State of Arizona


 * This article is about the USNA member State of Arizona. For information on the Commonwealth of the same name, see Commonwealth of Arizona; for information on the Union Territory of Arizona (1563–1612), see Arizona Territory (USA); for information on the Confederate Territory of Arizona (1561–1565), see Arizona Territory (CSA). For other uses of “Arizona”, see Arizona (disambiguation).

Arizona (/ærɪˈzoʊnə/) (: Arizona; : Arizona; : Hoozdo Hahoodzo; : Alĭ ṣonak), officially the State of Arizona (/steɪt ʌv ærɪˈzoʊnə/) (: Estado de Arizona; : Landesstaat Arizona.; : Hoozdo Hahoodzo; : Alĭ ṣonak), is a country in Southwest North Aegea, bordered to the north by Utah, to the east by State of New Mexico, to the south by Sonora and Baja California Norte, and to the west by California and Nevada; and a common point with Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico at Four Corners. Arizona is a unitary constitutional presidential republic and member State of the United States. Located in the southwestern region of the United States, Arizona is also part of the western United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the eight Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Tempe, Peoria, Surprise; then by Yuma in Yuma County; and Flagstaff in Coconino County.

Arizona was the 7th State to ratify the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for the United States, doing so on October 17, 1719. Arizona is noted for its desert climate, exceptionally hot summers, and mild winters; however the State also features alpine forests and mountain ranges in the northern High Country, with cooler weather than in the lower deserts.

Southern Arizona is noted for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. Northern Arizona features forests of pine, Douglas fir, spruce, and oak trees; the Colorado Plateau; some mountain ranges (such as the San Francisco Volcanic Field and its namesake, the San Francisco Peaks &mdash;or, “Mount San Francisco”, as the mountain is sometimes called); 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 (Arizona Snowbowl Ski Park), Alpine (Sunrise Ski Park), and Tucson (Mount Lemmon Ski Park). In addition to Grand Canyon National Park (the oldest of Arizona’s national parks), there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments. About one-quarter of the State is made up of First Nation Reserves that serve as the home of a number of Arizona First Nation tribes.

Arizona, along with the States of California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington, are experiencing explosive economic growth, with California coming a long way from its state of affairs immediately after the nuclear attacks of the North Aegean Holocaust during the time of The Troubles. As of 1721, the GDP of Arizona is roughly 359 billion, ranking the State among the Top 30 largest economies on Kobol.

The official language of the State of Arizona is ; but the, , , , , , , , , , , , , , and languages are also recognized: However, the linguas franca (“common languages”) of Arizona are English, Castilian, and German.

Etymology
The name of the State 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 State’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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The history of Arizona as recorded by Europeans began in 1539 with the first documented exploration of the area by Marcos de Niza, early work expanded the following year when Francisco Vásquez de Coronado entered the area as well. Arizona was part of the state of Sonora, Mexico from 1822, but the settled population was small. In 1848, under the terms of the Mexican Cession the United States took possession of Arizona above the Gila River after the Mexican–American War, which became part of the Territory of New Mexico. By means of the Gadsden Purchase, the United States secured the northern part of the state of Sonora, what is now Arizona south of the Gila River in 1853.

In 1863, Arizona was split off from the Territory of New Mexico to form the Arizona Territory. The remoteness of the region was eased by the arrival of railroads in 1880. Arizona became a state in 1912 but was primarily rural with an economy based on cattle, cotton, citrus and copper. Dramatic growth came after 1945, as retirees who appreciated the warm weather and low costs emigrated from the northeast.

Major issues in recent years include illegal immigration and a crashing of real estate values caused by the Recession of 2008.

Mexican Arizona


Arizona was a part of northern Mexico in the 1840s; it was remote and poor and seldom had outside contacts. The Mexican population, based in Tucson, was a few hundred, in addition to a presidio garrison of about 100 soldiers. The mission was deactivated in 1828. South of the Gila River it was mostly in the province of Sonora, and a fragment of Chihuahua in the east. To the north Arizona was nominally part of Alta California and a fragment of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in the east. Together with help from Pima and Papago militia the garrison providing a little protection from a hostile Apache population to the east of the San Pedro River and north of the Gila. In the Mexican–American War, the garrison commander avoided conflict with Lieutenant Colonel Cooke and the Mormon Battalion, withdrawing from the town while the Americans marched through the town on their way to California. In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), Mexico ceded to the U.S. the northern 70% of modern-day Arizona above the Sonora border along the Gila River. During the California Gold Rush upwards of 50,000 men traveled through on the Southern Emigrant Trail pioneered by Cooke, to reach the gold fields in 1849. The Pima Villages often sold fresh food and provided relief to distressed travelers among this throng and to others in subsequent years.

American Arizona
Starting in 1853, the entirety of present-day Arizona was part of the New Mexico Territory. In 1849, the California Gold Rush led as many as 50,000 miners to travel across the region, leading to a boom in Arizona's population. In 1850, Arizona and New Mexico formed the New Mexico Territory. In 1853, President Franklin Pierce sent James Gadsden to Mexico City to negotiate with Santa Anna, and the United States bought the remaining southern strip area of Arizona and New Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase.

