Phoenix is a modern, sprawling city set in the middle of the sun-baked, saguaro-studded Sonoran Desert, and the contrasts don't end there.
The city is relatively new, with explosive growth that has pushed the population from 6,000 in 1900 to 1.5 million today. But it's also very old. The first inhabitants arrived at the beginning of the first millennium, as the Hohokam tribe moved north from Mexico.
The Hohokams built a civilization around irrigation canals that rivaled those in Egypt and China and enabled them to farm in the inhospitable climate. Many of those canal routes are still in use, though today they pass by homes and businesses as well as farmland.
Phoenix was named after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes in mythology to reflect the revitalization of the Hohokam lands by white settlers who arrived in the 1850s, four centuries after the Native Americans left for reasons that remain unclear.
The city gets sunshine 85 percent of the time and has highs above 100 for 110 days a year and above 110 for 18 days a year. But it also gets slammed by violent thunderstorms that bring hundreds of lightning strikes coupled with dust storms, torrential rains, or both. The total annual rainfall is 8 inches, with weeks going by without a drop. Snow is rare.
Phoenix is known for its resort and retirement lifestyle. But the average age of residents is 31, six years below the U.S. average. In 2000, 29 percent of Phoenix residents were under 18, compared to the 8 percent who were over 65.
Phoenix sits in the Salt RiverValley, but its desert setting isn't just about wide open spaces. Phoenix is surrounded by mountains-the Superstitions, SouthMountain, the McDowells, the White Tanks, the Estrellas, and others, and its best-known geographical feature is CamelbackMountain, which looks like a resting camel.
Phoenix is the dominant city in the Valley of the Sun, as the region is best known, but metropolitan Phoenix features six other major cities-Mesa, Glendale, Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler and Peoria-plus more than a dozen smaller cities and towns and large unincorporated communities such as Sun City, Sun City West and Sun City Grand.
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Phoenix Phoenix Facts
Population: 1.5 million (Census Bureau estimate for 2006)
Land area: 519 square miles
County: Maricopa (
Altitude: 1,128 feet above sea level
Climate: Hot summers, mild winters, and moderate humidity. Annual precipitation of 8 inches. Sun shines 85 percent of the time.
Summer weather: Average high in July is 106, with 26 days above 100 and five days above 110. Average low in July is 82. Monsoon storms in the summer can bring severe thunderstorms with heavy rain, large hail and strong winds.
Winter weather: Winters are warm, and snow is rare, with just seven days reporting snow since 1886. January has an average high of 65 and low of 41.