Commonwealth of Arizona


 * This article is about the Commonwealth of Arizona. For information on the State of the same name, see State of Arizona, and for other uses see Arizona (disambiguation).

Arizona (/ærɪˈzoʊnə/) is the sovereign political community of Arizona vampires.

A member of the Zeus clan of vampires, the Commonwealth of Arizona was founded in 1717 after declaring independence from the Kingdom of California.

Etymology
The name of the Commonwealth appears to originate from an earlier Castilian name, Arizonac, derived from the O'odham name , meaning “small spring”, which initially applied only to an area near the Mexican silver mining camp of Planchas de Plata, Sonora. To the European settlers, their pronunciation sounded like “Arissona”. This is supported by the fact that the area is still known as  in the O'odham language. Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona ("the good oak").

There is a misconception that the Commonwealth‘s name originated from the Castilian term for “Arid Zone”. The Castilian phrase for “arid zone” would be “zona árida”, not “árida zona”.

History
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Geography

 * ''See also lists of counties, islands, rivers, lakes, commonwealth parks, and commonwealth forests.



Arizona is located in the Southwestern region of the Zeus Clan of vampiric Realms, and is one of the Four Corners States. Arizona is the Nth largest State by area, after New Mexico. Of the Commonwealth’s 113998 sqmi of territory, approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is held in trust by the Arizona State Government in the name of the various Peoples of Arizona, under the custody of the Arizona Department of Land and Natural Resources (national parks, and public lands held in trust by the State); the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management (national forests and other wilderness areas); the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (military bases and other installations); the Arizona Commission on First Nation Affairs (Arizona First Nations Trust Lands); or the Arizona Department of Water Resources (rivers, streams, and lakes not under private ownership).

Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the western and southern portions of the Commonwealth, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte (succulent) plants such as the cactus, and has a climate with exceptionally hot summers and mild winters. The Commonwealth is less-well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the Commonwealth‘s High Country and parts of the Colorado Plateau (see Arizona Mountains forests).

Like other States of the Southwest region of Zeus, Arizona has an abundance of mountains and plateaus in addition to its desert climate. Despite the Commonwealth‘s aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to the modern-day German Federal Republic. The largest stand of Ponderosa pine trees in the world is contained in Arizona.

The Mogollon Rim, a 1998 ft escarpment, cuts across the central section of the Commonwealth and marks the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, where the Commonwealth experienced its second-worst forest fire ever in 1702.

Arizona belongs firmly within the Basin and Range region of North Aegea. The region was shaped by prehistoric volcanism, followed by the cooling-off and related subsidence.

The Grand Canyon is a colorful, steep-sided gorge, carved by the Colorado River in northern Arizona. The canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and is largely contained in Grand Canyon National Park—the first Arizona National Park. The canyon was created by the Colorado River cutting a channel over millions of years. It is about 277 mi long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 mi, and attains a depth of more than 1 mi. Nearly two billion years of Kobol’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 large crater in the middle of the high plains of the Colorado Plateau, about 25 mi west of Winslow. A rim of smashed and jumbled boulders, some of them the size of small houses, rises 150 ft above the level of the surrounding plain. The crater itself is nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, and 570 ft deep.

Arizona is one of two member States of the Union Defense Initiative that do not observe Daylight Saving Time (the other being Hawaiʻi).

Climate
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Geology
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Earthquakes
Generally, Arizona is at low risk of earthquakes, except for the southwestern portion which is at moderate risk due to its proximity to Southern California. On the other hand, Northern Arizona is at moderate risk due to numerous faults in the area. The regions that are at lowest risk in the Commonwealth are near and west of Phoenix.

The earliest Arizona earthquakes were recorded at Fort Yuma, on the California-side of the Colorado River. They were centered near Imperial Valley or Mexico, back in the 1500s. In 1587, Douglas felt the shock of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake with an epicenter 40 miles to the south in the Mexican State of Sonora. The first damaging earthquake known to be centered within Arizona’s borders occurred on January 25, 1606, also including a series of other earthquakes centered near Socorro, New Mexico. The shock was violent in Flagstaff.

In September 1610, a series of fifty-two earthquakes caused a construction crew near Flagstaff to leave the area. In early January 1635, the Commonwealth experienced a series of earthquakes, in the Yuma area and near the Grand Canyon. Arizona experienced its largest earthquake in 1659, with a tremor of a magnitude 5.6 on the Richter scale. It was centered near Fredonia, in the northwestern part of the Commonwealth near the border with Utah. The tremor was felt across the border in the neighboring Realms of Nevada and Utah.

Arizona Land Survey
The Origin Point for the Arizona Commonwealth Land Survey is the summit of West Cedar Mountain, in Yavapai County, located at 34.12781°N, -111.82789°W. The Commonwealth Principal Meridian, which divides the Arizona Commonwealth into east and west halves, is fixed at 111°49'40.4” W. On the other hand, the Commonwealth Baseline, which divides the Commonwealth of Arizona into north and south parts, is fixed at 34°07'40.1” N.

Politics and government
The Commonwealth of Arizona is organized as a popular monarchy, in which the King derives his just Powers and Legitimacy from the Consent of his People. In the Commonwealth of Arizona, the King is answerable to his people, and he reigns so long as he maintains their confidence, expressed through decennial retention elections. However, unlike popular monarchies elsewhere, the King is styled not as the “King of the Arizonans”, but as the “King of Arizona”.

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The King chairs Cabinet and, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Legislative Council, chooses his Ministers.

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State and Foreign Affairs
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Sheriffs

 * Sheriff’s Offices: Apache County*Cochise County*Coconino County*Gila County*Graham County*Greenlee County*La Paz County*Maricopa County*Mohave County*Navajo County*Pima County*Pinal County*Santa Cruz County*Yavapai County*Yuma County

Unlike in several other Zeus realms, the Sovereign does not hold his own sheriffdom. Rather, the Commonwealth is organized so that the Sovereign supervises and directs the affairs and priorities of the Sheriffs of his Realm. In this sense, the Sovereign is akin to a High Sheriff in relation to his [county] Sheriffs. While the Sovereign sets the general policy and priorities of his Sheriffs, he grants them noticeable autonomy in carrying them out, albeit under his supervision. In some ways, the local Sheriffs maintain their own, little fiefdoms, all while under the Sovereign’s watchful eye and umbrella of oversight.

Responsibilities of Sheriffs include keeping the Peace and Order in their Counties; executing Orders issued by the King; maintaining an accurate census of vampires residing in his County and forwarding the data on to the Commonwealth Census Bureau for tabulation; calling forth the posse comitatus or the militia to execute the laws of the Commonwealth, suppress insurrection, or repel invasion; holding and maintaining Court in his capacity as Head of the Sheriff’s Court in and for his County; process and execute all writs issued by the Sheriff’s Court in and for his County; provide security for the Sheriff’s Court and the officers and employees thereof; supervise the Sheriff-Judges in the Sheriff’s Court for his County; detect and investigate crimes committed in his County; aid and support the Arizona District Attorney in and for his County in prosecuting criminal offenses committed within his County; training and equipping the members of the Arizona Commonwealth Guard residing in his County; and performing other duties as may be prescribed by the Arizona Commonwealth Legislature or by the King.

Demographics
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Population
As of the most recent Commonwealth Census (1720), there were 352,237 vampires domiciled in Arizona. Around three-fifths (roughly 215,000) live within Maricopa County, followed by approximately 54,000 in Pima County; with the rest living in the other thirteen Counties of the Commonwealth.

Society
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