Arizona Education

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Arizona has a comprehensive statewide educational system. Many of the state's cultural institutions are concentrated in its major cities, notably Tucson and Phoenix.

Education
Although the first schools in Arizona were established by Spanish missionaries in the 17th century, the area's first public school was not opened until 1864, in Prescott. By the late 1980s Arizona had 1026 public elementary and secondary schools with a total yearly enrollment of 451,300 elementary pupils and 156,300 secondary students. In addition, some 35,500 students attended private schools.
Arizona State University, the state's oldest institution of higher education, was established in 1885 in Tempe. By the the late 1980s Arizona had 37 colleges and universities with a total annual enrollment of approximately 252,600 students. Besides Arizona State, notable schools included Northern Arizona University (1899), in Flagstaff; the University of Arizona, in Tucson; and Navajo Community College (1969), in Tsaile, the first United States college to be established on a Native American reservation.

Arizona, one of the Mountain states of the United States, bounded on the north by Utah, on the east by New Mexico, on the south by Mexico, and on the west by California and Nevada. The Colorado River forms much of the western boundary.
Arizona entered the Union on February 14, 1912, as the 48th state. Once primarily a mining and agricultural area, the state developed a diversified economy after 1950 and in the early 1990s was an important producer of high-technology items, notably in the Phoenix region. Arizona also enjoys successful copper-mining, cotton-growing, and tourist industries. The name of the state is derived from a Native American word (arizonac) believed to mean “place of the small spring.” Arizona is called the Grand Canyon State.

Land and Resources
Arizona is the sixth largest U.S. state, with an area of 295,276 sq km (114,006 sq mi). It encompasses terrain that ranges in elevation from 21 m (70 ft) above sea level, along the Colorado River near Yuma, to 3851 m (12,633 ft), atop Humphreys Peak, in the San Francisco Mountains north of Flagstaff. The approximate mean elevation is 1251 m (4100 ft). The state is roughly rectangular in shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 635 km (about 395 mi) from north to south and about 555 km (about 345 mi) from east to west. The federal government owns 42% of Arizona's land area.

Physical Geography
Arizona can be divided into three geographic regions—the Sonoran Desert, in the southwest; the Colorado Plateau, in the north; and the Mexican Highland, mainly in the central and southeastern parts of the state.
The Sonoran Desert, also known as the Gila Desert, is an arid area consisting mostly of broad stream-carved valleys, with isolated mountains rising above the alluvial soil deposited by flood-waters of modern and ancient streams. Ranges in the region include the Big Horn, Castle Dome, Gila Bend, Harcuvar, and Maricopa mountains. The southern edge of the Colorado Plateau region, which contains a number of level plateaus and several mountains and deep gorges, is marked by the Mogollon Rim, which has elevations ranging between about 2000 and 2500 m (about 6560 and 8200 ft). From the edge of the plateau the land slopes gently to the north; higher elevations are in the northeast. In the western part of the region lies the spectacular Grand Canyon; in the center is the Painted Desert, along the Little Colorado River; and in the southeast is the Petrified Forest. Between the Sonoran Desert and the Colorado Plateau is the Mexican Highland, a series of valleys and mountains taking in lofty areas such as the White Mountains near the border with New Mexico.

Rivers and Lakes
Virtually all of Arizona is drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries, notably the Little Colorado and Gila. The waters of the Salt, Santa Cruz, San Pedro, and Verde rivers join the Gila before entering the Colorado. Many of Arizona's smaller rivers do not flow year-round, but only after periods of considerable rainfall.
Dams along the Colorado have created several large, elongated lakes, such as Powell, Mead, Mohave, and Havasu, all of which lie partly in neighboring states. Similar artificial lakes are on the Gila, Salt, and Verde rivers.

Climate
Because of the variety of Arizona's topography, the average annual temperature and precipitation vary widely. Nevertheless, the state can be divided into three distinct climatic zones. The arid Sonoran Desert is hot in summer but experiences frost in most winters. Most of the Sonoran Desert receives less than about 200 m (about 8 in) of precipitation each year. The Colorado Plateau region is hot and relatively dry in summer and windy and cold in winter. In most parts of the region annual precipitation is less than 400 mm (about 16 in). The Mexican Highland region receives significant precipitation in both the summer and the winter, and yearly precipitation in lofty sections can reach about 760 mm (about 30 in). Temperatures in summer are appreciably lower than in the Sonoran Desert, and temperatures on winter nights are generally below freezing (0° C/32° F). The recorded temperature in Arizona has ranged from -40° (-40° F), in 1971 near McNary, to 52.8° C (127° F), in 1905 at Parker.

