Detroit

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, city, seat of Wayne county, southeastern Michigan, U.S. It is located on the Detroit River (connecting Lakes Erie and St. Clair) opposite Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1701 by a French trader, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who built a fort on the river and named it Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit in honour of his patron (the French word détroit meaning “strait”); later the British called it simply Detroit. In the 20th century the city’s name became synonymous with the American automotive industry. Pop. (2010) 713,777; Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn Metro Division, 1,820,584; Detroit-Warren-Livonia Metro Area, 4,296,250; (2020) 639,111; Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia Metro Division, 1,793,561; Detroit-Warren-Dearborn Metro Area, 4,392,041.