University of Kansas
Public university in Lawrence, Kansas, US
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital in Kansas City, Kansas, the Edwards Campus in Overland Park. There are also educational and research sites in Garden City, Hays, Leavenworth, Parsons, and Topeka, an agricultural education center in rural north Douglas County, and branches of the medical school in Salina and Wichita. The university is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".
Founded March 21, 1865, the university was opened in 1866 under a charter granted by the Kansas State Legislature in 1864 and legislation passed in 1863 under the state constitution, which was adopted two years after the 1861 admission of the former Kansas Territory as the 34th state into the Union.
As of fall 2022[ [update]], 23,872 students were enrolled at the Lawrence and Edwards campuses with an additional 2,836 students enrolled at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) for a total enrollment of 26,708 students across the three campuses. Overall, the university (including KUMC) employed 3,196 faculty members (faculty, faculty administrators, librarians, and unclassified academic staff) in fall 2022[ [update]].
Kansas's athletic teams compete in NCAA Division I sports as the Jayhawks, as members of the Big 12 Conference. They field 16 varsity sports, as well as club-level sports for ice hockey, rugby, men's volleyball, soccer, basketball, rock climbing, triathlon, cross country, track, swim, pickleball, table tennis, and water skiing.
History.
On February 20, 1863, Kansas Governor Thomas Carney signed into law a bill creating the state university in Lawrence. The law was conditioned upon a gift from Lawrence of a $15,000 endowment fund and a site for the university, in or near the town, of not less than of land. If Lawrence failed to meet these conditions, Emporia instead of Lawrence would get the university.
The site selected for the university was a hill known as Hogback Ridge (later known as Mount Oread), which was privately donated by Charles L. Robinson, the Republican governor of the state of Kansas from 1861 to 1863, and one of the original settlers of Lawrence, Kansas. Robinson and his wife Sara bestowed the site to the State of Kansas in exchange for land elsewhere. The philanthropist Amos Adams Lawrence donated $10,000 of the necessary endowment fund, and the citizens of Lawrence raised the remaining money themselves via private donations. On November 2, 1863, Governor Carney announced Lawrence had met the conditions to get into the state university, and the following year the university was officially organized.
The school's Board of Regents held its first meeting in March 1865, which is the event that KU dates its founding from. Work on the first college building began later that year. The school opened for classes on September 12, 1866, and the first class graduated in 1873. According to William L. Burdick, the first degree awarded by the university was a Doctor of Divinity, bestowed upon noted abolitionist preacher Richard Cordley.
During the early development of the University of Kansas, Chancellors Joshua Lippincott, Francis H. Snow, and Frank Strong, along with the Kansas Board of Regents, worked to establish the university as not only a center for higher education but also a representative agency of the state. Snow, who served from 1890 to 1901, emphasized scientific research and public engagement, while Strong, beginning in 1902, advanced the university’s role in public service. This vision aligned with the sentiments expressed by Professor M. S. Ward, who stated in 1891 that "Students should find in the University preparation for all the various pursuits and callings of society. The ultimate aim of our own State University ought to be [promoting] the highest Christian culture, an ample professional training, [which] will make our civilization the highest possible on earth."
In an effort to appeal to the predominantly Christian population of Kansas, many of who in the early history of the university were critical of state money being used to fund a secular institution, Chancellor Lippincott sought to reassure the public that the University of Kansas maintained strong Christian values. In response to a concerned parent questioning the university’s mission, Lippincott wrote, "The University is a Christian institution founded by a Christian state. We have daily prayers conducted for the most part by members of the Faculty of whom nearly all are Christian and several ministers of the Gospel."
Although the university was a secular institution, religion remained a central cultural force among students. In an 1880 community letter, an anonymous student reflected on the broader moral and spiritual purpose of education at KU, writing, "We are all seeking the truth, we are all earnest in our effort to correctly solve the great problem of a worthy and useful existence—we all recognize the wonderful features of a Christian age and a Christian country and we all hope to be true men and women [of the country] and almost all acknowledge that in accomplishing this we need an inspiration which is not of this earth nor fashioned after this world."
Chancellor Lippincott emphasized the importance of individual development in higher education, distinguishing universities from more rigid collegiate institutions in other parts of the country. In a lecture to students, James Marvin, the third Chancellor of the University stated, "Higher education should aid students to realize all their potentialities, but only in a university are all individualities respected. Colleges that require all students [to] follow the same course have a factory air about them. Students go through the same milling process and come out machines, but God did not intend man to be a machine, and the University of Kansas should be about His work."
Beginning in 1880, the University began to field intercollegiate athletics programs, starting with baseball. The University would introduce football in 1890, men's basketball in 1898, a women's club basketball team in 1902, and various other varsity athletics programs throughout the 20th century.
During World War I, the University of Kansas became a key training ground for military personnel, and courses were added for male students to reflect this. Military drills and coursework in military science were made mandatory for male students, and in 1918, KU established a unit of the Students' Army Training Corps (SATC) to provide academic and military instruction. Faculty contributed to war-related research, while female students supported Red Cross efforts. Chancellor Frank Strong emphasized KU’s role in preparing students for both military service and national responsibility. Strong was a vocal opponent of the United States entering a foreign war, and helped found the Kansas Branch of the League to Enforce Peace in 1915, which was a collection of activists who were opposed to American involvement in foreign conflicts. Strong advocated for patriotism during his later years as Chancellor, stating at the University Assembly in 1915 that "it is America's destiny to preserve Western Civilization, which seems to be destroying itself abroad. While the youth of Europe are on its battlefields, the youth of America must seek higher education to enable them to carry on the material for the leadership of the world. America and its universities, with the University of Kansas having a big place among them, must become the center of the greatest intellectual life that the next generation should know." In April 1917, after Congress declared a state of war, Strong sent a letter to Congress stating that the University "has always been loyal to country and to the flag, and always will be."
During World War II, Kansas was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program, which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
Landmarks and structures.
KU is home to the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, the Beach Center on Disability, Lied Center of Kansas and radio stations KJHK, 90.7 FM, and KANU, 91.5 FM. The university is also host to several significant museums. These include the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, founded in 1927, which contains important collections in mammalogy, ornithology, vertebrate paleontology, and entomology; and the Spencer Museum of Art, founded in 1928, home to a wide variety of cultural materials from all around the world, with a particular emphasis on American Indian materials. The libraries of the university include Watson Library, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, the Murphy Art and Architecture Library, Thomas Gorton Music & Dance Library, and Anschutz Library. Of athletic note, the university is home to Allen Fieldhouse, which is heralded as one of the greatest basketball arenas in the world, and David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, which is the eighth oldest college football stadium in the country.
Academics.
The University of Kansas is a large, state-sponsored university with five campuses. KU is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". KU features the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, which includes the School of the Arts and the School of Public Affairs & Administration; and the schools of Architecture, Design & Planning; Business; Education; Engineering; Health Professions; Journalism & Mass Communications; Law; Medicine; Music; Nursing; Pharmacy; and Social Welfare. The university offers more than 345 degree programs. In 2017 Johnson County accounted for most of instate enrollment.
According to the National Science Foundation, KU spent $339 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 74th in the nation.
School of Architecture and Design.
The University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design (ArcD), with its main building being Marvin Hall, traces its architectural roots to the creation of the architectural engineering degree program in KU's School of Engineering in 1912. The Bachelor of Architecture degree was added in 1920. In 1969, the School of Architecture and Urban Design (SAUD) was formed. In 2001, architectural engineering merged with civil and environmental engineering. The design programs from the discontinued School of Fine Arts were merged into the school in 2009, forming the School of Architecture and Design.
The Department of Design began in 1921. The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program began eight years later. Industrial Design was added in 1941, interior design in 1946, jewelry and silversmithing, art history, and the Masters of Fine Arts program in 1948.
In 2009, the university reorganized the School of Fine Arts. The professional design practice programs became the Department of Design, administratively located in the School of Architecture and Design.
School of Business.
The University of Kansas School of Business is a public business school on the main campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. The KU School of Business was founded in 1924 and has more than 80 faculty members and approximately 1500 students.
Named one of the best business schools in the Midwest by Princeton Review, the KU School of Business has been continually accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) for its undergraduate and graduate programs in business and accounting.
For 2021, "U.S. News & World Report" ranked KU's business school 68th out of 477 evaluated.
In 2016, The University of Kansas completed construction on a new home for the business school, named Capitol Federal Hall. It is located at 1654 Naismith Drive, near KU's Rec Center and across the street from Allen Fieldhouse. Capitol Federal Hall is a 166,500 square-foot building complete with state-of-the-art technology and several research labs.
School of Law.
The University of Kansas School of Law, founded in 1878, was the top law school in the state of Kansas, and tied for 70th out of 198 nationally, according to the 2021 "U.S. News & World Report" rankings. Classes are held in Green Hall at W 15th St and Burdick Dr, which is named after former dean James Green.
School of Engineering.
The KU School of Engineering is a public engineering school located on the main campus. The School of Engineering was founded officially in 1891, although engineering degrees were awarded as early as 1873.
In the "U.S. News & World Report"'s "America's Best Colleges" 2021 issue, KU's School of Engineering was ranked tied for 102nd among 218 engineering schools whose highest degree is a doctorate.
Notable alumni include Charles E. Spahr (1934), the former CEO of Standard Oil of Ohio.
