Dictionary:
Ar·i·zo·na (ăr'ĭ-zō'nə)  (Abbr. AZ
|
| 5min Related Video: Arizona |
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Arizona |
For more information on Arizona, visit Britannica.com.
| US History Encyclopedia: Arizona |
Situated on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, the forty-eighth state covers 113,956 square miles of arid terrain divided into three geographical provinces. The Colorado Plateau province, bounded by Utah to the north and the Mogollon Rim to the south, is a scenic combination of extensive forests, open grasslands, spiraling mesas, and stunning canyons, including the Grand Canyon. Streams crisscrossing the eroded country feed into the Little Colorado River, which flows northeast to the Colorado River. Cutting diagonally from the White Mountains in the northeast to the Sierra Estrella range in the central southwest is the Central Mountain province, characterized by elongated mountains that join the Sonora Desert province, which stretches southward to the Mexican border. Both of the southern provinces claim watersheds that drain into the Gila River, which flows westward to the Colorado River.
Indigenous Roots
Evidence indicates human habitation of the region at approximately twelve thousand years ago, with the ancient Anasazi Indians occupying the Plateau region above the Rim and the more technologically advanced Hohokam residing in the Gila Valley, where they engineered an extensive system of canal networks that ultimately attracted the attention of Jack Swilling, who founded the capital city of Phoenix in 1867.
By the time of the official Spanish Entrada in 1540, the majority of the native population was living in essentially four areas: the Moqui or present-day Hopi (possibly descendants of the Anasazi) and the Navajo resided north of the Little Colorado; the Walapai, Havasupai, Mohave, and Yuma nations along the Colorado River; the Yavapai and Apache in the central and eastern mountains; and the Pima and Papago (possible descendants of the Hohokam) located in the central river valleys.
Spanish and Mexican Era (1539–1846)
A rumor floating around European cities about seven Catholic fathers founding seven golden cities spurred Spanish interest in the region, particularly in the aftermath of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca's colorful report on his trek from Florida to northern Sonora. In 1539, Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza dispatched Fray Marcos de Niza (Franciscan) and Esteban, a Moorish slave who had accompanied Cabeza de Vaca, to investigate the allegations. Following the course of the San Pedro River through eastern Arizona, the party eventually reached the Zuni villages in western New Mexico. After Esteban was slain by the natives, Fray Marcos returned to Mexico City, where he filed a report that led to the formation of a larger mission launched the following year and led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, who captured the Zuni pueblos, then sent exploration parties westward to the Moqui villages and canyon country. Hernando de Alarcón simultaneously sailed up the Colorado River with Coronado's supply ships and explored the regions around present-day Yuma.
By 1690, Father Eusebio Kino and other Jesuit missionaries had introduced Christianity and cattle raising to the Piman-speaking people, conducted extensive explorations of the Santa Cruz and San Pedro Valleys, and followed the Gila River to its juncture with the Colorado. The Jesuits planted three missions: San Xavier del Bac (1700), San Cayetano del Tumacacori (1701), and San Gabriel de Guevavi (1701).
Arizona was popularly accorded its name following a silver strike known as Real de Arizonac on a ranchero near present-day Nogales in 1736. The discovery evoked controversy when its founders failed to report it to the Crown. Rumors spread that the Jesuits were behind the secrecy, setting in motion a list of conflicts that would lead Charles III to expel the order from the Spanish Empire entirely in 1767, following the Pima Revolt of 1751, which led to the founding of a presidio at Tubac as a means of quelling future uprisings. The first European American women arrived the following year, in 1752.
When Spanish ventures in southern Arizona fell under the threat of Apache attack, Charles III authorized the military to achieve by force what the missionaries had failed to accomplish with the Bible. Hugo O'Conor, an Irish mercenary under services to the Spanish Crown, was appointed Commandant-Inspector for the interior regions. In 1776, he relocated the Tubac presidio farther north on the Santa Cruz River, opposite the Pima village of Tucson.
Even that radical measure proved of little consequence in curbing Apache raids until Bernardo de Galvez became Viceroy of New Spain in 1786. Aware that the Apache were infinitely better schooled in the art of desert warfare than Spanish soldiers, he ordered that the raiders be persuaded to settle near the presidio, where they could be systematically debauched with alcohol.
In the midst of the newfound calm, the first cries for Mexican independence echoed across the south. The struggle, which lasted from 1810 to 1821, had virtually no impact on Arizona, since no resident participated in the fighting nor did the battlefields extend into the northern regions.
As a means of replenishing war-depleted coffers, the Mexican government opened the Santa Fe Trade in 1822. The first set of arrivals were mountain men and trappers like James Ohio Pattie, Jedediah S. Smith, William Sherley "Old Bill" Williams, Paulino Weaver, and others. Along with mapping most of the rivers, they systematically destroyed the ecological balance by their callous decimation of the beaver population.
The Mexico City government's hold over the area was so precarious that Colonel Stephen W. Kearny took Santa Fe on 18 August 1846 without firing a shot, before crossing Arizona en route to Mexico. The Mormon Battalion played a critical role in isolating locations for settlements that Salt Lake City planted across the northern regions, through the White Mountains and as far south as Gilbert. When the new civil government was established, Arizona was opaquely made part of the New Mexico Territory. Those areas south of the Gila River were acquired through the 1853 Gadsden Purchase.
Geographical proximity to California goldfields brought an estimated 60,000 hopefuls across Arizona during the next decade, many of whom retraced their steps after gold was discovered at the confluence of the Sacramento Wash and Colorado River in 1857. The previous year, the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company had reopened a number of old silver mines near Tubac. Miners and the entrepreneurs who came to mine them sparked a population increase that led to the founding of ferry services along the Colorado River and mercantile houses in most large settlements.
Beginning in 1856, residents began to petition Congress for a separate Arizona Territory under the rationale that the Santa Fe government was incapable of efficiently administering the western region. Four years of rejection led delegates from thirteen Arizona and New Mexico towns to form the Provisional Territory of Arizona. When the Southern states left the Union in 1861, a group of Southern sympathizers met at Mesilla and pledged loyalty to the Confederate States of America. Union forces arrived the following year and recaptured the area after minor clashes at Stanwix Station and Picacho Pass, the two westernmost battles of the Civil War (1861–1865). On 24 February 1863, President Abraham Lincoln affixed his signature to the Organic Act, which officially proclaimed the Territory of Arizona, with a north-south boundary line of 109degrees latitude, as opposed to the east-west line of 34 degrees longitude stipulated in the original documents.
The Territory of Arizona (1863–1912)
Mining, military, railroad building, and agricultural activities dominated the economic landscape during the early decades of the territorial era. Rich gold and silver discoveries, including the legendary silver bonanza at Tombstone in 1877, drew eastern investors to the area, a trend that found renewed vigor when the discovery of electricity gave new value to copper during the 1870s.
By 1880, copper was king, with mines operating at Ray, Clifton-Morenci, Jerome, Globe-Miami, Ajo, and Bisbee. Copper companies such as Phelps Dodge and the Arizona Copper Company built towns, short-line railroads, and a modern business and banking network, and they claimed political dominance in the legislature, which shifted locations with the territorial capital from Prescott (1865–1866) to Tucson (1867–1888) and back to Prescott (1888), before the capital was permanently located in Phoenix in 1889.
The threat of Navajo and Apache raiders led to the building of an excess of two dozen camps, forts, and supply depots by 1870. In 1863, renowned Colonel Kit Carson led a contingent of U.S. soldiers and Ute warriors on a mission to round up the Navajo. In the grim finale, approximately 8,000 Navajo were forced to take the Long Walk to the Bosque Redondo Reservation in New Mexico. When they were finally allowed to return to Arizona in 1868, little headway had been made toward curbing the Apache, whose resistance continued until the Chiricahua were forcibly relocated to Florida in 1886.
Completion of the first transcontinental railroad occurred when the Southern Pacific reached Tucson in 1880, sparking a decade of railroad building that facilitated troops, mail, and the agricultural activities taking place in the Salt River Valley. Cattle ranching and citrus were nascent industries destined to assume dominance, particularly after the completion of the Roosevelt Dam in 1911 granted Salt River Valley Ranches a stable source of water.
People kept pace with the promise, including a steady stream of health seekers, which led to the founding of tent cites that transformed into hospitals and fancy resorts in both Tucson and Phoenix.
Population increases put new fire to the growing movement for statehood. In 1902, the statehood issue was debated in Congress. An enabling act passed in 1910, leading to a convention in Phoenix that drafted a constitution and submitted it to Washington. After a recall provision was eliminated, President William H. Taft signed Arizona into the union on 14 February 1912.
Since Statehood
As the last contiguous state, Arizona was uniquely poised by both geography and social temperament to evolve into its current status as a classroom for the cyber-age. By 1912, years of isolation and perceived federal indifference had given way to an insular form of capitalism kept honest by low-density settlement patterns and paperless business transactions sealed by a handshake. Moneymaking enjoyed the reverence of a secular religion, with chance, change, and experimentation its primary tenets. Because the majority of local leaders were either first-generation heirs to pioneer fortunes built subsequent to the California Gold Rush or recent affluent arrivals seeking relief from various respiratory ailments, the rights of the individual most often took precedence over the general welfare, reducing social reform efforts to little more than a dull roar throughout most of the century.