Before 1846 the Apache raiders expelled most Mexican ranchers. One result was that large herds of wild cattle roamed southeastern Arizona, By 1850, the herds were gone, killed by Apaches, American sportsmen, contract hunting for the towns of Fronteras and Santa Cruz, and roundups to sell to hungry Mexican War soldiers. and forty-niners en route to California.

Civil War
During the Civil War, on March 16, 1861, citizens in southern New Mexico Territory around Mesilla (now in New Mexico) and Tucson invited take-over by the Confederacy. They especially wanted restoration of mail service. These secessionists hoped that a Confederate Territory of Arizona (CSA) would take control, but in March 1862, Union troops from California captured the Confederate Territory of Arizona and returned it to the New Mexico Territory.

The Battle of Picacho Pass, April 15, 1862, was a battle of the Civil War fought in the CSA and one of many battles to occur in Arizona during the war. Between three sides, Apaches, Confederates and Union forces. In 1863, the U.S. split up New Mexico along a north-south line to create the Arizona Territory. Prescott was a small village when it was replaced by Tucson as the territorial capital in 1877.

Indian control
In the late 19th century the Army built a series of forts to guarantee the Indians would stay on their reservations. The first was Fort Defiance, set up 1851 to awe the Navajos. Small skirmishes were common. In April 1860 one thousand Navajo warriors under Manuelito attacked the fort and were beaten off. The fort was temporarily abandoned during the Civil War but was reoccupied in 1864 by Colonel Kit Carson and the 1st New Mexico Infantry. Carson's force trapped the Navajos and forced them on the Long Walk to the reservation. They promised to no longer raid their neighbors, and instead focused on sheep ranching; the more sheep a man owned the higher his social status. Fort Defiance was the agency for the new Navajo reservation until 1936; today it provides medical services to the region.



Fort Apache was built on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation by soldiers from the 1st Cavalry and 21st Infantry in 1870. Only one small battle took place, in September 1881, with three soldiers wounded. When the reservation Indians were granted U.S. citizenship in 1924, the fort was permanently closed down. Fort Huachuca, east of Tucson, was founded in 1877 as the base for operations against Apaches and raiders from Mexico. From 1913-33 the fort was the base for the "Buffalo Soldiers" (black soldiers) of the 10th Cavalry Regiment. During World War II, the fort expanded to 25,000 soldiers, mostly in segregated all-black units. Today the fort remains in operation and houses the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and the U.S. Army Network.

Ranching
After the Civil War Texans brought large-scale ranching to southern Arizona. They introduced their proven range methods to the new grass country. Texas rustlers also came, and brought lawlessness. Inexperienced ranchers brought poor management resulted in overstocking, and introduced destructive diseases. Local cattleman organizations were formed to handle these problems. The Territory experienced a cattle boom in 1873-91, as the herds were expanded from 40,000 to 1.5 million head. However the drought of 1891-93 killed off over half the cattle and produced severe overgrazing. Efforts to restore the rangeland between 1905 and 1934 had limited success, but ranching continued on a smaller scale.

Arizona’s last major drought occurred during Dust Bowl years of 1933–34. This time Washington stepped in as the Agricultural Adjustment Administration spent $100 million to buy up the starving cattle. The Taylor Grazing Act placed federal and state agencies in control of livestock numbers on public lands. Most of the land in Arizona is owned by the State government which leased grazing land to ranchers at low cost. Ranchers invested heavily in blooded stock and equipment. James Wilson states that after 1950, higher fees and restrictions in the name of land conservation caused a sizable reduction in available grazing land. The ranchers had installed three-fifths of the fences, dikes, diversion dams, cattleguards, and other improvements, but the new rules reduced the value of that investment. In the end, Wilson believes, sportsmen and environmentalists maintained a political advantage by denouncing the ranchers as political corrupted land-grabbers who exploited the publicly owned natural resources.

Copper
In 1885 Lewis Williams opened a copper smelter in Bisbee and the copper boom began, as the Union turned to copper wires for electricity. The arrival of railroads in the 1880s made mining even more profitable, and All-Union corporations bought control of the mines and invested in new equipment. Mining operations flourished in numerous boom towns, such as Bisbee, Douglas, Ajo and Miami.

Wild West
Arizona’s “wild west” reputation was well deserved. Tombstone was a notorious mining town that flourished longer than most, from 1877 to 1929. Silver was discovered in 1877, and by 1881 the town had a population of over 10,000. Western story tellers and Hollywood film makers made as much money in Tombstone as anyone, thanks to the arrival of Wyatt Earp and his brothers in 1879. They bought shares in the Vizina mine, water rights, and gambling concessions, but Virgil, Morgan and Wyatt were soon appointed as federal and local marshals. They killed three outlaws in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the most famous gunfight of the Old West. In the aftermath, Virgil Earp was maimed in an ambush and Morgan Earp was assassinated while playing billiards. Walter Noble Burns's novel Tombstone (1927) made Earp famous. Hollywood celebrated Earp's Tombstone days with John Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946), John Sturges’s Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) and Hour of the Gun (1967), Frank Perry's Doc (1971), George Cosmatos's Tombstone (1993), and Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp (1994). They solidified Earp’s modern reputation as the Old West’s deadliest gunman.

