, Michigan was part of the Royal Province of New France.^[14] In 1759, following the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in the French and Indian War (1754–1763), Québec City fell to British forces. This marked Britain's victory in the Seven Years War. Under the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Michigan and the rest of New France east of the Mississippi River passed to Great Britain.^[15]

During the American Revolutionary War, Detroit was an important British supply center. Most of the inhabitants were French-Canadians or Native Americans, many of whom had been allied with the French. Because of imprecise cartography and unclear language defining the boundaries in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the British retained control of Detroit and Michigan after the American Revolution. When Quebec split into Lower and Upper Canada in 1790, Michigan was part of Kent County, Upper Canada. It held its first democratic elections in August 1792 to send delegates to the new provincial parliament at Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake).^[16]

Under terms negotiated in the 1794 Jay Treaty, Britain withdrew from Detroit and Michilimackinac in 1796. Questions remained over the boundary for many years, and the United States did not have uncontested control of the Upper Peninsula and Drummond Island until 1818 and 1847, respectively.

19th century[link]

During the War of 1812, Michigan Territory (effectively consisting of Detroit and the surrounding area) was surrendered after a nearly bloodless siege in 1812. An attempt to retake Detroit resulted in a severe American defeat in the River Raisin Massacre. This battle is still the bloodiest ever fought in the state and had the highest number of American casualties of any battle in the war. Ultimately, Michigan was recaptured by Americans in 1813 after the Battle of Lake Erie. An invasion of Canada which culminated in the Battle of the Thames was then launched from Michigan. The more northern areas were held by the British until the peace treaty restored the old boundaries. A number of forts, including Fort Wayne were built in Michigan during the 19th century out of fears of renewed fighting with Britain.

Lumbering pines in the late 1800s

The population grew slowly until the opening in 1825 of the Erie Canal connecting the Great Lakes and the Hudson River and New York City. The new route brought a large influx of settlers, who became farmers and merchants and shipped out grain, lumber, and iron ore. By the 1830s, Michigan had 80,000 residents, more than enough to apply and qualify for statehood. In October 1835 the people approved the Constitution of 1835, thereby forming a state government, although Congressional recognition was delayed pending resolution of a boundary dispute with Ohio known as the Toledo War. Congress awarded the "Toledo Strip" to Ohio. Michigan received the western part of the Upper Peninsula as a concession and formally entered the Union on January 26, 1837. The Upper Peninsula proved to be a rich source of lumber, iron, and copper. Michigan led the nation in lumber production from the 1850s to the 1880s. Railroads became a major engine of growth from the 1850s onward, with Detroit the chief hub.

The first statewide meeting of the Republican Party took place July 6, 1854 in Jackson, Michigan, where the party adopted its platform. The state was heavily Republican until the 1930s. Michigan made a significant contribution to the Union in the American Civil War and sent more than forty regiments of volunteers to the federal armies.

Modernizers and boosters—especially Yankees set up systems for public education, including founding the University of Michigan (1817; moved to Ann Arbor in 1841), for a classical academic education; and Michigan State Normal School, (1849) now Eastern Michigan University, for the training of teachers. In 1899, it became the first normal college in the nation to offer a four-year curriculum. Michigan Agricultural College (1855), now Michigan State University in East Lansing, was founded as the pioneer land-grant college, a model for those authorized under the Morrill Act (1862). Many other private colleges were founded as well, and the smaller cities formed high schools late in the century.^[17]

20th and 21st centuries[link]

B-24s under construction at Ford's Willow Run line.

Michigan's economy underwent a transformation at the turn of the 20th century. Many individuals, including Ransom E. Olds, John and Horace Dodge, Henry Leland, David Dunbar Buick, Henry Joy, Charles King, and Henry Ford, provided the concentration of engineering know-how and technological enthusiasm to start the birth of the automotive industry.^[18] Ford's development of the moving assembly line in Highland Park marked the beginning of a new era in transportation. Like the steamship and railroad, it was a far-reaching development. More than the forms of public transportation, the automobile transformed private life. It became the major industry of Detroit and Michigan, and permanently altered the socio-economic life of the United States and much of the world.

