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.

The Great Lakes region has largely been inhabited for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples such as the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, and Wyandot. 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.

In the 17th century, French explorers claimed the area for New France. French settlers and Métis established forts and settlements. 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. (Full article...)

More about Michigan

Recognized content -

Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the country. After the introduction of the Morrill Act in 1862, the state designated the college a land-grant institution in 1863, making it the first of the land-grant colleges in the United States. The college became coeducational in 1870. Today, Michigan State has facilities all across the state and over 634,000 alumni.

Michigan State is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The university's campus houses the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden, the Abrams Planetarium, the Wharton Center for Performing Arts, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, and the country's largest residence hall system. (Full article...)

List of recognized articles

Selected picture -

Campus Martius Park is a re-established park in downtown Detroit, Michigan. After the fire of 1805, Campus Martius (from the Latin for Field of Mars, where Roman heroes walked) was the focal point of judge Augustus Woodward's plans to rebuild the city.

Did you know -

... that Michigan's victory in the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship marked their first outright national championship since 1948?
... that despite getting an offer from his dream basketball school, Notre Dame, Chris Hill instead chose Michigan State?
... that Foster Loyer broke Michigan's high-school and Steph Curry's Davidson records for consecutive free throws?
... that a Michigan TV station was built on a former circus ground?
... that some of the Michigan fake electors attempted to enter the State Capitol, but were turned away by the state police?
... that due to a dispute over who owned a road in Delta County, Michigan, eight school children missed two weeks of school?

Related portals

Selected article -

Bridalveil Falls emptying into Lake Superior

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a U.S. National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. It extends for 42 mi (68 km) along the shore of Lake Superior and covers 73,236 acres (114 sq mi; 296 km²). The park has extensive views of the hilly shoreline between Munising and Grand Marais in Alger County, with picturesque rock formations, waterfalls, and sand dunes.

Pictured Rocks derives its name from the 13 miles (24 km) of colorful sandstone cliffs northeast of Munising. The cliffs reach up to 200 feet (60 m) above lake level. They have been naturally sculptured into a variety of shallow caves, arches, and formations resembling castle turrets and human profiles. Near Munising, visitors can also visit Grand Island, most of which are included in the separate Grand Island National Recreation Area. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected biography -

Morris for the Michigan Wolverines in 2010

Darius Aaron Morris (January 3, 1991 – May 2, 2024) was an American professional basketball player. Morris was selected as the 41st pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers and played the point guard position. He also played for the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA as well as the Los Angeles D-Fenders and Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League. He also played overseas in China, Russia and France.

Morris spent two seasons playing college basketball with the Michigan Wolverines. While playing for the 2010–11 team, he was the Big Ten assists leader and set the Michigan single-season assist record (since broken by Trey Burke). He earned third team All-Big Ten honors his sophomore season. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

