Arizona is located in the Southwestern United States. It is best known for its desert landscape, which includes cacti. Arizona is also known for its exceptionally hot summers and mild winters. Less well known is the pine-covered high country in the north-central portion of the state, which contrasts with the lower deserts of the state.

Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It borders New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, touches Colorado, and has a 389-mile (626 km) international border with Mexico. Aside from the Grand Canyon, many other National Forests, Parks, Monuments, and Indian reservations are located in the state. Arizona was the 48th state admitted into the U.S. (1912), and the last of the contiguous states admitted.

Due to its large area and variations in elevation, the state has a wide variety of localized climate conditions. In the lower elevations, the climate is primarily desert, with mild winters and hot summers. Typically, from late fall to early spring, the weather is mild, averaging a minimum of 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15?C). November through February are the coldest months with temperatures typically ranging from 40?75?F (4?24?C), although occasional frosts are not uncommon. About midway through February, the temperatures start to rise again with warm days, and cool breezy nights. The summer months of May through August bring a dry heat ranging from 90?120?F (32?48?C), with occasional high temperatures exceeding 125?F (52?C) having been observed in the desert area. Due to the primarily dry climate, large temperature swings often occur between day and night, with some as large as 50?F (28?C) in the summer months.

However, the northern third of Arizona is a plateau at significantly higher altitudes than the lower desert, and has an appreciably cooler climate, with cold winters and mild summers. Extreme cold temperatures are not unknown; cold air systems from the northern states and Canada occasionally push into the state, bringing temperatures below 0?F (?18?C) to the higher parts of the state.

Arizona has an average annual rainfall of 12.7 inches (322 mm)[2], which comes during two rainy seasons, with cold fronts coming from the Pacific Ocean during the winter and a monsoon in the summer.[3] The monsoon season occurs from the middle of July through August and brings lightning, thunderstorms, wind, and torrential, if usually brief, downpours. It is rare for tornadoes and hurricanes to occur in Arizona, but there are records of both occurring.

Indicative of the variation in climate, Arizona is the state which has both the metropolitan area with the most days over 100?F (37.8?C) (Phoenix), and the metropolitan area in the lower 48 states with the most days with a low temperature below freezing (Flagstaff).

As of 2005, Arizona had an estimated population of 5,939,292, which is an increase of 199,413, or 3.5%, from the prior year and an increase of 808,660, or 15.8%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 241,732 people (that is 462,739 births minus 221,007 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 576,238 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 168,078 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 408,160 people.


Arizona Population Density population breakdown of the state is as follows:

63.8% White (not of Hispanic origin)
25.3% Hispanic
5% Native American
3.1% Black
1.8% Asian
2.9% Two or more races
According to 2003 U.S. Census estimates, Arizona has the second highest number (and the sixth highest percentage) of Native Americans of any state in the Union. 286,680 were estimated to live in Arizona, representing more than 10% of the country's total Indian population of 2,752,158. Only California has more Indians than Arizona, and Arizona has slightly more Indians than Oklahoma [2]. The perimeters of Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott, and Yuma abut Indian reservations.


The largest ancestry groups in Arizona are Mexican (21%), German, English, Irish, and Native American. The southern and central parts of the state are heavily Mexican-American, especially in Santa Cruz County and Yuma County near the Mexican border. The north-central and northwestern counties are largely inhabited by residents of English ancestry. The northeastern part of Arizona has many American Indians.

Arizona is projected to become a minority-majority state by the year 2035, if current population growth trends continue. In 2003, for the first time, there were more Hispanic births in the state than white (non-Hispanic) births.

As of 2000, 74.1% of Arizona residents age 5 and older speak only English at home and 19.5% speak Spanish. Navajo is the third most spoken language at 1.9%, followed by other Native North American languages at 0.6% and German at 0.5%.

49.9% of the population is male, 50.1% is female.

Economy
The 2004 total gross state product was $187 billion. If Arizona (and each of the other US states) were an independent country along with all existing countries (2005), it would have the 61st largest economy in the world (CIA - The World Factbook). This figure gives Arizona a larger economy than such countries as Norway, Denmark, Czech Republic, Ireland, Finland, and New Zealand. Arizona currently has the 21st largest economy among states in the U.S..

The state's per capita income is $27,232, 39th in the U.S. Early in its history, Arizona's economy relied on the "Five C's": copper, cotton, cattle, citrus, and climate (tourism). At one point Arizona was the largest producer of cotton in the country. Copper is still extensively mined from many expansive open-pit and underground mines, accounting for two-thirds of the nation's output.

Employment-
The state government is Arizona's largest employer, while Wal-Mart is the state's largest private employer, with 17,343 employees (2003). Arizona lost much of its comparative advantage as a high-tech industry leader between 1990 and 2001, according to a state Department of Commerce report.