School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
In addition to its academic programs, the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications sponsors publications including "The University Daily Kansan", "Jayplay" magazine, and KUJH TV.
Medical Center.
The University of Kansas Medical Center features three schools: the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, and School of Health Professions that each has its own programs of graduate study. As of the Fall 2013 semester, there were 3,349 students enrolled at KU Med. The Medical Center also offers four-year instruction at the Wichita campus, and features a medical school campus in Salina, Kansas devoted to rural health care.
The University of Kansas Health System is co-located at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Edwards Campus, Overland Park.
KU's Edwards Campus is in Overland Park, Kansas. Established in 1993, its goal is to provide adults with the opportunity to complete undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs. About 2,000 students attend the Edwards Campus, with an average age of 31.
University of Kansas Leavenworth.
Near the beginning of the 2018–2019 school year, KU launched classes in Leavenworth, Kansas, offering classes to "both civilian and military" students, emphasizing a "high priority in supporting military-affiliated students". The Leavenworth classes offer both undergraduate and graduate courses.
Computing innovations.
KU's School of Business launched interdisciplinary management science graduate studies in operations research during Fall Semester 1965. The program provided the foundation for decision science applications supporting NASA Project Apollo Command Capsule Recovery Operations.
KU's academic computing department was an active participant in setting up the Internet and is the developer of the early Lynx text-based web browser. Lynx provided hypertext browsing and navigation prior to Tim Berners Lee's invention of HTTP and HTML.
Student activities.
Athletics.
The University of Kansas has had teams representing them athletically since at least 1867, a year after classes officially started. Starting in 1866, a baseball team made up of KU students represented the University of Kansas in games played at the Kansas State Fair against local teams from around the state of Kansas.
The school's sports teams, wearing crimson and blue, are called the Kansas Jayhawks. They participate in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big 12 Conference. The University of Kansas has won thirteen National Championships all-time: six in men's basketball (two Helms Foundation championships and four NCAA championships, most recently in 2022), three in men's indoor track and field, three in men's outdoor track and field, one in men's cross country and one in women's outdoor track and field. The home course for KU Cross Country is Rim Rock Farm. Their most recent championship came in 2022, the men's basketball team won the 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Kansas football dates from 1890 and is one of the oldest continuous programs in the nation. They have played in the Orange Bowl three times: 1948, 1969, and 2008, as well as nine other bowl games. They are currently coached by Lance Leipold, who was hired in May 2021. From its inception in 1890 to 1929, the program saw consistent success, winning several conference titles in 4 different conferences. After joining the Big 6 Conference (which would eventually become the Big 8) in 1929, Kansas began to struggle in the win-loss column. With the formation of the Big 8 conference in 1960, Kansas became a consistent winner again and fielded legendary coaches like Pepper Rodgers, Don Fambrough, Bud Moore, and Glen Mason. In 2008, under the leadership of Mark Mangino, the #7 Jayhawks emerged victorious in their first BCS bowl game, the FedEx Orange Bowl, with a 24–21 victory over the #3 Virginia Tech Hokies. This capstone victory marked the end of the most successful season in school history, in which the Jayhawks went 12–1 (.923). The team plays at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, which recently underwent an $85 million renovation to add an indoor practice facility with a 120-yard field, an outdoor practice facility with 2 full fields and three partial fields, new locker rooms, a new weight training facility, new residencies for players, new offices, new turf, new seats, and a state-of-the-art video board.
The KU men's basketball team has fielded a team every year since 1898. The Jayhawks are a perennial national contender, coached by Hall of Fame coach Bill Self. The team has won six national titles, including four NCAA tournament championships in 1952, 1988, 2008, and 2022. The basketball program is currently the winningest program in college basketball history with an overall record of 2,355–877 up to their Final Four appearance in the 2021–22 season. The team plays at Allen Fieldhouse. Perhaps its best-recognized player was Wilt Chamberlain, who played in the 1950s, later becoming an NBA star and Harlem Globetrotter.
Kansas has counted among its coaches James Naismith (the inventor of basketball), Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Phog Allen ("the Father of basketball coaching" and a Kansas alumnus himself), Dick Harp, Ted Owens, Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Roy Williams, and Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and former NBA Champion Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown. Currently, Kansas is coached by Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Bill Self. In addition, legendary University of Kentucky coach and Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Adolph Rupp played for KU's 1922 and 1923 Helms National Championship teams, and NCAA Hall of Fame inductee and University of North Carolina Coach Dean Smith played for KU's 1952 NCAA Championship team. Both Rupp and Smith played under Phog Allen. Allen also coached Hall of Fame coaches Dutch Lonborg and Ralph Miller. Allen founded the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), which started what is now the NCAA Tournament. The Tournament began in 1939 under the NABC and the next year was handed off to the newly formed NCAA.
Kansas fielded its first women's soccer team in 1995. The women's soccer team launched in 1980 as a club sport, but was promoted to varsity play in the NCAA in 1995 when Lori Walker was hired as the head coach. Since 1995 they've appeared in the NCAA tournament ten times, and have won the Big 12 championship three times. They compete at Rock Chalk Park, a 2,500 seat stadium built in 2014. In cooperation with Kansas Athletics, FIFA is using Rock Chalk Park as a training facility and team base camp for the 2026 World Cup, with one of the host sites being nearby Kansas City.
Notable non-varsity sports include rugby, men's hockey, and men's soccer. The rugby team owns its private facility and tours internationally every two years. The men's hockey team plays at AdventHealth Sports Park in Overland Park, Kansas. They also practice in Topeka and Lawrence. They compete in the American Collegiate Hockey Association. Men's soccer competes in the South Conference of the Upper Midwest Collegiate Soccer League. They play on an artificial turf field next to student dorms next to Allen Fieldhouse.
Debate teams.
The University of Kansas has had more teams (70) compete in the National Debate Tournament than any other university. Kansas has won the tournament 6 times (1954, 1970, 1976, 1983, 2009, and 2018) and had 15 teams make it to the final four. Kansas trails only Northwestern (15) and Harvard (7) for most tournaments won and is tied with Dartmouth (6). Kansas also won the Copeland Award in 1981–82 and 2017–18.
Media.
The university's newspaper is "University Daily Kansan", which placed first in the Intercollegiate Writing Competition of the prestigious William Randolph Hearst Writing Foundation competition. In the winter of 2008, a group of students created KUpedia, a wiki about all things KU. They received student funding for operations in 2008–09. The KU Department of English publishes the "Coal City Review", an annual literary journal of prose, poetry, reviews, and illustrations. The "Review" typically features the work of many writers, but periodically spotlights one author, as in the case of 2006 Nelson Poetry Book Award-winner "Voyeur Poems" by Matthew Porubsky.
The "University Daily Kansan" operates outside of the university's William Allen White School of Journalism and reaches at least 30,000 daily readers through its print and online publications.
The university houses the following public broadcasting stations: KJHK, a student-run campus radio station, KUJH-LP, an independent station that primarily broadcasts public affairs programs, and KANU, the NPR-affiliated radio station. Kansas Public Radio station KANU was one of the nation's first public radio stations. KJHK, the campus radio has roots back to 1952 and is completely run by students.
Center for Community Health and Development.
The university's Center for Community Health and Development (formerly KU Work Group) was designated as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Community Health and Development in 2004. It is affiliated with the Department of Applied Behavioral Science and the Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies at the university, and supports community health and development through a variety of means, including its free online resource, the Community Tool Box.
Foundations.
University of Kansas Memorial Corporation.
The first union was built on campus in 1926 as a campus community center. The unions are still the "living rooms" of campus and include three locations – the Kansas Union and Burge Union at the Lawrence Campus and Jayhawk Central at the Edwards Campus. The KU Memorial Unions Corporation manages the KU Bookstore (with seven locations). The KU Bookstore is the official bookstore of KU. The corporation also includes KU Dining Services, with more than 20 campus locations, including The Market (inside the Kansas Union) and The Underground (located in Wescoe Hall). The KU Bookstore and KU Dining Services are not-for-profit, with proceeds supporting student programs, such as Student Union Activities.
KU Endowment.
KU Endowment was established in 1891 as the university's primary institutional foundation to manage and build the university's endowment.
Notable alumni and faculty.
Affiliated with the university as students, researchers, or faculty members have been 325 Fulbright Scholars, 27 Rhodes Scholars, 10 Marshall Scholars, 2 Mitchell Scholars, 12 MacArthur Fellows, 7 Pulitzer Prize winners, 5 NASA astronauts, 3 Nobel Prize laureates, 2 Fields Medal winners, 3 Hugo Award or Nebula Award winners and 1 Academy Award winner.
Additionally, two people associated with the school have been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Dean Smith, who played basketball at Kansas from 1949 to 1953 and was a Hall of Fame men's basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was given the award by Barack Obama in 2013. Politician Bob Dole, who played football and basketball at the school but did not graduate, was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom award by Bill Clinton in 1997.
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Bob Allison
American baseball player (1934–1995)
William Robert Allison (July 11, 1934 – April 9, 1995) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), with the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins.
