right|thumb|250px|Chippewa County, Michigan from 1904 Michigan County Maps
Chippewa County ( ) is a county in the eastern Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,785. The county seat is Sault Ste. Marie. The county is named for the Ojibwe (Chippewa) people, and was set off and organized in 1826. Chippewa County comprises the Sault Ste. Marie, MI micropolitan statistical area. With shorelines on Lake Huron and Lake Superior, Chippewa County is one of two U.S. counties to contain shorelines on two Great Lakes, the other being neighboring Mackinac County. The county's irregular shape follows the Canadian border, itself following the St. Marys River. Drummond Island is part of Chippewa County.
History
Chippewa County was much larger when it was created in 1826. Its original bounds included "the Mesaba iron range of Minnesota, the sites of Duluth, Superior, Marquette, Houghton, and all the famous Copper Country." Those regions reorganized when "this tremendous and unwieldy empire of a county was reduced by the Act of March 9, 1843."
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (42%) is water. It is the second-largest county in Michigan by land area and fifth-largest by total area.
The Michigan Meridian runs through the eastern portion of the county. South of Nine Mile Road, M-129 (Meridian Road) overlays the meridian. In Sault Ste. Marie, Meridian Street north of 12th Avenue overlays the meridian.
Adjacent counties & districts
By land
- Mackinac County (south)
- Luce County (west)
By water
- Presque Isle County (south)
- Algoma District, Ontario, Canada (north)
- Manitoulin District, Ontario, Canada (east)
National protected areas
- Harbor Island National Wildlife Refuge
- Hiawatha National Forest (part)
- Whitefish Point Unit of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge
Game areas
The Munuscong Bay is open for hunting, boating and bird watching. The area is known for its duck hunting, including mallards, divers and green-winged teal ducks. The Bay is most known for its icefishing and duck hunting. During opening weekend of duck season (late September), hundreds of hunters come from all over the state to begin their season on the Bay.
This area has many types of waterfowl pass through it on their annual migrations.
Communities
thumb|345x345px|[[United States Census|U.S. Census data map showing local municipal boundaries within Chippewa County. Shaded areas represent incorporated cities.]]
City
- Sault Ste. Marie (county seat)
Village
- DeTour Village
Charter township
- Kinross Charter Township
Civil townships
- Bay Mills Township
- Bruce Township
- Chippewa Township
- Dafter Township
- Detour Township
- Drummond Township
- Hulbert Township
- Pickford Township
- Raber Township
- Rudyard Township
- Soo Township
- Sugar Island Township
- Superior Township
- Trout Lake Township
- Whitefish Township
Census-designated places
- Brimley
- Kincheloe
Unincorporated communities
- Barbeau
- Bay Mills
- Bay Mills Indian Community (Indian Reservation)
- Cartonville (ghost town)
- Dafter (named Stevensburg until 1893)
- Drummond
- Eckerman
- Emerson
- Goetzville (named Gatesville until 1917)
- Homestead
- Johnswood
- Hulbert
- Kelden (also spelled Keldon)
- Kinross
- Mission
- Neebish Island
- Paradise
- Pickford
- Raber
- Raco
- Rudyard (named Pine River until 1890)
- Shelldrake (Ghost town)
- Stalwart
- Stirlingville (named Jolly's Landing until 1888)
- Strongs
- Trout Lake
- Whitefish Point
- Vermilion
Indian reservations
- The Bay Mills Indian Community occupies a portion of land within Bay Mills Township and Superior Township, within another smaller portion within Sugar Island Township.
- The Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians occupies scattered pieces of land within Kinross Charter Township, Sugar Island Township, and in the city limits of Sault Ste. Marie.