Short answers, pulled from the story.
The official definition consists of twelve states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. These states occupy the northern central part of the United States between the Northeastern United States and the Western United States.
The United States Census Bureau officially named the North Central Region until 1984 when the name changed to the Midwest. This region occupies the northern central part of the United States and sits between the Northeastern United States and the Western United States.
Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903. Detroit became the world center of the auto industry by 1900 with automotive pioneers William C. Durant, the Dodge brothers, Packard, and Walter Chrysler establishing its status as the automotive capital.
The first local meeting of the Republican Party took place at Little White Schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin on the 20th of March 1854. Jackson, Michigan had the first statewide meeting of that new party which included many Yankees out of New England and New York who settled the upper Midwest.
The 2020 United States census recorded a population of 68,995,685 for the Midwest. The Census Bureau divides the region into two divisions: the East North Central Division includes five states while the West North Central Division contains seven states.