Basic Information About Arizona

Arizona is a southwestern U.S. state known for the Grand Canyon, red-rock landscapes, desert basins, and some of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country. It is one of the clearest examples of a state where climate, elevation, and settlement patterns all vary much more than outsiders expect.

Capital: Phoenix
Largest city: Phoenix
Nickname: The Grand Canyon State
Statehood: February 14, 1912 (48th state)
Region: Southwest
Motto: Ditat Deus

Arizona covers a large area and includes both low desert and high-elevation forest. That is one of the most important facts to understand early. While the southern and central parts of the state are famous for hot Sonoran Desert conditions, northern Arizona includes plateau country, volcanic peaks, and winter snow.

The state's population is concentrated heavily in the Phoenix metro area, with Tucson serving as the other major southern urban center. Northern cities such as Flagstaff and Prescott are much smaller but important because of tourism, education, and climate differences.

Arizona borders California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Mexico. The Colorado River shapes much of its western edge, while tribal lands and federal public lands occupy a major share of the state's total area.

Arizona is nationally important for tourism, retiree migration, aerospace, logistics, semiconductors, and rapid metro growth. It is also central to discussions about water, desert urbanism, and long-term Southwestern development.

One of the most useful ways to think about Arizona is not as a single desert landscape but as a state of strong transitions: basin to plateau, cactus to pine, canyon to suburb, and old mining history to new tech-driven growth. That mix is what gives Arizona its identity and why it remains one of the most recognizable states in the western U.S.