City North America
Detroit
Detroit is a big city in the United States, beside a river. Across the river is Canada!
Detroit is the largest city in Michigan, on the Detroit River across from Windsor, Canada. French settlers founded it in 1701, and in 1896 Charles Brady King drove Detroit's first gasoline-powered car down Woodward Avenue. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated 649,095 people in Detroit in July 2025.
Founded on 24 July 1701 as Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, Detroit became capital of the Michigan Territory in 1805 and, by 1900, the 13th largest U.S. city, where carmaking was just beginning. The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate gives the city 649,095 people on 1 July 2025, up from 634,219 in 2022.
Photo: Michael Tighe, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Detroit
Detroit is a big city in the state of Michigan, in the United States.
It is beside the Detroit River. On the other side of the river is a city in Canada called Windsor.
Detroit is in Michigan, in the north of the United States. It stands on the Detroit River, and the city of Windsor, in Canada, lies on the other bank. A bridge and a tunnel link the two countries here.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated 649,095 people in Detroit on 1 July 2025, more than in any other city in Michigan. Its estimates have gone up every year since 2022, when they stood at 634,219.
The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates for Michigan's places give Detroit 649,095 people on 1 July 2025, against an estimates base of 639,534 for April 2020. The yearly figures fell to 634,219 in 2022, then rose to 637,452 (2023), 644,035 (2024) and 649,095 (2025). Grand Rapids, Michigan's next largest city, had 201,183.
UrbanRail.Net puts about 4 million people in the wider metropolitan area.
- Country and state
- United States; Michigan
- People in Detroit (estimate, 1 July 2025)
- 649,095
- Rank in Michigan
- largest city
- Founded
- 24 July 1701
Towers on the riverfront
In the photo, tall buildings stand in a row beside a wide, calm river. The sky is pink and blue.
The dark round towers on the right are a group of skyscrapers joined together.
This photo was taken from Windsor, in Canada, looking across the Detroit River at downtown Detroit. The cluster of dark, round towers on the right is the Renaissance Center, a group of connected skyscrapers from 1977. Huntington Place, a convention center, is also in the picture.
A long exposure made the river look smooth as glass. Under the river, the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel, dating from 1930, carries vehicles between the two countries.
The Commons file is a long exposure by Michael Tighe, filed under Views of Detroit from Windsor, Renaissance Center and Huntington Place. Wikidata dates the Renaissance Center, a group of interconnected skyscrapers, to 1977, Huntington Place (a convention center) to 1960, and Hart Plaza, an urban park, to 1975.
The Detroit–Windsor Tunnel (1930) is a vehicle tunnel between the two countries, and the Ambassador Bridge, a privately owned suspension bridge, also connects Detroit with Windsor, Ontario.
- Renaissance Center
- group of connected skyscrapers, 1977
- Huntington Place
- convention center, 1960
- Detroit–Windsor Tunnel
- road tunnel to Canada, 1930
From a log fort to the first carmakers
Long ago, French settlers built a fort of logs here, beside the river. They traded furs.
Much later, people in Detroit started building cars.
On 24 July 1701, Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac arrived with 100 French soldiers and 100 Algonquins at "le détroit", French for "the strait". They built a fort of logs to protect the French fur trade. Later that year, Huron, Miami, Ottawa and Chippewa people built villages nearby.
After a fire destroyed the town in 1805, Judge Augustus Woodward drew a new street plan based on Washington, D.C. Detroit became a city in 1815. In 1896 Charles Brady King drove Detroit's first gasoline-powered car down Woodward Avenue, and Henry Ford test-drove his first car.
The Detroit Historical Society's timeline records Britain taking over from France in 1760, when Detroit had about 2,000 inhabitants, and Detroit becoming capital of the Michigan Territory in 1805. The city's motto, adopted in 1827, means "We hope for better days; it shall rise from the ashes", recalling the 1805 fire.
By 1900 Detroit had 285,704 people, the 13th largest U.S. city, and the timeline calls it the world's largest maker of heating and cooking stoves. Ransom E. Olds opened Detroit's first car factory in 1899, and in 1901 Henry Ford set up his second car company.
- Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit
- built of logs, 1701
- Incorporated as a city
- 1815, with 850 people
- People in 1900
- 285,704
A ring above downtown
A little train goes round and round above the streets of downtown Detroit. It is called the People Mover.
A streetcar runs along a long, straight avenue.
The Detroit People Mover is an elevated loop that runs one way around downtown. It opened in 1987, has 13 stations on 4.7 kilometers of track, and one trip around takes 15 minutes. Several stations are built into buildings.
The QLine, a 5.3-kilometer streetcar line opened in 2017, runs along Woodward Avenue. The Detroit Historical Society says that avenue began in 1816 as a road built along a former Native American trail.
