Arizona

Arizona is located in the southwestern United States, in the west it borders with California and Nevada , in the north - with Utah, in the northeast - with Colorado , in the east - with New Mexico , in the south - with Mexico . The area of ​​the state is 295,254 km² (6th place among the states of the country).

Much of the state’s territory is mountains, plateaus, and deserts. In Arizona is the largest forest of yellow pine . In the north of the state is the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. The southwestern part of Arizona is occupied by the Sonora Desert, in which cities such as Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma are located. Despite the fact that this is one of the hottest and driest deserts in the United States, Sonora has a fairly diverse flora and fauna, due to the presence of two rainy seasons in a year. In the north-west of the state is the Mojave Desert , which differs from Sonora in its higher position and the presence of rare stand-alone trees. The Desert Desert Desert occupies part of the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona. A small area in the southeast of the state is part of the Chihuahua desert, which, compared to Sonora, has milder summer temperatures due to its high position.

The largest rivers of the state are the Colorado River and its major tributary, the Hila River. Almost all of Arizona, with the exception of some southern and southeastern areas, is located in the Colorado River Basin.

The state has three national parks .

Climate

Due to its vast territory and varying altitudes, the state’s climatic conditions vary quite a lot from region to region. At low altitudes, the climate is mostly desert, with mild winters and hot summers. Usually, from late autumn to early spring, the weather is mild with an average minimum of 16 ° C, but frosts are not uncommon. Since mid-February, there has been an increase in daytime temperatures on fairly cool nights. From June to September it is the hottest and driest. The highest temperature ever recorded in Arizona was recorded at Lake Havasu City on June 29, 1994 and July 5, 2007 and was 53 ° C. The lowest temperature was observed on January 7, 1971 on Lake Holi and amounted to −40 ° C.

The distribution of precipitation depends on the time of year, the height of the area above sea level and the topography. Mountain ranges in the central and southeastern parts of the state receive the most rainfall; the smallest - in arid areas in southwest Arizona. The average annual rate for the state is about 323 mm. Precipitation falls mainly during two rainy seasons: in winter, when the cold front comes from the Pacific Ocean and in summer, when the monsoon arrives.

The northern part of the state is a plateau whose height is much higher than deserts in the center and in the south. This area is characterized by cold winters and mild summers. Sometimes cold air masses from Canada fall to the north of the state, bringing temperatures below −18 ° C.

Arizona is one of two states that do not switch to daylight saving time (the second such state is Hawaii ).

As for the etymology of the name Arizona, there is no consensus, among the main hypotheses are Spanish and Native American. The name of the state comes from the Piman Indians transmitted by the Spaniards - “the place of a small stream”, in the Aztec language - “giving birth to silver”.

In the state from the 1st to the 15th centuries. n e. the large pre-Columbian archaeological culture of Hohokam was located .

According to the US Census Bureau as of July 1, 2011, the population of Arizona is 6,482,505; compared with the 2010 census, the increase was 1.42% ^[5] . The population of the Phoenix metropolis increased from 1991 to 2001 by 45.3%, making Arizona the second state with the highest population growth during the 90s (the first was Nevada ) ^[6] . Today, the population of the Phoenix metropolis exceeds 4.3 million people. About 58% of the population of Arizona live in cities with a population of more than 100 thousand people (the highest rate among all states of the country).

According to the 2010 census, the ethnic composition of the state was as follows: white (73%), African Americans (4.1%), Native Americans (4.6%), Asians (2.8%), Hawaiians and Oceanians (0.2%) ), representatives of other races (11.9%), representatives of 2 or more races (3.4%) ^[7] . The origin of the Arizona population according to 2009 data: Mexican (27.4%), German (16%), Irish (10.8%), English (10.1%), Italian (4.6%) ^[8] . Arizona is home to the largest number of Native American speakers among all 48 continental states. So, about 85 thousand people speak Navajo and 10.4 thousand people in West Apache . Arizona County Apache has the largest concentration of native speakers of Native American languages ​​in the United States ^[9] . According to 2010 data, illegal immigration in the state is 7.9% (the second highest rate in the country) ^[10] .

According to 2005-2007, 72.1% of the state’s population speaks English only at home; 21.7% - only in Spanish.

Population dynamics:

• 1950: 749,587
• 1960: 1 302 161 people
• 1970: 1,745,944
• 1980: 2,718,215
• 1990: 3,665,228
• 2000: 5,130,632
• 2010: 6,392,017 people ^[eleven]
• 2013: 6,626,624

Religious composition:

• Catholics - 29%
• do not profess any religion - 17%
• evangelical christians - 10%
• Baptists - 8%
• Mormons - 6%
• methodologists - 5%
• the rest is 25% ^[12]

Up to 50,000 Russian-speaking residents live in Arizona ^[13] .

Federal Representation

Well-known Arizona politicians include John McCain and Barry Goldwater , who have represented the state Senate for 65 years.

Arizona's GRP for 2004 was $ 187.27 billion. If Arizona were independent, it would occupy 61st place in the world in terms of GDP and be ahead of Norway , Denmark , the Czech Republic , Ireland , Finland and New Zealand . Arizona ranks 21st in the United States in terms of economic development.

GDP per capita is $ 27,232, the 39th in the country. Copper mining is an important sector of the economy, providing 2/3 of the country's copper production. This state ranks first in copper production in the country. The largest copper deposit is San Manuel.

All the largest industrial enterprises in the state are concentrated in the areas of the cities of Phoenix and Tucson . The majority of the state’s population lives here.

It is in this state that the largest cryofirm Alcor is located.

• State motto: Ditat Deus (Lord enriches)
• State Flower: Saguaro Cactus Flower
• State tagline: Grand Canyon State
• State Stone: Turquoise

In honor of Arizona, the asteroid (793) Arizona , discovered in 1907 at the Lowell Observatory , located in Flagstaff in the state, is named.

• az.gov (A) - Arizona State Official Site