Utah ( , ) 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 ...
in the
Mountain West subregion of 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 We ...
. Utah is a
landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
, to its northeast by
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
, to its north by
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
, to its south by
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 ...
, and to its west by
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
. Utah also touches
a corner of
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
in the southeast. Of the
fifty U.S. states, Utah is the
13th-largest by area; with a population over three million, it is the
30th-most-populous and
11th-least-densely populated. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two areas: the
Wasatch Front
The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the nort ...
in the north-central part of the state, which is home to roughly two-thirds of the population and includes the capital city,
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
; and
Washington County in the southwest, with more than 180,000 residents. Most of the western half of Utah lies in the
Great Basin.
Utah has been inhabited for thousands of years by various
indigenous groups
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
such as the
ancient Puebloans, Navajo and Ute. The Spanish were the first Europeans to arrive in the mid-16th century, though the region's difficult geography and harsh climate made it a peripheral part of
New Spain and later Mexico. Even while it was Mexican territory, many of Utah's earliest settlers were American, particularly Mormons fleeing marginalization and persecution from the United States. Following the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
in 1848, the region was
annexed by the U.S., becoming part of the
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...
, which included what is now Colorado and Nevada. Disputes between the dominant Mormon community and the federal government delayed Utah's admission as a state; only after the outlawing of polygamy was it admitted in 1896 as the
45th.
People from Utah are known as Utahns. Slightly over half of all Utahns are
Mormons, the vast majority of whom are members of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
(LDS Church), which has its world headquarters in Salt Lake City; Utah is the only state where a majority of the population belongs to a single church. The LDS Church greatly influences Utahn culture, politics, and daily life,
though since the 1990s the state has become more religiously diverse as well as secular.
Utah has a highly diversified economy, with major sectors including transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, and tourism. Utah has been one of the fastest growing states since 2000, with the
2020 U.S. 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 ...
confirming the fastest population growth in the nation since 2010.
St. George was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. Utah ranks among the overall best states in metrics such as healthcare, governance, education, and infrastructure. It has the
14th-highest median average income and the
least income inequality of any U.S. state. Over time and influenced by
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
,
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
s in Utah have been increasing in frequency and severity, putting a further strain on Utah's
water security
Water security is the focused goal of water policy and water management. A society with a high level of water security makes the most of water's benefits for humans and ecosystems and limits the risk of destructive impacts associated with water. T ...
and impacting the state’s economy.
Etymology
The name ''Utah'' is said to derive from the name of the
Ute tribe
Ute () are the Indigenous people of the Ute tribe and culture among the Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. They had lived in sovereignty in the regions of present-day Utah and Colorado in the Southwestern United States for many centuries unt ...
, meaning 'people of the mountains'.
[Utah Quick Facts](_blank)
at Utah.gov However, no such word actually exists in the Utes' language, and the Utes refer to themselves as . The meaning of ''Utes'' as 'the mountain people' has been attributed to the neighboring Pueblo Indians, as well as to the
Apache word , which means 'one that is higher up' or 'those that are higher up'.
In
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
it was pronounced ; subsequently English-speaking people may have adapted the word as ''Utah''.
History
Pre-Columbian
![California1838](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/California1838.jpg)
Thousands of years before the arrival of European explorers, the
Ancestral Puebloans and the
Fremont people lived in what is now known as Utah, some of which spoke languages of the
Uto-Aztecan group. Ancestral Pueblo peoples built their homes through
excavations
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
in mountains, and the Fremont people built houses of straw before disappearing from the region around the 15th century.
Another group of Native Americans, the
Navajo, settled in the region around the 18th century. In the mid-18th century, other Uto-Aztecan tribes, including the
Goshute
The Goshutes are a tribe of Western Shoshone Native Americans. There are two federally recognized Goshute tribes today:
* Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, located in Nevada and Utah
* Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of Utah o ...
, the
Paiute
Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Paiu ...
, the
Shoshone, and the Ute people, also settled in the region. These five groups were present when the first European explorers arrived.
