Portal:Michigan
The Michigan Portal![]() ![]() Michigan (/ˈmɪʃɪɡən/ ⓘ MISH-ig-ən) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries 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 east, northeast and north. With a population of 10.14 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 total area east of the Mississippi River. The state capital is Lansing, while its most populous city is Detroit. The Metro Detroit region in Southeast Michigan is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies. Other important metropolitan areas include Grand Rapids, Flint, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, the Tri-Cities, and Muskegon. Michigan consists of two peninsulas: the heavily forested Upper Peninsula (commonly called "the U.P."), which juts eastward from northern Wisconsin, and the more populated Lower Peninsula, stretching north from Ohio and Indiana. The peninsulas are separated by the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and are linked by the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge along Interstate 75. Bordering four of the five Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair, Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline of any U.S. political subdivision, measuring 3,288 miles. The state ranks second behind Alaska in water coverage by square miles and first in percentage, with approximately 42%, and it also contains 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. In the 17th century, French explorers claimed the Great Lakes region for New France, though the area had largely been inhabited for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples such as the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, and Wyandot. French settlers and Métis established forts and settlements. Some people contend that the region’s name is derived from the Ojibwe word ᒥᓯᑲᒥ (mishigami), meaning "large water" or "large lake". While others say that it comes from the Mishiiken Tribe of Mackinac Island, also called Michinemackinawgo by Ottawa historian Andrew Blackbird, whose surrounding lands were referred to as Mishiiken-imakinakom, later shortened to Michilimackinac. After France's defeat in the French and Indian War in 1762, the area came under British control and later the U.S. following the Treaty of Paris (1783), though control remained disputed with Indigenous tribes until treaties between 1795 and 1842. The area was part of the larger Northwest Territory; the Michigan Territory was organized in 1805. Michigan was admitted as the 26th state on January 26, 1837, entering as a free state and quickly developing into an industrial and trade hub that attracted European immigrants, particularly from Finland, Macedonia, and the Netherlands. In the 1930s, migration from Appalachia and the Great Migration of Black Southerners further shaped the state, especially in Metro Detroit. Michigan has a diversified economy with a gross state product of $711.481 billion as of Q3 2024, ranking 14th among the 50 states. Although the state 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. The Lower Peninsula is a center of manufacturing, forestry, agriculture, services, and high-tech industry. (Full article...) Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a confederation of Native Americans who were dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–1763). Warriors from numerous nations joined in an effort to drive British soldiers and settlers out of the region. The war is named after Odawa leader Pontiac, the most prominent of many Indigenous leaders in the conflict. The war began in May 1763 when Native Americans, alarmed by policies imposed by British General Jeffrey Amherst, attacked a number of British forts and settlements. Nine forts were destroyed, and hundreds of colonists were killed or captured, with many more fleeing the region. Hostilities came to an end after successful British Army expeditions in 1764 led to peace negotiations over the next two years. The Natives were unable to drive away the British, but the uprising prompted the British government to modify the policies that had provoked the conflict. (Full article...) Selected picture -![]() The Huron-Manistee National Forests are actually two National Forests combined in 1945 for administration purposes and which comprise 978,725 acres (3,960 km2) of public lands, including 5,786 acres (23 km2) of wetlands, extending across the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Did you know -
Related portalsSelected article -Grassy Island is a small, uninhabited 72-acre (29 ha) American island in the Detroit River. It is located just north of Grosse Ile and west of Fighting Island, about 600 feet (180 m) west of the Canada–United States border. The island is part of the city of Wyandotte, in Wayne County. The island is part of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. Grassy Island should not be confused with Grass Island, which is an island of Ontario on the exact opposite side of the Detroit River. Grassy Island was first charted by French explorers in 1796 as Ile Marecageuse (Marshy Island). At the time, the island's size was only six acres (2.4 ha), and the whole length of the Detroit River was a prominent coastal marshland. During the nineteenth century, the island was primarily used as a fishery and later was home to the Grassy Island Light. From around 1960–1982, the island served as a disposal facility for millions of cubic meters of toxic soil dredged from the nearby River Rouge, and the island's size was increased dramatically. Because of that, the island remains heavily contaminated today. (Full article...) Selected biography -Corperryale Lādorable "Manny" Harris (born September 21, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Al Riyadi Beirut of the Lebanese Basketball League. He has previously played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and is a former All-Big Ten Conference guard who played three seasons for the Michigan Wolverines. He decided to forgo his final year of collegiate eligibility and declare himself eligible for the 2010 NBA draft, but went undrafted. He signed with the Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He began his second year injured and rehabbed for two months in the NBA D-League with Cavaliers' affiliate, the Canton Charge, before being re-signed by the Cavaliers. He signed with BC Azovmash of Ukraine in September 2012 and spent 2012–13 playing in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague. For the following two seasons he split time in the NBA, NBA D-League and in the Turkish Basketball Super League. He is an NBA D-League All-star and six-time D-League performer of the week. He has set single-game scoring records for the Legends, Charge and D-Fenders franchises. (Full article...) General imagesThe following are images from various Michigan-related articles on Wikipedia.
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