Plants and Animals
In most parts of Arizona the amount of natural vegetation varies proportionately with the amount of precipitation. The sparsely covered Sonoran Desert is known for its cacti, including the organ-pipe cactus, the giant saguaro cactus, and the cholla cactus. Also found in the region are many types of wild flowers, creosote bushes, mesquite, ocotillo, and yucca. At higher elevations in the state, forests of piñon and juniper occur below the commercial timber zone, where white and silver fir, Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, birch, ash, and elder grow. Altogether, nearly 25% of Arizona is covered with forest, approximately one-fifth of which contains commercially useful timber.
Big game animals in Arizona include large numbers of white-tailed deer and mule deer and some elk, antelope, and bighorn sheep. Buffalo roam freely in the northern part of the state, and bear are found in remote areas. Smaller animals, such as the mountain lion, badger, beaver, otter, raccoon, muskrat, and weasel, live in mountain districts. The peccary, or javelina, a type of wild pig, is also found here. In the Sonoran Desert, many different species of lizard (including the Gila monster), spiders, and snakes abound. Eagles, vultures, hawks, and owls are among Arizona's birds of prey; game birds include wild turkey, which are limited to the higher mountains, dove, grouse, and quail. Fish in the state's rivers and lakes include trout, bass, crappie, and bluegill.

Mineral Resources
Arizona contains a variety of minerals, including large-scale deposits of low-grade copper ore, coal, sand and gravel, and stone. Other minerals are gold, silver, lead, tin, molybdenum, zinc, vanadium, manganese, mercury, uranium, petroleum, and natural gas.

Population
According to the 1990 census, Arizona had 3,665,228 inhabitants, an increase of 34.8% over 1980; Arizona was the third fastest growing state in the U.S., after Nevada and Alaska. The average population density in 1990 was 12 people per sq km (32 per sq mi). Whites made up 80.8% of the population and blacks 3%. There were also 203,009 Native Americans (5.6% of the total). The two major Native American groups were the Navajo (see NAVAJO INDIANS) and the Hopi; California and Oklahoma were the only states with larger Native American populations. Some 688,338 persons, about 19% of the total population, were of Hispanic background. Mostly of Mexican descent, Hispanics were concentrated in the southern half of the state. Roman Catholics made up the largest single religious group, accounting for 23.9% of the population, followed by Baptists (11.6%), Methodists (6.6%), and Mormons (4.9%). In 1990, about 88% of the people of Arizona lived in areas defined as urban, and the rest lived in rural areas. The state's largest cities were Phoenix, the capital; Tucson; Mesa; Glendale; Tempe; and Scottsdale.


Cultural Institutions
Many of Arizona's foremost museums are located in Tucson and Phoenix. The Arizona Historical Society, Tucson Museum of Art, the University of Arizona Museum of Art, Arizona State Museum, and Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum are in Tucson, and the Arizona Mineral Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, Heard Museum, and Pueblo Grande Museum are in Phoenix. Tucson is also the site of the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium, the Arizona Opera Company, and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Phoenix contains the Desert Botanical Garden, the Phoenix Zoo, and the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. Three museums of special interest are the Navajo Tribal Museum, in Window Rock; the Mohave Museum of History and Arts, in Kingman; and the Colorado River Indian Tribes Museum, in Parker.

Historical Sites
A number of Arizona's historical sites include remains of early Native American cultures. Among these are Canyon de Chelly, Casa Grande, Montezuma Castle, Navajo, and Wupatki national monuments. Dating from more recent times are Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, near Ganado, a still-active post for trade with Native Americans; London Bridge, transported from England, in Lake Havasu City; the Old Governor's Mansion, completed in 1864, in Prescott; and Mission San Xavier del Bac, established in 1700, in Tucson.

Sports and Recreation
Arizona's mountains, parks, rivers, and lakes provide ideal conditions for hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, boating, swimming, skiing, and horseback riding. Among Arizona's favorite outdoor spots are the Glen Canyon and Lake Mead national recreation areas.

Communications
In the early 1990s Arizona had 73 AM and 76 FM radiobroadcasting stations and 27 television stations. The state's first radio station, KFAD in Phoenix, was licensed in 1922. KPHO-TV in Phoenix, the first commercial television station, began operation in 1949. The Weekly Arizonian, Arizona's first newspaper, was initially published in Tubac in 1859. By the early 1990s Arizona had 20 daily newspapers with a total daily circulation of about 737,400 copies. Influential dailies include the Arizona Republic and the Phoenix Gazette, in Phoenix, and the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Citizen, in Tucson.

Government and Politics
Arizona is governed under its original constitution, adopted in 1911 and put into effect in 1912, as amended. An amendment to the constitution may be proposed by the legislature, by a voters' initiative, or by a constitutional convention. To be adopted, a proposed amendment must be approved by a majority of the persons voting on the issue in an election.