In 2001, 161,166 Arizonans were employed in the high-tech sector, accounting for about 8.3 percent of total private-sector employment of more than 1.9 million. High-tech payroll in 2001 was $2.2 billion, or 14.7 percent of the private-sector total. High-tech employment was led by software and computers, with 34,314; electronics components manufacturing, 30,358; aerospace manufacturing, 25,641; architectural and engineering services, 21,378; telecommunications, 21,224; and instruments manufacturing, 13,056.

Taxation-
Arizona collects personal income taxes in five brackets: 2.87 percent, 3.20 percent, 3.74 percent, 4.72 percent and 5.04 percent. Arizona Transaction Privilege Tax (sales) and Use tax rates generally are 6.3 percent.

The state rate on transient lodging (hotel/motel) is 7.27%. The state of Arizona does not levy a state tax on food for home consumption or on drugs prescribed by a licensed physician or dentist. However, some cities in Arizona do levy a tax on food for home consumption.

All fifteen Arizona counties levy a tax.

Incorporated municipalities also levy transaction privilege taxes which, with the exception of their hotel/motel tax, are generally in the range of 1-to-3 percent. These added assessments could push the combined sales tax rate to as high as 10.7 percent.

Transportation-
Main interstate routes include I-17, and I-19 running north-south, and I-40, I-8, I-10 running east-west, and a short stretch of I-15 running NE through the NW corner of the state.

Phoenix is served by a network of freeways, many of which were initiated by a 1/2 cent general sales tax measure approved by voters in 1985. Before this network, I-10 and I-17 handled almost all freeway traffic in Phoenix, placing a large burden on surface arterial streets, leading to increased traffic congestion as the area grew in size.

I-10 (the Maricopa and Papago Freeways) from Los Angeles travels from the west through downtown, and exits the metro area in a southeast direction towards Tucson. I-17 (the Black Canyon Freeway) begins in downtown Phoenix and travels north to Flagstaff. US 60 (the Superstition Freeway) also travels through the heart of the city, heading northwest through the suburbs of Glendale, Peoria, and Surprise. It also exits to the east of downtown, travelling through the suburbs of Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, and Apache Junction, and beyond. State Route Loop 101 (the Agua Fria, Price, and Pima Freeways) is also a major highway that forms a semicircle around the northern suburbs of the city, starting from I-10 in the west and travelling around to the Santan portion of Loop 202 in the southeast.

The new freeways started after the 1985 sales tax approval are: Arizona 51, Loop 101, Arizona 143 (the Hohokam Expressway), 153 (the Sky Harbor Expressway), Loop 202 (the Red Mountain and Santan Freeways), and Loop 303 (the Estrella Freeway), and the final section of I-10. Most of these have been completed by 2005, with Loop 202 and Loop 303 being in the final stages of construction and development.

Arizona 51 (the Piestewa Freeway) connects downtown and central Phoenix with north Phoenix and Paradise Valley, and connects with the aforementioned Loop 101 at its northern end. 2/3 of this route was opened in 1999 and the remainder in 2003. It had been known as the Squaw Peak Parkway (for a nearby mountain), but this name was considered offensive to those in the Native American community. Both the road and the mountain were re-named in the spring of 2003 for US Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa, a member of the Hopi tribe, the first woman to die in combat during the current Iraq War and the first Native American woman to die in combat while in the US Army.

Tucson is primarily served by I-10 and I-19. I-19 spilts off from I-10 in the southern part of Tucson, runs through southern Tucson (including an exit serving the historic Mission San Xavier) and the retirement community of Green Valley, and terminates in Nogales, in Santa Cruz County, at the international border with Mexico. Mileage signs have metric mileage figures in kilometers instead of standard miles.

State Route 210 (Barraza Aviation Parkway) is a limited-access parkway built in the early 1990's to connect downtown Tucson to the southeastern portion of the city. Few new limited-access roads are in the plans in Tucson due to strong community opposition to freeways.

As recently as 1959, many roads such as State Highway 87, the Beeline Highway between Phoenix and the small community of Payson in Gila County, were unpaved.

Yuma and Casa Grande are served by I-8; Flagstaff is served by I-17 and I-40. US Highway 95 parallels the Colorado River, from Las Vegas to the Mexican border near Yuma.

Historic U.S. Route 66, a major route for Midwestern emigrants prior to the advent of the interstate highway system, traversed the northern part of the state, passing through Flagstaff and Kingman. Route 66 in Arizona closely followed the route of what is now Interstate 40 except for an 88 mile stretch between Seligman and Kingman, now known as Arizona State Highway 66, where the route veered to the north passing through Peach Springs.