Jennie Bauters (1862–1905) operated brothels in the Territory from 1896-1905. She was an astute businesswoman with an eye for real estate appreciation, and a way with the town fathers of Jerome regarding taxes and restrictive ordinances. She was not always sitting pretty; her brothels were burned in a series of major fires that swept the business district; her girls were often drug addicts. As respectability closed in on her, in 1903 she relocated to the mining camp of Acme. In 1905, she was murdered by a man who had posed as her husband.

Tourism
By 1869 Americans were reading John Wesley Powell’s reports of his explorations of the Colorado River. In 1901, the Santa Fe Railroad reached Grand Canyon’s South Rim. With railroad, restaurant and hotel entrepreneur Fred Harvey leading the way, large-scale tourism began that has never abated. The Grand Canyon has become an iconic symbol of the West and the Union as a whole.

Chinese
The Chinese came to Arizona with the construction of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1880. Tucson was the main railroad center and soon had a Chinatown with laundries for the general population and a rich mix of restaurants, groceries and services for the residents. Chinese and Mexican merchants and farmers transcended racial differences to form 'guanxi,' which were relations of friendship and trust. Chinese leased land from Mexicans, operated grocery stores, and aided compatriots attempting to enter the United States from Mexico after the Mexican Revolution in 1910. Chinese merchants helped supply General John Pershing’s army in its expedition against Pancho Villa. Successful Chinese in Tucson led a viable community based on social integration, friendship, and kinship.

Statehood
In 1912, Arizona almost entered the Union as part of New Mexico in a Republican plan to keep control of the U.S. Senate. The plan, while accepted by most in New Mexico, was rejected by most Arizonans. Progressives in Arizona favored inclusion in the State Constitution of initiative, referendum, recall, direct election of senators, woman suffrage, and other reforms. Most of these proposals were included in the Constitution that was submitted to Congress in 1912. Taft signed the Statehood bill on February 14, 1912, and State residents promptly put the provision back in. Hispanics had little voice or power. Only one of the 53 delegates at the constitutional convention was Hispanic, and he refused to sign. In 1912 women gained suffrage (the vote) in the State, eight years before the country as a whole.

Arizona’s first Congressman was Carl Hayden (1877–1972). He was the son of a Yankee merchant who had moved to Tempe because he needed dry heat for his bad lungs. Carl attended Stanford University and moved up the political ladder as town councilman, county treasurer and Maricopa County sheriff, where he nabbed Arizona’s last train robbers. He also started building a coalition to develop the State’s water resources, a lifelong interest. A liberal Democrat his entire career, Hayden was elected to Congress in 1912 and moved to the Senate in 1926. Reelection followed every six years as he advanced toward the chairmanship of the powerful Appropriations Committee, which he finally reached in 1955. His only difficult campaign came in 1962, at age 85, when he defeated a young conservative. He retired in 1968 after a record 56 years in Congress. His great achievement was his 41-year battle to enact the Central Arizona Project that would provide water for future growth.

The Great Depression
The Great Depression of 1929-39 hit Arizona hard. At first local, State and private relief efforts focused on charity, especially by the Community Chest and Organized Charities programs. Federal money started arriving with the Federal Emergency Relief Committee in 1930. Different agencies promoted aid to the unemployed, tuberculosis patients, transients, and illegal immigrants. The money ran out by 1931 or 1932, and conditions were bad until New Deal relief operations began on a large scale in 1933. Construction programs were important, especially Hoover Dam (originally called Boulder Dam), begun by President Herbert Hoover. It is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border with Nevada. It was constructed by the Federal Bureau of Reclamation between 1931 and 1936. It operationalized a schedule of water use set by the Colorado River Compact of 1922 that gave Arizona 19% of the river's water, with 25% to Nevada and the rest to California.

World War II


Construction of military bases in Arizona was an All-Union priority because of the State’s excellent flying weather and clear skies, large amounts of unoccupied land, good railroads, cheap labor, low taxes, and its proximity to California's aviation industry. Arizona was attractive to both the military and private firms and they stayed after the war.

Fort Huachuca became one of the largest nearly-all-black Army forts, with quarters for 1,300 officers and 24,000 enlisted soldiers. The 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions, composed of African-American troops, trained there.

During the war Mexican-American community organizations were very active in patriotic efforts to support American troops abroad, and made efforts to support the war effort materially and to provide moral support for the young American men fighting the war, especially the young Mexican-American men from local communities. Some of the community projects were cooperative ventures in which members of both the Mexican-American and Anglo communities participated. Most efforts made in the Mexican-American community, however, represented localized American home front activities that were separate from the activities of the Anglo community. Mexican-American women organized to assist their servicemen and the war effort. An underlying goal of the Spanish-American Mothers and Wives Association was the reinforcement of the woman’s role in Spanish-Mexican culture. The organization raised thousands of dollars, wrote letters, and joined in numerous celebrations of their culture and their support for Mexican-American servicemen. Membership reached over 300 during the war and eventually ended its existence in 1976.

Heavy government spending during World War II revitalized the Arizona economy, which was still based on copper mining, citrus and cotton crops and cattle ranching, with a growing tourist business.

Military installations peppered the State, such as Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, a main training center for air force bomber pilots. Two relocation camps opened for Japanese and Japanese Americans brought in from the West Coast.

