What are people who live on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan called?
Yooper (U.S.) A person from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (the “U.P.”). Sources: http://en.wikipedia.
Often Left Out, U.P. Ducks Michigan’s Worst Woes If there’s a Michigan map in your mind, it probably looks like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula — separated from the rest of the state by the Great Lakes — often gets left off the map entirely. While that can be irksome, the remote nature of Michigan’s northern section can also insulate it from the rest of the state’s economic distress. “You ask anybody from the U.P., ‘Have you ever seen a map of the state that cuts out your part of the U.P. or the whole U.P.?” State Rep. Mike Lahti says. “They all would say ‘Yes.’ ” Lahti stands up for the U.P. in Michigan’s Legislature. Earlier this year, Lahti was appalled when a Michigan Economic Development Corp. ad left the Upper Peninsula out. “There was a MEDC ad that was shown nationwide, with Jeff Daniels, which promotes Michigan as a place to come for good business, good high-tech industries and also some tourist industries,” Lahti says. “They finished the ad just showing the Lower Peninsula on i
The Upper Peninsula contains almost one-third of the land area of Michigan but just three percent of its total population. Residents are frequently called Yoopers (derived from “U.P.-ers”) and have a strong regional identity. It includes the only counties in the United States where a plurality of residents claim Finnish ancestry. Large numbers of Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian emigrants came to the Upper Peninsula, especially the Keweenaw Peninsula, to work in the mines, and they stayed on and prospered even after the copper mines closed. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.
