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Arizona, Grand Canyon by Ginka56 –

15 Great Facts About Arizona

Arizona is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th-largest and the 14th-most-populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Four Corners region with Utah to the north, Colorado to the northeast, and New Mexico to the east; its other neighboring states are Nevada to the northwest, California to the west and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest.

Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in its southern portions, rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This region’s topography was shaped by prehistoric volcanism, followed by the cooling-off and related subsidence. Its climate has scorching summers and mild winters. Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona is marked by high mountains, the Colorado Plateau, and mesas. The world’s largest stand of ponderosa pine trees is in Arizona. 

In this article, we highlight 15 great facts about Arizona.

1. Arizona is the sixth-largest state by area in the United States

Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico and before Nevada. 

Of the state’s 113,998 square miles, approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and parkland, state trust land and Native American reservations.

2. There are 24 National Park Service-maintained sites in Arizona

Saguaro National Park East Entry, Arizona by Eegorr –

The National Park Service is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properties with various title designations. In Arizona, some of the major parks include Grand Canyon National Park, Saguaro National Park, and the Petrified Forest National Park.

Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named a national park. Saguaro National Park is an American national park in Pima County, southeastern Arizona. Popular activities in the park include hiking on its 165 miles of trails and sightseeing along paved roads near its two visitor centres. Petrified Forest National Park is an American national park in Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. Named for its large deposits of petrified wood, the park covers about 346 square miles. Read more on the 10 Best Lakes in Arizona.

3. Arizona was the 48th state to join the United States in 1912

Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. The contiguous United States consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii, and also the last ones admitted to the Union.

After being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase.

4. The state’s name originates from an earlier Spanish name, Arizonac

Front view of the Arizona State Capitol building by David Jiang –

This name is derived from the O’odham name alÄ­ á¹£onak, meaning “small spring”. Initially, this term was applied by Spanish colonists only to an area near the silver mining camp of Planchas de Plata, Sonora.

To the European settlers, the O’odham pronunciation sounded like Arissona. The area is still known as alÄ­ á¹£onak in the O’odham language.

5. Arizona has a population of over 7 million people

Arizona’s population grew tremendously with residential and business development after World War II, aided by the widespread use of air conditioning, which made the intensely hot summers more comfortable.

Arizona’s population and economy have grown dramatically since the 1950s because of inward migration, and the state is now a major hub of the Sun Belt. Cities such as Phoenix and Tucson have developed large, sprawling suburban areas. The United States Census Bureau records Arizona’s population as 7,151,502 in the 2020 census, a 12% increase since the 2010 United States census.  Read about the Top 10 Famous people from Arizona. 

6. Arizona is home to one of the world’s seven natural wonders

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ, USA by MARELBU –

Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named a national park. The park’s central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered one of the Wonders of the World.

The park received more than six million recreational visitors in 2017, which is the second-highest count of all American national parks. The Grand Canyon was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The park celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 26, 2019. 

7. Arizona’s population has a strong Hispanic influence

Arizona is home to a diverse population. About one-quarter of the state is made up of Indian reservations that serve as the home of 27 federally recognized Native American tribes, including the Navajo Nation, the largest in the state and the United States, with more than 300,000 citizens. 

Since the 1980s, the proportion of Hispanics in the state’s population has grown significantly owing to migration from Mexico. Hispanics are Americans of Spanish and Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino regardless of ancestry.

8. Arizona is home to Solana Generating Station, the world’s largest solar power plant

Solana Generating Station by Jjaayyt –

The Solana Generating Station is a solar power plant near Gila Bend, Arizona, about 70 miles southwest of Phoenix. It was completed in 2013. When commissioned, it was the largest parabolic trough plant in the world and the first U.S. solar plant with molten salt thermal energy storage.

Arizona Public Service has contracted to purchase 100% of the power output generated from Solana, to meet the Arizona Corporation Commission’s mandate that the state’s regulated utilities provide 15% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025.

9. Arizona was the site of the German prisoner-of-war camps during World War II

During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated at least 125,284 people of Japanese descent in 75 identified incarceration sites. Most lived on the Pacific Coast, in concentration camps in the western interior of the country.

Because of wartime fears of a Japanese invasion of the U.S. West Coast. From 1942 to 1945, they were forced to reside in internment camps built in the interior of the country. Many lost their homes and businesses. The camps were abolished after World War II.

10. Arizona is home to major universities

The Henry Koffler Building on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona by Michael Barera –

Arizona State University is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the U.S.

The University of Arizona is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.

11. Phoenix is Arizona’s capital and largest city

Phoenix is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth most populous city in the United States, the most populous state capital in the country, and the only U.S. state capital with a population of more than one million residents.

Phoenix is also the cultural center of the state of Arizona. The city averaged a four per cent annual population growth rate over a 40-year period from the mid-1960s to the mid-2000s. Read more about the best salsa bars in Phoenix, Arizona. 

12. Arizona became the first state in the United States to reject a proposition

Gay flag on the Gay Pride Day 2008 by Onanymous –

In 2006, Arizona reject a proposition, Prop 107, that would have banned same-sex marriage and civil unions. Arizona Proposition 107 was a proposed same-sex marriage ban, put before voters by ballot initiative in the 2006 general election.

This proposed amendment to the Arizona Constitution failed, with 48.2% voting in favor and 51.8% opposed, making Arizona the first U.S. state to defeat a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

13. Arizona is home to the largest number of speakers of Native American languages

These Native American languages are over a thousand indigenous languages are spoken by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. These languages cannot all be demonstrated to be related to each other and are classified into a hundred or so language families.

Arizona’s Apache County has the highest concentration of speakers of Native American Indian languages in the United States. 

14. Arizona has had four female governors, more than any other state

Katie Hobbs being sworn in as Arizona Secretary of State at the 2019 Inauguration by Gage Skidmore –

Arizona’s executive branch is headed by a governor, who is elected to a four-year term. Governor Jan Brewer assumed office in 2009 after Janet Napolitano had her nomination by Barack Obama for Secretary of Homeland Security confirmed by the Senate. Arizona has had four female governors, more than any other state.

Currently, the governor of Arizona is Katie Hobbs, serving as the 24th governor of Arizona since 2023. She previously served as the 21st secretary of state of Arizona from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Hobbs served in the Arizona Senate from 2013 to 2019 and in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013.

15. Healthcare and Transportation are the greatest contributors to Arizona’s economy

The 2020 total gross state product was $373 billion. The composition of the state’s economy is moderately diverse, although health care, transportation and the government remain the largest sectors.

The state government is Arizona’s largest employer, while Banner Health is the state’s largest private employer, with more than 39,000 employees. As of August 2020, the state’s unemployment rate was 5.9%.