Michigan
State
Flag Seal
Nicknames:  "The Great Lake State",[1] "The Wolverine State", "Water (Winter) Wonderland"
Motto(s):  Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice (English: "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you")
Anthem: "My Michigan"
Map of the United States with Michigan highlighted
Country	United States
Before statehood	Michigan Territory
Admitted to the Union	January 26, 1837 (26th)
Capital	Lansing
Largest city	Detroit
Largest county or equivalent	Wayne
Largest metro and urban areas	Detroit
Government
• Governor	Gretchen Whitmer (D)
• Lieutenant Governor	Garlin Gilchrist (D)
Legislature	Michigan Legislature
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Judiciary	Michigan Supreme Court
U.S. senators	Debbie Stabenow (D) Gary Peters (D)
U.S. House delegation	7 Democrats 6 Republicans (list)
Area
• Total	96,716 sq mi (250,493 km2)
• Land	58,110 sq mi (150,504 km2)
• Water	38,606 sq mi (99,990 km2)  41.8%
• Rank	11th
Dimensions
• Length	456[2] mi (734 km)
• Width	386[2] mi (621 km)
Elevation	900 ft (270 m)
Highest elevation (Mount Arvon[3][a])	1,979 ft (603 m)
Lowest elevation (Lake Erie[3][a])	571 ft (174 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	10,077,331[4]
• Rank	10th
• Density	174/sq mi (67.1/km2)
• Rank	17th
• Median household income	$54,900[5]
• Income rank	32nd
Demonym(s)	Michigander, Michiganian, Yooper (Upper Peninsula)[6]
Language
• Official language	None (English, de facto)
• Spoken language	English 91.11% Spanish 3.86% Arabic 1.05% Other 4.92%
Time zones
Most of state	UTC−05:00 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (EDT)
4 U.P. counties (Gogebic, Iron, Dickinson, and Menominee)	UTC−06:00 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−05:00 (CDT)
USPS abbreviation	MI
ISO 3166 code	US-MI
Traditional abbreviation	Mich.
Latitude	41°41′ N to 48°18′ N
Longitude	82°7′ W to 90°25′ W
Website	michigan.gov

State symbols of Michigan

List of state symbols
Living insignia
Bird	American robin (Turdus migratorius)
Fish	Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
Flower	Apple blossom (Malus domestica) Wildflower: Dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris)
Mammal	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
Rock	Petoskey stone
Soil	Kalkaska sand
State route marker
State quarter
Released in 2004
Lists of United States state symbols

Michigan (/ˈmɪʃɪɡən/ ^ⓘ MISH-ig-ən) is a state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest region of the United States. It borders Wisconsin to the northwest in the Upper Peninsula, and Indiana and Ohio to the south in the Lower Peninsula; it is also connected by Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie to Minnesota and Illinois, and the Canadian province of Ontario. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of 96,716 sq mi (250,490 km²), Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the largest by area east of the Mississippi River.^[b] Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies. The name derives from a gallicized variant of the original Ojibwe word ᒥᓯᑲᒥ (mishigami),^[c] meaning "large water" or "large lake".^[2][7]

Michigan consists of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula resembles the shape of a mitten, and comprises a majority of the state's land area. The Upper Peninsula (often called "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 Mackinac Bridge connects the peninsulas. Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the United States, being bordered by four of the five Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair.^[8] It also has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds.^[9] Michigan has the second-most water area of any state, behind only Alaska.^[10]

The area was first occupied by a succession of Native American tribes over thousands of years. In the 17th century, French explorers claimed it as part of the New France colony, when it was largely inhabited by Indigenous peoples. French and Canadian traders and settlers, Métis, and others migrated to the area, settling largely along the waterways. After France's defeat in the French and Indian War in 1762, the region came under British rule. Britain ceded the territory to the newly independent United States after its defeat in the American Revolutionary War. The area was part of the larger Northwest Territory until 1800, when western Michigan became part of the Indiana Territory. Michigan Territory was formed in 1805, but some of the northern border with Canada was not agreed upon until after the War of 1812. Michigan was admitted into the Union in 1837 as the 26th state, a free one. It soon became an important center of industry and trade in the Great Lakes region, attracting immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from many European countries. Immigrants from Finland, Macedonia, and the Netherlands were especially numerous.^[11] Migration from Appalachia and of Black Southerners as part of the Great Migration increased in the 1930s,^[12][13] with many settling in Metro Detroit.

