Arizona |
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| Entered the Union: February 14, 1912 (48) | Capital: Phoenix |
| Origin of Name: a Spanish version of the Pima Indian word arizonac for "place of the small spring" or from the Aztec's arizuma meaning "silver-bearing" | |
| State Nickname: Grand Canyon State | State Bird: Cactus Wren |
| State Motto: Ditat Deus (God enriches) | State Tree: Palo Verde |
| State Flower: Saguaro Cactus Blossom | State Fish: Arizona Trout |
| State Amphibian: The Arizona Treefrog | State Animal: Ringtail Cat |
| State Reptile: Arizona Ridgenose Rattlesnake | State Gem: Turquoise |
| State Butterfly: Two-tailed Swallowtail | State Fossil: Petrified Wood |
| State Songs: Arizona March Song • Arizona | State Neckwear: Bola Tie |
| National Parks: 3 • State Forests: 6 • State Parks: 33 | |
| Famous for: Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Hoover Dam, London Bridge, Monument Valley | |
| Famous Arizonans: Glen Campbell, Stevie Nicks, Linda Ronstadt, Tanya Tucker (singers), Cesar Chavez (labor leader), Cochise, Geronimo (Apache Chiefs), Wyatt Earp (marshall), Barry Goldwater, John McCain(politician), Helen Hull Jacobs (Tennis), Zane Grey (novelist), Sandra Day O'Connor (US Supreme Court), David Spade (comedien), Stewart Udall (Secretary of the Interior), Steven Spielberg (film director), Joan Ganz Cooney (producer of Sesame Street) | |
| Native Animals and Birds: Click on photos of the animals and birds on this page to find out more about them and to hear the sounds they make. | |
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| Hopi, Pima, and Papago Indians, descendants of the Anasazi and Hohkam, lived in Arizona when Navajo and Apache Indians migrated to the area. A short time later, European exploration of Arizona began. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Spanish Franciscan friar, Marcos de Niza, was the first European to explore Arizona. He entered the area in 1539 in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Gold. Although he was followed a year later by another gold seeker, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, most of the early settlement was for missionary purposes. In 1775 the Spanish established Fort Tucson. | |||||||||||||||||||
| In 1848, after the Mexican War, most of the Arizona territory became part of the U.S., and the southern portion of the territory was added by the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. | |||||||||||||||||||
| In World War II, many Navajos enlisted as secret agents. Our enemies could never understand the Navajo language to learn our military secrets. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The Mexican Grey Wolf once roamed the American Southwest, but by 1950 had been eliminated in North America. In 1998, captive-reared Mexican wolves were released into the wild in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Tombstone, Arizona was the site of the West's most famous shoot-out—the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturing is Arizona's most important industry. Principal products include electrical, communications, and aeronautical items. The state produces over half of the country's copper. Agricultural products include cattle, dairy products, and cotton. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona has the largest Native American population of any state. More than 14 tribes are represented on 20 reservations. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona has the largest percentage of its land set aside and designated as Indian lands. | |||||||||||||||||||
| It was in Arizona that the great Indian chiefs Geronimo and Cochise led their people against the frontiersmen. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The Anasazi Indians made waterproof baskets that they cooked in. They put hot rocks in with the food to cook it. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona has more parks and national monuments than any other state, more mountains than Switzerland, and more golf courses than Scotland. | |||||||||||||||||||
| State attractions include the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Fort Apache, and the reconstructed London Bridge at Lake Havasu City. | |||||||||||||||||||
| In 1973 one of the world's most massive dams, the New Cornelia Tailings, was completed near Ajo. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The Arizona trout is found only in the Arizona. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The Grand Canyon is 227 miles long, 1 mile deep, and has an average width of 10 miles. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona leads the nation in copper production. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Historically, Arizona’s strongest economic support came from the Four C’s – cotton, copper, cattle, and citrus. In recent years, a fifth – climate – has been added. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona observes Mountain Standard Time on a year round basis, never observing daylight savings time. | |||||||||||||||||||