Allison attended the University of Kansas for two years and was a star outfielder on the baseball team and fullback on the football team. In his Major League career, he hit 30 or more home runs three times and 20 or more in eight different seasons. Although he struck out often like many sluggers, reaching the century mark in strikeouts in five seasons, he received more than his share of walks and despite a mediocre career .255 batting average, Allison finished with a lifetime on-base percentage (OBP) of .358 and he finished in the top 10 in OBP in four seasons. Allison wasn't an especially fast player, but he was among the most feared base-runners of his time in hustling out numerous doubles and triples – leading the league in triples in 1959 (with 9) and finishing in the top 10 twice in doubles (1960 & 1964) and four times in triples (1959, 1962, 1967, and 1968).
At the three outfield positions he showed good range, finishing in the top five in range factor per nine innings five times, and his strong arm was rated as one of the best in the league. He also played a solid first base late at his career and his competitive attitude was highly praised by teammates and opponents. Despite his skill in the field, which saw him finish in the top 5 in the American League in outfield assists three times (1961, 1962, and 1965) and outfield putouts twice (1959 and 1963), he also produced many errors and Allison led the league with 11 errors in 1960, finished second twice (1959 and 1963), and finished fourth in errors by a first baseman in 1964.
Early life.
Allison was born on July 11, 1934 in Raytown, Missouri to Robert and Frances (Witte) Allison, the oldest of three children. His father was a former semi-pro baseball catcher. He attended Raytown High School where he starred in football at quarterback and fullback, as well as in basketball and track. The school did not have a baseball team, and he played baseball in the Ban Johnson League, in the Kansas City, Missouri area.
After graduating in 1952, he entered the University of Kansas on a football scholarship, and played baseball as well under coach Floyd Temple. He continued to play baseball in the Ban Johnson League in the summers of 1952-1954. He was scouted by a number of major league baseball teams, and in the fall of 1954 when he lost his eligibility to play sports because of his grades, decided to leave Kansas for professional baseball.
Baseball career.
After leaving the University of Kansas at the age of 20, Allison was signed by the Senators as an amateur free agent before the start of the 1955 season. After signing, he was assigned to the Hagerstown Packets of the B-level Piedmont League where he hit only .256 in 122 games. The following year, he was promoted to the Charlotte Hornets in the single-A South Atlantic League. His roommate was Harmon Killebrew, future Senators and Twins teammate and a lifelong friend. Although he improved his power numbers, hitting 12 home runs and 6 triples, his batting average dipped to .233. Allison then spent 1957 and 1958 playing for the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Double-A Southern League and he raised batting average and slugging percentage to .307 and .446 respectively in 1958 (both highs in his minor league career). On September 16, 1958, Allison made his major league debut, batting lead-off, and got a single in four at-bats in a 5–1 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
In 1959, Allison went north with the Senators and he batted .261 with 30 home runs and 85 runs batted in; leading the league in triples (9), while fifth in stolen bases (13). He was named to the All-Star team, received a smattering of MVP votes, and was honored by being voted Rookie of the Year. Allison experienced a "sophomore slump" in 1960 with an across-the-board drop in his offensive statistics. However, he came back strong in 1961, hitting 29 home runs – including three grand slams – with 105 RBI, although his batting average dropped for the second year in a row, to .245. The Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961. Allison hit the first home run in Twins history off future hall of fame Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford. On April 16, 1961 in Baltimore, he hit the first grand slam home run in Twins history, as well as a three-run home run in the same game.
Allison became a local favorite and along with teammate Harmon Killebrew made one of the most dangerous one-two punches in baseball. In 1961, they combined for 75 home runs, 80 in 1963, and 81 in 1964. In a July 18, 1962 game against the Cleveland Indians, they each hit a grand slam home run in the first inning. They were known as "Mr. Upstairs" (Killebrew) and "Mr. Downstairs" (Allison).
In 1963, Allison had 25 doubles, 35 home runs, 91 RBI, led the league in runs scored (99) and in OPS (.911), and earned his second All-Star berth. In addition, he became the first of four Twins to lead the league in WAR, a stat that measures a player's overall production both in the field and at the plate. Other Twins leading the league in WAR include Zoilo Versalles, Rod Carew, and Joe Mauer, all of whom were named MVP in the seasons they did so. Only Allison did not win the MVP in the same season (finishing a distant 15th behind winner Elston Howard and behind teammates Camilo Pascual, Earl Battey, and Killebrew on the 1963 ballot).
He followed this up in 1964 with a 32-home run 86 RBI performance that got him named to his third and final All-Star team, this time at first base. The next year, Allison suffered a broken left hand when he was hit by a pitch. Records reflect that he played in 135 games in 1965, in a 162 game season, playing 68 games after returning from the injury. In 1966, he was again hit by a pitch that broke his wrist, and played in only 70 games, but returned at the end of the season to knock a pinch-hit three-run homer against the New York Yankees on September 18, 1966.
During the Twins' 1965 World Series season, Allison had a down year, after suffering a fractured wrist on July 6th, hitting only .233 in 135 games. Before the injury he was hitting .267 with 12 home runs and 34 RBI, and after returning he hit .199 with 11 home runs and 44 RBI. He continued his poor production versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, reaching base only 4 times (two walks, a double, and a home run in a game 6 win) and striking out 9 times in 16 at-bats, the last of which was against Sandy Koufax for the final out in Game 7 of the 1965 World Series. However, he had a memorable Game 2 of the Series. His bases-loaded double against Koufax and a great backhand diving catch of a Jim Lefebvre fly ball were the main contributors to the Twins victory. This catch has been called the best catch in Twins history and one of the most spectacular catches seen in World Series history.
Allison's slide at the plate continued into the 1966 season. His wrist was again fractured when he was hit by a pitch from Jim Lonborg. He played in only 70 games and hit .233. However, he returned in a big way in 1967, hitting .258 with 24 home runs with 75 RBI in a year which the league batting average was only .236.
In 13 seasons, Allison finished in the top ten in home runs eight times (1959, 1961–65, 1967–68). Particularly memorable home run feats included combining with Harmon Killebrew to become the first pair to hit grand slams in the same inning on July 18, 1962, hitting home runs in three consecutive at-bats on May 17, 1963, and teaming with Killebrew, Tony Oliva, and Jimmie Hall to hit four consecutive home runs on May 2, 1964.
Retirement.
During his baseball career, he worked during the off season in sales for Coca-Cola Bottling Midwest Co. in suburban Minneapolis. After retirement, he continued with that business, becoming a plant manager and a sales manager for Coca-Cola's Twin Cities Marketing Division. Thirteen years after his retirement, Allison began noticing problems with his coordination during a 1987 old-timers game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Running and even catching the ball became difficult. Following two years of doctor visits to learn what was wrong, the diagnosis was finally made — Allison was suffering from a progressive sporadic ataxia known as Olivo-Ponto cerebellar atrophy.
In 1990, Allison helped found the Bob Allison Ataxia Research Center at the University of Minnesota along with his wife Betty, sons Mark, Kirk, and Kyle, and former Twins' teammates Jim Kaat and Frank Quilici. He continued to battle this rare degenerative neurological disease for eight years, eventually losing his ability to walk, talk, write, and feed himself. Allison died of complications from ataxia on April 9, 1995, at the age of 60 in his Rio Verde, Arizona, home.
Following his death, the Minnesota Twins created the Bob Allison Award for the Twins player who exemplifies determination, hustle, tenacity, competitive spirit and leadership both on and off the field.
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

USATF Masters Outdoor Championships
The USATF Masters Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national championship for the United States for athletes in masters age groups. Organized by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport, the competition was first held in 1968. Athletes compete in 5-year age groups, beginning from 25 and up to 105 (where sufficient entries are made). Traditionally limited to athletes over 35, a "pre-masters" group was introduced in 2020 to encourage post-collegiate athletes over 25 to continue competing.
The 1968 meet was the first ever national championship for masters track and field. David Pain organized a masters mile run competition in 1966 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego, which grew into a wider track and field championship two years later.
History.
Through the efforts


Arizona
U.S. state
Arizona is a state in the Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the northwest and California to the west, and shares an international border with the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, which is the most populous state capital and fifth most populous city in the United States. Arizona is divided into 15 counties.
Arizona is the 6th-largest state by area and the 14th-most-populous of the 50 states. It is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. Historically part of the territory of Alta California and Nuevo México in New Spain, it became part of independent Mexico in 1821. After being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848, where the area became part of the New Mexico Territory. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase.
Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with extremely hot summers and mild winters. Northern Arizona features forests of pine, Douglas fir, and spruce trees; the Colorado Plateau; mountain ranges (such as the San Francisco Mountains); as well as large, deep canyons, with much more moderate summer temperatures and significant winter snowfalls. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Sunrise, and Tucson. In addition to the internationally known Grand Canyon National Park, which is one of the world's seven natural wonders, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments.
Arizona is home to a diverse population. About one-quarter of the state is made up of Indian reservations that serve as the home of 27 federally recognized Native American tribes, including the Navajo Nation, the largest in the state and the country, with more than 300,000 citizens. Since the 1980s, the proportion of Hispanics has grown significantly owing to migration from Mexico and Central America. A substantial portion of the population are followers of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Arizona's population and economy have grown dramatically since the 1950s because of inward migration, and the state is now a major hub of the Sun Belt. Cities such as Phoenix and Tucson have developed large, sprawling suburban areas. Many large companies, such as PetSmart and Circle K, have headquarters in the state, and Arizona is home to major universities, including the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. The state is known for a history of conservative politicians such as Barry Goldwater and John McCain, though it has become a swing state in recent years.
