1. Michigan a State of the American Union, larger than England and Wales, is broken in two by Lake Michigan; the westernportion has Wisconsin on its S. border, the eastern portion has Indiana and Ohio on the S.; the rest of the State is surrounded by Lakes Superior, Huron, and Erie. The westernsection is mountainous, with great forests of pine, little agriculture, rich mines of copper and iron, and some gold; the eastern section is much larger, very flat and low, has coal, gypsum, and marble quarries, but is chiefly a wheat-growing area; in the SaginawValley are greatsalt wells; the climate is modified by the lakes. At first a French colony, the country was handed over to England in 1760, and to the United States in 1776; it was organised as a territory in 1805, and admitted a State in 1837; the chiefcommercial city is Detroit (206), on Detroit River, in the E., has manufactures of machinery and railway plant, leather, and beer, and a largeshipping trade. Grand Rapids (60), on the Grand River, has furniture works, and makes stucco-plaster and white bricks. Lansing (13) is the State capital, and an important railway centre.
Definitions of Michigan 