Although Michigan has developed a diverse economy, in the early 20th century it became widely known as the center of the U.S. automotive industry, which developed as a major national economic force. It is home to the country's three major automobile companies (whose headquarters are all in Metro Detroit). Once exploited for logging and mining, today the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula is important for tourism because of its abundance of natural resources.^[14][15] The Lower Peninsula is a center of manufacturing, forestry, agriculture, services, and high-tech industry.

History

When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous tribes were the Algonquian peoples, which include the Anishinaabe groups of Ojibwe, Odaawaa/Odawa (Ottawa), and the Boodewaadamii/Bodéwadmi (Potawatomi). The three nations coexisted peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. The Ojibwe, whose numbers are estimated to have been between 25,000 and 35,000, were the largest.^{[citation needed]}

The Ojibwe Indians (also known as Chippewa in the U.S.), an Anishinaabe tribe, were established in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern and central Michigan. Bands also inhabited Ontario and southern Manitoba, Canada; and northern Wisconsin, and northern and north-central Minnesota. The Ottawa Indians lived primarily south of the Straits of Mackinac in northern, western, and southern Michigan, but also in southern Ontario, northern Ohio, and eastern Wisconsin. The Potawatomi were in southern and western Michigan, in addition to northern and central Indiana, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and southern Ontario. Other Algonquian tribes in Michigan, in the south and east, were the Mascouten, the Menominee, the Miami, the Sac (or Sauk), and the Meskwaki (Fox). The Wyandot were an Iroquoian-speaking people in this area; they were historically known as the Huron by the French, and were the historical adversaries of the Iroquois Confederation.^{[citation needed]}

17th century

Territorial changes of the Michigan Territory from 1818 to 1836

French voyageurs and coureurs des bois explored and settled in Michigan in the 17th century. The first Europeans to reach what 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.^[16][17] Missionaries in 1671–75 founded outlying stations at Saint Ignace and Marquette. Jesuit missionaries were well received by the area's Indian populations, with few difficulties or hostilities. In 1679, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph. In 1691, the French established a trading post and Fort St. Joseph along the St. Joseph River at the present-day city of Niles.

18th century

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

The hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent (about 0.85 acres (3,400 m²),^[18][19] 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 what was considered the wilderness of Michigan. The town quickly became a major fur-trading and shipping post. The Église de Saint-Anne (Catholic Church of Saint Anne) was founded the same year.^{[citation needed]} While the original building does not survive, the congregation remains active.^{[citation needed]} Cadillac later departed to serve as the French governor of Louisiana from 1710 to 1716.^{[citation needed]} French attempts to consolidate the fur trade led to the Fox Wars, in which the Meskwaki (Fox) and their allies fought the French and their Native allies.^{[citation needed]}

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. France offered free land to attract families to Detroit, which grew to 800 people in 1765. It was the largest city between Montreal and New Orleans.^[20] French settlers also established small farms south of the Detroit River opposite the fort, near a Jesuit mission and Huron village.

From 1660 until the end of French rule, Michigan was part of the Royal Province of New France.^[d] In 1760, Montreal fell to the British forces, ending the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of the Seven Years' War in Europe. Under the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Michigan and the rest of New France east of the Mississippi River were ceded by defeated France to Great Britain.^[21] After the Quebec Act was passed in 1774, Michigan became part of the British Province of Quebec. By 1778, Detroit's population reached 2,144 and it was the third-largest city in Quebec province.^[22]

During the American Revolutionary War, Detroit was an important British supply center. Most of the inhabitants were French-Canadians or American Indians, many of whom had been allied with the French because of long trading ties. 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 1791, 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).^[23]

Under terms negotiated in the 1794 Jay Treaty, Britain withdrew from Detroit and Michilimackinac in 1796. It retained control of territory east and south of the Detroit River, which are now included in Ontario, Canada. 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

During the War of 1812, the United States forces at Fort Detroit surrendered Michigan Territory (effectively consisting of Detroit and the surrounding area) after a nearly bloodless siege in 1812. A U.S. attempt to retake Detroit resulted in a severe American defeat in the River Raisin Massacre. This battle, still ranked as the bloodiest ever fought in the state, had the highest number of American casualties of any battle of the war.

