Michigan

Holland, Michigan | Traverse City, Michigan

Michigan is a north-central state in the U.S. that is bordered by four of the five great lakes and has the longest freshwater shoreline in the world. It is also the only state that consists of two peninsulas – the lower is called "the mitten" and the upper is called "The U.P." or "Yooper."

The capital of Michigan is Lansing and Detroit is its largest city, with 870,000. The state has a population of 9.9 million, which is the 8^th largest in the nation. Admitted to the Union in 1837 (the 26^th state), Michigan consists of 97,990 square miles, which is the 11^th in the nation in total area.

The winter months tend to be drier in Michigan, while summer is wetter than the rest of the year, making for a humid climate. From late fall through winter, the state is subject to lake-effect snow, which adds to the already high precipitation average of 30-40 inches a year.

While Michigan is well-known for the automobile industry, information technology and life sciences are also important to the economy as well. In addition, Michigan is the 3^rd leading producer of Christmas trees with over 60,000 acres dedicated to tree farming. Hunting also contributes about $2 billion annually to the economy in Michigan.

Michigan has several professional sporting teams, including Detroit Lions football, Detroit Tigers baseball, Detroit Red Wings hockey, and Detroit Pistons basketball. In addition, the athletic departments of Michigan State University Spartans and University of Michigan Wolverines draw crowds for college sporting events.

There are 14 primary airports providing service to Michigan including Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Saginaw, and Sault Ste. Marie to name a few. There are dozens of other reliever-use, local and private-use airports as well.