Michigan State Facts, Symbols and History

Michigan Fast Facts

Capital: Lansing (popularity). 114,947 (2011 est.)

Michigan Population: 9,883,360 ( 2012 est.) (9th)

Michigan Quarter The Michigan Quarter was the first quarter of 2004 and the 26th quarter released in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program.Michigan was admitted to the Union on January 26, 1837, becoming our National 26th State. The Michigan Quarter depicts an outline of the state and the Great LakesThe design of the quarter highlights the history of Michigan and the Great Lakes – Supra, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. These lakes are five of the largest in the world, and together they cover more than 38,000 square miles. Michigan is the only US state that borders four of the five lakes.

The inscription on the quarter reads “Great Lakes State”.

Language: English, others

Largest Cities: (by population) Detroit, Grand Rapids, Warren, Sterling Heights, Flint, Lansing

Name: The name Michigan is derived from the Indian word Chippewa, Michigana, meaning “large or great lake”.

Statehood: January 26, 1837 (26th state)

Michigan Symbols

• Animal: white-tailed deer
• Bird: Robin
• Flag of Michigan
• Fish: char
• Flower: apple blossom
• Gemstone: Isle of Royal Greenstone Rocks
• Insect: Green Darner Dragon Fly
• Motto: “Questions si peninsulam amoenam, circum spice” (If you are looking for a pleasant peninsula, look around you).
• Nicknames: (most used) Wolverine State; Great Lakes State
• Song: My Michigan
• State seal
• Stone: Petoskey Stone
• Tree: White Pine
• Wild flower: dwarf lake iris

Michigan is a state in the Midwest of the United States, part of the Northeast Center group of states. 26th state in the union. The capital is Lansing. The largest city is Detroit ; other major cities are Grand Rapids, Warren, Flint, Sterling Heights, Ann Arbor. See cities and towns in Michigan.

Population 9,909,877 (2014 data).

The symbolic flower since 1897 is the apple blossom. Official nicknames are Wolverine State (Wolverine State), Great Lake State (Great Lake State).

The state of Michigan occupies an area of 250.7 thousand km (11th place in the USA), 41.3% of this area falls on water. The territory of the state consists of two peninsulas surrounded by the Great Lakes – Lower and Upper, connected by the Mackinac Bridge, as well as many islands.

In the east, Michigan borders on the Canadian province of Ontario and is washed by the waters of Lakes Huron and Erie, in the south it borders on the states of Ohio and Indiana, in the west it borders on Wisconsin and is washed by Lake Michigan, in the north it is washed by Lake Superior and has a water border with the states of Illinois and Minnesota.

• AbbreviationFinder: Demonstrates how the two-letter acronym of MI stands for Michigan and a list of frequently used abbreviations related to the state of Michigan.

The total coastline of the state has a length of 5.2 thousand km (the largest figure among the continental states). There are more than 11,000 inland lakes in Michigan, which significantly affect the state’s climate.

For several millennia, Indian tribes have lived in Michigan. By the time the Europeans arrived, the Ojibwa (Chippewa), Ottawa, Potawatomi and Wyandot Indian tribes lived here. The first European to visit the Upper Peninsula was Étienne Brule (1622). In 1668, the Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette founded the first settlement of Sault Ste. Marie here. In 1679, Robert da la Salle built the first European sailing ship on Lake Superior.

In 1701, French officer and explorer Antoine Cadillac founded the settlement of Detroit around Fort Pontchartrain (named after the then French prime minister, Louis Felipot, comte de Pontchartrain).

In the middle of the 18th century, the province passed from the French to the British as a result of the French and Indian War. After the American Revolutionary War, Michigan became part of the Northwest Territory. In 1794, American troops defeated the Indians at the Battle of the Fallen Trees and, under Jay’s treaty, gained control of several forts.

In 1805, the Michigan Territory was created. During the Anglo-American War of 1812-1814. she was temporarily in the hands of the British. In the 1830s a massive influx of immigrants began here, associated with the creation of the Erie Canal, road infrastructure, as well as the development of agriculture and the mining industry.

In 1835, the state constitution was signed, but due to a territorial dispute with Ohio, Michigan did not enter the union until January 26, 1837. Stevens Mason became the first governor of the state in 1835.

In the Civil War, 23% of the male population of Michigan (more than 90,000 people) participated on the side of the northerners, about 14,000 of them died.

In 1903, assembly line production of automobiles was founded at the Henry Ford plant. In 1926, General Motors set an industry record with annual sales of $1 billion.

Michigan, and especially Detroit, was considered the center of the American automobile industry. Important income items are also tourism and hunting. In addition, there are minerals – oil, iron ore, natural gas. The state ranks first in peat production.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2003 Michigan’s GDP was $365 billion.