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Southern Arizona is a region of the United States comprising the southernmost portion of the State of Arizona. It sometimes goes by the name Gadsden or Baja Arizona, which means "Lower Arizona" in Spanish.
Although Southern Arizona's boundaries are not well-defined, it is generally considered to include all areas south of the Gila River but sometimes only Cochise County, Pima County and Santa Cruz County, anchored by the city of Tucson. Other cities and large towns in Southern Arizona include Ajo, Casa Grande, Gila Bend, Oro Valley, Sierra Vista, Yuma, and the border cities of Nogales and Douglas.
Furthermore, the populated areas of Southern Arizona include the major U.S. Army post of Fort Huachuca and Davis–Monthan Air Force Base of the U.S. Air Force.
The most major scientific site of Southern Arizona is the set of several astronomical observatories of the Kitt Peak National Observatory, a reasonable distance west-southwest of Tucson.
Southern Arizona is the location of several large national monuments protecting the scenery, wildlife, and archaeological sites of Southern Arizona, and the Saguaro National Park, which stands on two large sections of land, one west of the Tucson metropolitan area and the other one east of Tucson.
The region includes several small mountain ranges including the Chiricahua Mountains, Huachuca Mountains, Santa Ritas, the Santa Catalinas, the Rincons, the Piñalenos, and others. As surprising as it might seem, some of these mountains are high enough, cold enough, and wet enough in the wintertime to provide alpine skiing at regular ski resorts, with ski lifts, not very distant from cities such as Tucson.
Significant distances requiring transportation in Southern Arizona are generally traveled by highway and the railroad. Southern Arizona is the location of the major transcontinental Interstate highway Interstate 10 from the border with New Mexico westward through Tucson, and then continuing northwest via Casa Grande to the Phoenix–Scottsdale–Mesa metropolis. Also, running westward from Casa Grande is Interstate 8, which goes via Yuma into California, crossing the Colorado River. Finally, the short Interstate 19 runs south from Tucson to Nogales, Arizona, and a major border crossing into Mexico. In addition, the much older Federal highway, U.S. Route 80, crosses Southern Arizona from east to west from the New Mexico border, nearly to the California border, and formerly into California to the Pacific Ocean. However, its westernmost stretch has been replaced by Interstate 8, which was built on top of it and its right-of-way.
A Transcontinental Railroad crosses Southern Arizona via Tucson and Phoenix. Also, there is a major railroad south from Northern Arizona, via Phoenix, Casa Grande, and Tucson, to Nogales, where it crosses the border and meets the Mexican railroads.
The primary major airport of southern Arizona, Tucson International Airport, is located just south of Tucson.
Southern Arizona has been inhabited by human beings for several millennia. The Hohokam were the principal Pre-Columbian inhabitants of the area. In more recent times, the dominant indigenous group of Native Americans have been the O'odham tribe, which continues to reside in this area in their traditional homeland.
Several Spanish missions were established in the early 18th century by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino in what was then known as the Pimería Alta. After the Mexican–American War of 1846–47, much of Southern Arizona was purchased by the United States from Mexico for $15,000,000 in the Gadsden Purchase of 1854.
More recently, Southern Arizona played an important role during the Cold War. Davis-Monthan AFB was the home base of an air force wing of 18 heavy Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles dispersed over a wide area of launch sites – south, southwest, and southeast of Tucson. About 20 years ago,[ when? ] due to their advancing age and the advent of several important Strategic Nuclear Weapons Reduction treaties, all of these missiles were retired from service. All but one of their launch silos and command shelters were demolished with explosives. The remaining site, Titan II ICBM Site 571-7, about 15 miles south of Tucson on Interstate 19, serves as the Titan Missile Museum, a National Historic Landmark.
Beginning in 1987, a group of southern Arizonans have considered seceding from the rest of Arizona to form a new U.S. state, potentially named Baja Arizona or Gadsden. A political push to that effect began in February, 2011, led by a group of attorneys largely in opposition to what they perceived as a nativist, conservative dominance in the Phoenix area in contrast to the Democrats of the south. The organizers of this movement had aimed to hold a referendum vote on the matter in 2012 in Pima County (and, possibly, Santa Cruz County and Cochise County). [1] [2] [3] As of 2013 [update] , no ballot initiatives had been generated.
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States, and is home to the University of Arizona. It is the second largest city in Arizona, with a population of 542,629 in the 2020 United States Census, while the population of the entire Tucson metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is 1,043,433. The Tucson MSA forms part of the larger Tucson-Nogales combined statistical area (CSA). Tucson is the second most-populated city in Arizona behind Phoenix, both of which anchor the Arizona Sun Corridor. The city is 108 miles (174 km) southeast of Phoenix and 60 mi (97 km) north of the U.S.–Mexico border. Tucson is the 33rd largest city and the 58th largest metropolitan area in the United States (2014).
Interstate 19 (I-19) is a north–south Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Arizona. I-19 travels from Nogales, roughly 300 feet (91 m) from the Mexican border, to Tucson, at I-10. The highway also travels through the cities of Rio Rico, Green Valley, and Sahuarita.
Pima County is a county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, the population was 980,263, making it Arizona's second-most populous county. The county seat is Tucson, where most of the population is centered. The county is named after the Pima Native Americans who are indigenous to this area.
Sahuarita is a town in Pima County, Arizona, United States. Sahuarita is located south of the Tohono O'odham Nation and abuts the north end of Green Valley, 15 miles (24 km) south of Tucson. The population was 25,259 at the 2010 census.
Nogales is a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The population was 20,837 at the 2010 census and estimated 20,103 in 2019. Nogales forms part of the larger Tucson-Nogales combined statistical area, with a total population of 1,027,683 as of the 2010 Census. The city is the county seat of Santa Cruz County.