When it became a state, Arizona's growth pattern essentially mirrored that of the nation, albeit with the deviance common to the built-in perks and special privilege explicit in solicited development. Land was plentiful, taxes were low, labor cheap, crime virtually nonexistent, and governmental restraint on free enterprise minimal and never vigorously enforced. Local boosters touted potential and investors took notice, heralding a new era of prosperity that ranked Arizona ninth in the nation in per capita motor vehicle ownership by 1921, a consumer preference that proved critical to the development of a thoroughly modern road system by decade's end. These same years witnessed the introduction of air-cooled commercial buildings in both Phoenix and Tucson, adding a definitive brick to boosters' arguments that desert living was tantamount to "paradise on earth."
Although Arizona's prosperity was primarily based on copper, cotton, cattle, and citrus, tourism was fast adding a fifth arm to the economic equation, particularly after the advent of five-star resorts such as the $2 million Arizona Biltmore, which was opened in Phoenix in 1929 by a team of investors, including chewing gum magnet William Wrigley Jr., who built an opulent mansion adjacent to the hotel. Louis Swift, Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., and other industrial giants soon followed suit, earning the capital city prestigious renown as the fashionable place for the wealthy to winter.
The new arrivals brought with them the political conservatism of their Midwestern roots, complete with the self-help doctrine that holds charitable giving a matter of private conscience rather than legal statute. Poverty, dislocation, and disease were remedied by private contributions and formal fundraising events, typically hosted by a prominent individual with a broad network of affluent friends. The success of these venues limited tax-based relief for human tragedies to the Insane Asylum of Arizona, which was informally renamed the Arizona State Hospital in 1922.
The Great Depression brought the winds of change and a new system of social recompense that never fell easy on the minds of leaders attuned to the notion of unfettered free enterprise and individual responsibility. Although the suffering was acute and widespread in rural areas, urban centers were immune to the hardships until 1932, when a downturn in world copper prices led to layoffs and mine closures. Out-of-work miners descended on Phoenix and Tucson, quickly outstripping charitable resources to the point that both cities vigorously petitioned for federal funds from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation during the final hours of the Herbert Hoover administration.
During the New Deal, over forty Civilian Conservation Corps camps were built in Arizona, opening the floodgates to massive federal spending regionwide during the years surrounding World War II (1939–1945). Motorola, AiResearch, and other semiconductor concerns sprang up, giving a boost to both aviation and population, as well as raising issues about the color line separation historically practiced in Arizona up to that time. Federal dollars meant federal rules, including ending segregation in the military and public schools. Renowned pilot Lincoln Ragsdale, one of the original Tuskegee airmen, was charged with integrating Luke Air Force Base in the aftermath of World War II. A fully integrated school system was not realized statewide until the mid-1960s. Housing integration was an even more exacting fight, with over 90 percent of the state's minority residents living in neighborhoods drawn along racial line as late as 1962. Three years later, Arizona passed its first civil rights law, but de facto segregation on the basis of economics continues.
Gender was less of an issue than race in determining social status, but antiquated notions of the "weaker sex" led to certain disparities in the body politic. For example, when Eva Dugan was tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang for the murder of a local farmer in 1926, a public outcry of special circumstance arose on the basis of gender. When the only woman to be hanged in Arizona received her punishment on 21 February 1930, misadjusted balance weights resulted in her decapitation as she dropped through the trap, launching a new round of arguments that prompted Arizona voters to select the lethal gas chamber as the official means of execution in 1933. That same year, the state sent its first woman to the national Congress, Isabella Selmes Greenway of Tucson, a childhood friend and bridesmaid of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
The Democratic Party enjoyed nearly complete dominance statewide until the "free people, free speech, free enterprise" philosophies of Phoenix businessman Barry M. Goldwater gave rise to a renegade/conservative movement determined to quell the perceived excesses of the liberal temper of the times. Following Goldwater's election to the U.S. Senate in 1952, the Republican Party supplanted its Democratic rivals everywhere except southern Arizona, which has steadfastly remained the most liberal section of the state.
Throughout most of the twentieth century, Arizona enjoyed the prestige of two of the most powerful voices in the national Congress: Democratic Senator Carl Hayden and Republican Barry M. Goldwater, the first Arizonan to run for the office of President of the United States. The state claimed additional accolades when President Richard Nixon appointed Phoenix attorney William H. Rehnquist to the United States Supreme Court. President Ronald Reagan appointed him Chief Justice in 1986. Reagan also appointed the august body's first female jurist, Arizonan Sandra Day O'Connor, in 1981.
Politics were turbulent during the final half of the twentieth century. In 1988, Governor Evan Mecham was impeached and found guilty of two of the three counts cited in the original indictment. Secretary of State Rose Mofford was appointed Arizona's first female governor. On 7 September 1997, Governor Fife Symington resigned in the wake of fraud charges stemming from his years as a developer. He was subsequently tried, convicted on seven felony counts, and ordered to pay back his investors. On 9 September 1997, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor swore in Jane Hull as governor. She was elected to the office in her own right during the November elections, wherein Arizona made history by being the first state in the nation to elect women to the top five posts in state government.
Arizona's population of a half million in 1940 increased tenfold by 2000, earning the state two additional seats in the House of Representatives. Of the 5,130,632 residents listed in the 2000 federal census, 63.8 percent were of European American descent, 25.3 percent cited their heritage as Hispanic or Latino, 3.1 percent as African American, 5.0 percent as American Indian or Alaskan Native, 1.8 percent as Asian, and 0.1 percent as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, with the remainder claiming no specific heritage. The average household enjoyed an annual income of $34,751, with an estimated 15.5 percent of Arizona residents living beneath the federal poverty line. Of that number, 23.4 percent are children living in single-parent households. Roughly 68 percent of the population owns their own home, as opposed to 66.2 percent nationwide.
Approximately 85 percent of Arizona residents live in Maricopa County, with an estimated 1,500 new residents arriving daily. Growth has left Tucson with a ground-water shortage problem and raised environmental concerns statewide. During the 1990s alone, the gross state product jutted from $66 million in 1990 to over $140 million at the end of the century. Roughly 13.2 percent of resident firms are minority owned, with another 27 percent owned by women, a figure that is a full percentage point higher than the national average. In 2002, the Phoenix metropolitan area was ranked as the top manufacturing urban complex in the nation.
Less than 18 percent of Arizona land is in private hands, leaving vast stretches of wilderness available for recreation. The Grand Canyon alone boasts an estimated 10 million tourists annually. Every sport from skydiving to golf is available in the state. Residents share the victory and defeats of three major league teams: the Phoenix Suns, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Arizona Diamondbacks (who won the 2001 World Series), as well as enjoy a broad slate of cultural activities and state-of-theart institutions, including three state universities and numerous private colleges and specialty schools. Along with horse and dog racing, legalized gambling is available in one of the many Indian casinos that have sprung up over the past two decades.
Modern Arizona is best likened to the rest of the United States and several foreign countries combined. Less than a third of the residents are Arizona born, with the average tenure of white-collar executives less than four years. The majority of the latter transfer to the area to work in the highly mobile computer chip industry, a vital lynchpin in the state's economy since the 1980s. The lion's share of new arrivals continue to be lured to the area by climate, spectacular scenery, and the economic potential intrinsic to a high-growth setting, despite the fact that Arizona ranks in the bottom third of the nation with regard to tax dollars allocated for indigent care, mental health, and other social welfare programs.
The quality of public education is an ongoing concern without easy remedy. In 1998, the Arizona legislature allocated roughly $400 million in state funding to construct, equip, and maintain public schools at state-established minimum standards, leaving districts the option of passing capital overrides to pay for projects and facilities not included in the original plan. Recent trends toward vouchers have spurred a new round of debate similar to those occurring in other parts of the nation relative to the face and future of tax-supported education in the twenty-first century.
Bibliography
"Arizona Land Ownership Status," adapted from Circular No. 2, Revised June 1995, by Ken A. Phillips, Chief Engineer, Salt River Project.
Department of Economic Security, Arizona State Data Center, 2001.
Faulk, Odie B. Arizona: A Short History. Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.
Iverson, Peter. Barry Goldwater: Native Arizonan. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.
Luckingham, Bradford. Phoenix: The History of a Southwestern Metropolis. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1989.
Sheridan, Thomas E. Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854–1941. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1986.
Sonnichsen, C. L. Tucson: The Life and Times of an American City. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Arizona, 2000.
Wagoner, Jay J. Early Arizona: Prehistory to Civil War. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1975.
———. Arizona Territory, 1863–1912: A Political History. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1970.
Walker, Henry P., and Don Bufkin. Historical Atlas of Arizona. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979.
