Upper Peninsula of Michigan

The Upper Peninsula ( Upper Peninsula of Michigan) is the more northerly of the two major land masses, which together form the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also commonly known as the U.P. ( Abbreviation of Upper Peninsula ) refers. The area is bounded by Lake Superior to the north, the St. Marys River in the east, the Michigan and Huronseen in the south and the state of Wisconsin in the west.

The Upper Peninsula has about a third of the land area of ​​Michigan but just three percent of the total population. The inhabitants are often called Yoopers (derived from UP- ers) and have a strong regional identity. The only county in the U.S., where the largest ethnic group consists of people with Finnish ancestry, are located in the Upper Peninsula. The largest cities are Marquette, Escanaba, Sault Ste. Marie, Menominee and Iron Mountain. The land and climate are not very good for agriculture, and the economy is based more on forestry and mining. With the decline of the mining industry since the "golden age" from 1890 to 1920, the regional economy is increasingly based on wood, because the peninsula has vast areas of forest.

Demography

The Upper Peninsula is still a predominantly rural region. Only 106 304 people live in the twelve cities that have more than 4,000 inhabitants and cover an area of ​​249.7 km ². In the 21 municipalities that have at least 2,000 inhabitants, located just 129 215 people. These communities occupy only 347.8 km ² - less than one percent of the area of the peninsula.

Famous people

• Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks Coffee Co. and a graduate of Northern Michigan University