Arizona State University

Arizona State University at Tempe; coeducational; opened 1886 as a normal school, became 1925 Tempe State Teachers College, renamed 1945 Arizona State College at Tempe. Its present name was adopted in 1958. The National Undergraduate Resource Center for Southeast Asian Studies is there.

Arizona State in the sw USA, bordering on Mexico; the capital is Phoenix, other cities include Tucson and Mesa. After the end of the Mexican War (1848), Mexico ceded most of the present state to the USA, and it became the 48th state of the Union in 1912. The Colorado Plateau occupies the n part of the state, and is cut by many steep canyons, notably the Grand Canyon, through which the Colorado River flows. Arizona's mineral resources, grazing and farmland have long been mainstays of the economy. Mining and agriculture are still important, but since the 1950s manufacturing has been the most profitable sector. The state has many scenic attractions (including the Petrified Forest, Fort Apache, and the reconstructed London Bridge at Lake Havasu). Tourism is now a major source of income. It also has the largest Native American population of any US state (255,879 in 2000), with Indian reservations comprising 28% of the land area. Between 1950 and 1970 Arizona's population more than doubled; in the 1970s its annual growth rate was more than 35%, and it grew a further 41% between 1980 and 1982. Area: 295,025sq km (113,909sq mi). Pop. (2000) 5,130,632.