—Evelyn S. Cooper
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Arizona |
Facts and Figures
Area, 113,909 sq mi (295,024 sq km). Pop. (2000) 5,130,632, a 40% increase since the 1990 census. Capital and largest city, Phoenix. Statehood, Feb. 14, 1912 (48th state). Highest pt., Humphreys Peak, 12,633 ft (3,853 m); lowest pt., Colorado River, 70 ft (21 m). Nickname, Grand Canyon State, Copper State. Motto, Ditat Deus [God Enriches]. State bird, cactus wren. State flower, blossom of the saguaro cactus. State tree, paloverde. Abbr., Ariz.; AZ
Geography
Northern Arizona lies on the Colorado Plateau, an area of dry plains more than 4,000 ft (1,220 m) high, with deep canyons, including the famous Grand Canyon carved by the Colorado River. Along the Little Colorado River, which runs northwest through the plateau to join the Colorado, are the Painted Desert, where erosion has left colorful layers of sediment exposed, and the Petrified Forest National Park, one of the world's most extensive areas of petrified wood. South of the Grand Canyon are the San Francisco Peaks, including Humphreys Peak, the highest point (12,655 ft/3,857 m) in the state. The southern edge of the Colorado Plateau is marked by an escarpment called Mogollon Rim.
The southern half of the state has desert basins broken up by mountains with rocky peaks and extending NW to SE across central Arizona. To the south, the Gila River, a major tributary of the Colorado, flows west across the entire state. This area has desert plains separated by mountain chains running north and south; in the west the plains fall to the relatively low altitude of c.140 ft (43 m) in the region around Yuma.
Although some mountain peaks receive an annual rainfall of more than 30 in. (76 cm), precipitation in most of the state is low, and much of Arizona's history has been shaped by the inadequate water supply. Since the early 20th cent., massive irrigation projects have been built in Arizona's valleys. Roosevelt, Horse Mesa, Mormon Flat, and Stewart Mountain dams, with reservoirs and storage lakes, irrigate the Salt River valley. The Gillespie Dam on the Gila River helps irrigate the Yuma vicinity. The Coolidge Dam, with its San Carlos reservoir, serves the area near Casa Grande in the southeast. W Arizona is irrigated by Colorado River dams, which also serve California. These include Hoover, Glen Canyon, Davis, Parker, Imperial, and Laguna dams. At the Parker dam, the Central Arizona Project diverts water via canal to Phoenix, the state's capital and largest city, and Tucson, the second largest city. Arizona also obtains water from groundwater pumping stations.
Economy
The state's principal crops are cotton, lettuce, cauliflowers, broccoli, and sorghum. Cattle, calves, and dairy goods are, however, the most valuable Arizona farm products. Manufacturing is the leading economic activity, with electronics, printing and publishing, processed foods, and aerospace and transportation leading sectors. High-technology research and development, communications, and service industries are also important, as are construction (the state is rapidly growing) and tourism. Military facilities contributing to Arizona's economy include Fort Huachuca, Luke and Davis-Monthan air force bases, and the Yuma Proving Grounds. Testing and training with military aircraft and desert storage of commercial and military planes are both major undertakings.
Arizona abounds in minerals. Copper is the state's most valuable mineral; Arizona leads the nation in production. Other leading resources are molybdenum, sand, gravel, and cement.
The mountains in the north and central regions have 3,180,000 acres (1,286,900 hectares) of commercial forests, chiefly ponderosa pines and other firs, which support lumber and building-materials industries. The U.S. government owns about 95% of the commercial forests in the state. National and state forests attract millions of tourists yearly. Tourism centers in the N on the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, meteor craters, ancient Native American ruins, and the Navajo and Hopi reservations that cover nearly all of the state's northeast quadrant. SE Arizona's warm, dry climate and Spanish colonial ruins also attract a large tourist trade, as do golf courses and other leisure facilities.
People
Between 1940 and 1960, Arizona's population increased more than 100%, and since then growth has continued. By the 2000 census the cumulative increase since 1940 amounted to more than 1000%, and Arizona was ranked among the fastest growing states in the nation. The mountainous north, however, has not shared the population growth of the southern sections of the state. Over 80% of the people are Caucasian and nearly 20% are Hispanic.
There were 203,527 Native Americans in Arizona in 1990 (or almost 6% of the people), the third highest such population in the United States. In addition to the Navajo, they include Mohave, Apache, Hopi, Paiute, Tohono O'Odham, Pima, Maricopa, Yavapaí, Hualapai, and Havasupai. Agriculture is the basis of their economy, but lack of water makes farming difficult; there is much poverty. The production of handicrafts, including leather goods, woven items, pottery, and the famous silver and turquoise jewelry of the Navajo; tourism; and mineral leases have also brought income to the tribes.
Government, Politics, and Education
The state's constitution provides for an elected governor and bicameral legislature, with a 30-member senate and a 60-member house of representatives. The governor and members of the legislature serve two-year terms. The state elects two senators and eight representatives to the U.S. Congress and has ten electoral votes.
Republicans have dominated the politics of Arizona since the 1960s. In the late 1980s and 90s, political scandals tainted Arizona's governors. In 1988, Governor Evan Mecham, charged with obstructing justice and financial improprieties, was impeached and removed from office. J. Fife Symington 3d, another Republican, won election in 1991 and was reelected in 1994; in 1997, convicted on fraud charges, he too resigned. Republican secretary of state Jane Dee Hull succeeded Symington and won election on her own in 1998. In 2002, Democrat Janet Napolitano was elected to succeed Hull. She was reelected in 2006, but resigned in 2009 to become Homeland Security secretary; Arizona's secretary of state, Jan Brewer, a Republican, succeeded her.
Arizona's educational institutions include the Univ. of Arizona, at Tucson; Arizona State Univ., at Tempe; Northern Arizona Univ., at Flagstaff; and several private institutions.
History
Early History
Little is known of the earliest indigenous cultures in Arizona, but they probably lived in the region as early as 25,000 B.C. A later culture, the Hohokam (A.D. 500-1450), were pit dwellers who constructed extensive irrigation systems. The Pueblo flourished in Arizona between the 11th and 14th cent. and built many of the elaborate cliff dwellings that still stand. The Apache and Navajo came to the area in c.1300 from Canada.
Spanish Exploration and Mexican Control
Probably the first Spanish explorer to enter Arizona (c.1536) was Cabeza de Vaca. Franciscan friar Marcos de Niza reached the state in 1539; he was followed by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, who led an expedition from Mexico in 1540 in search of the seven legendary cities of gold, reaching as far as the Grand Canyon. Despite extensive exploration, the region was neglected by the Spanish in favor of the more fruitful area of New Mexico. Father Eusebio Kino, a Jesuit, founded the missions of Guevavi (1692) and Tumacacori (1696), near Nogales, and San Xavier del Bac (1700), near Tucson. The Spanish Empire, however, expelled the Jesuits in 1767, and those in Arizona subsequently lost their control over the indigenous people.
The Arizona region came under Mexican control following the Mexican war of independence from Spain (1810-21). In the early 1800s, U.S. mountain men, trappers and traders such as Kit Carson, trapped beaver in the area, but otherwise there were few settlers.
U.S. Acquisition and the Discovery of Minerals
In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), ending the Mexican War (1846-48), Mexico relinquished control of the area N of the Gila River to the United States. This area became part of the U.S. Territory of New Mexico in 1850. The United States, wishing to build a railroad through the area S of the Gila River, bought the area between the river and the S boundary of Arizona from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase (1853).
Arizona's minerals, valued even by prehistoric miners, attracted most of the early explorers, and although the area remained a relatively obscure section of the Territory of New Mexico, mining continued sporadically. Small numbers of prospectors, crossing Arizona to join the California gold rush (1849), found gold, silver, and a neglected metal-copper.
In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, conventions held at Tucson and Mesilla declared the area part of the Confederacy. In the only engagement fought in the Arizona area, a small group of Confederate pickets held off Union cavalry NW of Tucson in the skirmish known as the battle of Picacho Pass.
Territorial Status and Statehood
In 1863, Arizona was organized as a separate territory, with its first, temporary capital at Fort Whipple. Prescott became the capital in 1865. Charles D. Poston, who had worked to achieve Arizona's new status, was elected as the territory's first delegate to the U.S. Congress. The capital was moved to Tucson in 1867, back to Prescott in 1877, and finally to Phoenix in 1889.
The region had been held precariously by U.S. soldiers during the intermittent warfare (1861-86) with the Apaches, who were led by Cochise and later Geronimo. General George Crook waged a successful campaign against the Apaches in 1882-85, and in 1886 Geronimo finally surrendered to federal troops. When Confederate troops were routed and Union soldiers went east to fight in the Civil War, settlement was abandoned. It was resumed after the war and encouraged by the Homestead Act (1862), the Desert Land Act (1877), and the Carey Land Act (1894)-all of which turned land over to settlers and required them to develop it.
In the 1870s mining flourished, and by the following decade the Copper Queen Company at Bisbee was exploiting one of the area's largest copper deposits. In 1877 silver was discovered at Tombstone, setting off a boom that drew throngs of prospectors to Arizona but lasted less than 10 years. Tombstone also became famous for its lawlessness; Wyatt Earp and his brothers gained their reputations during the famous gunfight (1881) at the O. K. Corral. By 1880 the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railroads both extended into Arizona. Ranching began to thrive and sheep raising grew from solely a Navajo occupation to a major enterprise among white settlers. After 1897, the U.S. Forestry Bureau issued grazing permits to protect public land from depletion.
