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UTAH - USA
Utah is a western state of the United States, in
the Rocky Mountains region. The name Utah is from the Southern Ute language.
The Paiute and Goshute nations also inhabit portions of the state. Residents
are called Utahns.
History
Native Americans have lived in Utah for several thousand years; most
archeological evidence dates such habitation about 10,000 to 12,000 years
ago. Some left petroglyphs and pictographs which exist throughout the state.
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado may have crossed into what is now southern
Utah in 1540, when he was seeking the legendary Cibola.
A group led by two Roman Catholic priests--sometimes
called the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition--left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to
find a route to the California coast. The expedition travelled as far north
as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents.
Fur trappers--including Jim Bridger--explored some regions of Utah in the
early 1800's. The city of Provo, Utah was named for one such man, Étienne
Provost, who visited the area in 1825.
Mormon settlers first came to the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. At the
time, Utah was still Mexican territory. As a consequence of the Mexican-American
War, the land became the territory of the United States upon the signing of
the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848. The Treaty was ratified
by the United States Senate on March 10.
Utah's bid for statehood was accepted January 4, 1896, after over forty
years of initial request and struggles. The delay was largely due to
disputes between the Mormon inhabitants--who had settled in the area in 1847
and were pushing for the establishment of the state of Deseret. The western
half of Deseret was admitted to the Union after the discovery of silver, but
was split off from Utah as Nevada in 1864. The US Government which was
reluctant to admit a state the size of the proposed Deseret into the union,
opposed the polygamous practices of the Mormons taught by the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and observed that the region lacked the
necessary 60,000 voters required for statehood. One of the conditions to
granting Utah's statehood was that a ban on polygamy be written into the
Utah Constitution. This was a condition required of other western states
that were also admitted later into the Union.
Law and government
The capital and largest city is Salt Lake City.
Utah constitution
The constitution of Utah was enacted in 1895. Among other things, the
constitution outlawed polygamy and continued the territorial practice of
women's suffrage.
In 2004, three proposed amendments[1] (http://elections.utah.gov/ConstitutionalAmendments.htm)
were put on the Utah election ballot, including the controversial Amendment
3, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman, as well as
providing no legal recognition for other forms of civil union.
Geography
Utah is one of the Four Corners states and is bordered by Idaho and Wyoming
in the north, by Colorado in the east, by New Mexico to the southeast across
the Four Corners, by Arizona in the south, and by Nevada in the west.
One of Utah's defining characteristics is the variety of its terrain. The
Wasatch Mountains run a center spine of the state, and the Uinta Mountain
range in the north-east includes the highest point in the state, Kings Peak
at 13,528 feet. The Great Salt Lake lies to the immediate west of the
Wasatch Mountains, beyond which the Bonneville Salt Flats stretch to Nevada.
All land west of the Wasatch Mountains is within the Great Basin, while
everything to the East drains into the Colorado River system.
Much of the scenic southern landscape is sandstone, more specifically
Kayenta sandstone and Navajo sandstone, cut and shaped by the Colorado River
or its tributaries.
Western Utah is mostly arid desert with a basin and range geology.
Northeastern Utah (from the Wasatch Mountains eastward and from the Uintah
Plateau northward) is largely mountainous with many wooded and alpine
regions.
Area: 219,900 square kilometers
Physical features: Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake, Lake Powell, Flaming Gorge,
Jordan River, Colorado River, Green River, Lake Bonneville, Wasatch
Mountains, Uinta Mountains, Great Basin, National Parks, Four Corners and
the Colorado Plateau.
Like most of the west and southwest states, the federal government owns much
of the land in Utah. In Utah over seventy percent of the land is either BLM
land or national forest, park, monument, recreation or wilderness area.
Under Article IV, § 3, cl. 2 of the United States Constitution, the federal
government has plenary and supreme--although concurrent--civil and criminal
jurisdiction over these federal lands within the borders of each state.
Parks and monuments
The desert plateaus of Southern Utah contain five national parks:
Bryce Canyon
Zion National Park
Canyonlands
Arches
Capitol Reef
National Monuments in Utah include:
Dinosaur National Monument
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Timpanogos Cave National Monument
In addition, Utah contains several notable state parks and monuments:
Dead Horse Point State Park
Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument
Snow Canyon State Park
This Is The Place State Park
Transportation
Utah's major highways are Interstate 15, which runs the length of Utah;
Interstate 70, which enters the state from Colorado and terminates at I-15
in central Utah; Interstate 80, which crosses from West Wendover, Nevada on
the west through Salt Lake City and eastward through Evanston, Wyoming; and
Interstate 84, which runs southeast to northwest from I-80 to the Idaho
border.
Demographics
The population of Utah in 2000 was 2,233,169. Much of the population lives
in cities and towns along the Wasatch Front, a metropolitan region that runs
north-south with the Wasatch Mountains rising on the eastern side. Most of
the rest of the state is rural or wilderness.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2003, Utah's population was
estimated at 2,351,467 people.
The racial makeup of the state is:
89.2% White
0.8% Black
9% Hispanic or Latino
1.7% Asian
1.3% American Indian or Alaska Native
4.2% from other races
2.1% belong to two or more races
The top 5 ancestry groups in Utah are English (29%), German (11.5%), Danish
(6.6%), American (6.6%), Mexican (6.1%).
The 5 largest religions in Utah are Mormon (70%), Roman Catholic (6%),
Episcopalian (3%), Baptist (2%), Christian (2%). 17% of the population is
nonreligious.
9.4% of Utah's population were reported as under 5, 32.2% under 18, and 8.5%
were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 49.9% of the population.
Important cities and towns
Aside from the capital Salt Lake City, other major cities outside of the
Salt Lake City area are Provo-Orem, Ogden, Logan and St. George.
Colleges and universities
Brigham Young University in Provo
College of Eastern Utah in Price
Dixie State College of Utah (formerly Dixie College) in Saint George
LDS Business College in Salt Lake City
Snow College in Ephraim
Southern Utah University in Cedar City
University of Utah in Salt Lake City
Utah State University in Logan
Utah Valley State College (formerly Utah Valley Community College) in Orem
Weber State University in Ogden
Westminster College of Salt Lake City in Salt Lake City
Professional sports teams
Utah Jazz, National Basketball Association
Real Salt Lake, Major League Soccer
Salt Lake Stingers of the Pacific Coast League
Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League
Provo Angels of the Pioneer League
Utah Grizzlies of the American Hockey League
Miscellaneous information
The continental meeting of the railroads happened at Promontory Point, Utah;
Utah native Philo Farnsworth invented the electronic television in 1927;
Utah native John Moses Browning designed a number of popular firearms like
the M2 .50 caliber machine gun and the Colt Model 1911 .45 semi-automatic
handgun
The 2002 Winter Olympics were hosted by Salt Lake City; and
The USS Utah was named in honor of this state.
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