Michigan: Fast Facts

Capital: Lansing

Largest City: Detroit

Nicknames: The Wolverine State, The Great Lakes State

Origin of the state's name: Anishinaabe for "large lake", mishigami

State Abbreviation / Postal Code: MI

Major Airports: Detroit Metro Airport (DTW), Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR), Lansing Capital City Airport (LAN), Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport (AZO), Bishop International Airport (FNT)

Location: North midwestern US, bordered to the north by Lake Superior (and beyond that, the Canadian province of Ontario), to the east by Lake Huron and Ontario, to the south by the states of Ohio and Indiana, and to the west by Lake Michigan and Wisconsin.

Highest Point: Mount Avron (1979 ft.)

Lowest Point: The shoreline with Lake Erie (572 ft.)

Climate: Humid continental with hot summers and cold to bitter winters with plentiful rainfall throughout the year

Time Zone: EST (GMT -5) for most of the state; several counties in the western Upper Peninsula are in the CST (GMT -4)

Area Codes: 231, 248, 269, 313, 517, 586, 616, 734, 810, 906, 989

Flag: On a dark blue field, the 1832 state arms consisting of an elk and moose supporting a shield that displays a man indicating friendship, standing on a peninsula, next to a lake, with the sun rising; an eagle rests about the shield below which are the mottos E Pluribus Unum ("from one, many"), Tuebor ("I will defend"), and Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspace ("If you seek a pleasant peninaula, look about you") 

Admitted to the Union: January, 1837

Geographic note: Only bi-peninsular state