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Arizona was the 48th state admitted to the United States and is part of the Southwest United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, south and east of the Colorado River, bordering New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California and Mexico, and touching Colorado.
Its major cities are Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma and
Flagstaff. Besides the Grand Canyon, a number of other National Forests, Parks, Monuments and Indian
reservations are located in the state.
Historians disagree about the origin of the name "Arizona" and its attachment
to the region. Three possible derivations are:
- O'odham words "alĭ ṣon" ("small spring"), actually
the name of a town which is called "Arizonac" in English. Arizonac is a small town about eight miles south of the United
States-Mexican border. Historically, it may have been "alĭ son" or even "alĭ sona". The O'odham "l" is a voiced alveolar lateral fricative, which
might sound to a Spanish or English speaker like an "r" sound. Later in the mid 18th century Spanish missionaries changed Father Eusebio Francisco Kino's maps of the area; they renamed the town Arizonac as Arizona. As the maps
were republished and circulated in Europe, the name Arizona became attached to the
whole northern part of New Spain.
- Spanish words "árida zona" ("arid zone")
- Nahuatl word "arizuma" ("silver bearing"). In 1736, a small silver-mining camp called "Real Arissona" by the Spanish was established near Arizonac.
USS Arizona was named in honor of this state.
History
Beyond its original native inhabitants, Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan, explored the area in 1539. Coronado's expedition entered the area in
1540–42 during its search for Cibola. Father Kino developed a chain of missions and taught the Indians Christianity in Pimería
Alta (now southern Arizona and northern Sonora) in the 1690's and early 1700's.
Spain founded fortified towns (presidios) at Tubac in 1752 and Tucson in 1775. All of what is now Arizona became part of Mexico's
northwest frontier upon the Mexican assertion of independence from Spain in 1810. The
United States took possession of most of Arizona at the end of the Mexican
War in 1848. 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 it was organized
into a separate territory on February 24, 1863.
With the encouragement of Brigham Young, Mormons went to Arizona from Utah in the mid to late 1800s to the
Phoenix Valley (or "Valley of
the Sun"), Mesa, Tempe, Prescott, Snowflake, Heber and many other Arizona towns
to settle there. One of the first Latter-day Saint temples built in the Southwest was the Mesa temple which was completed in 1927.
Arizona was also the site of a German and Italian prisoner of war camp during WWII. The
site was purchased after the war by the Maytag family, and is currently the Phoenix Zoo.
In 1998, Arizona voters elected the "fabulous five" — five women candidates
elected to the state's top posts:
- Governor Jane Dee Hull (R)
- State Attorney General Janet Napolitano (D) (As of 2005 the current governor)
- State Treasurer Carol
Springer (R)
- Secretary of State Betsey
Bayless (R)
- Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan (R)
Arizona was admitted into the Union on February 14, 1912.
Law and government
See: List of Congressmen
Arizona's legislature consists of a thirty-member Senate and a 60-member House of Representatives. The majority party is the
Republican party, which has held power
since 1950. The 2002 budget of the Arizona state
legislature was $14.3 billion, while the executive budget was $13.8 billion. Besides the money spent on state agencies, money has
also been allocated for tax cuts, pay raises for government employees, and health insurance for government employees. The
executive budget has allocated money to previously passed legislation. Arizona state senators and representatives are elected for
two year terms and there are no terms limits. However, no more than four terms may be served consecutively. Two of the last four
governors of Arizona, Evan Mecham and Fyfe Symington, faced criminal indictments and were forced out of office.
Arizona's executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a
four-year term. The governor may serve any number of terms, though no more than two in a row. The current Governor of Arizona is
Janet Napolitano, a Democrat. She has been governor since 2003.
See:List of Arizona Governors
The two Arizona US Senators are Senator John McCain (Republican) and
Senator Jon Kyl (Republican).
Arizona's representatives in the United States House of Representatives are Rick
Renzi (R-1), Trent Franks (R-2), John Shadegg (R-3), Ed Pastor (D-4), J.D. Hayworth (R-5), Jeff Flake
(R-6), Raul Grijalva (R-7), and Jim Kolbe (R-8). Arizona gained two seats in the House of Representatives due to redistricting based on Census 2000.
Geography
Like other states of the Southwest, Arizona has an abundance of topographical characteristics in addition to its desert climes. More than half of the state features mountains and plateaus and contains the largest stand of Ponderosa
pine in the United States. The Mogollon Rim, a 2000-foot 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.
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 the Grand
Canyon area, visiting on numerous occasions to hunt mountain lion and
enjoy the breathtaking scenery.