In 1912, Arizona, still a frontier territory, attained statehood. Its constitution created a storm, with such "radical" political features as initiative, referendum, and judicial recall. Only after recall had been deleted did President Taft sign the statehood bill. Once admitted to the Union, Arizona restored the recall provision.
Modern Development
Irrigation, spurred by the Desert Land Act and by Mormon immigration, promoted farming in the southern part of the territory. By 1900, diverted streams were irrigating 200,000 acres (80,940 hectares). With the opening of the Roosevelt Dam (1911), a federally financed project, massive irrigation projects transformed Arizona's valleys. Although Arizona's mines were not unionized until the mid-1930s, strikes occurred at the copper mines of Clifton and Morenci in 1915 and at the Bisbee mines in 1917.
During World War II, defense industries were established in Arizona. Manufacturing, notably electronic industries, continued to develop after the war, especially around Phoenix and Tucson; in the 1960s, manufacturing achieved economic supremacy over mining and agriculture in Arizona. During the 1970s and 80s the state experienced phenomenal economic growth as it and other Sun Belt states attracted high-technology industries with enormous growth potential.
Arizona has contributed several major figures to national politics. Among them, Senator Barry M. Goldwater, the unsuccessful 1964 Republican candidate for the U.S. presidency, was long the standard bearer for American conservatism. Democrat Stewart L. Udall served as secretary of the interior under presidents Kennedy and Johnson.
With the development of irrigation and hydroelectric projects along the Colorado River and its tributaries, water rights became a subject of litigation between Arizona and California. In 1963 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Arizona had rights to a share of the water from the Colorado's main stream and sole water rights over tributaries within Arizona. In 1968, Congress authorized the Central Arizona Project, a 335-mi (539-km) canal system to divert water from the Colorado River to the booming metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson. The canal, which uses dams, tunnels, and pumps to raise the water 1,247 ft (380 m) to the desert plain, was opposed by environmentalists, who feared it would damage desert ecosystems. Construction was completed in 1991, at a cost of over $3.5 billion.
In 1992 a six-year political controversy ended when Arizona voters approved a proposal to observe an annual state holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bibliography
See E. H. Peplow, Jr., History of Arizona (3 vol., 1958); Univ. of Arizona Faculty, Arizona: Its People and Resources (rev. 2d ed. 1972); M. R. Comeaux, Arizona: A Geography (1982); T. Miller, ed., Arizona: The Land and Its People (1986); J. E. Officer, Hispanic Arizona (1987); M. Trimble, Arizona: A Cavalcade of History (1989).
| Geography: Arizona |
State in the southwestern United States bordered by Utah to the north, New Mexico to the east, Mexico to the south, and California and Nevada to the west. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix.
| Local Time: Arizona |
| It is 6:18 PM, November 29, in Arizona (Navajo Reservation). |  |
| Wine Lover's Companion: Arizona |
Southwestern state that is one of the oldest winegrowing regions in the United States. Franciscan missionaries planted mission grapes over 400 years ago, many years before they moved into California. There are a few wineries in the northern part of the state; however, the major growing area is in the southeast corner in the mountainous regions south and east of Tucson. The Sonoita AVA (currently the only one recognized in the state) is southeast of Tucson around Elgin in Santa Cruz County. Other viticultural areas include the Sulphur Springs Valley (between Bisbee and Willcox) and Dos Cabezas (east of Willcox). The best-known winery, Callaghan Vineyard, has been making wines since 1990. Others include Arizona Vineyards, Charron Vineyard, Dark Mountain Winery, Domaines Ellam, Dos Cabezas Wineworks, Echo Canyon, Florence Vineyards, Fort Bowie Vineyards, Kokopelli Winery, Palo Verde, Paradise Valley Vineyards, San Dominique, Santa Cruz Winery, Sonoita Vineyard, Village of Elgin Winery, and Whispering Peak Vineyards. Arizona has less than 1,000 acres planted, primarily to popular grape varieties like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, and sangiovese.
| Stats: Arizona |
 |
| Parks: Arizona |
| Wikipedia: Arizona |
| State of Arizona | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| Official language(s) | English | ||||||||||||
| Spoken language(s) | English 74.1%, Spanish 19.5%, Navajo 1.9% |
||||||||||||
| Demonym | Arizonan, Arizonian[1] | ||||||||||||
| Capital | Phoenix | ||||||||||||
| Largest city | Phoenix | ||||||||||||
| Largest metro area | Phoenix Metropolitan Area | ||||||||||||
| Area | Ranked 6th in the US | ||||||||||||
| - Total | 113,998 sq mi (295,254 km2) |
||||||||||||
| - Width | 310 miles (500 km) | ||||||||||||
| - Length | 400 miles (645 km) | ||||||||||||
| - % water | 0.32 | ||||||||||||
| - Latitude | 31° 20′ N to 37° N | ||||||||||||
| - Longitude | 109° 3′ W to 114° 49′ W | ||||||||||||
| Population | Ranked 14th in the US | ||||||||||||
| - Total | 6,500,180 (2008 est.)[2] | ||||||||||||
| - Density | 55.8/sq mi (21.54/km2) Ranked 33rd in the US |
||||||||||||
| Elevation | |||||||||||||
| - Highest point | Humphreys Peak[3] 12,637 ft (3,851 m) |
||||||||||||
| - Mean | 4,100 ft (1,250 m) | ||||||||||||
| - Lowest point | Colorado River[3] 70 ft (22 m) |
||||||||||||
| Admission to Union | February 14, 1912 (48th) | ||||||||||||
| Governor | Jan Brewer (R) | ||||||||||||
| Lieutenant Governor | None[4] | ||||||||||||
| U.S. Senators | John McCain (R) Jon Kyl (R) |
||||||||||||
| U.S. House delegation | 5 Democrats, 3 Republicans (list) | ||||||||||||
| Time zones | |||||||||||||
| - Most of State | Mountain: UTC-7 | ||||||||||||
| - Navajo Nation | Mountain: UTC-7/-6 | ||||||||||||
| Abbreviations | AZ Ariz. US-AZ | ||||||||||||
| Website | http://www.az.gov | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| The flag of Arizona. | |
|
|
|
| Animate insignia | |
| Amphibian | Arizona Tree Frog |
| Bird | Cactus Wren |
| Butterfly | Two-tailed Swallowtail |
| Fish | Apache trout |
| Flower | Saguaro Cactus blossom |
| Mammal | Ring-tailed Cat |
| Reptile | Arizona Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake |
| Tree | Palo verde |
|
|
|
| Inanimate insignia | |
| Colors | Blue, Old Gold |
| Fossil | Petrified wood |
| Gemstone | Turquoise |
| Mineral | Fire Agate |
| Rock | Petrified wood |
| Ship(s) | USS Arizona |
| Slogan(s) | The Grand Canyon State |
| Soil | Casa Grande |
| Song(s) | Arizona, Arizona March Song |
|
|
|
| Route marker(s) | |
 |
|
|
|
|
| State Quarter | |
 |
|
| Released in 2008 | |
|
|
|
| Lists of United States state insignia | |
The State of Arizona (
/ærɪˈzoʊnə/ (help·info)) is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.
Arizona was the 48th and last of the contiguous states, admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912, the 50th anniversary of Arizona's recognition as a territory of the United States.[5] Arizona is noted for its desert climate, exceptionally hot summers, and mild winters, but the high country in the north features pine forests and mountain ranges with cooler weather than the lower deserts. Population figures for the year ending July 1, 2006, indicate that Arizona was at that time the fastest growing state in the United States, exceeding the growth of the previous leader, Nevada, and is currently the second. Arizona has had more female governors than any other U.S. state.
Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It borders New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, touches Colorado, and has a 389-mile (626 km) international border with the states of Sonora and Baja California in Mexico. It is the largest landlocked US State by population. In addition to the Grand Canyon, many other national forests, parks, monuments, and Indian reservations are located in the state.
Contents |
Arizona is located in the western United States as one of the Four Corners states. 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), approximately 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, which is rich in xerophyte plants such as the cactus. It is also known for its climate, which presents exceptionally hot summers and mild winters. Less well known is the pine-covered high country of the Colorado Plateau in the north-central portion of the state, which contrasts with the desert Basin and Range region in the southern portions of the state.
Like other states of the Southwest, Arizona has an abundance of topographical characteristics in addition to its desert climate. Mountains and plateaus are found in more than half of the state. The largest stand in the world of Ponderosa pine trees is contained in Arizona.[6] The Mogollon Rim, a 1,998 feet (609 m) escarpment, cuts across the central section of the state and marks the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, where the state experienced its worst forest fire ever in 2002. Arizona belongs firmly within the Basin and Range region of North America. The region was shaped by prehistoric volcanism, followed by a cooling-off and related subsidence. The entire region is slowly sinking.
