The
Lower Peninsula of Michigan is the southern of the
two major landmasses of the
U.S. state of
Michigan. It is surrounded by water on all sides except its southern border, which it shares with
Ohio and
Indiana. Geographically, the Lower Peninsula has a recognizable shape that many people associate with a
mitten, with the mid-eastern region identified as
The Thumb. This has led to several
folkloric creation myths for the area, one being that it is a hand print of
Paul Bunyan, a giant lumberjack and favorite European-American folk character in Michigan. When asked where they live, Lower Peninsula residents may hold out a hand and point to a spot on it to indicate the location. The peninsula is sometimes divided into the
Northern Lower Peninsula and Southern Lower Peninsula.