Largest state east of Mississippi River? Clearly Michigan, right?

Question

I've searched for this answer here on Y! Answers, but got conflicting answers. So, I did my own research, and found the following area for states east of the Mississippi River:

Michigan 96,810 square miles

Florida 65,758

Wisconsin 65,503

Georgia 59,441

Illinois 57,918

New York 54,475

North Carolina 53,821

Arkansas 53,182

Alabama 52,423

Mississippi 48,434

Pennsylvania 46,058

Ohio 44,828

Virginia 42,769

Tennessee 42,146

Kentucky 40,411

Indiana 36,420

Maine 35,387

South Carolina 32,007

West Virginia 24,231

Maryland 12,407

Massachusetts 10,555

Vermont 9,615

New Hampshire 9,351

New Jersey 8,722

Connecticut 5,544

Delaware 2,489

Rhode Island 1,545

Minnesota and Louisiana are partially east of the Mississippi River as well, but those are smaller than Michigan as well.

What are most people missing!?

Answer 1

Michigan is the largest state east of the Mississippi with 97,990 sq miles. However, only 57,324of that area is land. The remainder is the portion of Lake Michigan within the borders of the state (most of it).

Florida is second at 65,755, of which 54,018is land.

Georgia is third at 59,425, of which 57,880 is land,

followed closely by Illinois, New York, North Carolina, and Alabama

Answer 2

Legally, the water area is part of the state, but some people prefer to talk about land area because water area is not very useful to people.  You can't live on it, build anything on it,  or raise crops or livestock on it.  

Michigan is unique in having such a large percentage of its area composed of water, so it seems a little unfair to compare it to other states that are almost all land.  What if Florida claimed fifty miles or so of ocean water as part of its area?  It would be one of the biggest states in the country.

Answer 3

depends if you count the water if you do it is michigan and if you don't its florida

Answer 4

Its florida. Michigan doesnt count its half water.

Answer 5

Yes, you are correct. Official government sources say so:

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCT...

Answer 6

Georgia

Answer 7

Alaska.

Alaska is the only state in the US Union that is the most Easterly, Westerly and Northern at the same time.