Michigan was recaptured by the Americans in 1813 after the Battle of Lake Erie. They used Michigan as a base to launch an invasion of Canada, which culminated in the Battle of the Thames. But the more northern areas of Michigan were held by the British until the peace treaty restored the old boundaries. A number of forts, including Fort Wayne, were built by the United States in Michigan during the 19th century out of fears of renewed fighting with Britain.

Michigan Territory governor and judges established the University of Michigan in 1817, as the Catholepistemiad, or the University of Michigania.^{[citation needed]}

The population grew slowly until the opening in 1825 of the Erie Canal through the Mohawk Valley in New York, connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River and New York City.^{[citation needed]} The new route attracted a large influx of settlers to the Michigan territory. They worked as farmers, lumbermen, shipbuilders, 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.^{[citation needed]}

On November 1, 1935, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative 3-cent stamp celebrating the 100th anniversary of Michigan statehood. Michigan's statehood, however, wasn't officially established until January 26, 1837, but since the campaign for statehood actually began in 1835, Michigan chose to hold its centennial celebration in 1935, the year the stamp was first issued.^[24]

A constitutional convention of assent was held to lead the territory to statehood.^[25] In October 1835 the people approved the constitution of 1835, thereby forming a state government. 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 as a free state 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.

A second wave of French-Canadian immigrants settled in Michigan during the late 19th to early 20th century, working in lumbering areas in counties on the Lake Huron side of the Lower Peninsula, such as the Saginaw Valley, Alpena, and Cheboygan counties, as well as throughout the Upper Peninsula, with large concentrations in Escanaba and the Keweenaw Peninsula.^[26]

The first statewide meeting of the Republican Party took place on July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Michigan, where the party adopted its platform.^{[citation needed]} The state was predominantly Republican until the 1930s, reflecting the political continuity of migrants from across the Northern Tier of New England and New York.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

Michigan modernized and expanded its system of education in this period.^{[citation needed]} The Michigan State Normal School, now Eastern Michigan University, was founded in 1849, for the training of teachers.^{[citation needed]} It was the fourth oldest normal school in the United States and the first U.S. normal school outside New England.^{[citation needed]} In 1899, the Michigan State Normal School became the first normal school in the nation to offer a four-year curriculum. Michigan Agricultural College (1855), now Michigan State University in East Lansing, was founded as the first agricultural college in the nation.^{[citation needed]} Many private colleges were founded as well, and the smaller cities established high schools late in the century.^[27]

20th–21st centuries

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 develop the automotive industry.^[28] Ford's development of the moving assembly line in Highland Park marked a new era in transportation.^{[citation needed]} Like the steamship and railroad, mass production of automobiles was a far-reaching development. More than the forms of public transportation, the affordable automobile transformed private life. Automobile production became the major industry of Detroit and Michigan, and permanently altered the socioeconomic life of the United States and much of the world.^{[citation needed]}

With the growth, the auto industry created jobs in Detroit that attracted immigrants from Europe and migrants from across the United States, including both blacks and whites from the rural South.^{[citation needed]} By 1920, Detroit was the fourth-largest city in the U.S..^{[citation needed]} Residential housing was in short supply, and it took years for the market to catch up with the population boom.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[29] Over the years immigrants and migrants contributed greatly to Detroit's diverse urban culture, including popular music trends. The influential Motown Sound of the 1960s was led by a variety of individual singers and groups.^{[citation needed]}

Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in Michigan also became an important center of manufacturing. Since 1838, the city has been noted for its furniture industry.^[30][31] In the 21st century, it 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.^{[citation needed]} With its rapid growth in industry, it was an important center of industry-wide union organizing, such as the rise of the United Auto Workers.^{[citation needed]}

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 has been designated as a National Historic Landmark (NHL).

In 1927 a school bombing took place in Clinton County. The Bath School disaster, perpetrated by an adult man, resulted in the deaths of 38 schoolchildren and constitutes the deadliest mass murder in a school in U.S. history.^[32]

Michigan converted much of its manufacturing to satisfy defense needs during World War II; it manufactured 10.9% of the United States military armaments produced during the war, ranking second (behind New York) among the 48 states.^[33]

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 to meet demand for residences. The federal government subsidized the construction of interstate highways, which were intended to strengthen military access, but also allowed commuters and business traffic to travel the region more easily. Since 1960, modern advances in the auto industry have led to increased automation, high-tech industry, and increased suburban growth.

