Michigan City is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, USA. It is one of two principal cities of and is included in the Michigan City-La Porte, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City Combined Statistical Area. It is also part of an area known to locals as Michiana. It is approximately 50 miles east of Chicago and 40 miles west of South Bend. The population was 32,900 at the 2000 census. Michigan City is noted for both its proximity to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and for its bordering Lake Michigan; because of this, Michigan City receives a fair amount of tourism during the summer months, especially by residents of Chicago and of nearby areas of Indiana.