Metro Detroit is known for its automotive heritage, arts, entertainment, popular music, food, cultural diversity, and sports.

The area includes a variety of natural landscapes, parks, and beaches, with a recreational coastline linking the Great Lakes.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a federal agency of the United States, defines the Detroit–Warren–Dearborn Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as the six counties of Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne.

[6] When the nearby Toledo metropolitan area and its commuters are taken into account, the region constitutes a much larger population center.

An estimated 46 million people live within a 300-mile (480 km) radius of Detroit proper, including the major metropolitan areas of Chicago, Toronto and Cleveland.

[8] Ann Arbor is nearly 43 miles by car from Downtown Detroit, and developed separately as a university city, with its own character.

Smith said that county residents "just don't yet see ourselves as a natural part of that [Detroit] region, so I think it feels a little forced to a lot of people, and they're scared about it".

[8] Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a major center of commerce and global trade, most notably as home to America's 'Big Three' automobile companies: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.

Gaming revenues have grown steadily, with Detroit ranked as the fifth-largest gambling market in the United States for 2007.

GM made its initial public offering (IPO) of stock in 2010, after bankruptcy, bailout, and restructuring by the federal government.

[20] Domestic automakers reported significant profits in 2010, interpreted by some analysts as the beginning of an industry rebound and an economic recovery for the Detroit area.

[26] Metro Detroit has made Michigan's economy a leader in information technology, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing.

[31] As the home of the "Big Three" American automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler), it is the world's traditional automotive center and a key pillar of the U.S.

[32][33][34] In the 2010s, the domestic auto industry accounts, directly and indirectly, for one of ten jobs in the United States, making it a significant component for economic recovery.

HP Enterprise Services makes Detroit its regional headquarters, and one of its largest global employment locations.

[46] Tourism is an important component of the region's culture and economy, comprising nine percent of the area's two million jobs.

[13] Metro Detroit is a tourist destination that easily accommodates super-sized crowds to events such as the Woodward Dream Cruise, North American International Auto Show, Youmacon, the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival, 2009 NCAA Final Four, and Super Bowl XL.

The Detroit International Riverfront links the Renaissance Center to a series of venues, parks, restaurants, and hotels.

In 2006, the four-day Motown Winter Blast drew a cold weather crowd of about 1.2 million people to Campus Martius Park area downtown.

The Refuge includes islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals, and waterfront lands along 48 miles (77 km) of the Detroit River and Western Lake Erie shoreline.

The region's leading attraction is The Henry Ford, located in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn; it is America's largest indoor-outdoor museum complex.

Some analysts believe that tourism planners have yet to tap the full economic power of the estimated 46 million people who live within a 300-mile (480-km) radius of Detroit.

Later came an influx of persons of British and German descent, followed by Polish, Irish, Italian, Lebanese, Assyrian, Greek, Jewish, Maltese, and Belgian immigrants who made their way to the area in the early 20th century and during and after World War II.

[56] In Wayne County, the city of Dearborn has a large concentration of Arab Americans, mainly Shi'ite Muslim Lebanese, whose ancestors immigrated here in the early 20th century.

African Americans have also moved to the suburbs: in 2000 44% of the more than 240,000 suburban blacks lived in Inkster, Pontiac, Oak Park, and Southfield.

The Metro Detroit area is linked by an advanced network of major roads and freeways which include Interstate highways.

The 313 area code, which used to encompass all of Southeast Michigan, is today confined exclusively to the City of Detroit and several neighboring Wayne County suburbs.