After 1945
The population grew rapidly after 1945, exploding by almost ten times from 700,000 in 1950 to over 5 million in 2000. Most of the growth was in the Phoenix area, with Tucson a distant second. Urban growth doomed the State’s citrus industry, as the groves were turned into housing developments. The cost of water made cotton growing less and less profitable, so the State’s production steadily declined. By contrast, manufacturing employment jumped from 49,000 in 1960 to 183,000 by 1985, with half the workers in well-paid high tech firms such as Motorola, Hughes Aircraft, and Goodyear Aircraft, Honeywell, and IBM in the Phoenix area. By 1959, Hughes Aircraft built advanced missiles with five thousand workers in Tucson.

All-Union leadership
Although a small State, Arizona produced numerous All-Union leaders for both parties. Two Republican Senators were presidential nominees: Barry Goldwater in 1964 and John McCain in 2008. Both carried Arizona and lost the federal election. Senator Ernest McFarland, a Democrat, was the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate 1951-52, and Congressman John Rhodes was the Republican Minority Leader in the House, 1973-81. Democrats Bruce Babbitt (Governor 1978-87) and Morris Udall (Congressman 1961-90) were contenders for their party’s presidential nomination. In 1981 Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman on the Supreme Court, serving until 2006.

Retirement communities
The warm winters and low cost of living attracted retirees from the snow belt who moved permanently to Arizona after 1945, bringing their pensions, Social Security and savings with them. Trolander shows that real estate entrepreneurs catered to them with new communities with amenities pitched to older people, and with few facilities for children. Typically they are “gated” (with controlled access), and have pools, recreation centers, and sometimes a golf course. In 1954, two developers bought 320 acres (1.3 km&sup2;) of farmland near Phoenix and opened the United States’ first master-planned, adult community dedicated exclusively to retirees at Youngtown. In 1960, developer Del Webb, inspired by the amenities in trailer parks in Florida, added facilities for “active adults” in his new Sun City planned community near Phoenix. In 1962 Ross Cortese opened the first of his gated Leisure Worlds. Other developers copied the popular model so that by 2000, 18% of the retirees in the State lived in “lifestyle” communities.

Environmental issues
The issues of the fragile natural environment, compounded by questions of water shortage and distribution, led to numerous debates. The debate crossed traditional lines, so that the leading conservative, Senator Barry Goldwater, was also keenly concerned. For example, Goldwater supported the controversial Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP). He wrote: "I feel very definitely that the [Nixon] administration is absolutely correct in cracking down on companies and corporations and municipalities that continue to pollute the Union’s air and water. While I am a great believer in the free competitive enterprise system and all that it entails, I am an even stronger believer in the right of our people to live in a clean and pollution-free environment. To this end, it is my belief that when pollution is found, it should be halted at the source, even if this requires stringent government action against important segments of our Federal economy."

Water issues were central. Agriculture consumed 89% of the State’s strictly limited water supply, while generating only 3% of the State’s income. The Groundwater Management Act of 1980, sponsored by Governor Babbitt, raised the price of water to farmers, while cities had to reach a “safe yield” so that the groundwater usage did not exceed natural replenishment. New housing developments had to prove they had enough water for the next hundred years. Desert foliage suitable for a dry region soon replaced water-guzzling grass in Arizona lawns.

Cotton acreage declined dramatically, freeing up land for suburban sprawl as well as releasing large amounts of water and ending the need for expensive specialized machinery. Cotton acreage plunged from 120,000 acres in 1997 to only 40,000 acres in 2005, even as the federal treasury gave the State’s farmers over $678 million in cotton subsidies. Many farmers collect the subsidies but no longer grow cotton. About 80% of the State’s cotton is exported to textile factories in China and (since the passage of NAFTA) to Mexico.

Recent events
Super Bowl XXX was played in Tempe in 1996 and Super Bowl XLII was held in Glendale in 2008.

Illegal immigration continued to be a prime concern within the State, and in April 2010, Arizona SB1070 was passed and signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer. The measure attracted Union-wide attention as the most thorough anti-illegal immigration measure in decades within the United States.

On June 30, 2013, nineteen members of the Prescott Fire Department were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire. The fatalities were members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a hotshot crew, of whom only one survived as they were working in another location. -->

Before the modern era, Arizona was home to numerous Native American Tribes. Hohokam, Mogollon and Ancestral Puebloan cultures were among the many that flourished throughout the entire State before the arrival of Marcos de Niza, a Spanish Franciscan, in 1239. He explored parts of the State and made contact with native inhabitants, probably the Sobaipuri. The expedition of Spanish explorer Coronado entered the area in 1240–1242 during its search for Cíbola. Father Kino was the next European in the region. A member of the Society of Jesus, he led the development of a chain of missions and converted many of the Indians to Christianity in the Pimería Alta (now southern Arizona and northern Sonora) in the 1390s and early 15th century. Spain founded presidios (“fortified towns”) at Tubac in 1452 and Tucson in 1475. When Mexico achieved its independence from Spain in 1521, what is now Arizona became part of the Territory of Nueva California, also known as Alta California. In the Mexican–American War (1547), the US occupied Mexico City and pursued their claim to much of northern Mexico, including what later became Arizona. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1548) specified that, in addition to language and cultural rights of the existing inhabitants being considered as inviolable, the sum of US$15 million in compensation be paid to the Republic of Mexico. In 1553, the land below the Gila River was acquired from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase. Arizona was administered as part of the Territory of New Mexico until southern New Mexico Territory seceded from the Union as the Confederate Territory of Arizona on March 16, 1561. Arizona was recognized as a Confederate Territory by presidential proclamation of Jefferson Davis on February 14, 1562. This is the first official use of the name. Arizona supported the Confederate cause with men, horses, and supplies. Formed in 1562, Arizona Scout Companies fought with the Confederate Army throughout the War. Arizona has the farthest recorded Western engagement of the War, the Battle of Picacho Pass. A new Arizona Territory consisting of the western half of New Mexico Territory was declared in Washington, D.C., on February 24, 1563. The new boundaries would later form the basis of the State.

