MICHIGAN 



3781 



MICHIGAN 



to it, authorities differing as to which of these 

 two has the longer. 



Michigan is the largest state east of the 

 Mississippi River except Georgia, and ranks 

 twenty-second in size among the states of the 

 Union. It covers about the same area as Eng- 

 land and Wales together. It has an area of 

 57,980 square miles, of which 500 square miles 

 are water; but this does not include the water 

 area of the Great Lakes within the state bound- 

 aries. The distance in a straight line from 

 Detroit in the southeastern part of the state to 

 Isle Royale in Lake Superior is about the same 

 as that from Detroit to New York. About 200 

 islands scattered in the Great Lakes are in- 

 cluded in the state of Michigan; of these, 

 Mackinac Island is one of the historic spots of 

 the United States. 



Its People. In population Michigan, with 

 2,801,173 inhabitants in 1910, ranked eighth 

 among the states of the Union, coming between 

 Missouri and Indiana. The estimated popula- 

 tion January 1, 1917, was 3,074,560. It had in 

 1910 an average number of 48.9 persons to the 

 square mile, and ranked seventeenth among the 

 states in density of population. The southern 

 half of the lower peninsula is the most thickly- 

 populated section. Michigan has nearly 300,- 

 000 more inhabitants than the neighboring Ca- 

 nadian province of Ontario, -which since 1912 

 has an area seven times as large. Of the total 

 population in 1910, 43.6 per cent were whites 

 of native parentage; 34.3 per cent were whites 

 of foreign or mixed parentage; 21.2 per cent 

 were foreign-born whites, and 0.6 per cent were 

 negroes. Of the foreign-born white population, 

 28.7 per cent came from Canada; 22.1 per 

 cent from Germany, 7.2 per cent from England, 

 and about 5 per cent each from Russia, Hol- 

 land, Austria and Sweden. The Canadian ele- 

 ment is larger here than in any other state 

 except Massachusetts. 



During the decade from 1900 to 1910 there 

 was a considerable increase in the proportion 

 of the inhabitants living in towns. In 1910 the 

 urban population constituted 47.2 per cent of 

 the total population, as compared with 39.3 per 

 cent in 1900. Over two-fifths of the urban 

 population lived in the two cities of Detroit 

 and Grand Rapids. There were 106 cities in 

 the state in 1910; this unusual number is ac- 

 counted for by the fact that no minimum popu- 

 lation requirement is imposed upon villages 

 which seek city charters ; there is one city, Har- 

 rison, with only 600 inhabitants. Each of the 

 most important cities is described elsewhere. 



Religion. Half of the people of the state be- 

 long to the Roman Catholic Church, while 

 nearly one-quarter belong in about equal num- 

 bers to the Methodist and the Lutheran 

 churches. The rest of the population is divided 



MICHIGAN 



OUTLINE MAP OF MICHIGAN 

 Showing the boundaries of the state, the prin- 

 cipal cities and rivers, mineral deposits, coal and 

 gas areas and the highest point of land in the 

 state. 



largely among the Baptists, Presbyterians, Con- 

 gregationalists and Protestant Episcopalians, in 

 the order named. 



Education. Michigan was a pioneer state in 

 creating the American educational system, and 

 has always been noted for the excellence of its 

 public schools. It adopted a very good school 

 organization at the time it was admitted to the 

 Union, and this has been improved continu- 

 ously by subsequent legislation. The state now 

 possesses a good compulsory education law, 

 with fairly effective means for its enforcement, 

 voted in 1911. All children between the ages 

 cf seven and sixteen years are required to at- 

 tend school the entire length of the school year. 

 Special provision is made for the education of 

 backward and feeble-minded children. The 

 employment of children under fourteen years 

 is prohibited, but children between fourteen 

 and sixteen may be allowed to work if they 

 have completed the eighth grade and have a 

 permit from the school authorities. The public 

 schools aro maintained from the income derived 

 from the state school lands, of which there are 

 still larre areas, also from the state funds and 

 from local taxation. 



The educational institutions are under the 

 supervision of a state superintendent of public 