Etymology.
The state's name appears to originate from an earlier Spanish name, , derived from the O'odham name , meaning 'small spring'. Initially this term was applied by Spanish colonists only to an area near the silver mining camp of Planchas de Plata, Sonora. To the European settlers, the O'odham pronunciation sounded like "Arissona". The area is still known as in the O'odham language.
Another possible origin is the Basque phrase 'the good oak', as there were numerous Basque sheepherders in the area. A native-born Mexican of Basque ancestry established the (small rural settlement) of Arizona between 1734 and 1736 in the current Mexican state of Sonora. It became notable after a significant discovery of silver there around 1737.
The misconception that the state's name purportedly originated from the Spanish term 'Arid Zone' is considered a case of folk etymology.
History.
For thousands of years before the modern era, Arizona was home to many ancient Native American civilizations. Hohokam, Mogollon, and Ancestral Puebloan cultures were among those that flourished throughout the state. Many of their pueblos, cliffside dwellings, rock paintings and other prehistoric treasures have survived and attract thousands of tourists each year.
In 1539, Marcos de Niza, a Spanish Franciscan, became the first European to contact Native Americans. He explored parts of the present state and made contact with native inhabitants, probably the Sobaipuri. The expedition of Spanish explorer Coronado entered the area in 1540–1542 during its search for Cíbola. Few Spanish settlers migrated to Arizona. One of the first settlers in Arizona was José Romo de Vivar.
Father Kino was the next European in the region. A member of the Society of Jesus ("Jesuits"), he led the development of a chain of missions in the region. He converted many of the Indians to Christianity in the Pimería Alta (now southern Arizona and northern Sonora) in the 1690s and early 18th century. Spain founded "presidios" ("fortified towns") at Tubac in 1752 and Tucson in 1775.
When Mexico achieved its independence from the Kingdom of Spain and its Spanish Empire in 1821, what is now Arizona became part of its Territory of "Nueva California", ("New California"), also known as "Alta California" ("Upper California"). Descendants of ethnic Spanish and mestizo settlers from the colonial years still lived in the area at the time of the arrival of later European-American migrants from the United States.
During the Mexican–American War (1847–1848), the U.S. Army occupied the national capital of Mexico City and pursued its claim to much of northern Mexico, including what later became Arizona Territory in 1863 and later the State of Arizona in 1912. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) specified that, in addition to language and cultural rights of the existing inhabitants of former Mexican citizens being considered as inviolable, the sum of $15million in compensation () be paid to the Republic of Mexico. In 1853, the U.S. acquired the land south below the Gila River from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase along the southern border area as encompassing the best future southern route for a transcontinental railway.
What is now the state of Arizona was administered by the United States government as part of the Territory of New Mexico from 1850 until the southern part of that region seceded from the Union to form the Territory of Arizona. This newly established territory was formally organized by the federal government of the Confederate States on Saturday, January 18, 1862, when President Jefferson Davis approved and signed "An Act to Organize the Territory of Arizona", marking the first official use of the name "Territory of Arizona". The Southern territory supplied the Confederate government with men, horses, and equipment. Formed in 1862, Arizona scout companies served with the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Arizona has the westernmost military engagement on record during the Civil War with the Battle of Picacho Pass (1862).
The Federal government declared a new U.S. Arizona Territory, consisting of the western half of earlier New Mexico Territory, in Washington, D.C., on February 24, 1863. These new boundaries would later form the basis of the state. The first territorial capital, Prescott, was founded in 1864 following a gold rush to central Arizona. The capital was later moved to Tucson, back to Prescott, and then to its final location in Phoenix in a series of controversial moves as different regions of the territory gained and lost political influence with the growth and development of the territory.
Although names including "Gadsonia", "Pimeria", "Montezuma" and "Arizuma" had been considered for the territory, when 16th President Abraham Lincoln signed the final bill, it read "Arizona", and that name was adopted. (Montezuma was not derived from the Aztec emperor, but was the sacred name of a divine hero to the Pima people of the Gila River Valley. It was probably considered – and rejected – for its sentimental value before Congress settled on the name "Arizona".)
Brigham Young, leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City in Utah, sent Mormons to Arizona in the mid- to late 19th century. They founded Mesa, Snowflake, Heber, Safford, and other towns. They also settled in the Phoenix Valley (or "Valley of the Sun"), Tempe, Prescott, and other areas. The Mormons settled what became northern Arizona and northern New Mexico. At the time these areas were in a part of the former New Mexico Territory.
During the nineteenth century, a series of gold and silver rushes occurred in the territory, the best known being the 1870s stampede to the silver bonanzas of Tombstone, Arizona, in southeast Arizona, also known for its legendary outlaws and lawmen. By the late 1880s, copper production eclipsed the precious metals with the rise of copper camps like Bisbee, Arizona, and Jerome, Arizona. The boom and bust economy of mining also left hundreds of ghost towns across the territory, but copper mining continued to prosper with the territory producing more copper than any other state by 1907, which earned Arizona the nickname "the Copper State" at the time of statehood. During the first years of statehood the industry experienced growing pains and labor disputes with the Bisbee Deportation of 1917 the result of a copper miners' strike.
20th century to present.
During the Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1920, several battles were fought in the Mexican towns just across the border from Arizona settlements. Throughout the revolution, many Arizonans enlisted in one of the several armies fighting in Mexico. Only two significant engagements took place on U.S. soil between U.S. and Mexican forces: Pancho Villa's 1916 Columbus Raid in New Mexico and the Battle of Ambos Nogales in 1918 in Arizona.
After Mexican federal troops fired on U.S. soldiers, the American garrison launched an assault into Nogales, Mexico. The Mexicans eventually surrendered after both sides sustained heavy casualties. A few months earlier, just west of Nogales, an Indian War battle had occurred, considered the last engagement in the American Indian Wars, which lasted from 1775 to 1918. U.S. soldiers stationed on the border confronted Yaqui Indians who were using Arizona as a base to raid the nearby Mexican settlements, as part of their wars against Mexico.
Arizona became a U.S. state on February 14, 1912, coinciding with Valentine's Day. Arizona was the 48th state admitted to the U.S. and the last of the contiguous states to be admitted.
Cotton farming and copper mining, two of Arizona's most important statewide industries, suffered heavily during the Great Depression. But during the 1920s and even the 1930s, tourism began to develop as the important Arizonan industry it is today. Dude ranches, such as the K L Bar and Remuda in Wickenburg, along with the Flying V and Tanque Verde in Tucson, gave tourists the chance to take part in the flavor and activities of the "Old West". Several upscale hotels and resorts opened during this period, some of which are still top tourist draws. They include the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in central Phoenix (opened 1929) and the Wigwam Resort on the west side of the Phoenix area (opened 1936).
Arizona was the site of German prisoner of war camps during World WarII and Japanese American internment camps. Because of wartime fears of a Japanese invasion of the U.S. West Coast (which in fact materialized in the Aleutian Islands Campaign in June 1942), from 1942 to 1945, persons of Japanese descent were forced to reside in internment camps built in the interior of the country. Many lost their homes and businesses. The camps were abolished after World WarII.
The Phoenix-area POW camp site for Germans was purchased after the war by the Maytag family (of major home appliance fame). It was developed as the site of the Phoenix Zoo. A Japanese-American internment camp was on Mount Lemmon, just outside the state's southeastern city of Tucson. Another POW camp was near the Gila River in eastern Yuma County. Arizona was also home to the Phoenix Indian School, one of several federal Indian boarding schools designed to assimilate Native American children into mainstream European-American culture. Children were often enrolled in these schools against the wishes of their parents and families. Attempts to suppress native identities included forcing the children to cut their hair, to take and use English names, to speak only English, and to practice Christianity rather than their native religions.
Numerous Native Americans from Arizona fought for the United States during World WarII. Their experiences resulted in a rising activism in the postwar years to achieve better treatment and civil rights after their return to the state. After Maricopa County did not allow them to register to vote, in 1948 veteran Frank Harrison and Harry Austin, of the Mojave-Apache Tribe at Fort McDowell Indian Reservation, brought a legal suit, "Harrison and Austin v. Laveen", to challenge this exclusion. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in their favor.
Arizona's population grew tremendously with residential and business development after World WarII, aided by the widespread use of air conditioning, which made the intensely hot summers more comfortable. According to the "Arizona Blue Book" (published by the Arizona Secretary of State's office each year), the state population in 1910 was 294,353. By 1970, it was 1,752,122. The percentage growth each decade averaged about 20% in the earlier decades, and about 60% each decade thereafter.
In the 1960s, retirement communities were developed. These age-restricted subdivisions catered exclusively to the needs of senior citizens and attracted many retirees who wanted to escape the harsh winters of the Midwest and the Northeast. Sun City, established by developer Del Webb and opened in 1960, was one of the first such communities. Green Valley, south of Tucson, was another such community, designed as a retirement subdivision for Arizona's teachers. Many senior citizens from across the United States and Canada come to Arizona each winter and stay only during the winter months; they are referred to as snowbirds.
In March 2000, Arizona was the site of the first legally binding election ever held over the internet to nominate a candidate for public office. In the 2000 Arizona Democratic Primary, under worldwide attention, Al Gore defeated Bill Bradley. Voter turnout in this state primary increased more than 500% over the 1996 primary.
