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Arizona

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Arizona
State
Flag of Arizona
Flag
Official seal of Arizona
Seal
Nicknames: 
The Grand Canyon State;[1]
The Copper State;[2]
The Valentine State[3]
Motto: 
Ditat Deus ('God enriches')
Anthem: "The Arizona March Song" and "Arizona"
Map of the United States with Arizona highlighted
Map of the United States with Arizona highlighted
CountryUnited States
Before statehoodArizona Territory
Admitted to the UnionFebruary 14, 1912; 112 years ago (1912-02-14) (48th)
Capital
(and largest city)		Phoenix
Largest county or equivalentMaricopa
Largest metro and urban areasPhoenix
Government
 • GovernorKatie Hobbs (D)
 • Secretary of StateAdrian Fontes (D)
LegislatureArizona Legislature
 • Upper houseSenate
 • Lower houseHouse of Representatives
JudiciaryArizona Supreme Court
U.S. senatorsKyrsten Sinema (I)
Mark Kelly (D)
U.S. House delegation6 Republicans
3 Democrats (list)
Area
 • Total113,998[4] sq mi (295,254 km2)
 • Rank6th
Dimensions
 • Length400 mi (645 km)
 • Width310 mi (500 km)
Elevation
4,100 ft (1,250 m)
Highest elevation
(Humphreys Peak[5][6][a])
12,637 ft (3,852 m)
Lowest elevation
(Colorado River at the Mexico border[6][a])
72 ft (22 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total7,151,502[7]
 • Rank14th
 • Density63/sq mi (24/km2)
  • Rank33rd
 • Median household income
$61,500[8]
 • Income rank
28th
DemonymArizonan[9]
Language
 • Official languageEnglish
 • Spoken languageAs of 2010
  • English 74.1%
  • Spanish 19.5%
  • Navajo 1.9%
  • Other 4.5%
Time zones
Most of stateUTC−07:00 (Mountain)
Navajo NationUTC−07:00 (Mountain)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−06:00 (MDT)
USPS abbreviation
AZ
ISO 3166 codeUS-AZ
Traditional abbreviationAriz.
Latitude31°20′ N to 37° N
Longitude109°03′ W to 114°49′ W
Websiteaz.gov
Arizona state symbols
Flag of Arizona
Living insignia
AmphibianArizona tree frog
BirdCactus wren
ButterflyTwo-tailed swallowtail
FishApache trout
FlowerSaguaro cactus blossom
MammalRing-tailed cat
ReptileArizona ridge-nosed rattlesnake
TreePalo verde
Inanimate insignia
ColorsBlue, old gold
FirearmColt Single Action Army revolver
FossilPetrified wood
GemstoneTurquoise
MineralFire agate
RockPetrified wood
ShipUSS Arizona
SloganThe Grand Canyon State
SoilCasa Grande
State route marker
Arizona state route marker
State quarter
Arizona quarter dollar coin
Released in 2008
Lists of United States state symbols
For other uses, see Arizona (disambiguation).

Arizona is a state in the United States of America. It is considered part of the Southwestern United States and is bordered by New Mexico to the east, Utah to the north, Nevada to the northwest, California to the west, its northeast corner touches part of Colorado, this area is known as the Four Corners. To the south of Arizona is the country Mexico with which it shares a border of 389 miles (626 km). The state is called the "Grand Canyon State" and the "Copper State" as it is the home of the Grand Canyon and has produced large amounts of copper from its mineral deposits.

Arizona became a state on February 14th, 1912 and became the 48th state accepted into the United States. The state capital is Phoenix, which also is the largest city in the state. Phoenix is the largest capital city in the US.

Arizona is home to 22 different Native American tribes, including the Navajo (Diné), Hopi, and Tohono O'odham communities.

Climate

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Arizona's climate can be very hot. In Phoenix, the average temperature is about 107 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius) in summer. Between 1970 and 1990, about 16 people per year died from “exposure to excessive natural heat”. By 2015, this had risen to 38. In 2020 it was 210, and in 2022 257 died.[10]

Geography

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Saguaro at Sunset from Saguaro National Park Rincon District east of Tucson, Arizona

Arizona is the sixth largest state in area, after New Mexico and before Nevada. Of the state's 113,998 square miles (295,000 km2), about 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, state trust land and Native American reservations.

Arizona is best known for its desert landscape. It has plants such as the cactus. It is also known for its climate, which has very hot summers and mild winters. Less well known is the pine-covered high country of the Colorado Plateau in the north-central part of the state.

Mountains and plateaus are found in more than half of the state. 27% of Arizona is forest.[11] The largest stand of Ponderosa pine trees in the world is in Arizona.[12]

The Grand Canyon is a colorful, steep-sided gorge. It is made by the Colorado River in northern Arizona. The canyon is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Most of the canyon is in the Grand Canyon National Park—one of the first national parks in the United States.

Meteor Crater

Arizona is home to a well-kept meteorite impact site. The Barringer Crater (better known simply as “Meteor Crater”) is a huge hole in the middle of the high plains of the Colorado Plateau. It is about 25 miles (40 km) west of Winslow. A rim of smashed and jumbled boulders, some of them the size of small houses, rises 150 feet (46 m) above the level of the surrounding plain. The crater is nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, and 570 feet (170 m) deep. Meteor Crater is a popular tourist attraction. It is privately owned by the Barringer family through the Barringer Crater Company. There is an admission fee charged to see the crater.

Arizona is one of two states that does not observe Daylight Saving Time, except in the Navajo Nation in the northeastern part of the state.

Sports

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Professional sports teams in Arizona include:

Club Sport League Championships
Arizona Cardinals Football National Football League 2 (1925, 1947)
Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball Major League Baseball 1 (2001)
Arizona Coyotes Ice hockey National Hockey League 0
Phoenix Suns Basketball National Basketball Association 0
Arizona Rattlers Arena Football Arena Football League 3 (1994, 1997, 2012)
Arizona Sundogs Ice hockey Central Hockey League 1 (2007–08)
Phoenix Mercury Basketball Women's National Basketball Association 2 (2007, 2009)
Arizona Storm Indoor Soccer Professional Arena Soccer League 0
Phoenix Monsoon Soccer National Premier Soccer League 0
FC Tucson Soccer USL Premier Development League 0
Yuma Scorpions Baseball Golden Baseball League 1 (2007)

Arizona has many golf courses and is home to several stops on the PGA Tour.

State symbols

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Cactus Wren
[change | change source]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arizona.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
  1. ↑ "Grand canyon state". statesymbolusa. April 30, 2014. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Copper state". kgj. November 25, 2019. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Valentine state". novemberproject. February 15, 2017. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  4. ↑ "State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates".
  5. ↑ "Frisco". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Elevations and Distances in the United States". United States Geological Survey. 2001. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Change in Resident Population of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico: 1910 to 2020" (PDF). Census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  8. ↑ "US Census Bureau QuickFacts". Archived from the original on May 9, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Arizona – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary". Merriam-webster.com. April 25, 2007. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  10. ↑ Burn-Murdoch, John (2023-07-21). "What we get wrong when we talk about global warming". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  11. ↑ "Hardwood Forest Foundation: Experience: Arizona". Hardwoodforest.org. Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
  12. ↑ "Prescott Overview". Ncsu.edu. 2002-05-15. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  13. ↑ "Kids' Page - Arizona State Songs". Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
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