| In Arizona, it is unlawful to refuse a person a glass of water. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona has more boats per capita than any other state in the nation. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Phoenix, Arizona is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. with population of 1.6 million. | |||||||||||||||||||
| It takes 50 years for a saguaro (sah wah ro) cactus to grow one arm. In April or May the saguaro blooms. The blossoms become edible fruit. | |||||||||||||||||||
| One-fourth of the entire state is covered by forest growth. It is the largest unbroken Ponderosa pine forest in America. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona's Ethnic Roots: Mexican 18%, German 15.6%, English 10.4%, Irish 10.2%, Native American 6.1% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Religion in Arizona: 74% Christian (42% Protestant, 31% Catholic, 1% Other), 18% No Religion, 8% Other Religions, 6% LDS, 2% Native American | |||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona is known as the "Nation's Valentine", because it joined the union on February 14th. | |||||||||||||||||||
| You can stand in four states at once at Four Corners - the point where the boundaries meet for Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The original London Bridge was shipped stone-by-stone and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The sun shines in southern Arizona 85% of the time, which is considerably more sunshine than Florida or Hawaii. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona frequently has the hottest and coldest temperatures on the same day. The temperature could be 75 degrees in the desert to 45 degrees in the high country. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The world’s largest solar telescope is located at Kitts Peak National Observatory in the city of Sells. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Camels were used at one time to transport goods across Arizona. | |||||||||||||||||||
| When you travel on the Grand Canyon Railway, you can experience a staged train robbery in true Old West style! | |||||||||||||||||||
At a Glance
Arizona Quick Facts
| Entered the Union | February 14, 1912 (48) |
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| Capital | Phoenix |
| Nickname | Grand Canyon State |
| State Bird | Cactus Wren |
| State Flower | Saguaro Cactus Blossom |
| State Tree | Palo Verde |
New for 2026
More Arizona Facts & Photos
In August 2023, nearly one million acres surrounding the Grand Canyon were protected as the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. Baaj Nwaavjo means "where Indigenous peoples roam" in the Havasupai language, and I'tah Kukveni means "our ancestral footprints" in Hopi.
Arizona named its official state dinosaur in 2018: Sonorasaurus, a relative of the Brachiosaurus discovered in the Sonoran Desert in 1994. The idea came from an 11-year-old boy who wrote to the Governor.
Yuma holds the Guinness World Record as the sunniest place on Earth, averaging over 4,000 hours of sunshine a year, about 91 percent of all possible daylight hours.
About 50,000 years ago a meteor slammed into the desert east of Flagstaff, leaving Meteor Crater: nearly a mile wide, 560 feet deep, and one of the best-preserved impact craters on Earth. Apollo astronauts, including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, trained there for the Moon landings.
Every spring since 1947, Major League Baseball teams have held spring training in Arizona's Cactus League. Today 15 teams play more than 200 games across 10 ballparks in the Greater Phoenix area.
The endangered California condor, North America's largest land bird, was reintroduced at the Vermilion Cliffs in 1996. Condors now soar over the Grand Canyon again for the first time since the 1920s.
Arizona's state flower, the saguaro cactus blossom, opens at night and lasts barely a day. Its pollinators include nectar-feeding bats that migrate north from Mexico in time for the bloom.
Voices of America
In Their Own Words
Theodore Roosevelt
“To every man who faces life with real desire to do his part in everything, I appeal for a study of the Bible."
President
Benjamin Franklin
"Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants."
Founding Father
Patrick Henry
"Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom."
Patriot
George Washington
"You do well to wish to learn our arts and our ways of life and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are."
to Delaware Indian Chiefs on May 12, 1779
President
John Jay
"I have long been of opinion that the evidence of the truth of Christianity requires only to be carefully examined to produce conviction in candid minds"
First Chief Justice of Supreme Court
Steven Spielberg
"A lot of the films I've made probably could have worked just as well 50 years ago, and that's just because I have a lot of old-fashion values."
Movie Director
Geronimo
"I cannot think that we are useless or God would not have created us. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God."
Apache Chief
Alexander Hamilton
"There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism."
Founding Father
John Wesley Powell
"The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail."
Explorer
Last updated: July 2026