In the 21st century, Arizona has frequently garnered national attention for its efforts to quell illegal immigration into the state. In 2004, voters passed Proposition 200, requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. The Supreme Court of the United States struck this restriction down in 2013. In 2010, Arizona enacted SB 1070 which required all immigrants to carry immigration papers at all times, but the Supreme Court also invalidated parts of this law in "Arizona v. United States" in 2012.
On January 8, 2011, a gunman shot congresswoman Gabby Giffords and 18 others at a gathering in Tucson. Giffords was critically wounded. The incident sparked national attention regarding incendiary political rhetoric.
Three ships named USS "Arizona" have been christened in honor of the state, although only USS "Arizona" (BB-39) was so named after statehood was achieved.
Geography.
Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico and before Nevada. Of the state's , approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and parkland, state trust land and Native American reservations. There are 24 National Park Service maintained sites in Arizona, including the three national parks of Grand Canyon National Park, Saguaro National Park, and the Petrified Forest National Park.
Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the state's southern portions, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This region's topography was shaped by prehistoric volcanism, followed by the cooling-off and related subsidence. Its climate has exceptionally hot summers and mild winters. The state is less well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the high country of the Colorado Plateau (see Arizona Mountains forests).
Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona is marked by high mountains, the Colorado plateau, and mesas. Despite the state's aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to modern-day Romania or Greece. The world's largest stand of ponderosa pine trees is in Arizona.
The Mogollon Rim (), a escarpment, cuts across the state's central section and marks the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau. In 2002, this was an area of the Rodeo–Chediski Fire, the worst fire in state history until 2011.
Located in northern Arizona, the Grand Canyon is a colorful, deep, steep-sided gorge, carved by the Colorado River. The canyon is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and is largely contained in the Grand Canyon National Park – one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of designating the Grand Canyon area as a National Park, often visiting to hunt mountain lion and enjoy the scenery. The canyon was created by the Colorado River cutting a channel over millions of years, and is about long, ranges in width from and attains a depth of more than . Nearly twobillion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut through layer after layer of sediment as the Colorado Plateau uplifted.
Arizona is home to one of the most well-preserved meteorite impact sites in the world. Created around 50,000 years ago, the Barringer Meteorite Crater (better known simply as "Meteor Crater") is a gigantic hole in the middle of the high plains of the Colorado Plateau, about west of Winslow. A rim of smashed and jumbled boulders, some of them the size of small houses, rises above the level of the surrounding plain. The crater itself is nearly a mile (1.6 kilometers) wide and deep.
Arizona is one of two U.S. states, along with Hawaii, that does not observe Daylight Saving Time, though the large Navajo Nation in the state's northeastern region does.
Climate.
Due to its large area and variations in elevation, the state has a wide variety of localized climate conditions. In the lower elevations the climate is primarily desert, with mild winters and extremely hot summers. Typically, from late fall to early spring, the weather is mild, averaging a minimum of . November through February are the coldest months, with temperatures typically ranging from , with occasional frosts.
About midway through February, the temperatures start to rise, with warm days, and cool, breezy nights. The summer months of June through September bring a dry heat from , with occasional high temperatures exceeding having been observed in the desert area. Arizona's all-time record high is recorded at Lake Havasu City on June 29, 1994, and July 5, 2007; the all-time record low of was recorded at Hawley Lake on January 7, 1971.
Due to the primarily dry climate, large diurnal temperature variations occur in less-developed areas of the desert above . The swings can be as large as 83°F (46°C) in the summer months. In the state's urban centers, the effects of local warming result in much higher measured night-time lows than in the recent past.
Arizona has an average annual rainfall of , which comes during two rainy seasons, with cold fronts coming from the Pacific Ocean during the winter and a monsoon in the summer. The monsoon season occurs toward the end of summer. In July or August, the dewpoint rises dramatically for a brief period. During this time, the air contains large amounts of water vapor. Dewpoints as high as 81°F (27°C) have been recorded during the Phoenix monsoon season. This hot moisture brings lightning, thunderstorms, wind, and torrential, if usually brief, downpours. These downpours often cause flash floods, which can turn deadly. In an attempt to deter drivers from crossing flooding streams, the Arizona Legislature enacted the Stupid Motorist Law. It is rare for tornadoes or hurricanes to occur in Arizona.
Arizona's northern third is a plateau at significantly higher altitudes than the lower desert, and has an appreciably cooler climate, with cold winters and mild summers, though the climate remains semiarid to arid. Extremely low temperatures are not unknown; cold air systems from the northern states and Canada occasionally push into the state, bringing temperatures below to the state's northern parts.
Indicative of the variation in climate, Arizona is the state which has both the metropolitan area with the most days over (Phoenix), and the metropolitan area in the lower 48 states with the most days with a low temperature below freezing (Flagstaff).
Arizona is considered as relatively vulnerable to climate change, which can make six of Arizona`s 15 counties uninhabitable for humans by the years 2040–2060. This was the cautionary warning made by a December 2020 study released by ProPublica and Rhodium Group.
Cities and towns.
Phoenix, in Maricopa County, is Arizona's capital and largest city. Other prominent cities in the Phoenix metro area include Mesa (Arizona's third largest city), Chandler (Arizona's fourth largest city), Glendale, Peoria, Buckeye, Sun City, Sun City West, Fountain Hills, Surprise, Gilbert, El Mirage, Avondale, Tempe, Tolleson and Scottsdale, with a total metropolitan population of just over 4.7million. The average high temperature in July, , is one of the highest of any metropolitan area in the United States, offset by an average January high temperature of , the basis of its winter appeal.
Tucson, with a metro population of just over onemillion, is the state's second-largest city. Located in Pima County, approximately southeast of Phoenix, it was incorporated in 1877, making it the oldest incorporated city in Arizona. It is home to the University of Arizona. Major incorporated suburbs of Tucson include Oro Valley and Marana northwest of the city, Sahuarita south of the city, and South Tucson in an enclave south of downtown. It has an average July temperature of 100°F (38°C) and winter temperatures averaging 65°F (18°C). Saguaro National Park, just west of the city in the Tucson Mountains, is the site of the world's largest collection of Saguaro cacti.
The Prescott metropolitan area includes the cities of Prescott, Cottonwood, Camp Verde and many other towns in the of Yavapai County area. With 212,635 residents, this cluster of towns is the state's third largest metropolitan area. The city of Prescott (population 41,528) lies approximately northwest of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Situated in pine tree forests at an elevation of about , Prescott enjoys a much cooler climate than Phoenix, with average summer highs around and winter temperatures averaging .
Yuma is the center of the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Arizona. Located in Yuma County, it is near the borders of California and Mexico. It is one of the hottest cities in the United States, with an average July high of . For comparison, the same month's average in Death Valley is . The city features sunny days about 90% of the year. The Yuma Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 160,000. Yuma attracts many winter visitors from all over the United States.
Flagstaff, in Coconino County, is the largest city in northern Arizona, and is at an elevation of nearly . With its large Ponderosa pine forests, snowy winter weather and picturesque mountains, it is a stark contrast to the desert regions typically associated with Arizona. It is sited at the base of the San Francisco Peaks, the highest mountain range in the state of Arizona, which contains Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona at . Flagstaff has a strong tourism sector, due to its proximity to numerous tourist attractions including: Grand Canyon National Park, Sedona, and Oak Creek Canyon. Historic U.S. Route 66 is the main east–west street in the town. The Flagstaff metropolitan area is home to 134,421 residents and the main campus of Northern Arizona University.
Lake Havasu City, in Mohave County, known as "Arizona's playground", was developed on the Colorado River and is named after Lake Havasu. Lake Havasu City has a population of about 57,000 people. It is famous for huge spring break parties, sunsets and the London Bridge, relocated from London, England. Lake Havasu City was founded by real estate developer Robert P. McCulloch in 1963. It has two colleges, Mohave Community College and ASU Colleges in Lake Havasu City.
<templatestyles src="Template:Largest_cities/styles.css" />
Demographics.
<templatestyles src="US Census population/styles.css"/>
The United States Census Bureau records Arizona's population as 7,151,502 in the 2020 census, a 12% increase since the 2010 United States census.
Arizona remained sparsely settled for most of the 19th century. The 1860 census reported the population of "Arizona County" to be 6,482, of whom 4,040 were listed as "Indians", 21 as "free colored", and 2,421 as "white". Arizona's continued population growth has put an enormous stress on the state's water supply. As of 2011[ [update]], 61% of Arizona's children under age one belonged to racial groups of color.
The population of metropolitan Phoenix increased by 45% from 1991 through 2001, helping to make Arizona the second fastest-growing state in the U.S. in the 1990s (the fastest was Nevada).
According to the 2010 United States census, Arizona had a population of 6,392,017. In 2010, illegal immigrants constituted an estimated 8% of the population. This was the second highest percentage of any state in the U.S.
Metropolitan Phoenix (4.7million) and Tucson (1.0million) are home to about five-sixths of Arizona's people (as of the 2010 census). Metro Phoenix alone accounts for two-thirds of the state's population.
According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 13,553 homeless people living in Arizona.
As of 2018, the top countries of origin for Arizona's immigrant population were Mexico, Canada, India, the Philippines and China.
Race and ethnicity.
Arizona's largest ancestry groups, as of 2022[ [update]], were:
Languages.
