Arizona State Profile - Isolated Traveller

Arizona is a state in the Western United States, grouped in the Southwestern and occasionally Mountain subregions. Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912.

Historically part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain, it became part of independent Mexico in 1821. After being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase.

The state’s name appears to originate from an earlier Spanish name, Arizonac, derived from the O’odham name alĭ ṣonak, meaning “small spring”, which initially applied only to an area near the silver mining camp of Planchas de Plata, Sonora. To the European settlers, their pronunciation sounded like Arissona.

Arizona is located in the southwestern quadrant of the conterminous states, bordered by California to the west, Nevada to the northwest, Utah to the north, New Mexico to the east, and the Mexican state of Sonora to the south.

Arizona Stats and Facts

Overview of Arizona
Nickname	The Grand Canyon State
Population	7.276 million (2021)
Capital & Biggest City	Phoenix
Total Area	113,998 square miles

Arizona’s Brief Timeline History

1 A.D	The Hohokam people begin building villages along the Gila River around 1 A.D.
1848	Mexican-American War ends, the war concludes with the U.S. agreeing to pay $15 million for more than a half-million square miles of Mexican territory
1863	Mexican-American War ends, war concludes with the U.S. agreeing to pay $15 million for more than a half-million square miles of Mexican territory
1853	The deal with Mexico adds nearly 30,000 square miles to the U.S., including land in Arizona.
1858	The era of large-scale mining in Arizona began in 1858 when Jacob Snively found gold in Gila City, east of Yuma.