With the growth, the auto industry created jobs in Detroit that attracted immigrants from Europe and migrants from across the U.S., including those from the South. By 1920, Detroit was the fourth largest city in the U.S. Residential housing was in short supply, and it took years for the market to catch up with the population boom. By the 1930s, so many immigrants had arrived that more than 30 languages were spoken in the public schools, and ethnic communities celebrated in annual heritage festivals. Over the years immigrants and migrants contributed greatly to Detroit's diverse urban culture, including popular music trends, such as the influential Motown Sound of the 1960s led by a variety of individual singers and groups.

Skyscrapers in downtown Detroit

Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in Michigan, is also an important center of manufacturing. Since 1838, the city has also been noted for its furniture industry and is home to five of the world's leading office furniture companies. Grand Rapids is home to a number of major companies including Steelcase, Amway, and Meijer. Grand Rapids is also an important center for GE Aviation Systems.

Michigan held its first United States presidential primary election in 1910. With its rapid growth in industry, it was an important center of union industry-wide organizing, such as the rise of the United Auto Workers.

In 1920 WWJ (AM) in Detroit became the first radio station in the United States to regularly broadcast commercial programs. Throughout that decade, some of the country's largest and most ornate skyscrapers were built in the city. Particularly noteworthy are the Fisher Building, Cadillac Place, and the Guardian Building, each of which is a National Historic Landmark (NHL).

Detroit continued to expand through the 1950s, at one point doubling its population in a decade. After World War II, housing was developed in suburban areas outside city cores; newly constructed U.S. Interstate Highways allowed commuters to navigate the region more easily. Modern advances in the auto industry have resulted in increased automation, high tech industry, and increased suburban growth since 1960.

Michigan is the leading auto-producing state in the U.S., with the industry primarily located throughout the Midwestern United States, Ontario, Canada, and the Southern United States.^[19] With almost ten million residents, Michigan is a large and influential state, ranking eighth in population among the fifty states. Detroit is the centrally located metropolitan area of the Great Lakes Megalopolis and the second largest metropolitan area in the U.S. linking the Great Lakes system.

Biomedical Science Research Building at the UM Medical School supports the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor.

The Metro Detroit area in Southeast Michigan is the largest metropolitan area in the state (roughly 50% of the population resides there) and the eleventh largest in the USA. The Grand Rapids metropolitan area in Western Michigan is the fastest-growing metro area in the state, with over 1.3 million residents as of 2006. Metro Detroit receives more than 15 million visitors each year. Michigan has many popular tourist destinations which include areas such as Traverse City on the Grand Traverse Bay in Northern Michigan. Tourists spend about $17 billion annually in Michigan supporting 193,000 jobs.^[20]

Michigan typically ranks third or fourth in overall Research & development (R&D) expenditures in the U.S.^[21][22] The state's leading research institutions include the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University which are important partners in the state's economy and the state's University Research Corridor.^[23] Michigan's public universities attract more than $1.5 B in research and development grants each year.^[24] Agriculture also serves a significant role making the state a leading grower of fruit in the U.S., including blueberries, cherries, apples, grapes, and peaches.^[25]

Government[link]

File:71msc 1.jpg

Michigan State Capitol in Lansing

Michigan Supreme Court at the Hall of Justice

State government[link]

Michigan is governed as a republic, with three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the Governor of Michigan and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the House of Representatives and Senate; and the judicial branch consisting of the one court of justice. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall, and ratification. Lansing is the state capital and is home to all three branches of state government.

The governor and the other state constitutional officers serve four-year terms and may be re-elected only once. The current governor is Rick Snyder. Michigan has two official Governor's Residences; one is in Lansing, and the other is at Mackinac Island. The other constitutionally elected executive officers are the lieutenant governor, who is elected on a joint ticket with the governor, the secretary of state, and the attorney general. The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate, but only voting when ties occur, and is also a member of the cabinet. The secretary of state is the chief elections officer and is charged with running many licensure programs including motor vehicles, all of which are done through the branch offices of the secretary of state.