UrbanRail.Net describes the People Mover as a one-direction elevated ring line, similar to Miami's downtown Metromover, opened on 31 July 1987: 4.7 km, 13 stations, a 15-minute round trip and trains every 2 to 3 minutes. It switched to counterclockwise running on 1 March 2020.
The QLine streetcar (5.3 km, opened 12 May 2017) links downtown along the Woodward Avenue corridor to Amtrak's station. Woodward Avenue grew from a road to the settlement of Pontiac started in 1816.
- Detroit People Mover
- elevated loop, opened 31 July 1987
- People Mover loop
- 4.7 km, 13 stations
- QLine streetcar
- 5.3 km, opened 12 May 2017
Cold winters, warm summers
Detroit's winters are cold. In January, even daytime temperatures average just below freezing.
Summers are warm, and some rain falls in every month.
The World Meteorological Organization's averages for Detroit (1981–2010) show a big difference between the seasons. In January, days average about −0.3 °C and nights about −6.5 °C. In July, days average about 28 °C.
About 796 millimeters of precipitation fall in an average year, spread over every month. September is the wettest month, with about 86 millimeters, and January the driest, with about 36.
The WMO table for Detroit, 1981–2010, gives average highs from −0.3 °C in January to 28.1 °C in July and average lows from −6.5 °C in January to 18.4 °C in July; December to March all have average lows below freezing.
The monthly averages, labelled rainfall by WMO, add up to about 795.9 mm a year. The wettest month is September (86.1 mm) and the driest January (35.6 mm); no month gets less than 35 mm.
- July, average high (WMO, 1981–2010)
- 28.1 °C
- January, average low (same period)
- −6.5 °C
- Precipitation in a year (sum of the monthly averages)
- about 796 mm
Cars, music and an island park
Music was made here too! A record company called Motown began in Detroit.
There is also a big park on an island in the river.
Wikidata lists the nickname Motor City for Detroit, where carmaking began in the 1890s. Motown, a record label founded in 1959, had its first headquarters in Detroit, at a house called Hitsville U.S.A. It is now the Motown Museum; its tours are paused for an expansion, with reopening planned for spring 2027.
Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River, opened to the public as a park in 1884.
The Motown Museum, home of Hitsville U.S.A., shows the apartment where Berry Gordy lived with his family during the label's earliest days, and Studio A. Its guided tours paused on 20 January 2026 for a $75 million expansion, with reopening planned for spring 2027.
The Detroit Historical Society calls Belle Isle Park, opened in 1884, the largest island park in the nation, and notes that in 1879 Detroit became the first city to assign individual telephone numbers.
- Motown record label
- founded 12 January 1959
- Hitsville U.S.A.
- Motown's first headquarters, 2648 West Grand Boulevard
- Belle Isle Park
- opened to the public in 1884
Detroit on the map
Find the United States on the globe. Look near the big lakes in the north, close to Canada. Detroit is there, beside a river!
If you cross the river, you are in Canada.
Detroit is in the north of the United States, at about 42° north, on the Detroit River, which forms the border with Canada here.
Measured from the Renaissance Center, Hart Plaza is about 0.4 kilometers to the west-southwest, Huntington Place about 0.7 kilometers to the west-southwest, the Ambassador Bridge about 3.4 kilometers to the west-southwest, Belle Isle Park about 5.2 kilometers to the east-northeast, and Hitsville U.S.A. about 5.6 kilometers to the northwest.
Detroit lies at about 42.33° N and 83.08° W. Measured from the Renaissance Center (Wikidata points): Hart Plaza 0.42 km west-southwest, the tunnel's point 0.49 km south, Huntington Place 0.67 km west-southwest, the Ambassador Bridge 3.40 km west-southwest, Belle Isle Park 5.18 km east-northeast and Hitsville U.S.A. 5.61 km northwest.
The hero photo is a long exposure from Windsor, Ontario, taken on 26 September 2015, looking across the Detroit River at the downtown riverfront. Wikidata describes the river as running along the border between Michigan and Ontario.
- Latitude
- about 42.3° north
- Longitude
- about 83.1° west
- Renaissance Center to Belle Isle Park
- about 5.2 km east-northeast
Amazing facts
-
The French settlers called this place le détroit. It means the strait.
In 1701 the French settlers came to "le détroit", which means "the strait", and built a fort there.
The Detroit Historical Society says Cadillac led 100 French soldiers and 100 Algonquins to "le détroit" (the strait), where they built Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit from logs.
-
Detroit was the first city to give telephones their own numbers!
In 1879 Detroit became the first city to give each telephone its own number, the Detroit Historical Society says.
The Detroit Historical Society's timeline records that in 1879 Detroit became the first city to assign individual telephone numbers.