Executive
The chief executive of Arizona is a governor who is popularly elected to a 4-year term and may be reelected any number of times. The same regulations apply to the secretary of state, who succeeds the governor should the latter resign, die, or be removed from office. Other elected state officers include the attorney general, treasurer, superintendent of public instruction, mine inspector, and the corporation commissioner.

Legislature
The bicameral Arizona legislature is made up of a senate and a house of representatives. The 30 members of the senate and the 60 members of the house are elected to serve 2-year terms.

Judiciary
Arizona's highest court, the supreme court, is composed of 5 justices who serve 6-year terms. The intermediate court of appeals has 21 judges who serve 6-year terms, and the major trial courts, the superior courts, have 116 judges who serve 4-year terms. Supreme court justices and court of appeals judges are appointed by the governor.

Local Government
Arizona has 15 counties and 86 municipalities. Most counties are governed by either a three- or five-member elected board of supervisors. Many cities employ the council-manager form of government.

National Representation
Arizona elects two senators and six representatives to the U.S. Congress. The state has eight electoral votes in presidential elections.

Politics
In both state and national elections Arizona was a stronghold of the Democratic party from the advent of statehood until the early 1950s. The election of a conservative Republican, Barry M. Goldwater, to the U.S. Senate in 1952 marked the emergence of a Republican trend that continued into the 1980s. In 1988 Republican Governor Evan Mecham (1925- ), found guilty by the Arizona senate on two charges of official misconduct, became the first U.S. governor to be impeached and removed from office since 1929.

Economy
In the 20th century Arizona has experienced remarkable economic growth, developing from a region of scattered mining, ranching, and cotton-growing operations into a state with a diversified modern economy. In the early 1990s the chief employers were commercial firms, government agencies, service industries (especially health services) and manufacturing concerns.

Agriculture
Arizona has some 8000 farms, averaging about 1820 hectares (about 4500 acres)—the highest such average of any U.S. state. About 58% of the annual farm income derives from the sale of crops, and the rest comes from sales of livestock and livestock products. The most valuable agricultural commodities are cattle, cotton, dairy products, vegetables, and hay. Citrus fruits and lettuce are also significant sources of income.
Crop farming in Arizona depends almost entirely on irrigation. Most cultivated land is in the south, especially in the Salt River valley, near Phoenix. Citrus fruit, particularly oranges and grapefruit, market vegetables, and alfalfa all occupy much farmland around Phoenix, but the leading cash crop in the region is cotton, which occupies more than 40% of the entire state's cropland. Elsewhere in Arizona productive agricultural land is found along the upper Gila River, in several basins between Phoenix and Tucson, and near the lower Colorado River. In the Colorado Plateau region of northern Arizona are numerous large ranches on which livestock is raised, but few crop farms.

Forestry and Fishing
Arizona has a relatively small lumbering industry, the annual cut being composed almost exclusively of softwoods such as ponderosa pine, yellow pine, and Douglas fir. Numerous lumbering operations are situated near Flagstaff. Commercial fishing in the state is negligible; most of the catch is taken by people fishing for recreation.

Mining
Arizona is the leading U.S. state in copper production, usually accounting for more than half of the country's annual output. Copper mines are located in the southern half of the state, mostly situated between the Salt River and the Mexican border. One of Arizona's largest copper mines is an open-pit operation at Morenci, and a very big underground copper mine is located at San Manuel, northeast of Tucson. Gold and silver ores exist in the southern Arizona mountains and are frequently recovered in conjunction with copper extraction, as is molybdenum. Coal is found in a number of areas on the Colorado Plateau and is mined in considerable quantity in the Black Mesa region of the northeast. Other minerals produced in significant quantities include sand and gravel, stone, lead, and tin.

Manufacturing
Beginning in the 1940s Arizona's manufacturing capacity increased markedly, and in the late 1980s firms engaged in manufacturing accounted for more than $22 billion in annual sales and employed more than 180,000 workers. Leading types of manufactures are transport equipment, electronic items, instruments and related products, industrial machinery, and primary metal and fabricated metal goods. Arizona's most visible manufacturing concerns are the great copper concentrators, located adjacent to every important mine. In addition, the state has several big copper smelters. Large factories producing electronic equipment are located in and around Phoenix and Tucson.

Tourism
The tourist industry annually contributes more than $6.8 billion to the economy of Arizona. The state's best-known attractions are in the Colorado Plateau region in the north, where the dramatic landscape in Grand Canyon National Park is the most famous lure. More than 3.5 million persons visit the Grand Canyon each year, and most of them also spend some time at other northern Arizona attractions, which include Petrified Forest National Park, the Navajo and Hopi reservations, the Anasazi ruins in Canyon de Chelly National Monument, and skiing areas near Flagstaff. To the west, Lakes Mead and Havasu, both on the Colorado River, combine varied water-sport opportunities with clear desert air; in southern Arizona the mission ruins at Tumacacori National Historical Park, the giant cacti in Saguaro National Monument, and countless mountain trails draw many visitors.