The Michigan Legislature consists of a 38-member Senate and 110-member House of Representatives. Senators serve four-year terms and representatives two. The Michigan State Capitol was dedicated in 1879 and has hosted the state's executive and legislative branches ever since.

Law[link]

The Michigan Court System consists of two courts with primary jurisdiction (the Circuit Courts and the District Courts), one intermediate level appellate court (the Michigan Court of Appeals), and the Michigan Supreme Court. There are several administrative courts and specialized courts. The Michigan Constitution provides for voter initiative and referendum (Article II, § 9,^[26] 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").

In 1846 Michigan became the first state in the Union, as well as the first English-speaking government in the world,^[27][28] to abolish the death penalty. Historian David Chardavoyne has suggested that the movement to abolish capital punishment in Michigan grew as a result of enmity toward the state's neighbor, Canada. Under British rule, it made public executions a regular practice.

Politics[link]

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) (2011–present)

Voters in the state elect candidates from both major parties. Economic issues are important in Michigan elections. The three-term Republican Governor John Engler (1991–2003) preceded the former two-term Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm (2003–2011). The state has elected successive Republican attorneys general twice since 2003. The Republican Party has won a majority in both the House and Senate of the current Michigan Legislature (2011–present). Michigan supported the election of Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. The current Governor Rick Snyder (2011–present) is a Republican.

However, the state has supported Democrats in the last five presidential election cycles. In 2008, Barack Obama carried the state over John McCain, winning Michigan's 17 electoral votes with 57% of the vote. Democrats have won each of the last three, nine of the last ten, and 15 of the last 18 U.S. Senate elections in Michigan with confidence on national economic issues posing a challenge. Republican strength is greatest in the western, northern, and rural parts of the state, especially in the Grand Rapids area. Republicans also perform well in select areas of suburban Detroit, namely in affluent suburbs like the Grosse Pointe communities, Bloomfield Township, Northville Township, and Novi, as well as in communities with large upper middle-class populations like Rochester Hills. Democrats have performed strongest in urban parts of the state, in cities like Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, and Lansing; they have also performed strongly in areas of suburban Detroit, namely in inner, working-class suburbs like Lincoln Park and Eastpointe; African American-majority suburbs like Southfield, Oak Park, and River Rouge; and other suburbs like West Bloomfield Township and Farmington Hills, which both have large Jewish and African-American populations, and suburbs of the Woodward Corridor, like Royal Oak, Berkley, Ferndale, and Huntington Woods are heavily Democratic voting blocs. Other suburbs, like middle-class Sterling Heights, lower middle- to middle-class St. Clair Shores, and Allen Park, are politically competitive for members of both parties.^[30]

Metropolitan Detroit, with approximately one-half of the state's population, remains a substantial factor in affecting its elections and political culture more broadly. Overall, Wayne County, where Detroit is located, remains heavily Democratic and voted 74% for Barack Obama and 25% for John McCain. Oakland County, with a moderate political culture, has increasingly shifted towards support for Democratic presidential candidates, and Macomb County, once a bastion of support for Democratic New-Deal politics, has shifted towards becoming an intense political battleground.^[31]

Historically, the first county-level meeting of the Republican Party took place in Jackson on July 6, 1854,^[32] and the party thereafter dominated Michigan until the Great Depression. In the 1912 election, Michigan was one of the six states to support progressive Republican and third-party candidate Theodore Roosevelt for president after he lost the Republican nomination to William Howard Taft.

Michigan remained fairly reliably Republican at the presidential level for much of the 20th century. It was part of Greater New England, the northern tier of states settled chiefly by migrants from New England who carried their culture with them. The state was one of only a handful to back Wendell Willkie over Franklin Roosevelt in 1940, and supported Thomas E. Dewey in his losing bid against Harry S. Truman in 1948. Michigan went to the Democrats in presidential elections during the 1960s, and voted for Republican Richard Nixon in 1972.