As of 2010[ [update]], 73% (4,215,749) of Arizona residents age five and older spoke only English at home, while 21% (1,202,638) spoke Spanish, 2% (85,602) Navajo, <1% (22,592) German, <1% (22,426) Chinese (which includes Mandarin), <1% (19,015) Tagalog, <1% (17,603) Vietnamese, <1% (15,707) Other North American Indigenous Languages (especially indigenous languages of Arizona), and French was spoken as a main language by <1% (15,062) of the population over the age of five. In total, 27% (1,567,548) of Arizona's population age five and older spoke a mother language other than English.
Arizona is home to the largest number of speakers of Native American languages in the 48 contiguous states, as more than 85,000 individuals reported speaking Navajo, and 10,403 people reported Apache, as a language spoken at home in 2005. Arizona's Apache County has the highest concentration of speakers of Native American Indian languages in the United States.
Religion.
<templatestyles src="Pie chart/styles.css"/>
The 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study by ARDA reported that the three largest denominational groups in Arizona were the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and non-denominational Evangelical Protestants. The Catholic Church had the highest number of adherents in Arizona (at 930,001), followed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 392,918 members reported and then non-denominational Evangelical Protestant churches, reporting 281,105 adherents. The religious body with the largest number of congregations is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (with 811 congregations) followed by the Southern Baptist Convention (with 323 congregations). This census accounted for about 2.4 million of Arizona's 6.4 million residents in 2010.
According to the study, the fifteen largest denominations by number of adherents in 2010 and 2000 were:
Hinduism became the largest non-Christian religion (when combining all denominations) in 2010 with more than 32,000 adherents, followed by Judaism with more than 20,000 and Buddhism with more than 19,000.
By the publication of the Public Religion Research Institute's 2020 study, 68% of the population identified as Christian. At the Pew Research Center's 2014 study, 67% of Arizona was Christian. Among the irreligious population from 2014 to 2020 per both studies, they have decreased from 27% of the population to 24% of self-identified irreligious or agnostic Arizonans. Additionally, a third separate study by the Association of Religion Data Archives in 2020 determined Christianity as the dominant religion in the state, with Catholics numbering 1,522,410 adherents and non-denominational Christians increasing to 402,842 Arizonan Christians.
Native American tribes.
At the onset of European colonization what is now Arizona was inhabited by many Native American tribes, they included mainly the Navajo, the Apache, the Akimel O'odham, the Cocopah, the Halchidhoma, the Havasupai, Yavapai, and Hualapai, the Hopi, the Jocome and Jano, the Maricopa, the Mohave, the southern Paiute, the Tohono O'odham, the Yaqui, the Yuma and the Zuni Pueblo. Some of them still live in the state today.
The largest Native American tribes in Arizona according to the 2010 census are listed in the table below:
Economy.
Arizona's total gross state product in 2023 was $508billion. The composition of the state's economy is moderately diverse, although health care, transportation and the government remain the largest sectors.
Arizona's per capita income was $61,652 in 2023, ranking 33rd in the U.S. The state's 2023 median household income was $74,568, ranking 19th in the country and just below the U.S. national mean.
Early in its history, Arizona's economy relied on the "five C's": copper (see "Copper mining in Arizona"), cotton, cattle, citrus, and climate (tourism). Copper is still extensively mined from many expansive open-pit and underground mines, accounting for two-thirds of the nation's output.
Employment.
The state government is Arizona's largest employer, while Banner Health is the state's largest private employer, with more than 39,000 employees (2016). As of August 2020[ [update]], the state's unemployment rate was 5.9%.
The largest employment sectors in Arizona are (August 2020, Nonfarm Employment):
Largest employers.
According to "The Arizona Republic", the largest private employers in the state as of 2019[ [update]] were:
Agriculture.
Multiple crops are grown in Arizona, including lettuce, spinach, cantaloupe, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and watermelon.
Federal crop insurance is available for <templatestyles src="Template:Visible anchor/styles.css" />grape ("Vitis vinifera" and other "Vitis" spp.) here. Together with California's crop it falls under special provisions of the relevant crop insurance statutes. Insect pests and diseases are covered, excluding Phylloxera ("Daktulosphaira vitifoliae") or failure to correctly apply insect control or apply disease control.
The whitefly "Bemisia tabaci" B was introduced through the poinsettia trade in the 1980s, displacing the previous A biotype. In 2004 the Q biotype (from the Mediterranean) was first found here, also on poinsettia.
The <templatestyles src="Template:Visible anchor/styles.css" />Colorado Potato Beetle ("Leptinotarsa decemlineata") is either native or an early introduction here. Unusually, the population here commonly feeds on <templatestyles src="Template:Visible anchor/styles.css" />Silverleaf Nightshade ("Solanum elaeagnifolium"), which is usually a less attractive host for this beetle. The CPB is an occasional pest of tomato.
Transportation.
Highways.
U.S. routes.
Main Interstate routes include I-17, and I-19 traveling north–south, I-8, I-10, and I-40, traveling east–west, and a short stretch of I-15 traveling northeast–southwest through the extreme northwestern corner of the state. In addition, the various urban areas are served by complex networks of state routes and highways, such as the Loop 101, which is part of Phoenix's vast freeway system.
Public transportation, Amtrak, and intercity bus.
The Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas are served by public bus transit systems. Yuma and Flagstaff also have public bus systems. Greyhound Lines serves Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma, and several smaller communities statewide.
A light rail system, called Valley Metro Rail, was completed in December 2008; it connects Central Phoenix with the nearby cities of Mesa and Tempe.
In Tucson, the Sun Link streetcar system travels through the downtown area, connecting the main University of Arizona campus with Mercado San Agustin on the western edge of downtown Tucson. Sun Link, loosely based on the Portland Streetcar, launched in July 2014.
Amtrak "Southwest Chief" route serves the northern part of the state, stopping at Winslow, Flagstaff, Williams and Kingman. The "Texas Eagle" and "Sunset Limited" routes serve South-Central Arizona, stopping at Tucson, Maricopa, Yuma and Benson. Phoenix lost Amtrak service in 1996 with the rerouting of the "Sunset Limited", and now an Amtrak bus runs between Phoenix and the station in Maricopa. As of 2021, Amtrak has proposed to restore rail service between Phoenix and Tucson.
Law and government.
Capitol complex.
The capital of Arizona is Phoenix. The original Capitol building, with its distinctive copper dome, was dedicated in 1901 (construction was completed for $136,000 in 1900) when the area was a territory. Phoenix became the official state capital with Arizona's admission to the union in 1912.
The House of Representatives and Senate buildings were dedicated in 1960, and an Executive Office Building was dedicated in 1974 (the ninth floor of this building is where the Office of the Governor is located). The original Capitol building was converted into a museum.
The Capitol complex is fronted and highlighted by the richly landscaped Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, named after Wesley Bolin, a governor who died in office in the 1970s. The site also includes many monuments and memorials, including the anchor and signal mast from the USS "Arizona" (one of the U.S. Navy ships sunk in Pearl Harbor) and a granite version of the Ten Commandments.
State legislative branch.
The Arizona Legislature is bicameral and consists of a thirty-member Senate and a 60-member House of Representatives. Each of the thirty legislative districts has one senator and two representatives. Legislators are elected for two-year terms.
Each Legislature covers a two-year period. The first session following the general election is known as the first regular session, and the session convening in the second year is known as the second regular session. Each regular session begins on the second Monday in January and adjourns "sine die" (terminates for the year) no later than Saturday of the week in which the 100th day from the beginning of the regular session falls. The President of the Senate and Speaker of the House, by rule, may extend the session up to seven additional days. Thereafter, the session can be extended only by a majority vote of members present of each house.
The majority party is the Republican Party, which has held power in both houses since 1993. The Democratic Party picked up several legislative seats in recent elections, bringing both chambers one seat away from being equally divided as of 2021.
Arizona state senators and representatives are elected for two-year terms and are limited to four consecutive terms in a chamber, though there is no limit on the total number of terms. When a lawmaker is term-limited from office, it is common for him or her to run for election in the other chamber.
State executive branch.
Arizona's executive branch is headed by a governor, who is elected to a four-year term. The governor may serve any number of terms, though no more than two in a row. Arizona is one of the few states that has no governor's mansion. During their term, the governors reside within their private residence, with executive offices housed in the executive tower at the state capitol. The governor of Arizona is Katie Hobbs (D).
Governor Jan Brewer assumed office in 2009 after Janet Napolitano had her nomination by Barack Obama for Secretary of Homeland Security confirmed by the Senate. Arizona has had four female governors and a fifth currently serving, more than any other state.
Other elected executive officials include the Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Mine Inspector, and a five-member Corporation Commission. All elected officials hold a term of four years, and are limited to two consecutive terms (except the office of the State Mine Inspector, which is limited to four terms).
Arizona is one of five states that do not have a lieutenant governor. The elected secretary of state is first in line to succeed the governor in the event of death, disability, resignation, or removal from office. If appointed, the Secretary of State is not eligible and the next governor is selected from the next eligible official in the line of succession, including the attorney general, state treasurer, and superintendent of public instruction. Since 1977, four secretaries of state and one attorney general have succeeded to the state's governorship.
