Arizona (Alternity)

Arizona is a state located in the Southwestern/southern Mountain Region of the United States that shares borders with Baja California and California to the west, Nevada and Utah to the north, New Mexico to the east, and the Mexican state of Sonora to the south. Arizona is a largely desert state, with much of its' populace of just under 7.2 million living in major cities like the state capital and largest city of Phoenix (pop. 1,509,000), Tucson, Las Vegas, or Yuma.

Originally a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain beginning in the 1700s, Arizona eventually became part of the Mexican state of Alta California following that nation's independence in 1821. Following the First Mexican American War of 1846-47, roughly 3/4 of modern-day Arizona was included in the territory transferred to the United States as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), while the remainder, from the Gila River south to the Gulf of California and northern Sonora, was acquired through the Gadsden Purchase (in addition to Baja California) in 1853. From 1850 to 1863, Arizona comprised the western half of the Union's New Mexico Territory, after which time it became the separate Arizona Territory (with jurisdiction of the southern half disputed by the Confederate Arizona Territory). It was finally admitted to the Union as the 54th state on February 14, 1912, and the last of the "original" contiguous states.

Counties
Arizona is subdivided into 18 counties, all of which are listed below, and in order of population.