Michigan was the home of Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States. He was born in Nebraska and moved as an infant to Grand Rapids and grew up there.^[33][34] The Gerald R. Ford Museum is located in Grand Rapids, and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is located on the campus of his alma mater, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Michigan does not recognize or perform same-sex marriages or other unions involving same-sex couples under a 2004 state constitutional amendment.

Administrative divisions[link]

State government is decentralized among three tiers – statewide, county and township. Counties are administrative divisions of the state, and townships are administrative divisions of a county. Both of them exercise state government authority, localized to meet the particular needs of their jurisdictions, as provided by state law. There are 83 counties in Michigan.

Cities, state universities, and villages are vested with home rule powers of varying degrees. Home rule cities can generally do anything that is not prohibited by law. The fifteen state universities have broad power and can do anything within the parameters of their status as educational institutions that is not prohibited by the state constitution. Villages, by contrast, have limited home rule and are not completely autonomous from the county and township in which they are located.

There are two types of township in Michigan: general law township and charter. Charter township status was created by the 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. In general, charter townships have many of the same powers as a city but without the same level of obligations. For example, a charter township can have its own fire department, water and sewer department, police department, and so on—just like a city—but it is not required to have those things, whereas cities must provide those services. Charter townships can opt to use county-wide services instead, such as deputies from the county sheriff's office instead of a home-based force of ordinance officers.

Geography[link]

Marquette Park on Mackinac Island

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^[35]—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.

Aerial view of Sleeping Bear Dunes.

The Great Lakes that border Michigan from east to west are Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. It has more 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.

Tahquamenon Falls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

The heavily forested Upper Peninsula is relatively mountainous in the west. The Porcupine Mountains, which are part of one of the oldest mountain chains in the world,^[36] rise to an altitude of almost 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level and form the watershed between the streams flowing into Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. The surface on either side of this range is rugged. The state's highest point, in the Huron Mountains northwest of Marquette, is Mount Arvon at 1,979 feet (603 m). The peninsula is as large as Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island combined but has fewer than 330,000 inhabitants. They are sometimes called "Yoopers" (from "U.P.'ers"), and their speech (the "Yooper dialect") has been heavily influenced by the numerous Scandinavian and Canadian immigrants who settled the area during the lumbering and mining boom of the late 19th century.

The Pointe Mouillee State Game Area

The Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten and many residents hold up a hand to depict where they are from.^[37] It is 277 miles (446 km) long from north to south and 195 miles (314 km) from east to west and occupies nearly two-thirds of the state's land area. The surface of the peninsula is generally level, broken by conical hills and glacial moraines usually not more than a few hundred feet tall. It is divided by a low water divide running north and south. The larger portion of the state is on the west of this and gradually slopes toward Lake Michigan. The highest point in the Lower Peninsula is either Briar Hill at 1,705 feet (520 m), or one of several points nearby in the vicinity of Cadillac. The lowest point is the surface of Lake Erie at 571 feet (174 m).

The geographic orientation of Michigan's peninsulas makes for a long distance between the ends of the state. Ironwood, in the far western Upper Peninsula, lies 630 highway miles (1,015 km) from Lambertville in the Lower Peninsula's southeastern corner. The geographic isolation of the Upper Peninsula from Michigan's political and population centers makes the U.P. culturally and economically distinct. Occasionally U.P. residents have called for secession from Michigan and establishment as a new state to be called "Superior".

A feature of Michigan that gives it the distinct shape of a mitten is the Thumb. This peninsula projects out into Lake Huron and the Saginaw Bay. The geography of the Thumb is mainly flat with a few rolling hills. Other peninsulas of Michigan include the Keweenaw Peninsula, making up the Copper Country region of the state. The Leelanau Peninsula lies in the Northern Lower Michigan region. See Also Michigan Regions

Little Sable Point Light south of Pentwater, Michigan.