The Grand Canyon is a colorful, steep-sided gorge, carved by the Colorado River, in northern Arizona. The canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and is largely contained in the Grand Canyon National Park—one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of designating the Grand Canyon area, visiting on numerous occasions to hunt mountain lion and enjoy the scenery. The canyon was created by the Colorado River cutting a channel over millions of years, and is about 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6 to 29 km) and attains a depth of more than 1 mile (1.6 km). Nearly 2 billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut through layer after layer of sediment as the Colorado Plateaus have uplifted.
Arizona is home to one of the most well-preserved meteorite impact sites in the world. The Barringer Meteorite Crater (better known simply as "Meteor Crater") is a gigantic hole in the middle of the high plains of the Colorado Plateau, 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 itself is nearly a mile wide, and 570 feet (170 m) deep.
Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time, except in the Navajo Nation, located in the northeastern region of the state.
Due to its large area and variations in elevation the state has a wide variety of localized climate conditions. In the lower elevations, the climate is primarily desert, with mild winters and hot summers. Typically, from late fall to early spring, the weather is mild, averaging a minimum of 60 °F (16 °C). November through February are the coldest months with temperatures typically ranging from 40–75 °F (4–24 °C), although occasional frosts are not uncommon. About midway through February, the temperatures start to rise again with warm days, and cool breezy nights. The summer months of June through September bring a dry heat ranging from 90–120 °F (32–49 °C), with occasional high temperatures exceeding 125 °F (52 °C) having been observed in the desert area.
Due to the primarily dry climate, large temperature swings often occur between day and night in less developed areas of the desert. The swings can be as large as 50 °F (28 °C) in the summer months. In the state's urban centers, the effects of local warming result in much higher measured nighttime lows than in the recent past.
Arizona has an average annual rainfall of 12.7 inches (323 mm),[7] which comes during two rainy seasons, with cold fronts coming from the Pacific Ocean during the winter and a monsoon in the summer.[8] The monsoon season occurs towards the end of summer. In July or August, the dewpoint rises dramatically for a brief period. During this time, the air contains large amounts of water vapor. Dewpoints as high as 81°F (27 °C)[9] have been recorded during the Phoenix monsoon season. This hot moisture brings lightning, thunderstorms, wind, and torrential, if usually brief, downpours. It is rare for tornadoes and hurricanes to occur in Arizona, but there are records of both occurring.
However, the northern third of Arizona is a plateau at significantly higher altitudes than the lower desert, and has an appreciably cooler climate, with cold winters and mild summers. Extreme cold temperatures are not unknown; cold air systems from the northern states and Canada occasionally push into the state, bringing temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) to the Northern parts of the state.
Indicative of the variation in climate, Arizona is the state which has both the metropolitan area with the most days over 100 °F (38 °C) (Phoenix), and the metropolitan area in the lower 48 states with nearly the most days with a low temperature below freezing (Flagstaff).[10]
There is some disagreement over the proper etymology of the name "Arizona." Possible origins supported by historians are the Basque phrase aritz ona, "good oak,"[11][12][13] and the O'odham phrase alĭ ṣonak, "small spring".[14] The Basque etymology is the one preferred by Arizona state historian Marshall Trimble, among other specialists. The name Arizonac was initially applied to the silver mining camp, and later (shortened to Arizona) to the entire territory.
Marcos de Niza, a Spanish Franciscan, explored the area in 1539 and met its original native inhabitants, probably the Sobaipuri. The expedition of Spanish explorer Coronado entered the area in 1540–42 during its search for Cíbola. Society of Jesus Father Kino developed a chain of missions and taught the Indians Christianity in Pimería Alta (now southern Arizona and northern Sonora) in the 1690s and early 1700s. Spain founded presidios (fortified towns) at Tubac in 1752 and Tucson in 1775. When Mexico achieved its independence from Spain in 1821, what is now Arizona became part of the Mexican Territory Nueva California, also known as Alta California.[15] In the Mexican–American War (1847), the U.S. occupied Mexico City and forced the newly founded Mexican Republic to give up its northern territories, including what later became Arizona. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) specified that the sum of $15 million US dollars in compensation (equivalent to about $368 million in present day terms[16]) be paid to the newly formed Republic of Mexico.[17] The purchase of the area formerly ruled by Spain, then briefly Mexico, almost bankrupted the United States. As a result, the land was offered back to the Mexican Republic. In 1853 the land below the Gila River was acquired from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase. Arizona was administered as part of the Territory of New Mexico until southern New Mexico seceded[18] from the Union as the Confederate Territory of Arizona on March 16, 1861. Arizona was recognized as a Confederate Territory by presidential proclamation of Jefferson Davis on February 12, 1862. This is the first official use of the name. A new Arizona Territory, consisting of the western half of New Mexico Territory was declared in Washington, D.C. on February 24, 1863. The new boundaries would later form the basis of the state.
Other names including "Gadsonia", "Pimeria", "Montezuma", "Arizuma", and "Arizonia" had been considered for the territory,[19] however when President Lincoln signed the final bill, it read "Arizona", and the name became permanent. (Montezuma was not the Aztec Emperor, but the sacred name of a divine hero to the Pueblo people of the Gila valley, and was probably considered—and rejected—for its sentimental value before the name "Arizona" was settled upon.)
Brigham Young sent Mormons to Arizona in the mid-to-late 19th century. They founded Mesa, Snowflake, Heber, Safford and other towns. They also settled in the Phoenix Valley (or "Valley of the Sun"), Tempe, Prescott, among other areas. The Mormons settled what became known as Northern Arizona and northern New Mexico, but these areas were located in a part of the former New Mexico Territory. The largest ancestry of these settlers is German.
At the beginning of the Spanish/American war of 1898, Americans from mostly Arizona and New Mexico, as well as some other Southwestern States, became soldiers in Colonel Roosevelt's Rough Riders.[citation needed] Arizonans fought primarily in the Cuban Campaign, the largest and deadliest phase of the war, alongside Teddy Roosevelt, a future American President. Other famous people to enlist in the Arizona Volunteer Cavalry was Tom Horn, a notorious gunslinger who was involved in a number of Arizona wars, the Apache Wars and the Pleasant Valley Range War.[citation needed]
During the Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1920, a few battles were fought in the Mexican towns just across the border from Arizona border settlements. Throughout the revolution, Arizonans were enlisting in one of the several armies fighting in Mexico. The Battle of Ambos Nogales in 1918, other than Pancho Villa's 1916 Columbus Raid in New Mexico, was the only significant engagement on US soil between United States and Mexican forces. The battle resulted in an American victory. After US soldiers were fired on by Mexican Federal troops, the American garrison then launched an assault into Nogales Mexico. The Mexicans eventually surrendered after both sides sustained heavy casualties. A few months earlier, just west of Nogales, an Indian War battle occurred, thus being the last engagement in the American Indian Wars which lasted from 1775 to 1918. The participants in the fight were US soldiers stationed on the border and Yaqui Indians who were using Arizona as a base to raid the nearby Mexican settlements, as part of their wars against Mexico. As World War I raged in Europe, Frank Luke became America's 2nd best ace. Frank was born in Phoenix Arizona and was killed in combat over France in 1918.[citation needed]
Arizona became a U.S. state on February 14, 1912. The major result being the end to the territorial colonization of Continental America. Arizona was the 48th state admitted into the U.S. and the last of the contiguous states to be admitted. The admission, originally scheduled to coincide with that of New Mexico, was delayed by Democrats in the territorial legislature to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Arizona becoming a Confederate territory in 1862.[20]
Cotton farming and copper mining, two of Arizona's most important statewide industries, suffered heavily during the Great Depression, but it was during the 1920s and 1930s that tourism began to be the important Arizona industry it is today. Dude ranches such as the K L Bar and Remuda in Wickenburg, along with the Flying V and Tanque Verde in Tucson, gave tourists the chance to experience the flavor and life of the "old West." Several upscale hotels and resorts opened during this period, some of which are still top tourist draws to this day; they include the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in central Phoenix (opened 1929) and the Wigwam Resort on the west side of the Phoenix area (opened 1936).
Arizona was the site of German and Italian POW camps during World War II and Japanese US-resident internment camps. The camps were abolished after World War II. The Phoenix area site was purchased after the war by the Maytag family (of major home appliance fame), and is currently utilized as the Phoenix Zoo. A Japanese American internment camp was located on Mount Lemmon, just outside of the state's southeastern city of Tucson. Another POW camp was located near the Gila River in eastern Yuma County. Because of California's proximity to Japan, a line was drawn somewhat parallel to the California border, and all Japanese residents west of that line were required to reside in the war camps. Grand Avenue, a major thoroughfare in the Phoenix area and part of U.S. 60, (perhaps because it mirrored the California border) was chosen as part of that boundary. This resulted in many extended Japanese families becoming separated; some were interned, some free—and some free families, in an odd bid for family unity, requested to be interned in order to be with their families at a camp built by the original Del Webb Co., a modern manufacturer of large housing developments.