The Gadsden Purchase is a 29,670-square-mile (76,800 km2) region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States acquired from Mexico by the Treaty of Mesilla, which took effect on June 8, 1854. The purchase included lands south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande where the U.S. wanted to build a transcontinental railroad along a deep southern route, which the Southern Pacific Railroad later completed in 1881–1883. The purchase also aimed to resolve other border issues.
James Gadsden was an American diplomat, soldier and businessman after whom the Gadsden Purchase is named, pertaining to land which the United States bought from Mexico, and which became the southern portions of Arizona and New Mexico. James Gadsden served as Adjutant General of the U. S. Army from August 13, 1821 – March 22, 1822. Between 1853 and 1856, he served as U. S. Minister to Mexico. He was known commonly as General Gadsden, although he never had a rank above Colonel.
The Coronado National Forest is a United States National Forest that includes an area of about 1.78 million acres (7,200 km2) spread throughout mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.
Interstate 11 (I-11) is an Interstate Highway that currently runs for 22.8 miles (36.7 km) on a predominantly northwest–southeast alignment in the U.S. state of Nevada, running concurrently with U.S. Route 93 (US 93) between the Arizona state line and Henderson. The freeway is tentatively planned to run from Nogales, Arizona, to the vicinity of Reno, Nevada, generally following the current routes of I-19, I-10, US 93 and US 95. Planners anticipate upgrading two existing highway segments to carry future I-11: US 93 in Arizona from Wickenburg to the Nevada state line on the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge over the Colorado River and US 95 in Nevada from the edge of the Las Vegas Valley to Tonopah. An exact alignment for I-11 has yet to be determined outside of these sections or through the Las Vegas Valley; however, a number of corridor alternatives have been identified for further study and refinement.
The CANAMEX corridor is a series of improvements to freeways and other transportation infrastructure linking Canada to Mexico through the United States. The corridor was established under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Currently the corridor is defined by a series of highways. However, the corridor is also proposed for use by railroads and fiber optic telecommunications infrastructure.
Area code 520 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of Arizona. The numbering plan area comprises Tucson and most of the southeastern part of the state.
In the U.S. state of Arizona, Interstate 10 (I‑10), the major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States Sun Belt, runs east from California, enters Arizona near the town of Ehrenberg and continues through Phoenix and Tucson and exits at the border with New Mexico near San Simon. The highway also runs through the cities of Casa Grande, Eloy and Marana. Segments of the highway are referred to as either the Papago Freeway, Inner Loop or Maricopa Freeway within the Phoenix area and the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway outside metro Phoenix.
Arizona State Route 93, abbreviated SR 93, was a state highway in Arizona that existed from 1946 to 1991. The route was co-signed with other highways along nearly all of its route from Kingman to the border at Nogales. SR 93 was the original designation for the highway from Kingman to Wickenburg, which was built in 1946. In 1965, the northern terminus of the state route was moved south to an unnamed desert junction with U.S. Route 89 just north of Wickenburg, and the southern terminus of U.S. Route 93 was moved south to the US 89 junction. The Arizona Highway Department sought U.S. Highway status for SR 93 across the rest of the state, but the proposal was never granted by AASHTO. On December 17, 1984, the SR 93 designation was removed south of the Grand Avenue/Van Buren Street/7th Avenue intersection in Phoenix. The route was completely decommissioned in 1991.
The transportation system of Arizona comprises car, rail, air, bus, and bicycle transport.
The Huachuca Mountains are part of the Sierra Vista Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest in Cochise County in southeastern Arizona, approximately 70 miles (110 km) south-southeast of Tucson and southwest of the city of Sierra Vista. Included in this area is the highest peak in the Huachucas, Miller Peak, and the region of the Huachucas known as Canelo Hills in eastern Santa Cruz County. The mountains range in elevation from 3,934 feet (1,199 m) at the base to 9,466 feet (2,885 m) at the top of Miller Peak. The second highest peak in this range is Carr Peak, elevation 9,200 feet (2,804 m). The Huachuca Mountain area is managed principally by the United States Forest Service (41%) and the U.S. Army (20%), with much of the rest being private land (32%). Sierra Vista is the main population center.
The West Silver Bell Mountains are a small 10 mile (16 km) long mountain range of south-central Arizona, United States. The range lies in the north-central arid Sonoran Desert; the Madrean Sky Islands region of southeast Arizona, around Tucson is adjacent to the southeast.
The Little Rincon Mountains are a small range of mountains, lying to the east of the Rincon Mountains, at Tucson, of eastern Pima County, Arizona. The range is located in northwest Cochise County and is part of the western border of the San Pedro River and Valley, the major valley and river of western Cochise County. The river is northward flowing to meet the Gila River; its headwaters are south of the US-Mexico border in northern Sonora. A small part of the Little Rincon range's southwest lies in Pima County.
The Arizona Sun Corridor, shortened Sun Corridor, is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of Arizona. The Sun Corridor is comparable to Indiana in both size and population. It is one of the fastest growing conurbations in the country and is speculated to double its population by 2040. The largest metropolitan areas are the Phoenix metropolitan area - Valley of the Sun - and the Tucson metropolitan area. The regions' populace is nestled in the valley of a desert environment. Similar to Southern California, the urban area extends into Mexico, reaching the communities of Nogales and Agua Prieta.
The capital of the Arizona Territory was established in Prescott, but was moved to Tucson, back to Prescott, and finally to Phoenix over 25 years as political power shifted as the territory grew, developed, and stabilized. Each move was controversial.