Michigan became 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.^[34] With almost ten million residents in 2010, Michigan is a large and influential state, ranking tenth 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. (after Chicago) linking the Great Lakes system.

The Metro Detroit area in Southeast Michigan is the state's largest metropolitan area (roughly 50% of the population resides there) and the eleventh largest in the United States. The Grand Rapids metropolitan area in Western Michigan is the state's fastest-growing metro area, with more than 1.3 million residents as of 2006^[update].

Geography

Michigan consists of two peninsulas 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 tiny areas 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. No point in the state is more than six miles (9.7 km) from a natural water source or more than 85 miles (137 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline.^[36]

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

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,^[37] 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 Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten and many residents hold up a hand to depict where they are from.^[38] 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 miles (1,010 kilometers) by highway 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 region culturally and economically distinct. Frequent attempts to establish the Upper Peninsula as its own state have failed to gain traction.^[39][40]

A feature of Michigan that gives it the distinct shape of a mitten is the Thumb, which projects into Lake Huron, forming Saginaw Bay. Other notable peninsulas of Michigan include the Keweenaw Peninsula, which projects northeasterly into Lake Superior from the Upper Peninsula and largely comprising Michigan's Copper Country region, and the Leelanau Peninsula, projecting from the Lower Peninsula into Lake Michigan, forming Michigan's "little finger".

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),^[41] including 1,056 miles (1,699 km) of island shoreline.^[42]

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.^[43] 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 (9.7 km) from an inland lake or more than 85 miles (137 km) from one of the Great Lakes.^[44]

The state is home to several areas maintained by the National Park Service including: Isle Royale National Park, 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 six state forests, Michigan has the largest state park and state forest system of any state.

Climate

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 (Köppen climate classification Dfa) with hot summers and cold winters. The northern part of the Lower Peninsula and the entire Upper Peninsula has a more severe climate (Köppen 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 to 40 inches (76 to 102 cm) of precipitation annually; however, some areas in the northern lower peninsula and the upper peninsula average almost 160 inches (4,100 mm) of snowfall per year.^[45] 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.^[46]

The 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 state's extreme southern section. Portions of the southern border have been almost as vulnerable historically as states further west and in Tornado Alley. For this reason, many communities in the very southern portions of the state have tornado sirens to warn residents of approaching tornadoes. Farther north, in Central Michigan, Northern Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula, tornadoes are rare.^[47][48]

Geology

The geological formation of the state is greatly varied, with the Michigan Basin being the most major formation. 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 Pennsylvanian period. Devonian and sub-Carboniferous deposits are scattered over the entire state.

Michigan rarely experiences earthquakes, and those that it does experience are generally smaller ones that do not cause significant damage. A 4.6-magnitude earthquake struck in August 1947. More recently, a 4.2-magnitude earthquake occurred on Saturday, May 2, 2015, shortly after noon, about five miles south of Galesburg, Michigan (9 miles southeast of Kalamazoo) in central Michigan, about 140 miles west of Detroit, according to the Colorado-based U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center. No major damage or injuries were reported, according to then-Governor Rick Snyder's office.^[49]

Administrative divisions

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.^[50]

Cities, state universities, and villages are vested with home rule powers of varying degrees. Home rule cities can generally do anything 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^[update], 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.

Largest cities or towns in Michigan 2020 U.S. census:[51]
	Rank	Name	County	Municipal pop.
Detroit Grand Rapids	1	Detroit	Wayne	639,111	Warren Sterling Heights
	2	Grand Rapids	Kent	198,917
	3	Warren	Macomb	139,387
	4	Sterling Heights	Macomb	134,346
	5	Ann Arbor	Washtenaw	123,851
	6	Lansing	Ingham	112,644
	7	Dearborn	Wayne	109,976
	8	Clinton Charter Township	Macomb	100,513
	9	Canton Charter Township	Wayne	98,659
	10	Livonia	Wayne	95,535

Demographics

Since 1800 U.S. census, Michigan has experienced relatively positive and stable population growth trends; beginning with a population of 3,757, the 2010 census recorded 9,883,635 residents. At the 2020 United States census, its population was 10,077,331, an increase of 2.03% since 2010's tabulation. According to the United States Census Bureau, it is the third-most populous state in the Midwest and its East North Central subregion, behind Ohio and Illinois.