Public transportation and intercity bus
The Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas are served by public bus transit systems. Yuma and Flagstaff also have public bus systems. Greyhound Lines serves Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma, and several smaller communities statewide.

A light rail system is currently being built in Phoenix. When completed, it will connect Central Phoenix with the nearby cities of Mesa and Tempe. The system is projected to be operational by December of 2008.

In May 2006, voters in Tucson approved a Regional Transportation Plan (a comprehensive bus transit/streetcar/roadway improvement program), and its funding via a new half-cent sales tax increment. The centerpiece of the plan is a light rail streetcar system that will connect the main University of Arizona campus with the Rio Nuevo master plan area on the western edge of downtown. [3]

Aviation-
Airports with regularly scheduled commercial flights include: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (IATA: PHX, ICAO: KPHX) in Phoenix (the largest airport and the major international airport in the state); Tucson International Airport (IATA: TUS, ICAO: KTUS) in Tucson; Yuma International Airport (IATA: YUM, ICAO: KYUM) in Yuma; Prescott Municipal Airport (PRC) in Prescott; and Flagstaff Pulliam Airport (IATA: FLG, ICAO: KFLG) in Flagstaff.

Other sizable airports without regularly scheduled commercial flights include Williams Gateway Airport (IWA) in Mesa, and Scottsdale Municipal Airport (in Scottsdale).


Public schools in Arizona are separated into about 220 local school districts which operate independently, but are governed in most cases by elected county school superintendents; these are in turn overseen by the Arizona State Board of Education (a division of the Arizona Department of Education) and the state Superintendent of Public Instruction (elected in partisan elections every even-numbered year when there is not a presidential election, for a four-year term).

Higher education in Arizona is governed at the university level by the Arizona Board of Regents or the ABOR, a 12-member body. According to information published by the ABOR office and available on their Web site, eight volunteer members are appointed by the Governor to staggered eight-year terms; two students serve on the Board for two-year appointments, with the first year being a nonvoting apprentice year. The Governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction serve as voting ex-officio members. The ABOR provides "policy guidance" and oversight to the three major degree-granting universities, as provided for by Title 15 of the Arizona Revised Statutes.

Community colleges in Arizona were governed historically by a separate statewide Board of Directors, but a bill passed in the 2002 regular session of the Legislature (HB 2710, which later became ARS 15-1444) transferred almost all oversight authority to individual community college districts. The community college systems in Arizona are among the best in the United States.

Art and pop culture-
Arizona has featured a continuous string of dancing and performing groups of many ethnicities. The state is a recognized center of Native American art, with a number of galleries such as the Heard Museum showcasing historical and contemporary works. Sedona, Jerome, and Tubac are known as budding artist colonies, and small arts scenes exist in the larger cities and near the state universities.

Many tourist souvenirs produced in Arizona or by its residents display characteristic images, such as sunsets, coyotes, and desert plants. Several major Hollywood films, such as U-Turn, Waiting to Exhale, Just One of the Guys, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Scorpion King, The Banger Sisters, Used Cars, and Raising Arizona have been made there (as indeed have many Westerns). The Jeff Foxworthy comedy documentary movie Blue Collar Comedy Tour was filmed almost entirely at the Dodge Theatre. Arguably one of the most famous examples could be Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Psycho. Not only was some of the film shot in Phoenix, but the main character is from there as well. Some of the television shows filmed in Arizona include Insomniac with Dave Attell, COPS, and America's Most Wanted. The 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, for which Ellen Burstyn won the Best Actress Oscar, and also starred Kris Kristofferson, was set in Phoenix, as was the TV sitcom Alice, which was based on the movie.

"Arizona" was the title of a popular song recorded by Mark Lindsay (formerly of Paul Revere and the Raiders) that was a hit during the winter of 1969-1970.

Incidently, Arizona may also be considered to be somewhat of a "hotspot" for unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings. According to the UFO Casebook, there have been 1324 reported sightings between 1946 and 2006, [4] the sixth most of all 50 states and Washington DC. 1324 sightings in 60 years is a little over 20 every year.

One of the most famous UFO sightings in Arizona are the infamous Phoenix Lights. These are one of the most heavily witnessed UFO sightings ever. The sightings occurred on March 13, 1997. The five lights in a "V"-shape were first spotted in Henderson, Nevada, and then moved to Paulden, on to Prescott Valley, to Dewey, and then finally to Phoenix. After the lights left Phoenix, they moved toward Tucson, following Interstate 10 at a slow pace. UFO witnesses and investigators claim these lights have never been completely explained; at the time of the occurrence, the Arizona Air National Guard issued a public statement that the 'mysterious' lights were likely flares dropped by a Maryland Air National Guard training mission which was in the area and returning to Tucson at about the time the lights were reported.






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