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Arizona is located in the Southwestern region of the United States and ranks as the 6h largest state
in total area by covering 114,006 square miles (295,274 square kilometers or 29,527,418 hectares).
Land areas of Arizona cover 113,642 square miles (294,331 square kilometers or 29,433,143 hectares),
whereas 364 square miles (943 square kilometers or 94,275 hectares) of Arizona are covered by water,
ranking the Grand Canyon State third only to New Mexico and Wyoming for being the driest state in the
country. Arizona is bordered by Utah to the north, the country Mexico to the south, to the east by
New Mexico and to the west by Nevada and California.
Geographically, the state is divided into three regions: the Colorado Plateau, the Transition
Zone, and the Basin and Range Region. The Colorado Plateau covers northern Arizona and is comprised
of a mostly flat, dry land with deep canyons and high peaks. The Colorado River runs through the
deepest canyon, the Grand Canyon, in this region. The northern portion of this region is home to
Monument Valley, with its mesas, buttes, and pinnacles created by erosion. The Mogollon Rim
represents the southern border of the Colorado Plateau, and is an escarpment stretching from central
Arizona to the Mogollon Mountains in New Mexico. The Transition Zone is a region of mountain ranges
and valleys south of the Colorado Plateau. South of the Transition Zone is the Basin and Range
Region, characterized by desert basins with mountain ranges extending northwest to southeast. The
highest point in Arizona is Humphreys
Peak at 12,633 feet (3.85 kilometers) above sea level; the state’s lowest point is the Colorado
River, at 70 feet (21.3 meters) above sea level.
Many important rivers flow through the Grand Canyon State, some of which prove vital to Arizona as
well as California for providing water. These rivers include the Colorado, Little Colorado, Gila, and
Salt Rivers. Irrigation projects essential to Arizona have been made possible via dams such as the
Horse Mesa, Roosevelt, Mormon Flat, Stewart Mountain, Coolidge, Hoover, Davis, Glen Canyon, Parker,
Laguna, and Imperial Dams. As a result of these dams, reservoirs such as Lake Mead, Lake Powell, Lake
Mohave, Lake Havasu, Roosevelt Lake, and San Carlos Lake are of great importance.
Arizona’s climate is influenced by elevation and topography, and moisture from the Pacific Ocean,
Gulf of California, and Gulf of Mexico; occasionally air masses from Canada also have an effect. The
Grand Canyon State has a primarily dry climate, with a broad range of temperatures as well as
precipitation extremes depending on location. Flagstaff experiences average daily January
temperatures ranging from 14 to 41 degrees F (-10 to 5 degrees C), and average July temperatures
ranging from 50 to 81 degrees F (10 to 27.2 degrees C). However, in Yuma, average daily January
temperatures range from 43 to 67 degrees F (6.1 to 19.4 degrees C) and from 81 to 106 degrees F (27.2
to 41.1 degrees C) in July. Precipitation ranges from between 25 to 30 inches (63.5 to 76.2
centimeters) annually from southeast to northwest, in the highest elevations, to between 7 and 20
inches (17.8 to 50.8 centimeters) annually in the rest of the state. The highest peaks can receive
as much as 100 inches (254 centimeters) of snow per year, while it is rare in the rest of the state.
The extreme southwest of Arizona receives less than 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) of precipitation per
year. In July and August, occasional severe thunderstorms occur, sometimes resulting in flash
flooding. Perhaps most famously, Arizona is known for its ample sunshine, which it receives more of
than most of the U.S.
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