The center of population of Michigan is in Shiawassee County, in the southeastern corner of the civil township of Bennington, which is northwest of the village of Morrice.^[54]

According to the American Immigration Council in 2019, an estimated 6.8% of Michiganders were immigrants, while 3.8% were native-born U.S. citizens with at least one immigrant parent.^[55] Numbering approximately 678,255 according to the 2019 survey, the majority of Michigander immigrants came from Mexico (11.5%), India (11.3%), Iraq (7.5%), China (5.3%), and Canada (5.3%); the primary occupations of its immigrants were technology, agriculture, and healthcare. Among its immigrant cohort, there were 108,105 undocumented immigrants, making up 15.9% of the total immigrant population.^[55]

According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 8,206 homeless people in Michigan.^[56][57]

Race and ethnicity

Since colonial European and American settlement, the majority of Michigan's population has been predominantly non-Hispanic or non-Latino white; Americans of European descent live throughout every county in the state, and most of Metro Detroit. Large European American groups include those of German, British, Irish, Polish and Belgian ancestry.^[62] Scandinavian and Finnish Americans have a notable presence in the Upper Peninsula.^[63] Western Michigan is known for its Dutch heritage, especially in Holland and metropolitan Grand Rapids.^[64]

Black and African Americans—coming to Detroit and other northern cities in the Great Migration of the early 20th century—have formed a majority of the population in Detroit and other cities including Flint and Benton Harbor. Since the 2021 census estimates—while Detroit was still the largest city in Michigan with a majority black population—it was no longer the largest black-majority city in the U.S., citing crime and higher-paying jobs given to whites.^[65][66]

As of 2007^[update], about 300,000 people in Southeastern Michigan trace their descent from the Middle East and Asia.^[67] Dearborn has a sizeable Arab American 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.^[68] As of 2007^[update], almost 8,000 Hmong people lived in the state of Michigan, about double their 1999 presence in the state.^[69] Most lived in northeastern Detroit, but they had been increasingly moving to Pontiac and Warren.^[70] By 2015, the number of Hmong in the Detroit city limits had significantly declined.^[71] Lansing hosts a statewide Hmong New Year Festival.^[70] The Hmong community also had a prominent portrayal in the 2008 film Gran Torino, which was set in Detroit.

As of 2015^[update], 80% of Michigan's Japanese population lived in the counties of Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne in the Detroit and Ann Arbor areas.^[72] As of April 2013^[update], the largest Japanese national population is in Novi, with 2,666 Japanese residents, and the next largest populations are respectively in Ann Arbor, West Bloomfield Township, Farmington Hills, and Battle Creek. The state has 481 Japanese employment facilities providing 35,554 local jobs. 391 of them are in Southeast Michigan, providing 20,816 jobs, and the 90 in other regions in the state provide 14,738 jobs. The Japanese Direct Investment Survey of the Consulate-General of Japan, Detroit stated more than 2,208 additional Japanese residents were employed in the State of Michigan as of 1 October 2012^[update], than in 2011.^[73] During the 1990s, the Japanese population of Michigan experienced an increase, and many Japanese people with children moved to particular areas for their proximity to Japanese grocery stores and high-performing schools.^[72]

Languages

In 2010, about 91.11% (8,507,947) of Michigan residents age five and older spoke only English at home, while 2.93% (273,981) spoke Spanish, 1.04% (97,559) Arabic, 0.44% (41,189) German, 0.36% (33,648) Chinese (which includes Mandarin), 0.31% (28,891) French, 0.29% (27,019) Polish, and Syriac languages (such as Modern Aramaic and Northeastern Neo-Aramaic) was spoken as a main language by 0.25% (23,420) of the population over the age of five. In total, 8.89% (830,281) of Michigan's population age five and older spoke a mother language other than English.^[74] Since 2021, 90.1% of residents aged five and older spoke only English at home, and Spanish was the second-most spoken language with 2.9% of the population speaking it.^[75]

Religion