Arizona

Nicknamed the Grand Canyon State, Arizona entered the Union on February 14, 1912, as the forty-eighth state. It is the sixth-largest state in terms of size, with a total boundary length of 1,478 miles (2,379 kilometers). Arizona lies in the Rocky Mountains region of the United States and is bordered by Utah , Nevada , California , New Mexico , and Mexico.

It is believed that the region now known as Arizona was inhabited by several cultures by 500 C.E., including the Anasazi, Mogollon, and Hohokam. These cultures were in decline by the fourteenth century for reasons unknown even in the twenty-first century. When the first Europeans arrived in the sixteenth century, they found native populations—the oldest of which were the Hopi—living a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the river valleys.

Arizona was a largely peaceful territory, even when Mexico revolted against Spain in 1810. When the Mexican-American War (1846–48) broke out in 1846, two U.S. armies marched across the Arizona region. The California Gold Rush in 1849 also brought thousands of Americans through the region. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; served 1861–65) signed the Organic Act of Arizona, which created the new Territory of Arizona.

Arizona is largely desert and has a dry, hot climate. The northern region of the state includes the Grand Canyon, a vast gorge more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) long, up to 18 miles (29 kilometers) wide, and more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) deep. This same region boasts the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, and Humphreys Peak, the highest point in the state at 12,633 feet (3,853 meters).

Although Phoenix has air quality poorer than most other U.S. cities, most of the state is known for its clear air, open lands, and breathtaking forests. Arizona works hard to protect these resources in the wake of a growing population and tourist industry.

Population and economy

Arizona once was considered a “retirement” state, where people moved in their sixties. This is no longer true; only 13 percent of the population in 2006 was age sixty-five and older. The majority of the population (28 percent) was age twenty-five to forty-four. By far, the largest concentration of the state's residents (nearly 1.5 million) lived in the capital city of Phoenix. The next most populated city was Tucson, home to just over five hundred thousand people.

By the 1970s, Arizona's agricultural economy had been replaced by manufacturing, with centers in Phoenix and Tucson. The state's primary industries included wood products, computer and electronic equipment, and transportation equipment. Still, Arizona ranked twenty-ninth in the nation in terms of agricultural output value in 2005. The state led the nation in copper and molybdenum production in 2004.

Tourism and travel accounted for more than $13.76 billion in direct sales in Arizona in 2004, and 27.8 million Americans and another 900,000 international tourists visited the state that year. The state's twenty-two national parks and monuments, the most popular being Grand Canyon National Park, attract millions of visitors annually.