Arizona, state in the southwestern United States. It is a land of seemingly limitless space and tremendous vistas. Arizona was the last of the 48 adjoining continental states to enter the Union. From its admission on February 14, 1912, to the admission of Alaska and Hawaii in 1959, it was the youngest state.
Arizona's landscape is one of great diversity. Sun-swept mountains and valleys, lofty plateaus, narrow canyons, and awesome stretches of desert make it one of the most beautiful states in the nation. This scenic beauty, coupled with an ideal climate, has made Arizona very popular with tourists.
Imperial Spain and, later, independent Mexico once controlled this land, and there the Native American, Spanish, and Anglo-American cultures met and fused. Although most of the Native Americans now live on reservations and Mexico and Spain long ago relinquished control of the area, traces of Arizona's past still remain. The Native American culture has been preserved on the reservations, and Mexican and Spanish influences may be seen in architectural styles and place-names.
The name of the state is derived from a Native American word (arizonac) believed to mean ''place of the small spring.'' Arizona is popularly known as the Grand Canyon State, after its most remarkable physical feature, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.
