Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the
United States. Arizona is also part of the Western United States and of the
Mountain West states. Arizona is the sixth most extensive and the 15th most
populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second
largest city is Tucson, followed in population by eight cities of the Phoenix
metropolitan area: Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Tempe,
Peoria, and Surprise.
Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states
to be admitted to the Union, and it achieved statehood on February 14, 1912.
Arizona is noted for its desert climate in its southern half, where there are
very hot summers and quite mild winters. The northern half of Arizona also features
forests of pine, Douglas fir, and spruce trees, a very large, high plateau (the
Colorado Plateau) and some mountain ranges—such as the San Francisco
Mountains—as well as large, deep canyons, where there is much more moderate
weather for three seasons of the year, plus significant snowfalls. There are
ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff and Alpine.
Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. Arizona has
borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, and it has one
point in common with the southwestern corner of Colorado. Arizona has a
389-mile (626 km)-long international border with the Mexican states of Sonora
and Baja California.
Arizona is the most populous landlocked state of the United
States, assuming that coastline on the Great Lakes counts against being
landlocked. In addition to the Grand Canyon National Park, several national
forests, national parks, and national monuments are located in Arizona. About
one-quarter of Arizona is federal land that serves as the home of the Navajo
Nation, the Hopi tribe, the Tohono O'odham, the Apache tribe, the Yavapai
people, the Yaqui people, the Zuni people, the Pima people, the Hia C-eḍ O'odham and various Yuman tribes,
such as the Yavapai people, the Quechan people, the Mojave people, the Cocopah
people, the Paiute people the Havasupai people and the Hualapai people.
