The honor and pride of being the second largest lake of the five Great Lakes of North America is in the waters of Lake Michigan. This majestically beautiful lake entirely comes within the borders of the United States. The word Michigan is believed to be born from the Indian words Mishi-gama, which mean “Large-lake”. It was formed from since the glaciers from the last Ice Age melt down to what is now referred to as the Great Lakes region.

History

Talking about the history of this Great Lake, the first few explorers of Lake Michigan were the Hopewell Indians. Later, in the seventeenth century, many non-native Americans started reaching here. Also, during the 17th century, this lake started being used as a part of the waterways that descended in the Gulf of Mexico.

Geography

Geographically, Lake Michigan is the wholly a part of the United States. Hence, it is the largest lake of the country. With a surface area of 22,400 square miles, a shoreline of 1640 miles, a depth of 278 feet on an average and 923 feet at the deepest point, and 1180 cubic miles of water volume, it, proudly, calls itself the fifth largest lake in the world. It is the largest fresh water lake in US, second largest of the Great Lakes by surface area, and third largest of the same by volume. Like other Great Lakes, Lake Michigan is connected to the Gulf of Mexico by the River Illinois. It is hydrologically inseparable from Lake Huron, which is joined to it by the wide Straits of Mackinac. The northern part of the lake lies in the colder region of the Great Lakes, while its southern parts are temperate and show up urban areas like Chicago and Milwaukee. From west to east, the US states of  Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan bind the Lake Michigan.

Civics and Tourism

Over 12 million people find their residences along the shores of Lake Michigan. It receives an overwhelming response from the tourists who come from all over the world to admire the beauty and seek pleasure of being at Lake Michigan. It’s found to have tourists from near by places like Chicago, Grand Rapids, and Detroit throughout the year.

Ecology

The lake is a home for various water species like fish and other organisms. Due to over fishing being carried out on a large scale and contamination of the waters by the waterways to some extent, the aquatic ecosystem of Lake Michigan is affected in a profound way. Yet, projects like Lake Michigan Lakwide Management Plan and organizations like Lake Michigan Federation are continuously striving for the successful cleaning up of Lake Michigan so that it is available to serve the future generation with its beauty and other aquatic benefits.