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Michigan [miʹʃigən], abbreviated MI, State of the Midwest,
USA; 250,500 km2, 10 million inhabitants (2018).Michigan, located on
the Great Lakes, consists of two peninsula, Upper and Lower Peninsula, which are
separated by the Mackinac Strait. The capital is Lansing.
Michigan. State Map.
Nature
The western part of the Upper Peninsula is underpinned by crystalline
rocks. The landscape is hilly and has sandy soils, which are partly pine
forests.
Michigan. The upper lake's southern coast has
spectacular sandstone formations in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Natural Park on the Upper Peninsula.
The eastern part of the Upper Peninsula as well as the large Lower Peninsula
are lowland. Here, sedimentary rocks dominate and the most common soil is
moraine clay.
The climate is continental but the proximity to Lake Michigan provides
slightly milder winters and cooler summers. Grand Haven on the west side of the
Lower Peninsula has an average temperature in January of −4 °C and in July of 21
° C; Upper Peninsula has slightly colder winters. The average annual rainfall is
about 800 mm.
Population
Michigan had a weak population increase during the 1990s. 14 per cent of the
inhabitants are black. About 80 percent of the population lives in metropolitan
areas. The largest of these is Detroit – Warren – Dearborn with 4.3 million
inhabitants. Then follows Grand Rapids - Wyoming ($ 1 million). Both are located
in the heavily industrialized southern part of the Lower Peninsula.
Business
The former forest and agricultural state was developed during the 20th
century into one of America's foremost industrial states. The forest industry
has no major significance nowadays. However, agriculture is still important in
the southern and southwestern parts. Michigan has significant mineral resources,
though the previously significant iron ore mining in the Upper Peninsula has
decreased in importance.
Manufacturing of cars and related products dominates the versatile
industry. However, Michigan has been affected by the problems the country's auto
industry has had since the 1970s. In Detroit, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler
have their headquarters and some manufacturing units. Such are also found in
Flint and Lansing, however, cuts in the industry have hit cities hard.
Michigan. General Motors US headquarters is still
in central Detroit, but car production has moved to suburbs or other parts of
the country. Detroit has been hit hard by factory closures and the city's
industrial jobs have dropped from 296,000 in 1950 to just over 20,000 in 2015.
Other known industrial species are Grand Rapids (furniture) and Battle Creek
(breakfast cereals).
Tourism and gastronomy
Tourism revenue plays a big role in the state. In addition to a long
coastline to the Great Lakes, Michigan has thousands of smaller lakes and
streams, with good fishing opportunities.
In the northwestern part of the Lower Peninsula is the Sleeping Bear Dunes
Nature Reserve with a unique landscape of large dunes. Mackinac Island in the
western part of Lake Huron is well-visited. There is one of the country's oldest
fort (now a museum) and other memories from the colonization era.
In the Greenfield Village in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Henry Ford built
a museum community of over 100 acres, containing Thomas Alvar Edison's
laboratory and the Wright brothers' workshop. Most buildings and objects are
original and moved there.
Michigan. Thomas Edison's lab in Greenfield
Village. The lab was moved to Greenfield Village from Menlo Park in New Jersey
by Henry Ford.
The city of Detroit is the state's premier destination, and attracts, among
other things, with worthy museums, art galleries, sports events.
Michigan falls within the scope of the robust cuisine that rules most of the
interior of the United States, but the inclusion of Eastern European settlers as
well as abundant access to fish, berries, fruits and game has given the kitchen
its own mark. Sorrel soup, followed by the main course smoked carp and
blueberry or cherry pie for dessert, might as well be a meal served in Poland or
Hungary. Pickled smelt is incorporated in Norwegian, also in Eastern
European or Scandinavian spirit.
Soup with white beans is traditional everyday food as well as root vegetables
in gratin for steaks of pork. Roasted wild duck, trout or deer sting are on the
party menu.
History
Michigan was penetrated by French fur hunters and missionaries in the 17th
century, and the first settlement was founded in 1668. In 1763, Britain gained
control of the area, which in 1783 was in the United States and in 1787 became
part of the Northwest Territory, 1805 its own territory, and 1837 the state. The
completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 contributed to rapid economic development
with agriculture, timber and mines as important industries. During the 20th
century, Michigan (especially Detroit) developed into the center of the United
States automotive industry. Politically, Michigan has been a typical bipartisan
state, with Democrats and Republicans shifting in power.
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