General images

The following are images from various Michigan-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Michigan as part of the Province of Quebec 1774–1776 (from History of Michigan)
Image 2Treaty of Paris, by Benjamin West (1783), an unfinished painting of the American diplomatic negotiators of the Treaty of Paris which brought official conclusion to the Revolutionary War and gave possession of Michigan and other territory to the new United States (from History of Michigan)
Image 3Cora Reynolds Anderson became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives in Michigan in 1925. (from History of Michigan)
Image 4Map of the British and French settlements in North America in 1750, before the French and Indian War (1754 to 1763) (from History of Michigan)
Image 5U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) runs along Lake Michigan from Naubinway to its eastern terminus at St. Ignace. (from Michigan)
Image 6A map of Michigan by Henry Schenck Tanner, published in 1842, showing such county names as "Negwegon County," "Okkuddo County," and "Unwattin County," prior to an 1843 legislative action renaming sixteen counties in northern Michigan (from History of Michigan)
Image 7Mackinac Island Marina after the 2006 Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race (from Michigan)
Image 8The Michigan State Capitol in Lansing houses the legislative branch of the government of the US state of Michigan. (from Michigan)
Image 9Holland, Michigan, is the home of the Tulip Time Festival, the largest tulip festival in the U.S. (from Michigan)
Image 10The Great Seal of the State of Michigan (from History of Michigan)
Image 11Mackinac Island is well known for cultural events and a wide variety of architectural styles, including the Victorian Grand Hotel. (from Michigan)
Image 12Michigan Supreme Court at the Hall of Justice (from Michigan)
Image 13Marquette, Michigan, is home to a vast snowmobile trail system. (from Michigan)
Image 14The Huron National Wildlife Refuge, one of the fifteen federal wildernesses in Michigan (from Michigan)
Image 15Köppen climate types of Michigan, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Michigan)
Image 16Michigan in 1718, Guillaume de L'Isle map, approximate state area highlighted (from History of Michigan)
Image 17Père Marquette and the Indians (1869), by Wilhelm Lamprecht (from Michigan)
Image 18Michigan is the leading U.S. producer of tart cherries, blueberries, pickling cucumbers, navy beans, and petunias. (from Michigan)
Image 19Dwarf lake iris (from Michigan)
Image 20Commemorative stamp, issue of 1935, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Michigan statehood. (from Michigan)
Image 21Ethnic origins in Michigan in 2021. (from Michigan)
Image 22Miners at the Tamarack mine in Copper Country, in 1905 (from Michigan)
Image 23The world headquarters of Kellogg's in Battle Creek (from Michigan)
Image 24Map of British America showing the original boundaries of the Province of Quebec and its Quebec Act of 1774 post-annexation boundaries (from Michigan)
Image 25The Pointe Mouillee State Game Area, one of the 221 state game and wildlife areas in Michigan. It encompasses 7,483 acres of hunting, recreational, and protected wildlife and wetland areas at the mouth of the Huron River at Lake Erie, as well as smaller outlying areas within the Detroit River. (from Michigan)
Image 26The Ambassador Bridge, a suspension bridge that connects Detroit with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. It is the busiest international border crossing in North America in terms of trade volume. (from Michigan)
Image 27Map of the Saint Lawrence River/Great Lakes Watershed in North America. Its drainage area includes the Great Lakes, the world's largest system of freshwater lakes. The basin covers nearly all of Michigan. (from Michigan)
Image 28Aerial view of Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) (from Michigan)
Image 29The 21st Michigan Infantry, a company of William Tecumseh Sherman's veterans (from Michigan)
Image 30The former Packard Automotive Plant in Detroit, one of the hardest hit cities in the Rust Belt. (from Michigan)
Image 31The 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan (from Michigan)
Image 322024 U.S. presidential election results by county in Michigan
Democratic
Republican
(from Michigan)
Image 33Union members occupying a General Motors body factory during the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1937 which spurred the organization of militant CIO unions in auto industry (from History of Michigan)
Image 34The Tahquamenon Falls in the Upper Peninsula (from Michigan)
Image 35Governor Gretchen Whitmer speaking at a National Guard ceremony in 2019 (from Michigan)
Image 36Michigan Municipalities (from Michigan)
Image 37Detroit, c. 1837, after a sketch by Frederick Grain (from History of Michigan)
Image 38Michigan is the center of the American automotive industry. The Renaissance Center in Downtown Detroit is the world headquarters of General Motors. (from Michigan)
Image 39Public Mural In Flint, Michigan (from Michigan)
Image 40Detroit in the mid-twentieth century. At the time, the city was the fourth-largest U.S. metropolis by population, and held about one-third of the state's population. (from Michigan)
Image 41The Blue Water Bridge, a twin-span bridge across the St. Clair River that links Port Huron and Sarnia, Ontario (from Michigan)
Image 42The 2024 NFL draft held in Detroit, Michigan (from Michigan)
Image 43Treaty of Paris, by Benjamin West (1783), an unfinished painting of the American diplomatic negotiators of the Treaty of Paris which brought official conclusion to the Revolutionary War and gave possession of Michigan and other territory to the new United States (from Michigan)
Image 44The Mackinac Bridge, a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac to connect the Upper and Lower peninsulas of Michigan (from Michigan)
Image 45Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station on the shore of Lake Erie, near Monroe (from Michigan)
Image 46Sleeping Bear Dunes, along the northwest coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan (from Michigan)
Image 47Mackinac Island, an island and resort area at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac. More than 80% of the island is preserved as Mackinac Island State Park. (from Michigan)
Image 48Gerald Ford, a politician from Grand Rapids who was elected to the House of Representatives thirteen times and also served as House Minority Leader and then Vice President, became the 38th President of the United States after the resignation of Richard Nixon. (from History of Michigan)
Image 49The floor of the Michigan House of Representatives (from Michigan)
Image 50Ford Dearborn Proving Ground (DPG) completed major reconstruction and renovations in 2006. (from Michigan)
Image 51Map of the original 13 colonies and their territories. Note that Michigan was the object of multiple claims. (from History of Michigan)

Topics

Symbols

Animate insignia
Bird	American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Fish	Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
Flower	Apple blossom (Malus domestica)
Game animal	White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Mammal	Wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus) (unofficial)
Reptile	Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)
Tree	Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Wildflower	Dwarf Lake Iris (Iris lacustris)

Inanimate insignia
Fossil	Mastodon (Mammut americanum)
Gemstone	Isle Royale greenstone or Chlorastrolite
Motto	"Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice" Latin for "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you"
Nicknames	Wolverine State Great Lakes State Mitten State Winter Water Wonderland
Soil	Kalkaska Sand
Songs	My Michigan
Stone	Petoskey stone

Lists

List of Michigan-related topics

Government

People

Outdoors

Transportation

Other

Related pages

WikiProject Michigan
Michigan Highways portal

WikiProject United States
United States Portal

Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Things you can do

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Expand : Sleeper Lakes Fire, Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Yellow Dog Plains, University of Michigan Biological Station, The Thumb, more
Maintain : WikiProject Michigan
Photo : Requested photographs in Michigan
Update : this Portal

Discover Wikipedia using portals