Geography of Michigan

Introduction to Geography of Michigan

Michigan, one of the East North Central states of the United States. It is bounded on the north by Lake Superior and the province of Ontario; on the east by Ontario, Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie; on the south by Ohio and Indiana; and on the west by Lake Michigan and Wisconsin. Michigan is the only state touching on four of the five Great Lakes.

Michigan consists of two large peninsulas: Upper Michigan in the north and mitten-shaped Lower Michigan in the south. At their closest point, they lie about four miles (6.4 km) apart and are separated by the Straits of Mackinac. Except for Hawaii, which is a chain of islands, Michigan is the only state divided into major parts by large bodies of water.

Michigan ranks 11th in size among the states. It has an area of 96,810 square miles (250,738 km 2), including 40,001 square miles (103,603 km 2)of inland water. The lower peninsula forms roughly two-thirds of the total land area. Maximum length and width of the lower peninsula are 280 miles and 195 miles (451 and 314 km), respectively; of the upper, 215 and 120 miles (346 and 193 km).

Physical Geography

Michigan's surface features were formed primarily by glaciers during the last Ice Age. At that time, massive ice sheets eroded and smoothed the hills, and in places leveled the land. On receding, they dammed rivers, created lakes and marshes, and left widespread debris in such forms as moraines, drumlins, and outwash plains.

The state lies in two major regions of the United States: the Central Lowlands and the Superior Uplands.

The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Lake Plains region in Michigan, blankets the eastern half of the upper peninsula and the entire lower one. Most of the land is relatively low and varies from flat to gently rolling. The only sizable elevated tract of land, ranging in elevation from 1,200 to 1,400 feet (365 to 430 m) is on the tableland in the north-central part of the lower peninsula. The lowest point in Michigan is Lake Erie's shore—570 feet (174 m) above sea level.

The Superior Uplands, an extension of the vast Canadian Shield region of eastern Canada, covers the western half of the upper peninsula. The land is flat to rolling, increasing in elevation toward the west. Occasionally, the surface is broken by low rounded hills and ranges. These include the Copper, Gogebic, Marquette, and Menominee ranges and the Porcupine and Huron mountains. The Porcupines and Hurons both achieve elevations exceeding 1,900 feet (580 m) above sea level. Michigan's highest point—1,980 feet (604 m)—is in the Hurons.

Isle Royale, a large island in Lake Superior, is a national park noted for its wilderness beauty. Other large islands include Sugar, Drummond, and Bois Blanc in Lake Huron; and Beaver and North Manitou in Lake Michigan.

The St. Marys, St. Clair, and Detroit rivers, although relatively short, are of greatest importance because they are part of the Great Lakes system of navigable water. All three are shared with Ontario. Main rivers on the lower peninsula include the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon, Manistee, Au Sable, and Saginaw. On the upper peninsula are the Tahquamenon, Manistique, Escanaba, Ford, Menominee, and Ontonagon. Among some 150 waterfalls is the 48-foot (15-m) Tahquamenon Falls.

Inland lakes are relatively small. Of more than 11,000 lakes, the largest are Houghton, Torch, Elk, Charlevoix, Burt, and Mullet lakes. All are in the northern half of the lower peninsula. There are many bays and inlets, hundreds of miles of sandy beaches, and occasional areas of dunes.

Michigan has a humid continental type of climate similar to that of the northern Midwestern states. Michigan's is slightly more temperate, mainly because of moderating influences of winds from the Great Lakes. Lower Michigan's western shore is affected most because it lies in the direct path of prevailing westerlies moving across Lake Michigan. Winters are long and cold, summers are short and warm.

Average temperatures for January range from about 14° F. (-10° C.) in the north to 28° F. (-2° C.) in the south. July averages range from about 63° F. (17° C.) to 74° F. (23° C.). Extreme temperatures of more than 100° F. (38° C.) and as low as -40° F. (-40° C.) occur occasionally. The length of the growing season ranges from 60 to 170 days, depending on north-south location.

Precipitation falls throughout the year, but most of the annual 28 to 36 inches (710 to 910 mm) occurs during the growing season. Snowfall ranges from about 30 inches (760 mm) in the extreme southeast to 160 inches (4,060 mm) in some of the northwestern mountain areas. Cloudiness prevails during late fall and early winter.

The Economy

Michigan is predominantly an industrial state, with about 25 per cent of the labor force employed in manufacturing. Michigan is the leading manufacturer of automobiles in the United States. The production of transportation equipment, machinery, and various other metal products ranks among the state's most important manufacturing products. Detroit is Michigan's chief manufacturing center.

Tourism has been a major source of income for many years. Michigan hosts millions of tourists, who are attracted to the many lakes for fishing and other water sports. Camping, winter sports, and hunting are also popular.