Arizona was also home to the Phoenix Indian School, one of several federal institutions designed to assimilate native children into mainstream culture. Children were often enrolled into these schools against the wishes of their parents and families. Attempts to suppress native identities included forcing the children to cut their hair and take on western names.[21]
Arizona's population grew tremendously after World War II, in part because of the development of air conditioning, which made the intense summers more comfortable. According to the Arizona Blue Book (published by the Secretary of State's office each year), the state population in 1910 was 294,353. By 1970, it was 1,752,122. The percentage growth each decade averaged about 20% in the earlier decades and about 60% each decade thereafter.
The 1960s saw the establishment of retirement communities, special age-restricted subdivisions catering exclusively to the needs of senior citizens who wanted to escape the harsh winters of the Midwest and the Northeast. Sun City, established by developer Del Webb and opened in 1960, was one of the first such communities. Green Valley, south of Tucson, was another such community and was designed to be a retirement subdivision for Arizona's teachers. (Many senior citizens arrive in Arizona each winter and stay only during the winter months; they are referred to as snowbirds.)
In March 2000, Arizona was the site of the first legally binding election to nominate a candidate for public office ever held over the internet. In the 2000 Arizona Democratic Primary, under worldwide attention, Al Gore defeated Bill Bradley, and voter turnout increased more than 500% over the 1996 primary.
Three ships named USS Arizona have been christened in honor of the state, although only USS Arizona (BB-39) was so named after statehood was achieved.
Until the latter half of the 19th century, almost all of central and northern Arizona remained uninhabited. At the time of Arizona’s acquisition by the United States in 1848, fewer than 1,000 people of Hispanic origin lived in Arizona.[22] The 1860 census reported the population of "Arizona County" to be 6,482, of whom 4,040 were listed as "Indians", 21 as "free colored" and 2,421 as "white".[23] As of 2006, Arizona had an estimated population of 6,166,318.[24] Arizona's continued population growth is putting an enormous stress on the state's water supplies.[25]
The population of the Phoenix metropolitan area increased by 45.3% from 1990 through 2000, helping to make Arizona the second fastest growing state in the nation in the 1990s (the fastest was Nevada).[26] Currently the population of the Phoenix metropolitan area is estimated to be over 4.3 million.
According to the 2005-2007 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, White Americans made up 76.4% of Arizona's population; of which 59.6% were non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics and Latinos (of any race) made up 29.0% of Arizona's population.[27]
According to a 2007 survey conducted by The Pew Forum, the religious affiliation of the People of Arizona are:[28]
The 2006 total gross state product was $232 billion. If Arizona (and each of the other US states) were an independent country along with all existing countries (2005), it would have the 61st largest economy in the world (CIA - The World Factbook). This figure gives Arizona a larger economy than such countries as Ireland, Finland, and New Zealand. Arizona currently has the 21st largest economy among states in the United States. As a percentage of its overall budget, Arizona's projected 1.7 billion deficit for '09 is one of the largest in the country, behind such states as California, Michigan, and Florida, to name a few.[29]
The state's per capita income is $27,232, 39th in the U.S. Arizona had a median household income of $46,693 making it 27th in the country and just shy of the US national median. Early in its history, Arizona's economy relied on the "Five C's": copper (see Copper mining in Arizona), cotton, cattle, citrus, and climate (tourism). At one point Arizona was the largest producer of cotton in the country. Copper is still extensively mined from many expansive open-pit and underground mines, accounting for two-thirds of the nation's output.
The state government is Arizona's largest employer, while Wal-Mart is the state's largest private employer, with 17,343 employees (2008).
Arizona collects personal income taxes in five brackets: 2.87%, 3.20%, 3.74%, 4.72% and 5.04%. The 'sales tax' is generally around 6.3%.
The state rate on transient lodging (hotel/motel) is 7.27%. The state of Arizona does not levy a state tax on food for home consumption or on drugs prescribed by a licensed physician or dentist. However, some cities in Arizona do levy a tax on food for home consumption.
All fifteen Arizona counties levy a tax. Incorporated municipalities also levy transaction privilege taxes which, with the exception of their hotel/motel tax, are generally in the range of 1-to-3%. These added assessments could push the combined sales tax rate to as high as 10.7%.
| Single | Tax Rate | Joint | Tax Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – $10,000 | 2.870% | 0 – $20,000 | 2.870% |
| $10,000 – $25,000 | 3.200% | $20,001 – $50,000 | 3.200% |
| $25,000 – $50,000 | 3.740% | $50,001 – $100,000 | 3.740% |
| $50,000 – $150,001 | 4.720% | $100,000 – $300,001 | 4.720% |
| $150,001 + | 5.040% | $300,001 + | 5.040% |
.svg){kind=small}
Interstate 8 | .svg){kind=small}
Interstate 10 | .svg){kind=small}
Interstate 15 | .svg){kind=small}
Interstate 17 | .svg){kind=small}
Interstate 19 | .svg){kind=small}
Interstate 40
U.S. Route 60 | 
U.S. Route 64 | 
U.S. Route 70 | 
U.S. Route 89 | 
U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 91 | 
U.S. Route 93 | 
U.S. Route 95 | 
U.S. Route 160 | 
U.S. Route 163
U.S. Route 180 | 
U.S. Route 191 | 
U.S. Route 466 | 
U.S. Route 491
Main interstate routes include Interstate 17, and Interstate 19 running north-south, Interstate 40, Interstate 8, and Interstate 10 running east-west, and a short stretch of Interstate 15 running northeast/southwest through the extreme northwestern corner of the state. In addition, the various urban areas are served by complex networks of state routes and highways, such as the Loop 101, which is part of Phoenix's vast freeway system.
The Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas are served by public bus transit systems. Yuma and Flagstaff also have public bus systems. Greyhound Lines serves Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma, and several smaller communities statewide.
A light rail system called Valley Metro Rail has recently been completed in Phoenix; it connects Central Phoenix with the nearby cities of Mesa and Tempe. The system officially opened for service in December 2008.
In May 2006, voters in Tucson approved a Regional Transportation Plan (a comprehensive bus transit/streetcar/roadway improvement program), and its funding via a new half-cent sales tax increment. The centerpiece of the plan is a light rail streetcar system (possibly similar to the Portland Streetcar in Oregon) that will travel through the downtown area, connecting the main University of Arizona campus with the Rio Nuevo master plan area on the western edge of downtown.[30]
Airports with regularly scheduled commercial flights include: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (IATA: PHX, ICAO: KPHX) in Phoenix (the largest airport and the major international airport in the state); Tucson International Airport (IATA: TUS, ICAO: KTUS) in Tucson; Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (IATA: AZA, ICAO: KIWA) in Mesa; Yuma International Airport (IATA: NYL, ICAO: KNYL) in Yuma; Prescott Municipal Airport (PRC) in Prescott; Flagstaff Pulliam Airport (IATA: FLG, ICAO: KFLG) in Flagstaff, and Grand Canyon National Park Airport (IATA: GCN, ICAO: KGCN, FAA: GCN), a small, but busy, single-runway facility providing tourist flights, mostly from Las Vegas. Phoenix Sky Harbor is currently 7th busiest airport in the world in terms of aircraft movements, and 17th for passenger traffic.[31][32]
Other significant airports without regularly scheduled commercial flights include Scottsdale Municipal Airport (IATA: SCF, ICAO: KSDL) in Scottsdale, and Deer Valley Airport (IATA: DVT, ICAO: KDVT, FAA: DVT) home to two flight training academies and the Nation's busiest general aviation airport.[33]
The state capital of Arizona is Phoenix. The original Capitol building, with its distinctive copper dome, was dedicated in 1901 (construction was completed for $136,000 in 1900), when the area was still a territory. Phoenix became the official state capital with Arizona's admission to the union in 1912.
The House of Representatives and Senate buildings were dedicated in 1960, and an Executive Office Building was dedicated in 1974 (the ninth floor of this building is where the Office of the Governor is located). The original Capitol building was converted into a museum.
The Capitol complex is fronted and highlighted by the richly landscaped Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, named after Wesley Bolin, a governor who died in office in the 1970s. Numerous monuments and memorials are on the site, including the anchor and signal mast from the USS Arizona (one of the U.S. Navy ships sunk in Pearl Harbor), a granite version of the Ten Commandments, and the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Arizona Legislature is bicameral (like the legislature of every other state except Nebraska) and consists of a thirty-member Senate and a 60-member House of Representatives. Each of the thirty legislative districts has one senator and two representatives. Legislators are elected for two-year terms.
Each Legislature covers a two-year period. The first session following the general election is known as the first regular session, and the session convening in the second year is known as the second regular session. Each regular session begins on the second Monday in January and adjourns sine die (terminates for the year) no later than Saturday of the week in which the 100th day from the beginning of the regular session falls. The President of the Senate and Speaker of the House, by rule, may extend the session up to seven additional days. Thereafter, the session can only be extended by a majority vote of members present of each house.
The current majority party is the Republican Party, which has held power in both houses since 1993.
Arizona state senators and representatives are elected for two year terms and are limited to four consecutive terms in a chamber, though there is no limit on the total number of terms. When a lawmaker is term-limited from office, it is not uncommon for him or her to run for election in the other chamber.