Numerous lakes and marshes mark both peninsulas, and the coast is much indented. Keweenaw Bay, Whitefish Bay, and the Big and Little Bays De Noc are the principal indentations on the Upper Peninsula. The Grand and Little Traverse, Thunder, and Saginaw bays indent the Lower Peninsula. Michigan has the second longest shoreline of any state—3,288 miles (5,292 km),^[38] including 1,056 miles (1,699 km) of island shoreline.^[39]

Michigan map, including territorial waters

The state has numerous large islands, the principal ones being the North Manitou and South Manitou, Beaver, and Fox groups in Lake Michigan; Isle Royale and Grande Isle in Lake Superior; Marquette, Bois Blanc, and Mackinac islands in Lake Huron; and Neebish, Sugar, and Drummond islands in St. Mary's River. Michigan has about 150 lighthouses, the most of any U.S. state. 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 passenger ships and freighters traveling the Great Lakes. See Lighthouses in the United States.

The state's rivers are generally small, short and shallow, and few are navigable. The principal ones include the Detroit River, St. Marys River, and St. Clair River which connect the Great Lakes; the Au Sable, Cheboygan, and Saginaw, which flow into Lake Huron; the Ontonagon, and Tahquamenon, which flow into Lake Superior; and the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon, Manistee, and Escanaba, which flow into Lake Michigan. The state has 11,037 inland lakes (totaling 1,305 square miles (3,380 km²) of inland water) in addition to 38,575 square miles (99,910 km²) of Great Lakes waters. No point in Michigan is more than six miles (10 km) from an inland lake or more than 85 miles (137 km) from one of the Great Lakes.^[40]

The state is home to a number of areas maintained by the National Park Service including: Isle Royale National Park, located in Lake Superior, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Other national protected areas in the state include: Keweenaw National Historical Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Huron National Forest, Manistee National Forest, Hiawatha National Forest, Ottawa National Forest and Father Marquette National Memorial. The largest section of the North Country National Scenic Trail passes through Michigan.

With 78 state parks, 19 state recreation areas, and 6 state forests, Michigan has the largest state park and state forest system of any state. These parks and forests include Holland State Park, Mackinac Island State Park, Au Sable State Forest, and Mackinaw State Forest.

Adjacent states and provinces[link]

	Minnesota	Ontario	Ontario
	Wisconsin		Ontario
		Michigan    East
	Illinois & Indiana	Indiana & Ohio	Ohio & Ontario

Climate[link]

Michigan USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Michigan has a continental climate, although there are two distinct regions. The southern and central parts of the Lower Peninsula (south of Saginaw Bay and from the Grand Rapids area southward) have a warmer climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa) with hot summers and cold winters. The northern part of Lower Peninsula and the entire Upper Peninsula has a more severe climate (Koppen Dfb), with warm, but shorter summers and longer, cold to very cold winters. Some parts of the state average high temperatures below freezing from December through February, and into early March in the far northern parts. During the winter through the middle of February the state is frequently subjected to heavy lake-effect snow. The state averages from 30–40 inches (76–100 cm) of precipitation annually, however some areas in the northern lower peninsula and the upper peninsula average almost 160" of snowfall per year.^[41] Michigan's highest recorded temperature is 112 °F (44 °C) at Mio on July 13, 1936 and the coldest recorded temperature is −51 °F (−46 °C) at Vanderbilt on February 9, 1934.^[42]

The entire state averages 30 days of thunderstorm activity per year. These can be severe, especially in the southern part of the state. The state averages 17 tornadoes per year, which are more common in the extreme southern portion of the state. Portions of the southern border have been nearly as vulnerable historically as parts of Tornado Alley. For this reason, many communities in the very southern portions of the state are equipped with tornado sirens to warn residents of approaching tornadoes. Farther north, in the Upper Peninsula, tornadoes are rare.^[43]

Geology[link]

The geological formation of the state is greatly varied. Primary boulders are found over the entire surface of the Upper Peninsula (being principally of primitive origin), while Secondary deposits cover the entire Lower Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula exhibits Lower Silurian sandstones, limestones, copper and iron bearing rocks, corresponding to the Huronian system of Canada. The central portion of the Lower Peninsula contains coal measures and rocks of the Permo-Carboniferous period. Devonian and sub-Carboniferous deposits are scattered over the entire state.