Transportation
Despite the presence of vast desert expanses, deep canyons, and numerous mountains, buttes, and mesas, Arizona has a well-knit transportation network. The state is served by about 2870 km (about 1785 mi) of operated railroad track, including parts of two major transcontinental railroad lines. Arizona has some 83,060 km (some 51,610 mi) of roads, and hard-surfaced routes serve all communities of significant size. Major road hubs are Phoenix, Tucson, and Flagstaff. Arizona has 181 airports, of which the busiest serve the Phoenix and Tucson areas; there are also 90 heliports.

Energy
About half of Arizona's electricity is generated in thermal plants using coal or natural gas; another 12% comes from hydroelectric plants, and 33% from nuclear installations. The state draws power from such major hydroelectric facilities as Glen Canyon, Hoover, Davis, and Parker dams, all on the Colorado River. Power plants in Arizona have an aggregate electricity generating capacity of about 14.9 million kw and produce some 62.3 billion kwh of electricity each year.

History
Long before its discovery by Europeans, the region comprising present-day Arizona was inhabited by culturally advanced tribes of Native Americans. The ruins of irrigation canals and aqueducts, cities, and fortifications built by these ancient peoples are scattered throughout the valleys and canyons of the state. The first European known to have visited the region was the Franciscan missionary and explorer Marcos de Niza (circa 1495-1558), leader of an expedition (1539) from Mexico City. The Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, impressed by de Niza's accounts of riches in the area, led another expedition from Mexico in 1540. Members of that group crossed the Colorado River and came upon the Grand Canyon.
Inspired by reports of mineral wealth in Arizona, other explorers followed, but the hostility of the Native Americans discouraged attempts at colonization. The Spanish government made the region part of New Spain in 1598. Christianity and Spanish culture were introduced to the Native Americans by the Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino, who was active also in northern Mexico. Among the missions Kino founded in Arizona was San José de Tumacacori (now a national historical site). Other Jesuit missions were founded during the first half of the 18th century, and in 1776 the Spaniards established a presidio at Tucson. As a result of a serious Native American uprising in 1802, the disorders attending the successful Mexican revolt (1821) against Spain, and other Native American uprising in 1827, almost all of the Spanish Arizona settlements and missions were abandoned.
American settlers, traders, and explorers, however, had begun to move into the region. During the Mexican War (1846-48) U.S. troops seized control of Arizona and adjoining New Mexico. Under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the agreement terminating the war, Mexico ceded all of Arizona and New Mexico north of the Gila River to the United States. The section south of the Gila was acquired by the United States through the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. In 1863 Arizona, until then a part of the territory of New Mexico, was established as a separate territory. Serious Native American uprisings occurred in the territory during the American Civil War and at sporadic intervals until 1896.
The U.S. Congress rejected an application by Arizona for statehood in 1891. Legislation admitting Arizona and New Mexico as a single state was enacted by Congress twice between 1904 and 1906, but the measure failed (1906) to win the approval of the Arizona electorate. In January 1910, Congress authorized the territory to hold a constitutional convention for the purpose of drafting a state constitution. The convention completed its work in December 1910, and the document was ratified in February 1911. Shortly thereafter Congress passed a resolution conferring statehood on Arizona. President William Taft vetoed the resolution because the proposed state constitution provided for the recall of elective judges. In August, Congress and the president approved a resolution making the admission of Arizona to the Union conditional upon the elimination of the constitutional provision for recall. The state's electorate endorsed the amendment on December 12, and on February 14, 1912, Taft signed the proclamation admitting Arizona as the 48th state. On November 5, 1912, the voters restored the provision for recall to the constitution.
A series of federal irrigation projects, especially those of the 1930s, accelerated Arizona's development, which increased sharply with the post-World War II demand for the state's chief products—copper, cattle, and cotton.
In 1948, Arizona Native Americans won the right to vote and began to enjoy some economic gains. In 1969 the first college on a Native American reservation, Navajo Community College, opened in Tsaile.
Arizona's warm, dry climate and diverse recreational lands have, since the early 1950s, attracted both a great number of new residents and a heavy stream of tourists. A commensurate increase in social and consumer services, followed by expanding industry, has dramatically affected the state's economic and political profile. As the population of Arizona nearly tripled between 1960 and 1990, the state acquired a national reputation for conservatism in politics and for probusiness policies that favored rapid growth.
Increased real estate development has led to a degradation of air quality, depletion of freshwater resources, and encroachment on the state's unique desert and forest reserves. Pollution controls, land-use restrictions, and water conservation measures have been only sporadically effective. The Central Arizona Project, extending 541 km (336 mi) and built at a cost of $3.7 billion, began supplying Colorado River water by pipeline to Phoenix in 1985 and Tucson in 1991.

 

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