The fiscal year 2006–07 general fund budget, approved by the Arizona Legislature in June 2006, is slightly less than $10 billion. Besides the money spent on state agencies, it also includes more than $500 million in income- and property tax cuts, pay raises for government employees, and additional funding for the K–12 education system.
Arizona’s executive branch is headed by a governor, who is elected to a four-year term. The governor may serve any number of terms, though no more than two in a row. Arizona is one of the few states that does not maintain a governor’s mansion. During office the governors reside within their private residence, and all executive offices are housed in the executive tower at the state capitol. The current governor of Arizona is Jan Brewer (R). She assumed office after Janet Napolitano had her nomination by Barack Obama for Secretary of Homeland Security confirmed by the United States Senate.[34] Arizona has had four female governors including the current Governor Jan Brewer more than any other state.
Other elected executive officials include the Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Mine Inspector and a five member Corporation Commission. All elected officials hold a term of four years, and are limited to two consecutive terms (except the office of the state mine inspector, which is exempt from term limits).
Arizona is one of eight states that does not have a specified lieutenant governor. The secretary of state is the first in line to succeed the governor in the event of death, disability, resignation, or removal from office. The line of succession also includes the attorney general, state treasurer and superintendent of public instruction. Since 1977, four secretaries of state and one attorney general have risen to Arizona's governorship though these means.
The Arizona Supreme Court is the highest court in Arizona. The court currently consists of one chief justice, a vice chief justice, and three associate justices. Justices are appointed by the governor from a list recommended by a bi-partisian commission, and are re-elected after the initial two years following their appointment. Subsequent re-elections occur every six years. The supreme court has appellate jurisdiction in death penalty cases, but almost all other appellate cases go through the Arizona Court of Appeals beforehand. The court has original jurisdiction in a few other circumstances, as outlined in the state constitution. The court may also declare laws unconstitutional, but only while seated en banc. The court meets in the Arizona Supreme Court Building at the capitol complex (at the southern end of Wesley Bolin Plaza).
The Arizona Court of Appeals, further divided into two divisions, is the intermediate court in the state. Division One is based in Phoenix, consists of sixteen judges, and has jurisdiction in the Western and Northern regions of the state, along with the greater Phoenix area. Division Two is based in Tucson, consists of six judges, and has jurisdiction over the Southern regions of the state, including the Tucson area. Judges are selected in a method similar to the one used for state supreme court justices.
Each county of Arizona has a superior court, the size and organization of which are varied and generally depend on the size of the particular county.
Arizona is divided into political jurisdictions designated as counties. As of 1983 there were 15 counties in the state, ranging in size from 1,238 to 18,661 square miles.
| ARIZONA COUNTIES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County name | County seat | Year founded | 2000 population | Percent of total | Area (sq. mi.) | Percent of total |
| Apache | St. Johns | 1879 | 69,423 | 1.17 % | 11,218 | 9.84 % |
| Cochise | Bisbee | 1881 | 117,755 | 1.98 % | 6,219 | 5.46 % |
| Coconino | Flagstaff | 1891 | 116,320 | 1.96 % | 18,661 | 16.37 % |
| Gila | Globe | 1881 | 51,335 | 0.86 % | 4,796 | 4.21 % |
| Graham | Safford | 1881 | 33,489 | 0.56 % | 4,641 | 4.07 % |
| Greenlee | Clifton | 1909 | 8,547 | 0.14 % | 1,848 | 1.62 % |
| La Paz | Parker | 1983 | 19,715 | 0.33 % | 4,513 | 3.96 % |
| Maricopa | Phoenix | 1871 | 3,880,181 | 65.34 % | 9,224 | 8.09 % |
| Mohave | Kingman | 1864 | 155,032 | 2.61 % | 13,470 | 11.82 % |
| Navajo | Holbrook | 1895 | 97,470 | 1.64 % | 9,959 | 8.74 % |
| Pima | Tucson | 1864 | 843,746 | 14.21 % | 9,189 | 8.06 % |
| Pinal | Florence | 1875 | 179,727 | 3.03 % | 5,374 | 4.71 % |
| Santa Cruz | Nogales | 1899 | 36,381 | 0.65 % | 1,238 | 1.09 % |
| Yavapai | Prescott | 1865 | 167,517 | 2.82 % | 8,128 | 7.13 % |
| Yuma | Yuma | 1864 | 160,026 | 2.69 % | 5,519 | 4.84 % |
| Totals: 15 | 5,938,664 | 113,997 | ||||
Arizona's two United States Senators are John McCain (R), the 2008 Republican Presidential Nominee, and Jon Kyl (R).
Arizona's representatives in the United States House of Representatives are Ann Kirkpatrick (D-1), Trent Franks (R-2), John Shadegg (R-3), Ed Pastor (D-4), Harry Mitchell (D-5), Jeff Flake (R-6), Raul Grijalva (D-7), and Gabrielle Giffords (D-8). Arizona gained two seats in the House of Representatives due to redistricting based on Census 2000.
| Year | Republican | Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 53.60% 1,230,111 | 45.12% 1,034,707 |
| 2004 | 54.87% 1,104,294 | 44.40% 893,524 |
| 2000 | 50.95% 781,652 | 44.67% 685,341 |
| 1996 | 44.29% 622,073 | 46.52% 653,288 |
| 1992 | 38.47% 572,086 | 36.52% 543,050 |
| 1988 | 59.95% 702,541 | 38.74% 454,029 |
| 1984 | 66.42% 681,416 | 32.54% 333,854 |
| 1980 | 60.61% 529,688 | 28.24% 246,843 |
| 1976 | 56.37% 418,642 | 39.80% 295,602 |
| 1972 | 61.64% 402,812 | 30.38% 198,540 |
| 1968 | 54.78% 266,721 | 35.02% 170,514 |
| 1964 | 50.45% 242,535 | 49.45% 237,753 |
| 1960 | 55.52% 221,241 | 44.36% 176,781 |
From statehood through the late 1940s, Arizona was primarily dominated by the Democratic Party. During this time period, the Democratic candidate for the presidency carried the state each election, with the only exceptions being the elections of 1920, 1924 and 1928—all three of which were national Republican landslides.
Since the election of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, however, the state has voted consistently Republican in national politics, with the Republican candidate carrying the state every time with the sole exception of Bill Clinton in United States presidential election, 1996. In recent years, the Republican Party has also dominated Arizona politics in general. The fast-growing Phoenix and Tucson suburbs became increasingly friendly to Republicans from the 1950s onward. During this time, many "Pinto Democrats," or conservative Democrats from rural areas, became increasingly willing to support Republicans at the state and national level. However, the previous Governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano is a Democrat; she was handily reelected in 2006.
On March 4, 2008, John McCain effectively clinched the Republican nomination for 2008, becoming the first presidential nominee from the state since Barry Goldwater in 1964.
Arizona politics are dominated by a longstanding rivalry between its two largest counties, Maricopa County and Pima County--home to Phoenix and Tucson. The two counties have almost 80 percent of the state's population and cast almost three-fourths of the state's vote. They also elect a substantial majority of the state legislature.
Maricopa County is home to almost 60 percent of the state's population, and most of the state's elected officials live there. It has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1948. This includes the 1964 run of native son Barry Goldwater; he wouldn't have even carried his own state had it not been for a 20,000-vote margin in Maricopa County. Similarly, while McCain won Arizona by eight percentage points in 2008, the margin would have likely been far closer if not for a 130,000-vote margin in Maricopa County.
In contrast, Pima County, home to Tucson, and most of southern Arizona has historically been more Democratic. While Tucson's suburbs lean Republican, they hold to a somewhat more moderate brand of Republicanism than is common in the Phoenix area.
Arizona rejected an anti-gay marriage amendment in the 2006 midterm elections. Arizona was the first state in the nation to do so. Same-sex marriage was already illegal in Arizona, but this amendment would have denied any legal or financial benefits to unmarried homosexual or heterosexual couples.[35]
In 2008, Arizona passed an amendment to the state constitution to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman.[36]
See also: United States presidential election, 2004, in Arizona
Phoenix, located in Maricopa County, is the largest city in Arizona and also the state capital. Other prominent cities in the Phoenix metro area include Mesa (the third largest city in Arizona), Glendale, Peoria, Chandler, Sun City, Sun City West, Fountain Hills, Surprise, Gilbert, El Mirage, Avondale, Tempe, Tolleson and Scottsdale, with a total metropolitan population of just over 4 million.
Tucson is the state's second largest city, and is located in Pima County, approximately 110 miles (180 km) southeast of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Tucson metropolitan area crossed the one-million-resident threshold in early 2007. It is home to the University of Arizona, which is a Public Ivy and, along with Arizona State University in Tempe, are considered the state's flagship universities.
