Area 113,909 sq mi (295,024 sq km)
Pop. (2000) 5,130,632, a 40% increase since the 1990 census
Capital and largest city Phoenix
Nickname Grand Canyon State, Copper State
Motto Ditat Deus [God Enriches]
State bird cactus wren
State fish Arizona Apache trout
State flower blossom of the saguaro cactus
State fossil petrified wood
State gemstone turquoise
State insect Two-tailed Swallowtail Papilio multicaudatus
State mammal ringtail
State name spanish translation of Pima Indian "arizonac" as "little spring place"
State reptile Arizona ridgenose rattlesnake
State amphibian Arizona tree frog
State song Arizona March Song (1919)
State tree paloverde

The state's principal crops are cotton, lettuce, cauliflowers, broccoli, and sorghum.
Cattle, and dairy goods are, however, the most valuable Arizona farm products.
Manufacturing is the leading economic activity, with electronics, printing and
publishing, processed foods,  aerospace and transportation leading sectors.
High-technology research and development, communications, and service industries
are also important, as are construction (the state is rapidly growing) and tourism.
Military facilities contributing to Arizona's economy include Fort Huachuca,
Luke and Davis-Monthan air force bases, and the Yuma Proving Grounds.
Testing and training with military aircraft and desert storage of commercial and
military planes are both major undertakings. 

Arizona abounds in minerals. Copper is the state's most valuable mineral;
Arizona leads the nationin production. Other leading resources are molybdenum, sand, gravel, and cement.

Between 1940 and 1960, Arizona's population increased more than 100%, and
since then growth has continued. By the 2000 census the cumulative increase
since 1940 amounted to more than 1000%, and Arizona was ranked among the
fastest growing states in the nation.


The mountainous north, however, has not shared the population growth of the
southern sections of the state. Over 80% of the people are Caucasian and
nearly 20% are Hispanic.

*Information from Columbia Encyclopedia  

ARIZONA AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURES

Marana , AZ 

Long before the coming of the Spanish Conquistadors and missionaries in the
17th Century, the Marana/Avra Valley area was inhabited by the Hohokam Indians,
who developed extensive canal systems to use the waters of the Santa Cruz River
for irrigated agriculture. 

Up until 1776, when the Spanish established a presidio at Tucson , the
Marana/Avra Valley area lay under the domination of the Tohono O’Odham Indians,
who themselves were subject to the domination of the Apaches from the nearby
highlands of southern and eastern Arizona. The American flag came to the
Marana area for the first time in 1846, carried by the troops of the Mormon
battalion who passed through the region on their way to San Diego, California. 

The Gold Rush of California in 1848 spread eastward into Arizona.
Gold was not discovered in abundance, but by 1865, high grade copper ore
was being shipped from mines in the Silver Bell Mountains to Yuma and then by ship
to Baltimore for smelting. During the Civil War, soldiers of the Confederacy
occupied Tucson and extended their control through Marana and as far west as
what is now Casa Grande . The Bluecoats engaged a patrol of Confederate Calvary
near Picacho Peak; the site of Arizona’s only Civil War battle and the western-most
battle of the entire war.

Rail transportation came in 1881 and signaled a major change in the area. 
It gave Marana its first identification as a specific place by appearing on
Southern Pacific Railroad maps in 1890. The aftermath of World War 1 brought
another change to Marana.  In 1920, a land promotion involving irrigated
agriculture was started by Michigan immigrant Edwin R. Post.  His project involved
drilling wells in the desert, the installation of a pumping plant, and the construction
of an extensive irrigation system to bring ground water to the fertile desert land. 
Many families then migrated to the area to grow cotton.  The community grew
by several hundred during the heyday of the irrigated farming expansion
from 1920 to 1924.

During World War II, the impact of the rising importance of air power came quickly
to Marana. In 1942 the Federal Government bought about three and a half square
miles of the old Aguirre Ranch southwest of Red Rock and began construction of an
air base. Emergency landing fields were also built throughout the area.

Beginning in 1959, Titan missile sites were located in the area as part of a complex 
of ballistic missile installations built around Tucson.  Five sites were located in the
Marana vicinity and as a result many of the rural roads in the Avra Valley area
were paved. In 1961, the Arizona Highway Department and the federal government
removed most of the Marana business district to widen Interstate 10. 

In March of 1977 the Town of Marana was incorporated with about 10 square miles. 
In August of that year the 1,500 townspeople elected their first town council. 
In early 1979 the Town began growing through an aggressive annexation policy
and is now nearly 120 square miles with an estimated population of 20,000.

From "History/About Us" Town of Marana website