Description of Arizona, US

Located in the West, Arizona is part of the Southwestern and occasionally the Mountain subregions of the United States. It is the sixth-largest state by area and the 14th-most populous. This state's capital and largest city is Phoenix. There are four states that share the Four Corners region: Utah, Colorado (which includes the state of New Mexico), Colorado (which includes Utah), and New Mexico (which includes New Mexico).

On February 14, 1912, Arizona became the 48th state to join the Union and the final contiguous state to join. Originally a part of the Alta California region of New Spain, it became part of independent Mexico in 1821. After it lost the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The Gadsden Purchase in 1853 allowed the state to expand its southern borders.

Summers in southern Arizona are extremely hot, and winters are mild. Pine, Douglas fir, and spruce forests can be found throughout northern Arizona's mountain ranges (like the San Francisco Mountains), as well as deep canyons and the Colorado Plateau. Summers here are much milder, and the area receives significant winter snowfall. Ski resorts can be found in Alpine, Tucson, and Flagstaff. One of the seven natural wonders of the world, Grand Canyon National Park, is just one of the many national parks and monuments that exist in the United States.

Since the 1950s, the population and economy of Arizona have grown dramatically, making it a major Sun Belt hub. Expansive suburbs have sprouted up around cities like Phoenix and Tucson. The University of Arizona and Arizona State University are two of the state's most prestigious educational institutions, and several major corporations, including PetSmart and Circle K, have their headquarters in the state. Politicians like Barry Goldwater and John McCain have long been associated with the state, even though it voted for Democrats in both the 1996 presidential and senate elections.

The people of Arizona represent a wide range of ethnicities and backgrounds. Navajo Nation, the state's and the country's largest Native American tribe, is home to more than 300,000 people and occupies about a quarter of the state's Indian reservations. As a result of Mexican migration, Hispanic populations in the state have grown significantly since the 1980s. The Catholic Church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints each have significant numbers of adherents in the United States (LDS Church).

Geography of Arizona

The state of Arizona is located in the Southwest United States, at one of the Four Corners. Following New Mexico and before Nevada, Arizona is the sixth-largest state in terms of land area. Nearly one-fifth of the state's surface area is privately owned. The remainder of the land is made up of state trust land, public forest and park land, and Native American reservations. Grand Canyon National Park, Saguaro National Park, and the Petrified Forest National Park are the three national parks located in Arizona, all of which are managed by the National Park Service.

The abundance of xerophyte plants, such as cactus, in the southern Basin and Range desert region of Arizona is well-known. Volcanism and subsequent cooling and subsidence shaped the landscape of this area in the prehistoric era. It enjoys a year-round climate of mild winters and hot summers. The north-central part of the Colorado Plateau's high country is less well-known.

High mountains, the Colorado Plateau, and mesas characterize Arizona, as they do the rest of the Southwest. Despite its aridity, Arizona has a forest cover equivalent to that of Romania or Greece in the modern era, at 27%. The ponderosa pine forests of Arizona are the largest in the world.

The Mogollon Rim, an escarpment that runs through the middle of the state and marks the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, is the state's highest point. The Rodeo–Chediski Fire, California's most destructive fire until 2011, struck this region in 2002.

The Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon, a colorful, deep, steep-sided gorge in northern Arizona. As one of the country's first national parks, the Grand Canyon is a natural wonder of the world. It takes up the majority of Grand Canyon National Park. As a staunch supporter of national park status for the Grand Canyon region, Theodore Roosevelt frequently visited the area to hunt mountain lions and take in the breathtaking views. The canyon has a length of 277 miles (446 kilometers), a width of 4 to 18 miles (6 to 29 kilometers), and a depth of more than a mile (1.6 km). For millions of years, the Colorado River eroded a channel to create this natural wonder. While rising, the Colorado River and its tributaries exposed nearly two billion years of Earth history as they excavated sedimentary layers.

One of the world's best-preserved meteorite impact sites can be found in Arizona. "Meteor Crater" is a large crater on the Colorado Plateau, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Winslow, which was formed by a meteor impact. The surrounding plain is elevated 150 feet (46 meters) by a rim of broken and jumbled boulders, some of which are the size of small houses. About 1,600 feet down, the crater is almost a mile wide (170 meters).

Except for the large Navajo Nation in the northeastern part of the state, which does observe daylight saving time, Arizona is one of only two states in the union not to do so, the other being Hawaii.

Economy of Arizona

Primary production, such as mineral extraction, lumbering, livestock raising, and crop production, dominated Arizona's economy before World War II. After World War II, the country's economy shifted to manufacturing and services, which more accurately reflected the rising prosperity and technological advancement of the country at the time. A high-tech economy has taken root in the Phoenix metropolitan area, which has a population of more than one million.

There was a $373 billion total GDP in 2020. Healthcare, transportation, and government are the state's three largest industries.

In the United States, the state's per-capita income is $40,828, which ranks it 39th out of 50. With a median household income of $50,448, the state came in 22nd place in the country. Copper, cotton, cattle, citrus, and climate were the "five C's" of Arizona's economy in the early years of the state's existence (tourism). Many open-pit and underground copper mines continue to produce two-thirds of the country's copper output.