• the second largest
• the only Great Lake entirely within the United States
• variable climate, population density and development
• northern part: colder, less developed, sparsely populated
• southern basin: more temperate, among the most urbanized areas in the Great Lakes system.
• Milwaukee and Chicago metropolitan areas have about 8 million people, 20% of the total population of the Great Lakes basin
• Green Bay has one of the most productive Great Lakes fisheries but receives the wastes from the world's largest concentration of pulp and paper mills

Lake Michigan Map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration