The Michigan meridian is the principal meridian (or north-south line) used as a reference in the Michigan Survey, the survey of the U.S. state of Michigan in the early 19th century. It is located at 84 degrees, 21 minutes and 53 seconds west longitude at its northern terminus at Sault Ste. Marie, and varies very little from that line down the length of the state. In the area of Ohio known as the Toledo Strip, the townships are numbered from the Michigan meridian and Michigan baseline because at the time they were surveyed, the area was considered to be a part of the Michigan Territory.