Lansing (pop. 112,644) is the capital of Michigan and an automobile-manufacturing city. Lansing lies at the meeting place of the Grand and Red Cedar rivers in south-central Michigan. It is about 85 miles (137 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. Lansing covers an area of 40 square miles (103 square kilometers).
Lansing is the largest city in the Lansing-East Lansing metropolitan area, which includes Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham counties. The metropolitan area has a population of 473,203.
Hundreds of industries operate in the metropolitan area. The chief products include automobiles, automobile bodies and parts, and gasoline engines. Lansing is a trading center for the surrounding rich farmlands. Freight railroads, buses, and trucks serve the city. Airlines use Capital Region International Airport. Lansing has one daily newspaper, the Lansing State Journal.
East Lansing is the home of Michigan State University, the first state school to offer agricultural courses for credit. The Michigan Library and Historical Center is near the domed State Capitol Building. Workers completed the white sandstone capitol in 1878.
Settlers first came to the site of Lansing in 1837. The Legislature chose Lansing to succeed Detroit as the state capital in 1847. Lansing received its city charter 12 years later, in 1859. Lansing has a mayor-council form of government.