The Prescott metropolitan area includes the cities of Prescott, Sedona, Cottonwood, Camp Verde and numerous other towns spread out over the Yavapai County area. With 212,635 residents, this cluster of towns form the third largest metropolitan area in the state. The city of Prescott (population 41,528) lies approximately 100 miles (160 km) northwest of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Situated in pine tree forests at an elevation of about 5,500 feet (1,700 m), Prescott enjoys a much cooler climate than Phoenix, with average summer highs in the upper 80s Fahrenheit and winter temperatures averaging 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Yuma is center of the fourth largest metropolitan area in Arizona. It is located near the borders of California and Mexico. It is one of the hottest cities in the United States with the average July high of 107 °F (42 °C). (The same month's average in Death Valley is 115 °F (46 °C).) The city also features sunny days about 90% of the year. The Yuma Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 160,000. Yuma also attracts many winter visitors from all over the United States.
Flagstaff is the largest city in northern Arizona, and is situated at an elevation of nearly 7,000 feet (2,100 m). With its large Ponderosa Pine forests, snowy winter weather and picturesque mountains, it is a stark contrast to the desert regions typically associated with Arizona. It sits at the base of the San Francisco Peaks the highest mountain range in the state of Arizona, with Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 feet (3,851 m). Flagstaff has a strong tourism sector, due to its proximity to numerous tourist attractions including: Grand Canyon National Park, Sedona, and Oak Creek Canyon. Historic U.S. Route 66 is the main east-west street in the town. Flagstaff is home to 57,391 residents and the main campus of Northern Arizona University.
Public schools in Arizona are separated into about 220 local school districts which operate independently, but are governed in most cases by elected county school superintendents; these are in turn overseen by the Arizona State Board of Education (a division of the Arizona Department of Education) and the state Superintendent of Public Instruction (elected in partisan elections every even-numbered year when there is not a presidential election, for a four-year term). In 2005, a School District Redistricting Commission was established with the goal of combining and consolidating many of these districts.
Arizona is served by three public universities: The University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. These schools are governed by the Arizona Board of Regents.
Private higher education in Arizona is dominated by a large number of for-profit and "chain" (multi-site) universities.[37] Only one traditional (single-site, non-profit, four-year) private college exists in Arizona (Prescott College).[38] Arizona has a wide network of two-year vocational and community colleges. These colleges were governed historically by a separate statewide Board of Directors but, in 2002, the state legislature transferred almost all oversight authority to individual community college districts.[39] The Maricopa County Community College District includes 11 community colleges throughout Maricopa County and is one of the largest in the nation.
Due to its numerous golf courses, Arizona is home to several stops on the PGA Tour, most notably at the FBR Open, more commonly known as the Phoenix Open.
With three state universities and several community colleges, college sports are also prevalent in Arizona. The intense rivalry between Arizona State University and the University of Arizona predates Arizona's statehood, and is the oldest rivalry in the NCAA.[40] The thus aptly named Territorial Cup, first awarded in 1889 and certified as the oldest trophy in college football,[41] is awarded to the winner of the “Duel in the Desert,” the annual football game between the two schools. Arizona also hosts several bowl games in the Bowl Championship Series. The Fiesta Bowl, originally held at Sun Devil Stadium, will now be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The University of Phoenix Stadium was also home to the 2007 BCS National Championship Game and hosted Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008. The Insight Bowl is also held at Sun Devil Stadium.
Besides being home to spring training, Arizona is also home to two other baseball leagues, Arizona Fall League and Arizona Winter League. The Fall League was founded in 1992 and is a minor league baseball league designed for players to refine their skills and perform in game settings in front of major and minor league baseball scouts and team executives, who are in attendance at almost every game. The league got exposure when Michael Jordan started his time in baseball with the Scottsdale Scorpions. The Arizona Winter League, founded in 2007, is a professional baseball league of four teams for the independent Golden Baseball League. The games are played in Yuma at the Desert Sun Stadium, but added two new teams in the California desert, and one more in Sonora for the 2008 season.
Arizona is a popular location for Major League Baseball spring training, as it is the site of the Cactus League. The only other location for spring training is in Florida with the Grapefruit League. The Los Angeles Dodgers will have a new spring training facility in Glendale in 2009, which makes them the 14th team in Arizona. Spring training has been somewhat of a tradition in Arizona since 1947 (i.e. the Cleveland Indians in Tucson until 1991, and the San Diego Padres in Yuma until 1992) despite the fact that the state did not have its own major league team until the state was awarded the Diamondbacks in Phoenix as an expansion team. The state hosts the following teams:
Arizona has featured a continuous string of dancing and performing groups of many ethnicities. The state is a recognized center of Native American art, with a number of galleries such as the Heard Museum showcasing historical and contemporary works. Sedona, Jerome, and Tubac are known as budding artist colonies, and small arts scenes exist in the larger cities and near the state universities.
Many tourist souvenirs produced in Arizona or by its residents display characteristic images, such as sunsets, coyotes, and desert plants. Several major Hollywood films, such as Billy Jack, U-Turn, Waiting to Exhale, Just One of the Guys, Can't Buy Me Love, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, The Scorpion King, The Banger Sisters, Used Cars, and Raising Arizona have been made there (as indeed have many Westerns). The 1993 science fiction movie Fire in the Sky, which was actually based on a reported alien abduction in Arizona, was set and filmed in the town of Snowflake. The climax of the 1977 Clint Eastwood film The Gauntlet takes place in downtown Phoenix. The final segments of the 1984 film Starman take place at Meteor Crater outside Winslow. The Jeff Foxworthy comedy documentary movie Blue Collar Comedy Tour was filmed almost entirely at the Dodge Theatre. Arguably one of the most famous examples could be Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Psycho. Not only was some of the film shot in Phoenix, but the main character is from there as well. Some of the television shows filmed or set in Arizona include The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Medium, Alice, The First 48, Insomniac with Dave Attell, COPS, and America's Most Wanted. The 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, for which Ellen Burstyn won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and also starred Kris Kristofferson, was set in Tucson, as was the TV sitcom Alice, which was based on the movie.
See also: List of films shot in Arizona
Arizona is prominently featured in the lyrics of many Country and Western songs, such as Jamie O'Neal's hit ballad "There Is No Arizona". George Strait's "Oceanfront Property" uses the offer of "ocean front property in Arizona" as a metaphor for a sucker proposition that is obviously false. The line "see you down in Arizona Bay" is used in a Tool song in reference to a Bill Hicks quote. The line refers to the hope that L.A. will one day fall into the ocean due to a major earthquake.
"Arizona" was the title of a popular song recorded by Mark Lindsay (formerly of Paul Revere and the Raiders) that was a hit during the winter of 1969–1970.
Arizona's budding music scene is helped by emerging bands, as well as some well-known artists. The Gin Blossoms, Chronic Future, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Jimmy Eat World and others began their careers in Arizona. Also, a number of punk bands got their start in Arizona, including JFA, The Feederz, Sun City Girls, The Meat Puppets, and more recently Authority Zero. There is also an indie rock scene with artists such as blessthefall,Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Eyes Set To Kill, The Bled, Fine China, Greeley Estates, The Stiletto Formal, The Format.
Arizona also has its share of singers and other musicians. Singer, songwriter and guitarist Michelle Branch is from Sedona. Chester Bennington, the lead vocalist of Linkin Park, and mash-up artist DJ Z-Trip are both from Phoenix. One of Arizona's more infamous musicians would be shock rocker Alice Cooper, who helped define the genre. Other notable singers include country singer Marty Robbins, folk singer Katie Lee, Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks, CeCe Peniston, Rex Allen, 2007 American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, and Linda Ronstadt.
See also Music of Arizona
Some famous Arizonans involved in politics and government are:
Arizona notables in culture and the arts include:
For a complete list, see List of people from Arizona.
Find more about Arizona on Wikipedia's sister projects:
Definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Learning resources from Wikiversity |
Nevada | Utah | Colorado | |
| California |  |
New Mexico | ||
 Arizona  |
||||
 |
||||
 Mexico |
| Preceded by New Mexico |
List of U.S. states by date of statehood Admitted on February 14, 1912 (48th) |
Succeeded by Alaska |
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Coordinates: 34°N 112°W / 34°N 112°W
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Translations: Arizona |
Français (French)
n. - Arizona
Português (Portuguese)
n. - Arizona
Español (Spanish)
n. - Arizona
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
亚利桑那州
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 亞利桑那州
한국어 (Korean)
애리조나 (미국 남서부의 주; 주도 Phoenix; (약) Ariz., AZ; 속칭 the Grand Canyon State, Apache State)
If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.
To select your translation preferences click here.
| Shopping: Arizona |
 | AZ (abbreviation) |
| Phoenix (Geography) |
| Tucson (Geography) |
 | Is university of arizona in tempe arizona? Read answer... |
| Is Arizona ice tea from Arizona? Read answer... |
| How many miles driving from Tuscon Arizona to Arizona City Arizona? Read answer... |
 | How did arizona get its name arizona? |
| Is PacifiCare Arizona in Mayer Arizona? |
| Arizona where is Detave location in Arizona? |
Copyrights:
 |
 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| US History Encyclopedia. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
 |
| Geography. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
Maps. ©2008 Google. All rights reserved. Read more | |
 |
| Local Time. Copyright © 2009 - Chaos Software. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Wine Lover's Companion. Wine Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2003 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Stats. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more |
|
| Parks. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Arizona". Read more |
 |
| Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
Mentioned in