On November 8, 2022, Arizona voters approved a state constitutional amendment (Proposition 131) that created the position and office of the lieutenant governor beginning with the 2026 elections. The position will be elected on a joint ticket with the governor. The lieutenant governor ascends to the governorship if the incumbent governor dies, resigns, or is removed (via impeachment conviction) from office. The proposition, through a law pre-passed by the state legislature, also tasks the governor with assigning a job to her or his running mate, such as chief of staff, the director of the state Department of Administration, or "any position" to which the governor can appoint someone by law.
State judicial branch.
The Arizona Supreme Court is the highest court in Arizona, consisting of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justices. Justices are appointed by the governor from a list recommended by a bipartisan commission and must be sustained in office by election after the first two years following their appointment. Subsequent sustaining elections occur every six years. The supreme court has appellate jurisdiction in death penalty cases, but nearly all other appellate cases go through the Arizona Court of Appeals first. The court has original jurisdiction in a few other circumstances, as outlined in the state constitution. The court meets in the Arizona Supreme Court Building at the capitol complex (at the southern end of Wesley Bolin Plaza).
The Arizona Court of Appeals, subdivided into two divisions, is the intermediate court in the state. Division One is based in Phoenix, consists of nineteen judges, and has jurisdiction in the Western and Northern regions of the state, along with the greater Phoenix area. Division Two is based in Tucson, consists of nine judges, and has jurisdiction over the Southern regions of the state, including the Tucson area. Judges are selected in a method similar to the one used for state supreme court justices.
Each county of Arizona has a superior court, the size and organization of which are varied and generally depend on the size of the particular county.
Counties.
Arizona is divided into 15 counties, ranging in size from to .
Federal representation.
Arizona's two United States senators are and Mark Kelly (D) and Ruben Gallego (D).
Arizona's United States representatives are David Schweikert (R-1), Eli Crane (R-2), Yassamin Ansari (D-3), Greg Stanton (D-4), Andy Biggs (R-5), Juan Ciscomani (R-6), Raul Grijalva (D-7), Abraham Hamadeh (R-8), and Paul Gosar (R-9). Arizona gained a ninth seat in the House of Representatives due to redistricting based on the 2010 United States census.
Political culture.
From statehood through the late 1940s, Arizona was primarily dominated by the Democratic Party. During this time, the Democratic candidate for the presidency carried the state each election, the only exceptions being the elections of 1920, 1924 and 1928 – all three were national Republican landslides.
In 1924, Congress had passed a law granting citizenship and suffrage to all Native Americans, some of whom had previously been excluded as members of tribes on reservations. Legal interpretations of Arizona's constitution prohibited Native Americans living on reservations from voting, classifying them as being under "guardianship". This interpretation was overturned as being incorrect and unconstitutional in 1948 by the Arizona Supreme Court, following a lawsuit by World WarII Indian veterans Frank Harrison and Harry Austin, both of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. The landmark case is "Harrison and Austin v. Laveen". After the men were refused the opportunity to register in Maricopa County, they filed lawsuit against the registrar. The National Congress of American Indians, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior, and the American Civil Liberties Union all filed "amicus curiae" (friends of the court) briefs in the case. The State Supreme Court established the rights of Native Americans to vote in the state; at the time, they comprised about 11% of the population. That year, a similar provision was overturned in New Mexico when challenged by another Indian veteran in court. These were the only two states that had continued to prohibit Native Americans from voting.
Arizona voted Republican in every presidential election from 1952 to 1992, with Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan winning the state by particularly large margins. During this forty-year span, it was the only state not to be carried by a Democrat at least once.
Democrat Lyndon Johnson, in 1964, lost the state by fewer than 5,000 votes to Arizona Senator and native Barry Goldwater. (This was the most closely contested state in what was otherwise a landslide victory for Johnson that year.) Democrat Bill Clinton ended this streak in 1996, when he won Arizona by a little over two percentage points (Clinton had previously come within less than two percent of winning Arizona's electoral votes in 1992). From 2000 until 2016, the majority of the state continued to support Republican presidential candidates by solid margins. In the 2020 United States presidential election, Joe Biden again broke the streak by becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Arizona since 1996.
Since the mid 20th century, the Republican Party has also dominated Arizona politics in general. The fast-growing Phoenix and Tucson suburbs became reliably Republican areas from the 1950s onward. During this time, many "Pinto Democrats", or conservative Democrats from rural areas, became increasingly willing to support Republicans at the state and national level. While the state normally supports Republicans at the federal level, Democrats are often competitive in statewide elections. Two of the last six governors have been Democrats.
On March 4, 2008, Senator John McCain effectively clinched the Republican nomination for 2008, becoming the first major party presidential nominee from the state since Barry Goldwater in 1964.
Arizona politics is dominated by a longstanding rivalry between its two largest counties, Maricopa and Pima – home to Phoenix and Tucson, respectively. The two counties have almost 75 percent of the state's population and cast almost 80 percent of the state's vote. They also elect a substantial majority of the state legislature.
Maricopa County is home to almost 60 percent of the state's population, and most of the state's elected officials live there. Before Joe Biden won Maricopa County in 2020, it had voted Republican in every presidential election since 1952. This includes the 1964 run of native son Barry Goldwater; he would not have carried his home state without his 20,000-vote margin in Maricopa County. Similarly, McCain won Arizona by eight percentage points in 2008, aided by his 130,000-vote margin in Maricopa County.
In contrast, Pima County, home to Tucson, and most of southern Arizona have historically voted more Democratic. While Tucson's suburbs lean Republican, they hold to a somewhat more moderate brand of Republicanism than is common in the Phoenix area.
Arizona rejected a same-sex marriage ban in a referendum as part of the 2006 elections. Arizona was the first state in the nation to do so. Same-sex marriage was not recognized in Arizona, but this amendment would have denied any legal or financial benefits to unmarried homosexual or heterosexual couples. In 2008, Arizona voters passed Proposition 102, an amendment to the state constitution to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. It passed by a more narrow majority than similar votes in a number of other states. In 2024, Arizona voters passed a constitutional amendment recognising abortion access within the Arizona state constitution, becoming the southernmost continental state to codify abortion rights.
In 2010, Arizona adopted SB 1070, called the "toughest immigration law" in the United States. A fierce debate erupted between supporters and detractors of SB 1070. The United States Supreme Court struck down portions of the Arizona law, which required all immigrants to carry immigration papers at all times, in "Arizona v. United States".
The West Virginia teachers' strike in 2018 inspired teachers in other states, including Arizona, to take similar action.
Arizona retains the death penalty. There is currently a gubernatorial hold on executions. Authorized methods of execution include the gas chamber.
Same-sex marriage and civil unions.
In 2006, Arizona became the first state in the United States to reject a proposition, Prop 107, that would have banned same-sex marriage and civil unions. However, in 2008, Arizona voters approved of Prop 102, a constitutional amendment that prohibited same-sex marriage but not other unions. Prior to same-sex marriage being legal, the City of Bisbee became the first jurisdiction in Arizona to approve of civil unions. The state's Attorney General at the time, Tom Horne, threatened to sue, but rescinded the threat once Bisbee amended the ordinance; Bisbee approved of civil unions in 2013. The municipalities of Clarkdale, Cottonwood, Jerome, Sedona, and Tucson also passed civil unions.
A November 2011 Public Policy Polling survey found 44% of Arizona voters supported the legalization of same-sex marriage, while 45% opposed it and 12% were not sure. A separate question on the same survey found 72% of respondents supported legal recognition of same-sex couples, with 40% supporting same-sex marriage, 32% supporting civil unions, 27% opposing all legal recognition and 1% not sure. Arizona Proposition 102, known by its supporters as the Marriage Protection Amendment, appeared as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on the November 4, 2008 ballot in Arizona, where it was approved: 56–43%. It amended the Arizona Constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
On October 17, 2014, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne announced his office would no longer object to same-sex marriage, in response to a U.S. District Court Ruling on Arizona Proposition 102. On that day, each county's Clerk of the Superior Court began to issue same-sex marriage licenses, and Arizona became the 31st state to legalize same-sex marriage.
The 2023 "American Values Atlas" by Public Religion Research Institute found that an overwhelming majority of residents support same-sex marriage.
Education.
Elementary and secondary education.
Public schools in Arizona are separated into about 220 local school districts which operate independently, but are governed in most cases by elected county school superintendents; these are in turn overseen by the Arizona State Board of Education and the Arizona Department of Education. A state Superintendent of Public Instruction (elected in partisan elections every even-numbered year when there is not a presidential election, for a four-year term). In 2005, a School District Redistricting Commission was established with the goal of combining and consolidating many of these districts.
Higher education.
Arizona is served by three public universities: The University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. These schools are governed by the Arizona Board of Regents.
Private higher education in Arizona is dominated by a large number of for-profit and "chain" (multi-site) universities.
Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott and Prescott College are Arizona's only non-profit four-year private colleges.
Arizona has a wide network of two-year vocational schools and community colleges. These colleges were governed historically by a separate statewide board of directors but, in 2002, the state legislature transferred almost all oversight authority to individual community college districts. The Maricopa County Community College District includes 11 community colleges throughout Maricopa County and is one of the largest in the nation.
Private colleges and universities in Arizona.
<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>
Community colleges.
<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>
Culture.
Visual arts and museums.
