Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is a French alteration of the Ojibwe word mishigamaa meaning large water or large lake. Michigan is the eighth most populous state in the United States. It has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes plus Lake Saint Clair. Michigan is one of the leading U.S. states for recreational boating.