Demographics[link]

Michigan population distribution

Map showing the largest ancestry group in each county (2008)

Population[link]

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Michigan was 9,876,187 on July 1, 2011, a -0.08% decrease since the 2010 United States Census.^[2]

The center of population of Michigan is located in Shiawassee County, in the southeastern corner of the civil township of Bennington, which is located northwest of the village of Morrice.^[45]

As of the 2010 American Community Survey for the U.S. Census, the state had a foreign-born population of 592,212, or 6.0% of the total. Michigan has the largest Dutch, Finnish, and Macedonian populations in the United States.

The 2010 Census reported:

• White: 78.9% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 76.6%)
• Black or African American: 14.2%
• American Indian: 0.6%
• Asian: 2.4%
• Pacific Islander: <0.1%
• Some other race: 1.5%
• Multiracial: 2.3%
• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 4.4%

The ten largest reported ancestries in Michigan are:^[46]

• German (22.3%)
• Irish (11.9%)
• English (10.1%)
• Polish (9.0%)
• French or French Canadian (6.7%)
• Dutch (5.1%)
• Italian (4.7%)
• American (4.6%)
• Scottish (2.4%)
• Swedish (1.7%)

The large majority of Michigan's population is Caucasian. Americans of European descent live throughout Michigan and most of Metro Detroit. Large European American groups include those of German, Irish, French, Belgian and British ancestry. People of Scandinavian descent, especially those of Finnish ancestry, have a notable presence in the Upper Peninsula. Western Michigan is known for the Dutch heritage of many residents (the highest concentration of any state), especially in metropolitan Grand Rapids.

About 300,000 people trace their descent from the Middle East.^[47] Dearborn has a sizeable Arab community, with many Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac, and Lebanese who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s along with more recent Yemenis and Iraqis.^[48] African Americans, who came to Detroit and other northern cities in the Great Migration of the early 20th century, form a majority of the population of the city of Detroit and of other cities, including Flint and Benton Harbor.

An individual from Michigan is called a "Michigander" or "Michiganian".^[49] Also at times, but rarely, a "Michiganite".^[50] Residents of the Upper Peninsula are sometimes referred to as "Yoopers" (a phonetic pronunciation of "U.P.ers"), and Upper Peninsula residents sometimes refer to those from the lower as "trolls" (they live below the bridge).^[51]

Religion[link]

The Catholic Church has six dioceses and one archdiocese in Michigan, the Diocese of Gaylord, Diocese of Grand Rapids, Diocese of Kalamazoo, Diocese of Lansing, Diocese of Marquette, Diocese of Saginaw and Archdiocese of Detroit.^[52] The Catholic Church is the largest denomination by number of adherents, according to a survey in the year 2000, with 2,019,926 parishioners.^[53] The Roman Catholic Church was the only organized religion in Michigan until the 19th century, reflecting the territory's French colonial roots. Detroit's St. Anne's parish, established in 1701, by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac is the second-oldest Catholic parish in the country.^[54] On March 8, 1833, the Holy See formally established a diocese in the Michigan territory, which included all of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas east of the Mississippi River. When Michigan became a state in 1837, the boundary of the Diocese of Detroit was redrawn to coincide with that of the State.^[55]

The largest Protestant denominations were the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod with 244,231 adherents; followed by the United Methodist Church with 222,269; and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 160,836 adherents. In the same survey, Jewish adherents in the state of Michigan were estimated at 110,000, and Muslims at 80,515.^[56] The Lutheran Church was introduced by German and Scandinavian immigrants; Lutheranism is the second largest religious denomination in the state. The first Jewish synagogue in the state was Temple Beth El, founded by twelve German Jewish families in Detroit in 1850.^[57] In West Michigan, Dutch immigrants fled from the specter of religious persecution and famine in the Netherlands around 1850 and settled in and around what is now Holland, Michigan, establishing a "colony" on American soil that fervently held onto Calvinist doctrine that established a significant presence of Reformed churches.^[58] Islam was introduced by immigrants from the Near East during the 20th century.^[59]

Economy[link]

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated Michigan's 2010 gross state product at $384.1 B.^[60] In November 2011, the state's unemployment rate was 9.8%.^[61][62]