Utah
From Wikinfo
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State nickname: Beehive State | |||||
| Image:Map highlighting Utah.png
Other U.S. States | |||||
| Capital | Salt Lake City | ||||
| Largest City | Salt Lake City | ||||
| Area - Total - Land - Water - % water |
Ranked 13th | ||||
| Population
- Density |
Ranked 34th
10/km2 | ||||
| Admittance into Union
- Date | 45th | ||||
| Time zone | |||||
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Latitude |
37° to 42°N | ||||
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Width |
435 km | ||||
| ISO 3166-2: | US-UT | ||||
Utah is a western state of the United States, in the Rocky Mountains region. The name Utah is from the language of the Native American Utes. The Paiute nation also inhabit a portion of the state.
USS Utah was named in honor of this state.
Contents |
History
Mormon settlers first came to the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. At the time, Utah was still Mexican territory. The land became the territory of the United States upon the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848. (The Treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on March 10.
Utah's bid for statehood was accepted January 4, 1896, over forty years after the initial request. The delay was largely due to disputes between the Mormon inhabitants--who had settled in the area in 1847 and were pushing for the establishment of the state of Deseret--and the US Government which was reluctant to admit a state the size of the proposed Deseret into the union, opposed the polygamous practices of the Mormons taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and observed that the region lacked the necessary 60,000 voters required for statehood. One of the conditions to granting Utah's statehood was that a ban on polygamy be written into the Utah Constitution. This was a condition required of other western states that were also admitted later into the union.
Other items of historical interest: Utah native Philo Farnsworth invented the electronic television in 1927. The 2002 Winter Olympics were hosted by Salt Lake City.
- See also: Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument
Law and Government
The capital and largest city is Salt Lake City. Governors of Utah
Geography
Utah is one of the Four Corners states bordered by Idaho and Wyoming in the north, by Colorado in the east, by Arizona in the south, and by Nevada in the west.
One of Utah's defining characteristics is the variety of its terrain. The Wasatch Mountains run a center spine of the state, and the Uinta Mountain range in the north-east (the only east-west running mountain range in North America) include the highest point in the state, Kings Peak at 13,528 feet. The Great Salt Lake lies to the immediate west of the Wasatch Mountains, beyond which the Bonneville Salt Flats stretch to Nevada. All land west of the Wasatch Mountains is within the Great Basin, while everything to the East drains into the Colorado River system.
The desert plateaus of Southern Utah contains four National Parks:
Much of this scenic southern landscape is kayente sandstone and navajo sandstone cut and shaped by the Colorado River or its tributaries.
Another notable fact about Utah is that the continental meeting of the railroads happened at Promontory Point, Utah.
- Area: 219,900 square kilometers
- Physical features: Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake, Lake Powell, Flaming Gorge, Jordan River, Colorado River, Green River, Lake Bonneville, Wasatch Mountains, Uinta Mountains, Great Basin, National Parks, Four Corners and the Colorado Plateau.
- Like most of the west and southwest states, the federal government owns much of the land in Utah. In Utah over sixty percent of the land is either BLM land or national forest, park, monument, recreation or wilderness area. Under Article IV, ? 3, cl. 2 of the United States Constitution, (the Property clause), the federal government has plenary and supreme--although concurrent--civil and criminal jurisdiction over these federal lands within the borders of each state.
Demographics
The population of Utah as of 2000 is 2,233,169.
Important Cities and Towns
Aside from the capital Salt Lake City, other major cities outside of the Salt Lake City area are Orem-Provo, Ogden, Logan and St. George.
Education
Colleges and Universities
Professional Sports Teams
External Links
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Utah" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah November 18, 2003
