Utah |
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| Entered the Union: January 4, 1896 (45) | Capital: Salt Lake City | |
| Origin of Name: From the Ute tribe, meaning “people of the mountains” | ||
| State Nickname: Beehive State | State Motto: Industry | |
| State Bird: California Gull | State Flower: Sego Lily | |
| State Animal: Rocky Mountain Elk | State Tree: Blue Spruce | |
| State Song: “Utah, We Love Thee" | ||
| National Parks: 5 • National Forests: 5 • State Parks: 46 | ||
| Famous for: Rock formations, Great Salt Lake, skiing | ||
| Famous Utahans: Butch Cassidy (outlaw), John Moses Browning (gunsmith), Philo Farnsworth (television pioneer), Jake Garn (first U.S. Senator to fly in space), Willard Marriott (hotel chain founder), Peter Skene Ogden (fur trader/trapper), Merlin Olsen (football), Donny & Marie Osmond (singers), James Woods (actor), Brigham Young (governor and religious leader), Loretta Young (actress) | ||
| 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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| Gosiute, Paiute, Shoshone, and Ute Indian tribes lived in Utah. | ||||||||||||
| The Utah region was first explored for Spain by Franciscan friars Escalante and Dominguez in 1776. In 1821, Mexico gained independence of Spain and took control of Utah. | ||||||||||||
| In 1824 the famous American frontiersman, Jim Bridger, discovered the Great Salt Lake. The first permanent settlers in Utah were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). At the end of the Mexican War in 1848, Utah came under control of the United States. | ||||||||||||
| The world's first transcontinental railroad was completed at Promontory where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads met on May 10, 1869. The location is now known as Golden Spike National Historic Site . | ||||||||||||
| Rainbow Bridge is the largest natural bridge in the United States. The bridge rises 290 feet above the floor of Bridge Canyon and is 270 feet long. | ||||||||||||
| The Great Salt Lake is 3 to 5 times saltier than the ocean. Fish free, the lake's largest aquatic critters are brine shrimp. | ||||||||||||
| Of the 50 states, Utah has the youngest population; one of the highest birth rates; the second lowest death rate; the healthiest population; the highest literacy rate; the highest percentage of high school graduates; and the highest number of people with a college education. | ||||||||||||
| Salt Lake City was the host for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. | ||||||||||||
| Utah is a great vacationland with 11,000 miles of fishing streams and 147,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs. | ||||||||||||
| The average snowfall in the mountains near Salt Lake City is 500 inches. | ||||||||||||
| Because of the state's inland location Utah's snow is unusually dry. Earning it the reputation of having the world's greatest powder. 14 Alpine ski resorts operate in Utah. | ||||||||||||
| Annual precipitation varies from less than five inches in Utah's arid Great Salt Lake Desert to more than 60 inches in the northern mountain ranges. | ||||||||||||
| The gull is considered the state bird of Utah in commemoration of the fact that these gulls saved the people of the State by eating up the Rocky mountain crickets which were destroying the crops in 1848. | ||||||||||||
| Kanab is called "Park Central" because it is located only minutes away from a grand array of three (3) national parks, three (3) national monuments, one (1) national recreation area and two (2) state parks. Two (2) national forests and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wilderness areas also surround Kanab. | ||||||||||||
| Kanab is known as Utah's Little Hollywood because of the large number of motion pictures that are filmed in the area. | ||||||||||||
| The television series "Touched by an Angel" was filmed in Utah. | ||||||||||||
| Utahan's Ethnic Roots: English 29%, German 11.6%, Native American 6.8%, Danish 6.5%, Mexican 6.1% | ||||||||||||
| Religion in Utah: LDS 57%, Christian 18% (12% Protestant, 6% Catholic), No Religion 17%, Muslim 1% | ||||||||||||
| The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry is one of the world's foremost dinosaur fossil sources. Includes more than 30 complete skeletons, several thousand individual bones, intact dinosaur eggs, and tons of other remains. | ||||||||||||
| Utah is the Jello capital of the world. More jello is eaten in Utah than any where else in the world. | ||||||||||||
At a Glance
Utah Quick Facts
| Entered the Union | January 4, 1896 (45) |
|---|---|
| Capital | Salt Lake City |
| Nickname | Beehive State |
| State Bird | California Gull |
| State Flower | Sego Lily |
| State Tree | Blue Spruce |
New for 2026
More Utah Facts & Photos
Fishlake National Forest is home to Pando, a quaking aspen colony considered the heaviest living organism on Earth. Its roughly 47,000 genetically identical trunks grow from one shared root system spread across 106 acres, and its name is Latin for "I spread."
Bryce Canyon National Park contains the largest concentration of hoodoos on Earth. The stone spires take shape as water freezes and thaws in cracks in the high plateau rim, which swings above and below freezing about 170 days a year.
Utah's first national park started out as Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909. Congress enlarged it and renamed it Zion National Park in 1919.
Racers have chased land speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats since 1914, when Teddy Tezlaff drove a Blitzen Benz to an unofficial 141.73 miles per hour. The salt crust west of the Great Salt Lake covers more than 30,000 acres.
Voices of America
In Their Own Words
Thomas Jefferson
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
President
James Madison
"The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world."
President
James Monroe
"With a firm reliance on the protection of Almighty God, I shall forwith commence the duties of the high trust to which you have called me."
President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country."
President
Last updated: July 2026