Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

is a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

located in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. According to the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, Arizona is the 14th most populous state with 6,392,017 inhabitants and the 6th largest by land area spanning . Arizona is divided into 15 counties and contains 91 incorporated

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and

towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

. Incorporated places in Arizona are those that have been granted

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

, possessing a local government in the form of a city or town council. Most of the population is concentrated within the

Phoenix metropolitan area The Phoenix Metropolitan Area – also the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, or Metro Phoenix (known by most locals simply as “the Valley”) – is the largest metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States, centered on the city ...

, with an 2020 census population of 3,331,925 ( of the state population).

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

is the capital and largest city by population in Arizona with 1,608,139 residents, is ranked as the fifth most populous city in the United States, and land area spanning as of the 2020 census. The smallest municipality by population and land area is

Winkelman Winkelman is a town in Gila and Pinal counties in Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town was 353, all of whom lived in Gila County. History The community was named after Peter Winkelman, a local catt ...

with 296 residents in . The oldest incorporated place in Arizona is

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

which incorporated in 1877 and the most recent was the town of Tusayan which incorporated in March 2010.

Municipal incorporation

The

Arizona Constitution The Constitution of the State of Arizona is the governing document and framework for the State of Arizona. The current constitution is the first and only adopted by the state of Arizona. History The Arizona Territory was authorized to hold a ...

has, since its ratification in 1912, allowed for the creation of municipal corporations in any community with a population of 3,500 or greater. According to the constitution, a

municipal charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charter ...

cannot be created by special laws or by the

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

, but rather by the communities themselves as provided by general law. The population limit specified by the constitution was lowered by state law to a minimum of population of 1,500 for most locations, and further reduced to 500 for communities located within of a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

. State law further restricts the incorporation of new municipalities within urbanized areas, which are defined as a specific buffer zone surrounding existing cities and towns. State law allows for the incorporation of a community as either a city or a town; the only additional requirement to incorporate as a city is a minimum population of 3,000. Cities and towns in Arizona function largely in an identical manner, but cities are provided with additional powers that a town charter does not provide, limited primarily to certain powers regarding the regulation of utilities and construction within the city limits. State law allows adjoining towns to merge and it allows a city to annex a town, but it does not allow cities to merge. Additionally, a town may change its form of government to a city upon reaching the minimum population of 3,000. There are, however, large communities that have remained incorporated as a town in spite of attaining a large population; Gilbert, with 267,918 residents, remains incorporated as a town. Twenty Arizona municipalities were incorporated before 1912, when the state was admitted to the Union. As such, these cities and towns were incorporated by means other than those stipulated by current state law and the constitution. Phoenix, for example, was incorporated in 1881 by an act of the Territorial Legislature.

List of cities and towns

File:Downtown Phoenix Aerial Looking Northeast.jpg, alt=Aerial view of Downtown Phoenix, Arizona,

, Arizona's state capital and most populous municipality File:CatalinasAndTusconAZ.JPG, alt=Aerial view of Downtown Tucson, Arizona,

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, Arizona's second largest city by population File:Downtown Mesa Arizona.jpg, alt=Downtown Mesa, Arizona,

Mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...

, a suburb of Phoenix and Arizona's third largest city by population File:Chandler AZ downtown.jpg, alt=Downtown Chandler, Arizona,

Chandler Chandler or The Chandler may refer to: * Chandler (occupation), originally head of the medieval household office responsible for candles, now a person who makes or sells candles * Ship chandler, a dealer in supplies or equipment for ships Arts ...

, a suburb of Phoenix and Arizona's fourth largest city by population File:Gilbert-Gilbert Heritage District as viewed from Gilbert Rd..jpg, alt=Downtown Gilbert, Arizona,

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

, a suburb of Phoenix and Arizona's largest town and fifth largest municipality by population File:Glendale-Downtown Glendale.jpg,

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

, a suburb of Phoenix and Arizona's sixth largest city by population File:Scottsdale waterfront.jpg, alt=Waterfront view of Scottsdale, Arizona, Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix and Arizona's seventh largest city by population File:Peoria High School, Old Main Building.jpg, alt=Peoria High School, Peoria, a suburb of Phoenix and Arizona's eighth largest city by population File:Haydenferry.jpg, alt=Downtown Tempe, Arizona, Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix and Arizona's ninth largest city by population File:City_Hall_-_Surprise,_AZ,_USA_2250094.jpg, alt=Surprise City Hall, Surprise, a suburb of Phoenix and Arizona's tenth largest city by population

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Cities And Towns In Arizona ** Local government in Arizona

Cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Municipal incorporation

List of cities and towns

See also

Notes

References