Michigan
State of Michigan
Flag of Michigan
Seal
Nickname(s): The Great Lakes State
The Wolverine State,
The Automotive State,
Water-Winter Wonderland
Motto(s): Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam
circumspice
(If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about
you)
Official
language(s)
None (English, de-facto)
Demonym
Michigander
Michiganian
Capital
Lansing
Largest city
Detroit
Largest metro
area
Metro Detroit
Area
Ranked 11th in the US
- Total
97,990 sq mi
(253,793 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 US
- Total
10,003,422 (2008 est.)[2]
- Density
179/sq mi (67.55/km²)
Ranked 16th in the US
- Median income
$44,627 (21st)
Elevation
- Highest point
Mount Arvon[3]
1,979 ft (603 m)
- Mean
902 ft (275 m)
- Lowest point
Lake Erie[3]
571 ft (174 m)
Admission to
Union
January 26, 1837 (26th)
Governor
Jennifer Granholm (D)
Lieutenant
Governor
John D. Cherry (D)
U.S. Senators
Carl Levin (D)
Debbie Stabenow (D)
U.S. House
delegation
8 Democrats, 7
Republicans (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 (
/ˈmɪʃɨɡən/ ) is a Midwestern
state of the United States of America. It was
named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a
French adaptation of
the Ojibwe term
mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large
lake".[1][4]
Michigan is the eighth most populous
state in the United States. It has the longest
freshwater shoreline in the world, bounded
by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake
Saint Clair.[5] In 2005, Michigan ranked third
for the number of registered recreational
boats, behind California and Florida.[6]
Michigan has 64,980 inland lakes.[7] A per-
son is never more than six miles (10 km) from
a natural water source, or more than
87.2 miles
(137 km)
from Great
Lakes
coastline.
Michigan is the only state to consist en-
tirely of two peninsulas. The Lower Penin-
sula, to which the name Michiga