Arizona
State in southwestern USA; nicknamed Grand Canyon State
Area:
294,100 sq km/113,500 sq mi
Capital:
Phoenix
Towns and cities:
Tucson, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, Flagstaff
Physical:
Colorado Plateau in the N and E, desert basins and mountains in the
S and W; the Grand Canyon (a World Heritage Site), the rock gorge through
which the Colorado River flows, 350 km/217 mi long, 6-28 km/ 4-18 mi
wide, and up to over 1.6 km/1 mi deep; Monument Valley; Saguaro national
monument, with huge saguaro cactus, Tucson; Petrified Forest and the
Painted Desert; Organ Pipe Cactus national monument park; Coconino national
forest; Sunset Crater Volcano
Features:
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson; Canyon de Chelly, with ruins
of ancient Anasazi North Native American peoples, and rock paintings;
Navajo national monument, the largest ruin in Arizona, abandoned before
1300; Walnut Canyon national monument, site of 14th-century Anasazi
cliff dwellings; Wupatki national monument, red sandstone ruins of ancient
Hopi settlements (pueblos), which have been preserved since 1924; Casa
Grande Ruins national monument; Mission San Xavier del Bac; Tombstone,
site of the gunfight at the OK Corral, commemorated in Tombstone Courthouse
state historic park, and Boot Hill Graveyard; Bisbee, former mining
boom town; Navaho Nation Museum, Window Rock; Taliesin West, Scottsdale,
the home of Frank Lloyd Wright; old London Bridge (moved 1971 to the
tourist resort of Lake Havasu City)
Industries:
Cotton under irrigation, livestock, copper (more than half of US annual
output), molybdenum, silver, electronics, aircraft
Population:
(1996 est) 4,428,100; including 5.6% Native Americans (Navajo, Hopi,
Apache), who by treaty own 25% of the state
Famous people:
Cochise, Wyatt Earp, Geronimo, Barry Goldwater, Zane Grey, Percival
Lowell, Frank Lloyd Wright
History:
Part of New Spain 1752; part of Mexico 1824; passed to the USA after
the Mexican War 1848; territory 1863; statehood achieved 1912.
Arizona is believed to derive its name from the Spanish arida-zona
(`dry beltī). The first Spaniard to visit Arizona was the Franciscan
monk Marcos de Niza 1539. After 1863 it developed rapidly as a
result of the gold rush in neighbouring California. Irrigation
has been carried out on a colossal scale since the 1920s. The
Roosevelt Dam on Salt River, and Hoover Dam on the Colorado River
between Arizona and Nevada, provide the state with both hydroelectric
power and irrigation water. At the end of the 19th century, rich
copper deposits were found in Arizona and subsequently deposits
of many other minerals. The era after World War II has seen a
heavy influx of retired people and a great increase in tourism.
The manufacture of electronic equipment has added considerably
to the growth of the state economy.
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