History of Michigan’s Nickname: The Great Lake State
Michigan is a beautiful state with a beautiful name taken from the Indian words “Michi-gama” which mean large lake. With so much water in and surrounding the state it is no wonder that Indians may have thought they were enveloped by one giant lake. Michigan is actually comprised of two very distinct parts. The Upper and The Lower Peninsulas which are separated by Lake Michigan, one of the four Great Lakes surrounding Michigan. Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Lake Erie also touch the amazing shorelines of Michigan. Second only to Alaska Michigan has the most shoreline in the United States. Almost half of Michigan is water and more than 3,100 miles of shoreline are on the Great Lakes. Within borders of the state of Michigan there are more than 11,000 inland lakes. This means that at any given place in the state, a person is never more than six miles from a lake or 85 miles from one of the bordering Great Lakes. The state has been known by other nicknames such as the Wolverine State but the American Indians had aptly named Michigama. It is breathtakingly beautiful surrounded by water no matter where you visit, live, work or play.