Originating from the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning “large water” or “large lake”, Michigan was admitted into the union in 1837 as the 26th state.
With a population of about 10 million, it is the 10th most populous and the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River.
Michigan has the nation’s longest freshwater coastline, is bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, and is the only state to consist of two peninsulas; the Lower Peninsula (proudly referred to as the “mitten” by residents) and Upper Peninsula are separated by the Straits of Mackinac.
90% of the “U.P.” is forested