Spanish exploration (1540)
The southern Utah region was explored by the Spanish in 1540, led by
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, while looking for the legendary
Cíbola. A group led by two Catholic priests—sometimes called the
Domínguez–Escalante expedition—left
Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the coast of California. The expedition traveled as far north as
Utah Lake
Utah Lake is a shallow freshwater lake in the center of Utah County, Utah, United States. It lies in Utah Valley, surrounded by the Provo- Orem metropolitan area. The lake's only river outlet, the Jordan River, is a tributary of the Great Salt ...
and encountered the native residents. The Spanish made further explorations in the region but were not interested in colonizing the area because of its desert nature. In 1821, the year Mexico achieved its independence from Spain, the region became known as part of its territory of
Alta California.
European trappers and
fur traders
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mo ...
explored some areas of Utah in the early 19th century from Canada and the United States. The city of
Provo, Utah, was named for one
Étienne Provost
Étienne Provost (1785 – 3 July 1850) was a Canadian fur trader whose trapping and trading activities in the American southwest preceded Mexican independence. He was also known as Proveau and Provot (and the pronunciation was "Pra-vo"). Leadi ...
, who visited the area in 1825. The city of
Ogden, Utah, was named after
Peter Skene Ogden, a Canadian explorer who traded furs in the Weber Valley.
In late 1824,
Jim Bridger
James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old ...
became the first known English-speaking person to sight the
Great Salt Lake. Due to the high
salinity of its waters, he thought he had found the Pacific Ocean; he subsequently learned this body of water was a giant
salt lake. After the discovery of the lake, hundreds of American and Canadian traders and trappers established trading posts in the region. In the 1830s, thousands of migrants traveling from the Eastern United States to the American West began to make stops in the region of the Great Salt Lake, then known as Lake Youta.
Latter Day Saint settlement (1847)
![BrighamYoung1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/BrighamYoung1.jpg)
Following the
death of Joseph Smith in 1844,
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as ch ...
, as president of the
Quorum of the Twelve
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve (also known as the Council of the Twelve, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Council of the Twelve Apostles, or the Twelve) is one of the governing bodies or ( quorums) of the church hie ...
, became the leader of the LDS Church in
Nauvoo, Illinois. To address the growing conflicts between his people and their neighbors, Young agreed with Illinois Governor
Thomas Ford in October 1845 that the Mormons would leave by the following year.
Young and the first group of Mormon pioneers reached the
Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. Over the next 22 years, more than 70,000 pioneers crossed the plains and settled in Utah. For the first few years, Brigham Young and the thousands of early settlers of Salt Lake City struggled to survive. The arid desert land was deemed by the Mormons as desirable as a place where they could practice their religion without harassment.
Settlers buried thirty-six Native Americans in one grave after an outbreak of measles occurred during the winter of 1847.
The first group of settlers brought African slaves with them, making Utah the only place in the western United States to have African slavery. Three slaves, Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby, came west with the first group of settlers in 1847. The settlers also began to purchase Indian slaves in the well-established Indian slave trade,
as well as enslaving Indian prisoners of war.
Utah was Mexican territory when the first pioneers arrived in 1847. Early in the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
in late 1846, the United States had taken control of
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
and California. The entire Southwest
became U.S. territory upon the signing of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...
, February 2, 1848. The treaty was ratified by the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
on March 11. Learning that California and New Mexico were applying for statehood, the settlers of the Utah area (originally having planned to petition for territorial status) applied for statehood with an ambitious plan for a
State of Deseret
The State of Deseret (modern pronunciation , contemporaneously ) was a proposed state of the United States, proposed in 1849 by settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Salt Lake City. The provisional stat ...
.
The Mormon settlements provided pioneers for other settlements in the West. Salt Lake City became the hub of a "far-flung commonwealth" of Mormon settlements. With new church converts coming from the East and around the world, Church leaders often assigned groups of church members as missionaries to establish other settlements throughout the West. They developed irrigation to support fairly large pioneer populations along Utah's Wasatch front (Salt Lake City, Bountiful and Weber Valley, and Provo and Utah Valley). Throughout the remainder of the 19th century, Mormon pioneers established hundreds of other settlements in Utah,
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
,
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 ...
,
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
—including in
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...
;
Franklin, Idaho
Franklin is a city in Franklin County, Idaho, United States. The population was 641 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Logan, Utah-Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The town was founded by Mormon pioneers led by Thomas S. Smart ...
(the first European settlement in Idaho);
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 ce ...
;
Mesa, Arizona;
Star Valley, Wyoming; and
Carson Valley, Nevada
Douglas County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of th2020 Census the population was 49,488. Its county seat is Minden. Douglas County comprises the Gardnerville Ranchos, NV Micropolitan Statistical Area, w ...
