30 Interesting Facts About Phoenix

Facts About Phoenix, Arizona

Facts About Phoenix

  • Phoenix is the capital and most populous city in Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020.
  • Phoenix is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, the largest state capital by population.
  • Phoenix covers a total area of 1,344 square kilometres, making it the largest city in the state by area.
  • The city park system established to preserve the desert landscape in areas that would otherwise have succumbed to development includes South Mountain Park, the world’s largest municipal park with 16,500 acres.
  • The city is located in the Sonoran Desert, which is one of the wettest and greenest deserts in North America.
  • According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 517.9 sq mi, of which 516.7 sq mi is land and 1.2 sq mi, or 0.2%, is water.
  • Phoenix lies at a mean elevation of 1,086 feet above sea level.
  • Settled in 1867 as an agricultural community near the confluence of the Salt and Gila Rivers.
  • Phoenix was incorporated as a city in 1881.
  • Phoenix became the capital of Arizona Territory in 1889.
  • The Hohokam people occupied the Phoenix area for 2,000 years. They created roughly 135 miles of irrigation canals, making the desert land arable, and paths of these canals were used for the Arizona Canal, Central Arizona Project Canal, and the Hayden-Rhodes Aqueduct.
  • Phoenix’s first newspaper was the weekly Salt River Valley Herald, established in 1878, which would change its name the following year to the Phoenix Herald.
  • The Phoenix Zoo is the largest privately-owned non-profit zoo in the United States and is internationally known for its programs devoted to saving endangered species.
  • The city’s median household income was $47,866, and the median family income was $54,804.
  • The all-time lowest recorded temperature in Phoenix was 16 °F on January 7, 1913, while the coldest daily high temperature ever recorded was 36 °F on December 10, 1898.
  • Since 1979, the city of Phoenix has been divided into urban villages, many of which are based upon historically significant neighbourhoods and communities that have since been annexed into Phoenix.
  • Phoenix is the cultural centre of the state of Arizona.
  • Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is one of the top 10 busiest airports in the country.
  • The Phoenix area has more than 22 million visitors each year.
  • Phoenix is twinned with the following sister cities: Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Catania, Sicily, Italy; Chengdu, Sichuan, China; Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland; Grenoble, Rhône-Alpes, France; Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico; Himeji, Hyōgo, Japan; Prague, Czech Republic; Ramat Gan, Israel; Taipei, Taiwan & Zapopan, Mexico.
  • Phoenix has an average annual rainfall of 8.04 inches.
  • The hottest temperature ever recorded in Phoenix was 122 degrees Fahrenheit at Sky Harbor International Airport on June 26, 1990.
  • The settlement that would become Phoenix was built on the banks of the Salt River in the early 1860s.
  • The world’s largest collection of desert plants can be found in Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden.
  • The city of Phoenix officially was recognized on May 4, 1868, when the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors formed an election precinct there.
  • According to Census Bureau stats, only about 40 per cent of Phoenix residents were born in Arizona.
  • There are nearly 200 golf courses in the Greater Phoenix area.
  • The metropolitan area is known as the “Valley of the Sun”, due to its location in the Salt River Valley.
  • The shape of the Grand Canyon inspired the design of downtown’s Phoenix Convention Center.
  • In 1920, Phoenix would see its first skyscraper, the Heard Building.

 

Facts About Phoenix
Facts About Phoenix