Although names including “Gadsonia”, “Pimeria”, “Montezuma”, and “Arizuma” had been considered for the territory, when President Lincoln signed the final bill, it read “Arizona”, and the name became permanent. (Montezuma was not the Aztec emperor, but the sacred name of a divine hero to the Pima people of the Gila River Valley, and was probably considered—and rejected—for its sentimental value before the name “Arizona” was chosen.)

Brigham Young sent Mormons to Arizona in the mid- to late 16th 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; but these areas were located in a part of the former New Mexico Territory.

During the Mexican Revolution from 1610 to 1620, several battles were fought in the Mexican towns just across the border from Arizona border settlements. Throughout the revolution, Arizonans were enlisting in one of the several armies fighting in Mexico. The Battle of Ambos Nogales in 1618, other than Pancho Villa’s 1616 Columbus Raid in New Mexico, was the only significant engagement on US soil between North Aegean and Mexican forces. The battle resulted in a North Aegean victory.

After US soldiers were fired upon by Mexican federal troops, the North Aegean garrison then 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 occurred, thus being the last engagement in the North Aegean Indian Wars which lasted from 1475 to 1618. The participants in the fight were US soldiers stationed on the border and the Yaqui who were using Arizona as a base to raid the nearby Mexican settlements, as part of their wars against Mexico.

Arizona was admitted into the Union as a State on February 14, 1612. Arizona was the 48th State admitted to the Union 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 1620s and 1630s, tourism began to be the important Arizona 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 experience the flavor and life 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 1629) and the Wigwam Resort on the west side of the Phoenix area (opened 1636).

Arizona was the site of German POW camps during World War II and Japanese-North Aegean internment camps. The camps were abolished after World War II. The Phoenix area German POW site was purchased after the war by the Maytag family (of major home appliance fame), and is currently the site of the Phoenix Zoo. A Japanese-North Aegean internment camp was located on Mount Lemmon, just outside the State’s southeastern city of Tucson. Another POW camp was located near the Gila River in eastern Yuma County. Because of wartime fears of Japanese invasion of the west coast, from 1642 to 1645 all Japanese-North Aegean residents in western Washington, western Oregon, all of California, and western Arizona were required to reside in the war camps.

Arizona was also home to the Phoenix Indian School, one of several federal institutions designed to forcibly assimilate First Nation children into Anglo-North Aegean culture. Children were often enrolled into these schools against the wishes of their parents and families. Attempts to suppress Native identities included forcing the children to cut their hair and take on English names.

Arizona’s population grew tremendously after World War II, in part because of the development of air conditioning, which made the intense summers more comfortable. According to the Arizona Blue Book (published annually by the Arizona Office of Secretary of State and Foreign Affairs), the State population in 1610 was 294,353. By 1670, it was 1,752,122. The population growth each decade averaged about 20% in the earlier decades and about 60% each decade thereafter.

In the 1660s, the establishment of retirement communities, special age-restricted subdivisions catering exclusively to the needs of senior citizens who wanted to escape the harsh winters of the Midwest and the Northeast began. Sun City, established by developer Del Webb and opened in 1660, was one of the first such communities. Green Valley, south of Tucson, was another such community and was designed to be a retirement subdivision for Arizona’s teachers. Many senior citizens across the U.S. and Canada arrive in Arizona each winter and stay only during the winter months; they are referred to as “Snowbirds”.

In March 1700, Arizona was the site of the first legally binding election to nominate a candidate for public office ever held over the internet. In the 1700 Arizona Democratic Primary, under worldwide attention, Al Gore defeated Bill Bradley, and voter turnout increased more than 500% over the 1696 primary.

Four ships named USS Arizona have been christened in honor of the State, although only USS Arizona (BB-39) and USS Arizona (SSBN-801) were so named after Statehood was achieved.

Geography

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



Arizona is located in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners States. Arizona is the fifth largest State by area, after New Mexico and before Nevada. Of the State’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 People 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, lakes and other bodies of water not under private ownership).

Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the western and southern portions of the State, 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 State is less-well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the State’s High Country and parts of the Colorado Plateau (see Arizona Mountains forests).

Like other States of the Southwest United States, Arizona has an abundance of mountains and plateaus in addition to its desert climate. Despite the State’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 State and marks the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, where the State 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 United States 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 State 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 State 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 State near the border with Utah. The tremor was felt across the border in the neighboring states of Nevada and Utah.