The making of transportation equipment, machinery, and various other metal products are the chief activities in terms of value and employment. The economies of a number of cities, including Detroit, Flint, Lansing, and Pontiac, rely heavily on automobile manufacturing and related industries. Processed foods, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals are also major products. The making of specialized goods, such as furniture in Grand Rapids and breakfast foods in Battle Creek, adds diversity to the state's manufacturing activities. Michigan's economy is usually hard-hit by national economic slumps, mainly because auto sales decline.

Most of the best farmland is in the southern part of the state. Dairying is significant in parts of the upper peninsula and northern lower peninsula. Farm income is derived almost equally from crops and livestock. The chief farm commodities are dairy products, corn, cattle, and soybeans. Also valuable are hay, wheat, sugar beets, and vegetables. The fruit-growing region along Lake Michigan produces apples, cherries, grapes, and blueberries. Flower bulbs, particularly tulip bulbs, grown around Holland, are among the specialty crops.

Mining, Forestry, and Fishing. Michigan usually ranks among the top dozen states in the value of its mineral production. Petroleum, iron ore, and natural gas are the most valuable commodities. Michigan has long been a chief producer of iron ore, which is mined predominantly in the western part of the upper peninsula. Petroleum comes mainly from the central part of Lower Michigan. Among the other minerals are copper, gypsum, sand and gravel, magnesium compounds, salt, and stone.

Michigan was a large producer of saw-timber until about 1900, when production declined drastically due to overcutting. Today, lumbering is carried on mainly in the upper peninsula, where it is an important activity. Forests, including farm woodlots, cover about half of the state. Scientific management and reforestation are helping to rejuvenate the state's timberlands.

Michigan's fish catch makes up a large part of the total from the Great Lakes, both in quantity and value. On a national scale, however, Michigan is a small producer, as the Great Lakes' fisheries account for a minor share of the nation's catch. Whitefish is the most valuable species caught.

A great number of highways, including several Interstate routes, serve the lower peninsula. The upper peninsula has fewer roads and highways. Railways are most extensive in the southern portion of the state. The upper and lower peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge, one of the world's longest suspension bridges. The Windsor Tunnel and a number of bridges connect Michigan with Ontario, Canada. The main airport is Detroit Metropolitan.

Michigan has several ports for domestic and foreign shipping. Foreign trade developed after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. Large amounts of bulk cargo, especially iron ore and grain, pass through the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, which links Lake Huron with Lake Superior. Detroit is the chief port. There is ferry service between Ludington and Kewaunee, Wisconsin.

The People

Michigan ranked 8th in population, and was the 15st most densely populated state. Whites made up about 80 per cent of the population, and blacks about 14 per cent.

Education

The state board of education, elected for an eight-year term, appoints the superintendent of public instruction, who supervises the state department of education. School attendance is compulsory from age 6 to age 16.

Father Jacques Marquette founded missions at Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace in 1668 and 1671 to educate the Indians. White settlers in Detroit established schools in the 1800's. John D. Pierce became the first state superintendent in the nation, in 1837, when Michigan became a state. He had been appointed in 1836. The first free, tax-supported school in the state was opened at Detroit in 1842. In 1872 the legality of using tax money to support free, public high schools was tested for the first time in a case brought before the Supreme Court of Michigan. The decision, rendered in 1874 and called the Kalamazoo Decision, legalized the use of such funds for public high schools in the state and established a national precedent.

Michigan's first normal school (for training teachers) opened in Ypsilanti in 1852, the first such institution west of the Alleghenies. It developed into what is today Eastern Michigan University.

The University of Michigan traces its origin to the Catholepistemiad, or University, of Michigania, founded at Detroit in 1817 by a group of clergymen of differing denominations. The Catholepistemiad was abclished in 1821 and the University of Michigan established by acts of the territory's legislative council. The university did not begin operating, however, until it was moved to Ann Arbor and organized as a state-supported institution in 1837. There are branch campuses at Dearborn and Flint.

Michigan State University, at East Lansing, was the nation's first agricultural college and land-grant institution. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan and offered its first post-secondary instruction in 1857. It changed its name several times before adopting the present one in 1964.

Government

Michigan's governor is the state's chief executive, who is elected by the people and serve for four years. The state's Legislature is composed of a 38-member Senate and a 110-member House of Representatives. State senators serve four years and state representatives serve two-year terms. The governor and lieutenant governor run for office as a team and are elected together. The governor appoints the secretary of state and attorney general, both of whom serve four-year terms. Other department heads such as the treasurer and members of boards and commissions are appointed by the governor and serve at the pleasure of the governor.

Michigan's highest court is the state Supreme Court. The state's judiciary also consists of a court of appeals, circuit courts, district courts, and probate and municipal courts.

Michigan is represented in the U.S. Çongress by 2 senators and 15 representatives.