Arizona is a state in the western region of the US with the abbreviation AZ. It became the 48th state on February 14, 1912, which means that Arizona is 111 years old, as of February 2023. Arizona is one of two states that were admitted into the Union on Valentine’s Day, the other being Oregon. The name Arizona is sometimes thought to come from a word meaning arid zone, however, others believe that the name is derived from the Aztec word Arizuma, meaning silver bearing, or from the Papagos tribe word Arizonac, meaning site of the small springs.
Arizona is the 6th largest state and the 14th most populous; the capital of Arizona is Phoenix. Arizona’s demonym is Arizonan; the state is bordered by California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California.
The motto of the state of Arizona is Ditat Deus (Latin for God Enriches).
The official nickname for the state of Arizona is The Grand Canyon State. The nickname refers to the presence of the Grand Canyon within Arizona.
Arizona’s landscape consists mostly of deserts, grasslands, chaparrals, and forests, though the state also contains tundras on some of its mountaintops, which is quite counterintuitive when considering that Arizona is one of the hottest states by average temperature.
Arizona is known for its expansive deserts, its sunny skies, and the Grand Canyon; speaking of sun, Yuma, Arizona, is the sunniest city in the world! Arizona is home to the United States’ first international airport; the state is also home to Flagstaff, which is the site where Pluto was first discovered. Arizona is the state that produces the most copper, though the state also possess other metals such as rhenium, molybdenum, silver, gold, lead, and zinc.
Joan Ganz Cooney, who is one of the founders of Sesame Workshop and one of the creators of Sesame Street, was born in Phoenix, Arizona.
The chimichanga, which is a fried burrito, was invented in Arizona; it often believed to have been first made by accident, however, the restaurant responsible for this invention, as well as the meaning of its name, is not known for certain.
On April 15, 1862, the Battle of Picacho Peak occurred in the Confederate territory of Arizona, which overlapped with the US territory of New Mexico; the location of this battle is in modern day Pinal County, Arizona. This Battle of Picacho Peak was a skirmish between Union cavalry from California and Confederate cavalry from Texas who had claimed the territory. The battle resulted in several Union casualties and the capture of a few Confederates including their commander Henry Holmes; this was the westernmost battle of the Civil War.
An interesting fact about Arizona is that the NASA astronauts from Apollo 11 did some of their moon landing training at the Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona, including Neil Armstrong who was the first man to walk on the moon.
A strange fact about Arizona is that, in 1968, real estate developer Robert McCulloch purchased the old London Bridge which had stood over the River Thames in London, England, since its construction in the 1830s. McCulloch then had the exterior blocks of the bridge moved to the United States; these blocks were used in construction of the bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where it still stands.
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Source: Origins of State Names
Source: Demonyms for US States
Source: Arizona State Nickname
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