Phoenix Art Museum, on the historic Central Avenue Corridor in Phoenix, is the Southwest's largest collection of visual art from across the world. The museum displays international exhibitions alongside the museum's collection of more than 18,000 works of American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design. With a community education mandate since 1951, Phoenix Art Museum holds a year-round program of festivals, live performances, independent art films and educational programs. The museum also has PhxArtKids, an interactive space for children; photography exhibitions through the museum's partnership with the Center for Creative Photography; the landscaped Sculpture Garden and dining at Arcadia Farms.
Arizona is a recognized center of Native American art, with a number of galleries showcasing historical and contemporary works. The Heard Museum, also in Phoenix, is a major repository of Native American art. Some of the signature exhibits include a full Navajo hogan, the Mareen Allen Nichols Collection containing 260 pieces of contemporary jewelry, the Barry Goldwater Collection of 437 historic Hopi kachina dolls, and an exhibit on the 19th-century boarding school experiences of Native Americans. The Heard Museum has about 250,000 visitors a year.
Sedona, Jerome, and Tubac are known as budding artist colonies, and small arts scenes exist in the larger cities and near the state universities.
Film.
Several major Hollywood films, such as "Billy Jack", "U Turn", "Waiting to Exhale", "Just One of the Guys", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure", "The Scorpion King", "The Banger Sisters", "Used Cars", and "Raising Arizona" have been made there (as have many Westerns). The 1993 science fiction movie "Fire in the Sky", based on a reported alien abduction in the town of Snowflake, was set in Snowflake. It was filmed in the Oregon towns of Oakland, Roseburg, and Sutherlin.
The 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", for which Ellen Burstyn won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and also starring Kris Kristofferson, was set in Tucson. The climax of the 1977 Clint Eastwood film "The Gauntlet" takes place in downtown Phoenix. The final segments of the 1984 film "Starman" take place at Meteor Crater outside Winslow. The Jeff Foxworthy comedy documentary movie "" was filmed almost entirely at the Dodge Theatre. Some of Alfred Hitchcock's classic film "Psycho" was shot in Phoenix, the ostensible home town of the main character.
Some of the television shows filmed or set in Arizona include "The New Dick Van Dyke Show", "Medium", "Alice", "The First 48", "Insomniac with Dave Attell", "Cops", and "America's Most Wanted". The TV sitcom "Alice", which was based on the movie was set in Phoenix. "Twilight" had passages set in Phoenix at the beginning and the end of the film.
Music.
Arizona is prominently featured in the lyrics of many Country and Western songs, such as Jamie O'Neal's hit ballad "There Is No Arizona". George Strait's "Oceanfront Property" uses "ocean front property in Arizona" as a metaphor for a sucker proposition. The line "see you down in Arizona Bay" is used in a Tool song in reference to the possibility (expressed as a "hope" by comedian Bill Hicks) that Southern California will one day fall into the ocean. Glen Campbell, a notable resident, popularized the song "By The Time I Get To Phoenix".
"Arizona" was the title of a popular song recorded by Mark Lindsay. Arizona is mentioned by the hit song "Take It Easy", written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey and performed by the Eagles. Arizona is also mentioned in the Beatles' song "Get Back", credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney; McCartney sings: "JoJo left his home in Tucson, Arizona, for some California grass." "Carefree Highway", released in 1974 by Gordon Lightfoot, takes its name from Arizona State Route 74 north of Phoenix.
Arizona's budding music scene is helped by emerging bands, as well as some well-known artists. The Gin Blossoms, Chronic Future, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Jimmy Eat World, Caroline's Spine, and others began their careers in Arizona. Also, a number of punk and rock bands got their start in Arizona, including JFA, The Feederz, Sun City Girls, The Meat Puppets, The Maine, The Summer Set, and more recently Authority Zero and Digital Summer.
Arizona also has many singers and other musicians. Singer, songwriter and guitarist Michelle Branch is from Sedona. Chester Bennington, the former lead vocalist of Linkin Park, and mash-up artist DJ Z-Trip are both from Phoenix. One of Arizona's better known musicians is shock rocker Alice Cooper, who helped define the genre. Maynard James Keenan, the lead singer of the bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer, calls the town of Cornville home.
Other notable singers include country singers Dierks Bentley and Marty Robbins, folk singer Katie Lee, Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks, CeCe Peniston, Rex Allen, 2007 "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks, and Linda Ronstadt.
Arizona is also known for its heavy metal scene, which is centered in and around Phoenix. In the early to mid-1990s, it included bands such as Job for a Cowboy, Knights of the Abyss, Greeley Estates, Eyes Set To Kill, blessthefall, The Word Alive, The Dead Rabbitts, and Abigail Williams. The band Soulfly calls Phoenix home and Megadeth lived in Phoenix for about a decade. Beginning in and around 2009, Phoenix began to host a burgeoning desert rock and sludge metal underground, (ala' Kyuss in 1990s California) led by bands like Wolves of Winter, Asimov, and Dead Canyon.
American composer Elliott Carter composed his first String Quartet (1950–51) while on sabbatical (from New York) in Arizona. The quartet won a Pulitzer Prize and other awards and is now a staple of the string quartet repertoire.
Sports.
Four Super Bowls have been held in Arizona, including Super Bowl LVII which was held at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023.
Due to its numerous golf courses, Arizona is home to several stops on the PGA Tour, most notably the Phoenix Open, held at the TPC of Scottsdale, and the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Marana.
Auto racing is another sport known in the state. Phoenix Raceway in Avondale is home to NASCAR race weekends twice a year. Firebird International Raceway near Chandler is home to drag racing and other motorsport events.
College sports.
College sports are also prevalent in Arizona. The Arizona State Sun Devils and the Arizona Wildcats belong to the Big-12 Conference while the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks compete in the Big Sky Conference and the Grand Canyon Antelopes compete in the Western Athletic Conference. The rivalry between Arizona State Sun Devils and the Arizona Wildcats predates Arizona's statehood, and is the oldest rivalry in the NCAA. The Territorial Cup, first awarded in 1889 and certified as the oldest trophy in college football, is awarded to the winner of the annual football game between the two schools.
Arizona also hosts several college football bowl games. The Fiesta Bowl, originally held at Sun Devil Stadium, is now held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The Fiesta Bowl is part of the new College Football Playoff (CFP). University of Phoenix Stadium was also home to the 2007 and 2011 BCS National Championship Games.
State Farm Stadium hosted the Final Four of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2017 and is scheduled to host it again in 2024.
Baseball.
Arizona is a popular location for Major League Baseball spring training, as it is the site of the Cactus League. Spring training was first started in Arizona in 1947, when Brewers owner Veeck sold them in 1945 but went on to purchase the Cleveland Indians in 1946. He decided to train the Cleveland Indians in Tucson and convinced the New York Giants to give Phoenix a try. Thus, the Cactus League was born.
On March 9, 1995, Arizona was awarded a franchise to begin to play for the 1998 season. A $130million franchise fee was paid to Major League Baseball and on January 16, 1997, the Diamondbacks were officially voted into the National League.
Since their debut, the Diamondbacks have won five National League West titles, two National League Championship pennants, and the 2001 World Series.
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Poachie Range
Landform in La Paz, Mohave, and Yavapai Counties, Arizona
The Poachie Range is a moderate length mountain range and massif in southeast Mohave County, Arizona, and the extreme southwest corner of Yavapai County; the range also abuts the northeast corner of La Paz County. The Poachie Range massif is bordered by the south-flowing Big Sandy River on its west, and the west-flowing Santa Maria River on its south; both rivers converge at the Poachie Range's southwest at Alamo Lake in Alamo Lake State Park.
From Alamo Lake, the (short) Bill Williams River flows due west for 35 mi to meet the Colorado River. The Bill Williams River is the de facto border between the Mojave Desert north and northwest; the Sonoran Desert is south and southeast. Across the south-flowing Colorado River to the west, is the massif of the Whipple Mountains at the northeast of the Sonoran Desert subsection named the Colorado Desert of southern California and bordered by the Colorado River.
The entire region south of the Poachie Range, and its two mountain ranges bordered westwards, the Rawhide and Bill Williams Mountain, and bordered on the Bill Williams River northern bank — is the Maria fold and thrust belt. The thrust belt is a geographic and geologic region at the convergence of these neighboring mountain ranges, rivers, the Alamo Lake, as well as other plains and valleys.
Range description.
The Poachie Range is approximately 30 mi long slightly trending northwest by southeast, with no central ridgeline. Instead the range is made up of a central canyon draining southwest. The west-northwest contains a small canyon, and various peaks, three peaks west of the south-flowing Big Sandy River. Signal, Arizona with only unimproved road access is at the northwest foothills, about 10 mi from U.S. Route 93.
The east and southeast of the range contains People's Canyon, about 5 mi long, and the west-flowing Santa Maria River; to the southeast the river borders the northwest of the smaller range, the Black Mountains.
The highpoint of the range is Arrastra Mountain, , located at . Arrastra Mountain is at the range center, 3 mi northeast of the 'range ridgeline' and 4 mi southwest of U.S. Route 93 in Arizona (the Joshua Tree Highway).
Arrastra Mountain Wilderness.
The Arrastra Mountain Wilderness comprises almost 100% of the Poachie Range. Both the Big Sandy and Santa Maria Rivers are mostly contained in the wilderness, as well as People's Canyon in the east.
Access.
The entire northeast of the range is accessed from U.S. Route 93, from Wikieup, Arizona and Nothing, Arizona.
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
External links.
Arrastra Mountain
Poachie Range