Michigan is located in the Midwest of the United States. It was the twenty-sixth state to join the Union, becoming a state on January 26, 1837. Michigan is the eighth most populous and eleventh largest state in the U.S.A. The state capital is Lansing and the largest and most populated city is Detroit. Its bordering states are Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota and the bordering country is Canada. Michigan's major rivers are Detroit River, Grand River, Kalamazoo River, St. Clair River and St. Marys River. Michigan is the home of the longest freshwater shoreline in the country and also bounded by four of the five Great Lakes coupled with Lake Saint Clair, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. There are also over 60,000 inland lakes. Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The birthplace of the automotive industry took place here at the turn of the century and also rock and roll was claimed to be started in Detroit. The population of Michigan are called Michiganders, Michiganians or Michiganites.
The state was named after 'Lake Michigan’, which means 'large water' or 'large lake' in Ojibwe. The state nickname is 'Wolverine State'. Some people believe that Michigan received this nickname from the state of Ohio during a dispute over the Toledo strip when the Ohioans described the Michiganians as being as vicious and bloodthirsty as wolverines. The state bird is the Robin and the state flower is the Apple Blossom. The state flag, which was adopted in 1911, features a deep blue background with the center being dominated by an elk and moose around a blue shield labeled 'TUEBOR', meaning 'I will defend'. Illustrated on the shield is a man with a raised hand and a gun, a rising sun, a peninsula and lakes. Below the shield, elk and moose, are two white ribbons, which read 'SI QUAERIS PENINSULAM AMOENAM' and 'CIRCUM SPICE' meaning, 'If you are seeking an amenable peninsula, look around you'. Above the shield is a bald eagle holding an olive branch and a sheaf of three arrows. Above the bald eagle is a red ribbon which reads the U.S motto, 'E PLURIBUS UNUM' which means 'Out of Many, One'. This motto of the country refers to the fact that the states of America united into one country.
Prior to European settlement in the land now known as Michigan, many Native Americans inhabited the land. The Algonquian peoples were made up of the Anishnabe, Potawatomi and Ottawa cultures. These three cultures lived at peace with one another as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. This all changed upon European arrival in the land. The Étienne Brûlé's expeditions were the first whites to discover the land, arriving in 1622. However, the first European settlement, Sault Sainte-Marie was established in 1668. Subsequently, more Europeans settlements were built with Saint Ignace being founded in 1671 and Marquette in 1675.
Le Fort Ponchartrain du Détroit settlement was established in 1701 as the French King and his minister were convinced that a permanent community there would strengthen French control over the upper Great Lakes and repel British aspirations. Soon enough, this new town became a French fur trading and shipping post.
During the War of 1812, the Michigan Territory was captured by the British and given to Canada. However, Treaty of Ghent allowed America to take back Michigan into its own possession. Following this, Michigan had a slow growing population. This however changed with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. Immediately, the population of Michigan began to increase as the canal made transportation by ships through the Great Lakes possible.
The state of Michigan began to experience a great increase in wealth when the Upper Peninsula was discovered to be a rich and important source of lumber, iron, and copper. These became the state's most sought after natural resources. The wealth of Michigan continued in the twentieth century with the birth of the automotive industry.
In 1920 Detroit's WWJ became the first radio station in the United States to regularly broadcast commercial programs. Eighty years later, the state experienced economic difficulties due to the September 11 attacks in 2001. This caused a pension and benefit fund crisis for many American companies, including General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.
The Major industries in Michigan consist of car manufacturing, information technology, the farming of corn, soybeans and wheat, furniture. timber, cereal products and fishing. In May 2009, Michigan's unemployment rate rose to 14.1%, the highest in the nation during the recession. Michigan ranks fourth nationally in high tech employment with 568,000 high tech workers.
Michigan enjoys a humid continental climate. However, the southern and central parts of the Lower Peninsula experience a warmer climate with hot summers and cold winters, whereas the northern part of Lower Peninsula and the entire Upper Peninsula has a more severe climate with warm, but shorter summers and longer, cold to very cold winters. The natural weather conditions in Michigan consist of thunderstorms and tornadoes.
Michigan is home to 10 million Americans. The center of population of Michigan is located in Shiawassee County, in the southeastern corner of the civil township of Bennington, which is located directly north of the village of Morrice. The Roman Catholic Church is one of the dominant religions in the state. There are also many Lutherans, French-Roman Catholics and Jews who occupy the state of Michigan. In fact, the first Jewish synagogue in the state was Temple Beth El, founded by twelve Jewish families in Detroit in 1850.
Michigan features many tourist attractions including the World's Largest Cherry Pie Battle, American Museum of Magic, Air Zoo, Soo Locks, Dinosaur Gardens Prehistoric Zoo, World's Largest Tire and Jackson Cascades. Some of the state's natural attractions consist of Big Sable Point Lighthouse-Ludington State Park, Peach Mountain Observatory and Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum. The state also boasts a fair amount of outdoor recreation such as trails, kayaking, cross-country skiing paradise and great mountain biking trails.
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