.
Prominent settlements in Utah included
St. George,
Logan, and
Manti (where settlers completed the LDS Church's first three
temples
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
in Utah, each started after but finished many years before the larger and better known temple built in Salt Lake City was completed in 1893), as well as Parowan, Cedar City, Bluff, Moab, Vernal, Fillmore (which served as the territorial capital between 1850 and 1856), Nephi, Levan, Spanish Fork, Springville, Provo Bench (now
Orem
Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City.
Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah M ...
), Pleasant Grove, American Fork, Lehi, Sandy, Murray, Jordan, Centerville, Farmington, Huntsville, Kaysville, Grantsville, Tooele, Roy, Brigham City, and many other smaller towns and settlements. Young had an expansionist's view of the territory that he and the Mormon pioneers were settling, calling it Deseret—which according to the
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude d ...
was an ancient word for "honeybee". This is symbolized by the beehive on the Utah flag, and the state's motto, "Industry".
Utah Territory (1850–1896)
![East west shaking hands by russell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/East_west_shaking_hands_by_russell.jpg)
The Utah Territory was much smaller than the proposed state of Deseret, but it still contained all of the present states of Nevada and Utah as well as pieces of modern Wyoming and
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
. It was created with the
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–Am ...
, and
Fillmore, named after President
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...
, was designated the capital. The territory was given the name Utah after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. Salt Lake City replaced Fillmore as the territorial capital in 1856.
By 1850, there were around 100 black people in the territory, the majority of whom were slaves.
In Salt Lake County, 26 slaves were counted.
In 1852, the territorial legislature passed the
Act in Relation to Service
The Act in Relation to Service, which was passed on Feb 4, 1852 in the Utah Territory, made slavery legal in the territory. A similar law, Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners was passed on March 7, 1852, and specifically dealt ...
and the
Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners formally legalizing slavery in the territory. Slavery was abolished in the territory during the Civil War.
In 1850, Salt Lake City sent out a force known as the
Nauvoo Legion
The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Saint ...
and engaged the
Timpanogos
The Timpanogos (Timpanog, Utahs or Utah Indians) were a tribe of Native Americans who inhabited a large part of central Utah, in particular, the area from Utah Lake east to the Uinta Mountains and south into present-day Sanpete County.
Most Tim ...
in the
Battle at Fort Utah
The Battle at Fort Utah (also known as Fort Utah War or Provo War) was a battle between the Timpanogos Tribe and remnants of the Nauvoo Legion at Fort Utah in modern-day Provo, Utah. The Timpanogos people initially tolerated the presence of the ...
.
Disputes between the Mormon inhabitants and the
U.S. government intensified due to the practice of
plural marriage, or
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
, among members of the LDS Church. The Mormons were still pushing for the establishment of a State of Deseret with the new borders of the Utah Territory. Most, if not all, of the members of the U.S. government opposed the polygamous practices of the Mormons.
Members of the LDS Church were viewed as un-American and rebellious when news of their polygamous practices spread. In 1857, particularly heinous accusations of abdication of government and general immorality were leveled by former associate justice William W. Drummond, among others. The detailed reports of life in Utah caused the administration of
James Buchanan to send a secret military "expedition" to Utah. When the supposed rebellion should be quelled,
Alfred Cumming would take the place of Brigham Young as territorial governor. The resulting conflict is known as the
Utah War
The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the US go ...
, nicknamed "Buchanan's Blunder" by the Mormon leaders.
In September 1857, about 120 American settlers of the Baker–Fancher wagon train, en route to California from Arkansas, were murdered by
Utah Territorial Militia and some
Paiute
Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Paiu ...
Native Americans in the
Mountain Meadows massacre
The Mountain Meadows Massacre (September 7–11, 1857) was a series of attacks during the Utah War that resulted in the mass murder of at least 120 members of the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train. The massacre occurred in the southern U ...
.
Before troops led by
Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) served as a general in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, figh ...
entered the territory, Brigham Young ordered all residents of Salt Lake City to evacuate southward to
Utah Valley
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
and sent out the Nauvoo Legion to delay the government's advance. Although wagons and supplies were burned, eventually the troops arrived in 1858, and Young surrendered official control to Cumming, although most subsequent commentators claim that Young retained true power in the territory. A steady stream of governors appointed by the president quit the position, often citing the traditions of their supposed territorial government. By agreement with Young, Johnston established
Camp Floyd
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
, away from Salt Lake City, to the southwest.
