ARIZONA

The Southwest. constituent state of the United States of America, lying in the southwestern mountain region of the country. Facing the Mexican state of Sonora to the south, Arizona is bounded by the U.S. states of New Mexico to the east, Colorado to the northeast, Utah to the north, and Nevada and California to the west. The capital is Phoenix. Roughly rectangular in shape, the state extends about 400 miles (650 km) from north to south and 340 miles (550 km) from east to west. Human settlement in the area has spanned more than 25,000 years. The nomadic Apache and Navaho Indians arrived long after the collapse of the Anasazi and Hohokam civilizations and only a few centuries before the Spanish. Spanish treasure seekers from Mexico, most notably Marcos de Niza and Francisco Coronado, made the initial European contact with the Indians of the region early in the 16th century, thus establishing Mexico's claim to the area. In 1692 Father Eusebio Kino founded the first of many missions, and in 1776 the Mexican army built the first presidio, or fort, at Tucson. After the Mexican War, Arizona was ceded to the United States as part of New Mexico in 1848, and the Gadsden Purchase, an area south of the Gila River, was added in 1853. Arizona was organized as a territory in 1863 and became the 48th state in 1912. Physiographically Arizona can be divided into three main regions: the Colorado Plateau of the north, containing large and often spectacular canyons, mesas, and remnants of volcanic mountains; the Basin and Range Province of the south, where isolated mountains rise from the desert plain; and the Transition Zone between them. Virtually all of Arizona's rivers are part of the Colorado River drainage system. The climate of Arizona is mostly semiarid or arid. The southern Basin and Range Province has an average annual temperature of about 70 F (21 C), with annual rainfall in the west of about 3 inches (75 mm) increasing to 12 inches (300 mm) in the east. Year-round temperatures in the northern Colorado Plateau average 30 degrees cooler, with rainfall varying between 10 and 15 inches (250 and 380 mm). Summer thunderstorms, especially in July and August, are the main source of precipitation throughout most of the state. Between 1970 and 1980 Arizona experienced a population increase of more than 50 percent, largely due to immigration there from other areas of the country that had a less benign climate or fewer economic opportunities. In spite of the tremendous growth, Arizona remains one of the least densely populated states. About one-sixth of the population is Spanish-speaking, most identifying themselves as Mexican. Another one-twentieth is Indian, thus constituting one of the largest Indian populations of any U.S. state. The largest Indian tribal groups are the Navajo, Hopi, Apache, Papago, and Pima. Arizona's economy is well-diversified. Agriculture is based primarily on citrus fruits, cotton, and livestock. The main mining products are coal and copper ore. Arizona is the leading U.S. producer of copper ore. Lighter industries such as aerospace, electronics, and communications have developed rapidly and overtaken mining in importance. Large tourist expenditures in the state are a result of the warm winter climate and the scenery afforded by the natural landscape. About one-half of Arizona's land is owned by the federal government, including Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest national parks, seven national forests, and many national monuments, recreation areas, and historic sites. In addition to that role in Arizona's economy, the federal government also holds another one-quarter of Arizona's land in trust as Indian reservations and operates numerous military facilities. Major universities in the state include the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. Art museums and symphony orchestras are located in both Tucson and Phoenix. The ArizonaSonora Desert Museum near Tucson demonstrates the implications of human occupancy of the desert. Area 114,000 square miles (295,260 square km). Pop. (1990) 3,665,228. constituent state of the United States of America. Although its area is the sixth largest in the Union114,000 square miles (295,260 square kilometres)Arizona has a relatively small population that is demographically urban rather than rural. It is located in the southwestern quadrant of the coterminous states, bordered by Utah on the north, New Mexico on the east, and the Mexican state of Sonora on the south. The Colorado River forms the boundary with California and part of Nevada on the west. Phoenix, situated in south central Arizona, is the capital. The state's name comes from arizonac, derived from two Papago Indian words meaning place of the young spring. Arizona achieved statehood on Feb. 14, 1912, the last of the 48 coterminous United States to be admitted to the Union. Arizona is a land of contradictions. Although widely reputed for its hot, low-elevation desert covered with cacti and mesquite, more than half of the state lies 4,000 feet (1,200 metres) above sea level, and it possesses the largest stand of evergreen ponderosa pine trees in the world. Arizona is well known for its waterless tracts of desert, but, thanks to many large man-made lakes, it has more shoreline and more boats per capita than almost any other state in the United States. Such spectacular landforms as the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley have become international symbols of the region's ruggedness, yet Arizona's environment is so delicate that in many ways it is more threatened by pollution than are New York City or Los Angeles. Its romantic reputation as the last refuge of primitive society and old-fashioned, close-to-the-earth simplicity is at variance with the fact that, after the 1860s, the Arizona economy became industrial and technological long before it was pastoral or agrarian. Additional reading Many aspects of the state's geography and history are explored in Writer's Program, Arizona: A State Guide (1940, reissued as The WPA Guide to 1930s Arizona), also available as Arizona, the Grand Canyon State, 4th completely rev. ed. by Joseph Miller (1966); Will C. Barnes, Arizona Place Names, rev. and enlarged ed. by Byrd H. Granger (1960, reprinted 1982); and Arizona Highways (monthly), a popular, beautifully illustrated magazine. Studies of the state and its inhabitants include Malcolm L. Comeaux, Arizona (1981), a systematic study of the patterns of human activities and their effects on the landscape; Charles H. Lowe, Arizona's Natural Environment: Landscapes and Habitats (1964), a concise, authoritative, well-illustrated account; William D. Sellers and Richard H. Hill (eds.), Arizona Climate, 19311972, rev. 2nd ed. (1974), a useful description and analysis; Tom Miller (ed.), Arizona: The Land and the People (1986), focusing on the physical and demographic problems of the state; University of Arizona, Arizona: Its People and Resources, rev. 2nd ed. (1972), a comprehensive source; D.W. Meinig, Southwest: Three Peoples in Geographical Change, 16001970 (1971), an outstanding description of how humans settle and organize an area through a period of time; and Edward H. Spicer and Raymond H. Thompson (eds.), Plural Society in the Southwest (1975), selected papers on the state's complex ethnic mix. Maurice M. Kelso, William E. Martin, and Lawrence E. Mack, Water Supplies and Economic Growth in an Arid Environment: An Arizona Case Study (1973), is an analysis of economics written in laymen's language. Good atlases are Henry P. Walker and Don Bufkin, Historical Atlas of Arizona, 2nd ed. (1986), which highlights in a very broad and useful way how the state has evolved; Melvin E. Hecht and Richard W. Reeves, The Arizona Atlas (1981), with more than 100 maps; and DeLorme Mapping Company, Arizona Atlas & Gazetteer, 3rd ed. (1999), a collection of topographic maps. Historical overviews may be found in Marshall Trimble, Arizona (1977); Lawrence Clark Powell, Arizona (1976, reprinted 1990); and Thomas Edwin Farish, History of Arizona, 8 vol. (191518), still a good source for early history. More specific studies are Jay J. Wagoner, Early Arizona: Prehistory to Civil War (1975), and Arizona Territory, 18631912 (1970), two of the most authoritative and useful books written about the state; Pauline Henson, Founding a Wilderness Capital: Prescott, A.T., 1864 (1965), a dispassionate examination of the founding of the Arizona Territory; and James W. Byrkit, Forging the Copper Collar: Arizona's Labor Management War of 19011921 (1982), on Arizona's early 20th-century political and economic development. James W. Byrkit The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica