Arizona

Arizona
Get facts and photos about the 48th state.

BYJAMIE KIFFEL-ALCHEH
FAST FACTS
Nickname: The Grand Canyon State
Statehood: 1912; 48th state
Population (as of July 2015): 6,828,065
Capital: Phoenix
Biggest City: Phoenix
Abbreviation: AZ
State bird: cactus wren
State flower: saguaro cactus blossom
HISTORY
People lived in the area that’s now Arizona at least 20,000 years ago, before written history. But in the 1200s, this civilization disappeared, probably due to a drought. Much later, Native American tribes such as the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, and Apache lived on the land, and today 22 tribes still reside on reservations in the state.

Spanish explorers first arrived in the 1530s, but through the 1840s, Arizona—as well as present-day California, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico—was a part of Mexico. The United States gained control of the land after winning the Mexican-American War in 1848. In 1863, Arizona became a U.S. territory, then joined the Union in 1912 as the 48th state.