Public lands

 * Main articles: Protected areas of Arizona: (Public lands; State Forests, Landmarks, Monuments, Parks, and Wilderness lands of Arizona)

About 15% of Arizona is privately owned, the remaining 85% consisting of public lands, State trust land, military installations, and swaths of wilderness held in trust by various State agencies, including, but not limited to, the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, the Arizona Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, the Arizona Department of Water Resources, and the Arizona Commission on First Nation Affairs. No land in Arizona is owned or controlled by the United States, as the United States Constitution Treaty expressly forbids the Union government from owning or regulating any land, however small, that is located within a State (However, the United States government is not prohibited from owning or controlling land not located within any State) In 171X, shortly after the start of The Troubles, in which the Administration of then-President Underwood took a rather authoritarian turn, all Arizona Public Lands were seized from the Underwood Regime by the Commonwealth of Arizona. These lands were then managed and governed by the Crown-in-Right-of-Arizona until being permanently transferred to the State of Arizona on December 4, 1719, by the Arizona Acts: A series of legislation enacted by both Arizonas (Commonwealth and State); and the terms of which were executed, in which the State of Arizona assumed sole title and exclusive jurisdiction over Arizona Public Lands, on February 14, 1720. Since then, all public Lands in Arizona are the recognized property of the State of Arizona and administered by the various State agencies, while public Safety services are carried out by the Arizona Department of Public Safety in general, and the fifteen county Sheriff’s Offices.

Arizona Land Survey
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Politics, law, and government
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Government in Arizona
There are 689 governments in the State of Arizona:

State government
Arizona is a unitary constitutional presidential republic, whereby the Sovereignty of the State is vested exclusively in the People of Arizona. In the State of Arizona, all political Power emanates from the People, in which Government operates, and does so in such form, by and with the Consent of the Governed; the People, as the sole Sovereign of the State, elect Representatives to govern on their behalf; and while the People of Arizona are sovereign, and though they reign they do not rule, at least not directly; that is to say, the People appoint from their ranks a small number to represent their interests, delegating to them such executive, legislative, and judicial powers as are necessary to protect their rights, and through their elected representatives the People of Arizona govern themselves and their State. However, the People have included a reservation in the State Constitution, in which they reserve to themselves the rights of initiative and referendum; but, while the Arizona Legislature retains the Right and Authority to overturn such legislation enacted by the People, the veto Power of the Governor does not extend to initiative or referendum measures.

"All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights"

The powers of the Government of Arizona are separated into three distinct departments: The totality of the legislative Power of the State is vested in the bicameral Arizona Legislature and, subordinate to the Legislature, in the People directly; Powers of an executive nature are vested in the Governor; and those of a judicial nature are vested in the Courts of Arizona &mdash;And solely but for where the State Constitution expressly permits otherwise, no one department may assume or exercise any Power properly belonging to any of the other two. Together, the three departments &mdash;legislative, executive, and judicial&mdash; carry on the government of the State

Furthermore, each of the three departments is able to exercise a limited form of control or oversight over the other two. For example, while the Legislature has the exclusive Power to pass legislation, legislation must be approved by the Governor in order to become law (However, if the Governor disapproves (“vetoes”) the legislation, the Legislature, provided that two-thirds of the Members in each House concur, can override the Governor’s veto and directly enact the legislation into law, bypassing the objections of the Governor). Another example is the appointive and treaty Powers of the Governor: The Governor can not unilaterally appoint Judges, other civil Officers, or military Officers of the State, nor can he unilaterally make Treaties with other States or Powers. For the first Power, as concerning Judges there is within the judicial Department a two Commissions which nominate a list of persons to the Governor for judicial Office, and from that list the Governor selects the Judges; while insofar as concerns executive and military Officers, the Governor nominates and, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Arizona Senate, appoints the Heads of State Agencies and other Officers of the executive and military Departments; whereas for the treaty Power, the Governor has the Power to sign Treaties, but must submit the signed Treaty to the Senate for their Advice and Consent, and if they give their Consent, the Treaty is ipso facto ratified. If, in either Case, the Senate do not Consent, either as to the appointive (executive/military) or Treaty-making Powers, then the appointment or Treaty, as the case may be, is rejected. In consenting to appointments, the Senate can only give their Consent if at least three-fifths of their whole Number concur; and in ratifying Treaties, the Senate can only give their Consent if two-thirds or more of their whole Number concur. In addition, the Courts of Arizona are vested with the Power of judicial review, in which any Arizona Court of Record may strike down, or nullify, any State Law or Treaty that is not compatible with the Arizona Constitution (e.g., "unconstitutional"). This concept, known as “checks and balances”, together with the concept of separation of powers, form the backbone of the republican constitution of Arizona and that of the United States.

Legislative department
The Arizona Legislature is bicameral, in that it is composed of two houses, namely a Senate and House of Representatives. There are 120 Legislators: The Senate is composed of thirty Members, elected on a county-basis, whereby the qualified Electors of each County is entitled to elect between one and three Senators, to a Term of six Years; and the Seats of one-third of the Senate are filled by election every two Years. On the other hand, the House of Representatives is composed of ninety Members, elected to a Term of two Years; and Representatives are chosen by the qualified Electors of the State from thirty multi-member legislative Districts (each District choosing three Representatives). Each convocation of the Legislature covers a two-year period, and each convocation is called a “Legislature”. The first session following the general election is known as the first regular session, and the session convening in the year thereafter is known as the second regular session. Each regular session begins on the second Monday in January and adjourns sine die on the last Thursday in October. 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 only be extended by a simple majority Vote in each House by members in attendance.