The canyon, created by the Colorado River cutting a channel over millions of years, is about 277 mile (446 km) long, ranges in width
from 4 to 18 miles (6 to 29 kilometers) and attains a depth of more than a mile (1,600 m). Nearly 2000 million years of the
Earth's history has been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut through
layer after layer of sediment as the Colorado Plateaus have uplifted.
- Statistics
Art
Arizona has witnessed a continous 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 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 immediately characteristic images, such as sunsets,
coyotes, and desert plants. Several major Hollywood films, such as U-Turn, Waiting to Exhale, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
have been made there (as indeed have many Westerns).
Economy
Early in its history, Arizona's economy relied on the "five C's": copper, cotton, cattle, citrus and climate (i.e., tourism).
At one point Arizona was the largest producer of cotton in the country. Copper is still produced in abundance from many giant
open-pit mines and underground mines. The state government is the state's largest employer, while Wal-Mart is the state's largest private employer, with 17,343 employees in 2003. Arizona lost much of its
advantage as a high-technology industry leader between 1990 and 2001, according to a state Department of
Commerce (http://www.commerce.state.az.us/) report. In 2001, 161,166 Arizonans
were employed in the high-tech sector, accounting for about 8.3 percent of total private-sector employment of more than 1.9
million. High-tech payroll in 2001 was $2.2 billion, or 14.7 percent of the private-sector total. High-tech employment was led by
software and computers, with 34,314; electronics components manufacturing, 30,358; aerospace manufacturing, 25,641; architectural
and engineering services, 21,378; telecommunications, 21,224; and instruments manufacturing, 13,056.
Demographics
Arizona has a population of 5,580,811 according to 2003 Census data.
49.9% is male, and 50.1% is female.
- Racial Population Breakdown: (U.S. Census Bureau 2000 (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/04000.html))
- White: 75.5% (Not of Hispanic Origin: 63.8)
- Native: 5.0
- African American: 3.1
- Asian: 1.8
- Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0.1
- Other Race: 11.6
- Persons reporting two or more races: 2.9%
- See the list of Arizona Natives. According to 2003 Census
esimates, Arizona has the second highest number of the 2,752,158 Native
Americans in the country with over 10% of the country's total at 286,680. It is preceded by California at 410,501 and followed by Oklahoma at 278,124 [1] (http://eire.census.gov/popest/data/states/ST-EST2002-ASRO-03.php).
Important cities and towns
See: List of cities in Arizona, List of cities in Arizona
(by population), List of Arizona counties
Each city named in bold has a population greater than 100,000.
25 Richest Places in Arizona
Ranked by per capita income
1 Paradise Valley, Arizona $81,290
2 Carefree, Arizona $62,433
3 Rio Verde, Arizona $58,783
4 Tubac, Arizona $46,643
5 Catalina Foothills, Arizona $42,006
6 Scottsdale, Arizona $39,158
7 Cave Creek, Arizona $38,070
8 Litchfield Park, Arizona $37,793
9 Tanque Verde, Arizona $36,467
10 Gold Camp, Arizona $35,010
11 Sun Lakes, Arizona $33,394
12 Fountain Hills, Arizona $32,230
13 Sun City West, Arizona $32,049
14 Sedona, Arizona $31,350
15 Green Valley, Arizona $31,138
16 Oro Valley, Arizona $31,134
17 Williamson, Arizona $30,232
18 Big Park, Arizona $30,026
19 Queen Valley, Arizona $28,886
20 Corona de Tucson, Arizona $28,304
21 Elgin, Arizona $27,909
22 Sonoita, Arizona $27,312
23 Sun City, Arizona $25,935
24 New River, Arizona $25,932
25 Tortolita, Arizona $25,550
See complete list of Arizona places
Notable people
Famous Arizonans also include Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, author Zane Grey, former Governor and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, architect Frank Lloyd
Wright, Presidential candidate (1964) and former Senator Barry
Goldwater, Presidential candidate (2000) and Senior Republican Senator John
McCain, former senator Carl Hayden and former Solicitor General Rex E.
Lee . From the rock and roll world, both Alice Cooper and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood
Mac are from Phoenix; Linda Ronstadt is from Tucson. Film director
Steven Spielberg grew up in Scottsdale, as did Wonder Woman star
Lynda Carter. Labor leader Cesar Estrada Chavez is from Yuma.
Education
Colleges and universities
State universities
Community colleges
Private colleges and trade schools
Education associations
Professional sports teams
Spring training
Arizona is a popular location for Major League Baseball spring
training. The state hosts the following major league teams (called the Cactus league) for spring training:
External links
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