-
Detroit's People Mover trains go round in a loop, always the same way.
The People Mover runs one way around a 4.7-kilometer loop, and a full trip takes 15 minutes.
UrbanRail.Net notes that the People Mover switched to counterclockwise running on 1 March 2020.
-
Detroit's motto says the city will rise from the ashes.
Detroit's motto, adopted in 1827, means "We hope for better days; it shall rise from the ashes".
The Latin motto Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus was adopted with the city seal in 1827 to recall the fire of 1805.
Words to know
- strait
- a narrow stretch of water that joins two larger bodies of water
- fort
- a strong building or place built to protect the people inside
- fur trade
- buying and selling animal furs, a big business in North America long ago
- record label
- a company that records music and sells it
- long exposure
- a photo taken with the camera open for a long time, which makes moving water look smooth
- motto
- a short saying that tells what a place or group believes in
Discovery challenge
-
Which country is across the river from Detroit?
Which country lies on the other side of the Detroit River?
Windsor, across the Detroit River from Detroit, is in which country?
- Mexico
- Canada
- France
Show the answer
Canada
Canada!
Canada: the city of Windsor is across the river.
Canada (Windsor, Ontario).
-
What did people in Detroit start building around the year 1900?
Starting in the 1890s, Detroit's factories began building what?
Which industry began in Detroit in the 1890s, with Charles Brady King's gasoline car in 1896 and Ransom E. Olds's factory in 1899?
- Cars
- Airplanes
- Ships
Show the answer
Cars
Cars!
Cars: Detroit is nicknamed the Motor City.
The car industry.
-
Who built the first fort at Detroit?
Settlers from which country founded Detroit in 1701?
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit was built in 1701 by soldiers from which country?
- Spain
- England
- France
Show the answer
France
People from France!
France.
France, under Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac.
-
What is Motown?
What is Motown, founded in Detroit in 1959?
What was based at Hitsville U.S.A. on West Grand Boulevard?
- A car factory
- A music record company
- A sports team
Show the answer
A music record company
A music company!
A record label.
Motown, the record label: Hitsville U.S.A. was its first headquarters.
-
How does the People Mover travel?
How does the Detroit People Mover run around downtown?
UrbanRail.Net describes the People Mover as what kind of line?
- Round a loop above the streets
- Underground to the airport
- On a river ferry
Show the answer
Round a loop above the streets
Round and round, up high!
One way around an elevated loop.
A one-direction elevated ring line.
Nearby places
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Lake Erie
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Landmark
Welland Canal
The Welland Canal is a canal 43.5 kilometers long in Ontario, Canada. It joins Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, so ships can go around Niagara Falls. Eight locks lift and lower ships across a height difference of 99.4 meters between the two lakes.
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Landmark
CN Tower
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City
Toronto
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Natural wonder
Niagara Falls
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Landmark
Erie Canal
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Chicago
Chicago, in the state of Illinois, is the third-biggest city in the United States, with about 2.7 million people (2025). It grew fast beside Lake Michigan, rebuilt itself after the Great Fire of 1871 and became famous for its skyscrapers, railways, museums and music.
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Landmark
Willis Tower
Willis Tower, first called the Sears Tower, is a skyscraper in Chicago finished in 1973. It is 442 meters tall and was the tallest building in the world for about 25 years. Its clever 'bundled tube' design was made by engineer Fazlur Khan and the firm SOM.
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Toronto
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Belmopan
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Boston
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Detroit on the Detroit River, on the border with Canada.
- Explain how a fur-trade fort grew into a city.
- Connect a city's history to an industry: cars in Detroit.
- Read a climate with cold winters and warm summers.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Detroit and Windsor are in different countries but only a river apart. What might it be like to live so close to a border?
- After the 1805 fire, Detroit was planned again with new streets. What would you think about if you could plan a town from the start?
- Detroit is known for both cars and music. What is your town known for, and why?
Try at home or in class
- Temperature chart: plot Detroit's monthly highs and lows and find the months below freezing.
- Motto maker: Detroit's motto hopes for better days. Write a motto for your school or family.
- River border: draw the Detroit River with Detroit on one side and Windsor on the other, and add the bridge and tunnel.
Key vocabulary: strait, fort, fur trade, record label, long exposure, motto
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- City and town population totals, Vintage 2025: Michigan (sub-est2025_26.csv) , U.S. Census Bureau
- Timeline of Detroit , Detroit Historical Society
- Detroit Streetcar & Peoplemover , UrbanRail.Net (Robert Schwandl)
- Motown Museum: Home of Hitsville U.S.A. , Motown Museum
- World Weather Information Service: Detroit, Michigan climatological information , World Meteorological Organization
- File:Detroit Skyline (123143197).jpeg (Michael Tighe, 26 September 2015) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.