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Michigan
The Great Lakes State, two peninsulas surrounded by fresh water
Michigan is the Great Lakes state above all others — two great peninsulas almost entirely surrounded by fresh water, touching four of the five Great Lakes and holding the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision on Earth, more than 3,200 miles. The mitten-shaped Lower Peninsula holds most of the people and the auto industry — the wilder Upper Peninsula, joined only by the Mackinac Bridge, stretches west across forest, waterfalls, and old mining country toward Wisconsin.
The lakes made the state. Glaciers gouged their basins and left behind the sandy shores, dunes, and inland lakes that dot Michigan by the thousands. Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world by area, borders the Upper Peninsula's rugged north. Mount Arvon, the high point at 1,979 feet (603 m), rises in that northern forest. Detroit, on the strait that gave the state its position, grew into the heart of American carmaking, while the surrounding waters shape Michigan's climate, recreation, and identity.
Economy
Michigan is the heart of the American automobile industry, home to the Detroit Three carmakers, and manufacturing remains the backbone of its economy. The state has worked to diversify into healthcare, technology, and research, and it draws substantial tourism to its Great Lakes shores and the Upper Peninsula. Its lake-moderated climate supports an unusually varied agriculture, from cherries to corn.
Politics
Michigan carries 15 electoral votes and was long part of the Democratic-leaning industrial blue wall, but it has become a hard-fought swing state, decided by very thin margins in recent presidential elections. The union-influenced cities and college towns lean Democratic, while many rural areas and parts of the north and west lean Republican.