Map of Michigan Card

Asset ID: AA018730 / Cartesia / Map of Michigan Michigan ( i / ˈ m ɪ ʃ ɨ ɡ ən / ) is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa , meaning "large water" or "large lake". Michigan is the 11th most extensive and the 8th most populous of the 50 United States . Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes , plus Lake Saint Clair . Michigan is one of the leading U.S. states for recreational boating . The state has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. A person in the state is never more than six miles (10 km) from a natural water source or more than 85 miles (137 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline. It is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River . Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas . The Lower Peninsula , to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is often noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula (often referred to as "The U.P.") is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac , a five-mile (8 km)-wide channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan . The two peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge . The Upper Peninsula is economically important due to its status as a tourist destination. There is also a variety of natural resources to be found there, including a sizable amount of iron ore. This page is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, anyone associated with the topic.