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Geography
Home » Michigan » Michigan Overview and History » GeographyMichigan is shaped like a hand, or a mitten, and in fact, if you hold your left hand out in front of you, with the palm facing away, you will get a pretty good likeness of a map of Michigan. The state includes two sections, called the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, which comprises most of the state's land mass as well as population, is the part shaped like a hand, and in fact, the land mass in the thumb is often referred to as the "thumb.". And the Upper Peninsula extends above the fingertips, jutting out between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Largely unpopulated, more than 90 percent of the Upper Peninsula's land is wooded.
The two peninsulas were connected in 1957 with the construction of Big Mac, the Mackinac Bridge. The five-mile long bridge is the world's longest suspension bridge.
Michigan is the 10th largest state in the United States, based on combined land and water area. It has 57,022 square miles of land and 11.037 inland lakes. The state also is known for having more shoreline than any state except Alaska - 3,200 miles.
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