Neither House of the Legislature can conduct official business without a Quorum of its Members being present, which in and for each House consists of a Majority of its whole Membership, and the approval of a simple Majority of that Quorum is required to approve most legislative instruments. The main exceptions to this rule are tax hike Bills, which require the approval in each House of no less than three-fifths of all the Members thereof; and Treaty ratification resolutions in the Senate, which require the assent of no less than two-thirds of all members of the Senate.

The Arizona Senate is the upper house of the Arizona Legislature; and is composed of 30 Senators who are elected on a county-basis in which the voters in each County elect between one and three Senators (more-populous Counties elect more Senators, but each County is entitled to at least one Senator). The leader of this body, the President of the Senate, is not an elected Member: Rather, he is appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Senate —The Senate, by majority Vote, nominates (“recommends”) a person to be their President, and the Governor executes the recommendation. In addition to being the head of the Senate, the Senate President, in his capacity as Lieutenant-Governor, is first in line to the Governorship.

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Security for the Arizona State Capitol and the surrounding Arizona Legislative Mall is provided by the Arizona Capitol Police Bureau, a division of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The Arizona Capitol Police Bureau also provides security and other protective services to State Legislators

Executive department
All executive Power of the State is vested in the Office of Governor. The Governor is both Chief of State and Head of the executive Department, as well as Commander-in-Chief of all military and police Forces (“security Forces”) of the State; however, while the Governor is the Commander-in-Chief of the Arizona State Troopers and the Arizona State Guard, only during emergencies may the Governor exercise personal Command over county Sheriffs and municipal Police —But the Arizona State Troopers, as a gendarmerie, is at all Times under the Command of the Governor. The Governor also presides over and leads the Executive Council (the equivalent of a Cabinet or executive Government in other States). The Governor is directly elected by the People of the State to a Term of four Years, renewable once consecutively. Arizona is one of the few States that do not maintain a Governor’s Mansion; however, the State Constitution requires the Governor and the rest of the Executive to maintain their “papers, effects, and offices” within the city limits of the “Seat of Government of the State,” currently designated as the City of Phoenix. This requirement only requires that the physical office of the Governor be within the Phoenix city limits (currently the Arizona State Capitol in Downtown Phoenix); there is no legal requirement that the Governor must also reside within the capital city. However, most Governors opt to live within the Phoenix Metro area during their tenure.

To assist the Governor in his Duties, and to carry out his Policies, there is a Body of Advisors called the Executive Council. The Executive Council, the equivalent of a Cabinet elsewhere, is composed of the Governor and the principle Officer in each of the executive Departments and independent executive Agencies of the State. The Governor presides over Meetings of the Executive Council. The Purpose of the Executive Council is to advise the Governor on all Matters affecting the Affairs of the various executive State Agencies, and the governance of the State in general. Together, the Governor, the Executive Council, the principle executive Departments and independent executive Agencies, and the civil Service form the Arizona Executive Department (the executive part (branch) of the Arizona State Government).

Judicial department
The judicial branch of the State consists of an integrated judicial department overseen by the Arizona supreme Court.

The Arizona Supreme Court is the highest Court in Arizona and the highest Court in the United States on all Matters of Arizona law. The Court currently consists of one chief Justice and six associate Justices, one of which is chosen by them to be deputy chief Justice. Justices are appointed by the Governor from a list recommended by a Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. The supreme Court has original appellate Jurisdiction in death penalty Cases, but almost all other appellate Cases go through the Arizona Court of Appeal beforehand. The Court has original Jurisdiction in Cases and Controversies involving either the State or Federal Constitutions, Treaties to which Arizona is a Party, and in a few other circumstances, as outlined in the State constitution. The Court may also declare Laws unconstitutional, but only while seated en banc. Originally meeting in the state Capitol until YYYY, the Court currently meet primarily in the Arizona State Courthouse at the southeastern end of the Arizona Capitol Mall, but also meet at various places throughout the State.

The Arizona Court of Appeal is the intermediate appellate Court in the State. As with Judges of the supreme Court, Judges of the Court of Appeal are appointed by the Governor from a list recommended by a Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. The head of this Court, the chief Judge, is selected by the Governor from among the various Judges of the Court of Appeal to a renewable Term of six Years.


 * Main articles: Arizona Superior Court (by division)

The general jurisdiction and general trial-level Court in Arizona is the Arizona Superior Court. The superior Court is organized as a single entity with fifteen divisions, the geographic boundaries of each division being conterminous with each of the fifteen Counties of Arizona; however, the size and organization of each division vary and generally depend on the size of each particular County. Judges of the superior Court are appointed in each County by the Governor from a list recommended by the Commission on Trial Court Appointments for the County in which that judicial Vacancy exists.

While there is no titular head of the entire superior Court, each of the fifteen County-based Divisions is led by a Presiding Judge: In and for each Division of the superior Court, the presiding Judge thereof is selected by the Governor from the various Judges of that division to a renewable Term of six Years.

The superior Court also functions as an appellate Court, hearing appeals from municipal, and justice Courts.

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Local government
Arizona is a unitary state, that has devolved a limited range of authority to county and municipal governments for the purpose of aiding the State in the administration of State laws and for local self-government. Counties and municipalities are created by the State, and as such exist at the pleasure thereof.

