Michigan is one of the fifty states in the United States of America. It is the11th largest state in the United States.  It is made up of two peninsulas (connected by the Mackinac Bridge): the only state to be so. It borders the U.S. states of Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, and Illinois. Its borders with Minnesota and Illinois are only by water.  It also borders Canada by water.  It was the 26th state to join the union on January 26, 1837.  In 1847, Michigan became the first U.S. state to abolish the death penalty.[6]

Michigan is noted as the place where many automobiles were made, and it still shows today. Michigan is 50% forest, which makes it very useful to the lumber industry. It also borders four of the Great Lakes, which are some of the largest reservoirs of fresh water in the world.  Lake Superior is the largest body of freshwater in the world.

The state experiences four seasons, with the winter being predominant and severe in the north, while the south has more mild, equally long seasons. The northern areas are very popular for skiing in the winter. The National Ski Hall of Fame can be found in Ishpeming in the Upper Peninsula. It is surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes. It is also home to the largest mosque in North America, the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn.

Due to the large amount of water surrounding the state, boating is very popular in the warmer months.  There are more private boats registered in Michigan than in any other state.

Many famous people have come from Michigan.  They include the singer Madonna, the comedian Andy Richter, singer Stevie Wonder, Anthony Kiedis, former president Gerald Ford, singer Kid Rock, rapper Eminem, the former Reverend Jim Bakker, basketball legend Magic Johnson,  Diana Ross, and Aretha Franklin. Also it was the home of Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company.

The capital city of Michigan is Lansing, and large cities include Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, Grand Rapids, and Saginaw. Marquette is the largest city in the Upper Peninsula.

Michigan has several state universities including Michigan State University, University of Michigan, Saginaw Valley State University, Grand Valley State University and Western Michigan University.[7] The state also has many private colleges.

The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who took office in January 2019, and its two national senators are Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, both Democrats. Out of its 14 congressmen, 7 are Democrats, 6 are Republicans and Justin Amash is a Libertarian. In any event, Michigan had once been reliably blue in presidential elections, having voted for the Democrat in presidential elections since 1988, but then in 2016 it swung red to support Donald Trump. It will be regarded in future as a Swing State.

Michiganian politics is representative of Midwest politics as a whole. In general, Michigan is more liberal than the states of Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio, about as liberal as Pennsylvania and Iowa, and less liberal than Illinois and Minnesota. In the State Legislature, Republicans control both houses, although this is true even in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio.

Media related to Michigan at Wikimedia Commons