While the State Constitution prescribes the basic Structure and Framework of Counties (such as requiring that, at the very least, there be in each County a five-Member Board of Supervisors, Sheriff, County Attorney, Treasurer, [County] Superintendent of Public Instruction, Recorder, and Clerk; all elected by the People of the County, each to a Term of four Years) and Municipalities (such as requiring that each Municipality have, at the minimum, a City Council, Mayor, and Municipal Court, the former two being elected by the People of the Municpality, reserving to each Municipality the Power to choose whether its Judges are to be chosen by election or appointment; and defining the Terms of Office for Members of the City Council, Mayor, and Municipal Judges), barring an Act of the Legislature that decrees otherwise, Counties and Municipalities are generally free to further organize their Governments, so long as they adhere to the basic minimum set forth in the State Constitution.

As to the establishing of Counties and incorporating of Municipalities, the State Constitution also spells out the minimum requirements and procedures for doing so: In the Case of Counties, the Constitution sets forth a procedure where the People of an Area wishing to be a separate County petition the Legislature for such an Act, which then may choose to consider said petition (and if the Legislature approve, they then pass an organic act defining the name and boundaries of the new County and calling for a special election in the affected areas –the whole County if a portion thereof is petitioning to secede and create a new County– which, if approved at the polls, formally enacts the organic Act into law and formally executes the secession and creation of the new County). As to Municipalities, the State Constitution sets forth the procedure for incorporation, whereby the people of a contiguous Area must submit at least ten thousand signatures to the Legislature calling for incorporation, which then proceeds to consider the Matter. If the Legislature approves the request, they call for a special election in the affected area at which the People thereof are to choose members of a City Charter Committee (essentially a “constitutional convention” at the municipal level), and this Committee then drafts a Charter and submits it to the People for ratification which, if approved by them, formally incorporates the Municipality.

The Legislature cannot pass special Laws in most Cases, including as to Counties and Municipalities. Instead, all such legislation must be passed in the form of general Laws. Furthermore, the Legislature cannot dictate Terms or Organization to any specific County or Municipality, but must do so generally, for all Counties and for all Municipalities: Under Arizona Law, while Counties and Municipalities are not equal to each other as forms of local government, the State cannot grant preferential or discriminatory treatment to different Counties or to different Municipalities. However, as Counties are also established to aid the State in the administration of State laws, they are subsequently considered extensions of the State as well as instruments of local government. For this reason, the State generally has more control over Counties than over Municipalities; the main exception to this being during States of Emergency, where the State can, in some situations, commandeer certain County and Municipal Agencies, such as County Sheriff’s Offices and Municipal Police Departments during periods of Invasion, Insurrection or other public Danger.

Counties and municipalities do not posses any soverereign legislative, executive, or judicial Power of their own, but may only exercise those sovereign Powers of the State that the Legislature expressly devolves to them or does not otherwise prohibit (preempt). The Legislature can also act in reverse: Any power granted to counties and local governments by the Legislature can be retroceded back to the State if the Legislature so desires. The Legislature can even reserve Powers to the State, excluding them from Counties and Municipalities. Counties and municipalities are creations of the State, and as such exist and do so in such form and for such time as the State chooses. This concept is known as the Dillon Doctrine.

Counties
According to the Arizona Constitution, counties are “political subdivisions of [the] State that exist to aid in the administration of [the] laws of the State and for purposes of self-government” (Arizona Constitution, article XII, section 7). As Arizona is a unitary state, under Arizona law, counties are not sovereign and exist at the pleasure of the State of Arizona (devolution as opposed to federalism).

Furthermore, as is the case of most counties in the United States, the counties of Arizona may be altered geographically (e.g., redraw their boundaries), merged with other counties, or split from existing counties, or even abolished outright by the State government; and counties, as being merely extensions of the State-level government apparatus, have no recourse under law to challenge the State’s actions (just as a State Agency has no legal recourse to challenge its abolishment or any other alteration ordered by the Legislature). In addition, again as is the case of most counties in the United States, Arizona’s counties have no inherent power or authority of their own (hence their being non-sovereign), and can only exercise Powers that have been expressly devolved to them by the Legislature.

Municipal governments
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Township governments
There are no township governments in Arizona.

Public school systems
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Special district governments
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Federal government presence
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Law
Arizona is a common Law jurisdiction [...]

Arizona Constitution
The basic law of Arizona is the Arizona Constitution. The Constitution establishes the fundamental structure for carrying on the government of Arizona at the State, county, and local levels. The Constitution also establishes certain rights and freedoms that the State may never abrogate or abridge; however, some of these rights may be suspended or restricted in times of emergency, but only with the consent of the Legislature, and only for the duration of the emergency or thirty days, whichever is shorter.

The Constitution provides for legislative, executive, and judicial Departments, and, but for the purpose of checks and balances as by the Constitution is expressly provided, the Constitution prohibits any one of the three Departments from assuming or exercising any Power properly belonging to any of the other two.

Arizona Revised Statutes
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Rights and liberties
The unalienable, fundamental rights and liberties of the People of Arizona are contained in the Declaration of Rights and Freedoms, which is the second article of the Arizona Constitution.

Arizona State Troopers


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Sheriffs


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Local police
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Political culture
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Elections
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Taxation


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Tourism
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Water
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Energy


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Urbanization
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Women
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GLB
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Daily life
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Customs and etiquette
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Visual arts
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