Salt Lake City was the last link of the
First Transcontinental Telegraph
The first transcontinental telegraph (completed October 24, 1861) was a line that connected the existing telegraph network in the eastern United States to a small network in California, by means of a link between Omaha, Nebraska and Carson City, ...
, completed in October 1861. Brigham Young was among the first to send a message, along with
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
and other officials.
Because of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, federal troops were pulled out of Utah Territory in 1861. This was a boon to the local economy as the army sold everything in camp for pennies on the dollar before marching back east to join the war. The territory was then left in LDS hands until
Patrick E. Connor arrived with a regiment of California volunteers in 1862. Connor established
Fort Douglas
Camp Douglas was established in October 1862, during the American Civil War, as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, to protect the overland mail route and telegraph lines along the Central Overland Route. I ...
just east of Salt Lake City and encouraged his people to discover mineral deposits to bring more non-Mormons into the territory. Minerals were discovered in
Tooele County and miners began to flock to the territory.
Beginning in 1865,
Utah's Black Hawk War developed into the deadliest conflict in the territory's history. Chief
Antonga Black Hawk
Antonga, or Black Hawk (born c. 1830; died September 26, 1870), was a nineteenth-century war chief of the Timpanogos Tribe in what is the present-day state of Utah. He led the Timpanogos against Mormon settlers and gained alliances with Paiute ...
died in 1870, but fights continued to break out until additional federal troops were sent in to suppress the
Ghost Dance of 1872. The war is unique among
Indian Wars
The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...
because it was a three-way conflict, with mounted Timpanogos
Utes led by Antonga Black Hawk fighting federal and LDS authorities.
On May 10, 1869, the
First transcontinental railroad was completed at
Promontory Summit
Promontory is an area of high ground in Box Elder County, Utah, United States, 32 mi (51 km) west of Brigham City and 66 mi (106 km) northwest of Salt Lake City. Rising to an elevation of 4,902 feet (1,494 m) above sea ...
, north of the Great Salt Lake.
The railroad brought increasing numbers of people into the territory and several influential businesspeople made fortunes there.
During the 1870s and 1880s laws were passed to punish polygamists due, in part, to stories from Utah. Notably,
Ann Eliza Young
Ann Eliza Young (September 13, 1844 – December 7, 1917) also known as Ann Eliza Webb Dee Young Denning was one of Brigham Young's fifty-five wives and later a critic of polygamy. Her autobiography, ''Wife No. 19,'' was a recollection of her ex ...
—tenth wife to divorce Brigham Young, women's advocate, national lecturer and author of ''Wife No.19 or My Life of Bondage'' and Mr. and Mrs. Fanny Stenhouse, authors of ''The Rocky Mountain Saints'' (T. B. H. Stenhouse, 1873) and ''Tell It All: My Life in Mormonism'' (Fanny Stenhouse, 1875). Both Ann Eliza and Fanny testify to the happiness of the very early Church members before polygamy. They independently published their books in 1875. These books and the lectures of Ann Eliza Young have been credited with the United States Congress passage of anti-polygamy laws by newspapers throughout the United States as recorded in "The Ann Eliza Young Vindicator", a pamphlet which detailed Ms Young's travels and warm reception throughout her lecture tour.
T. B. H. Stenhouse, former Utah Mormon polygamist, Mormon missionary for thirteen years and a Salt Lake City newspaper owner, finally left Utah and wrote ''The Rocky Mountain Saints''. His book gives a witnessed account of life in Utah, both the good and the bad. He finally left Utah and Mormonism after financial ruin occurred when Brigham Young sent Stenhouse to relocate to Ogden, Utah, according to Stenhouse, to take over his thriving pro-Mormon ''Salt Lake Telegraph'' newspaper. In addition to these testimonies, ''The Confessions of John D. Lee'', written by John D. Lee—alleged "Scape goat" for the
Mountain Meadow Massacre
The Mountain Meadows Massacre (September 7–11, 1857) was a series of attacks during the Utah War that resulted in the mass murder of at least 120 members of the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train. The massacre occurred in the southern Ut ...
—also came out in 1877. The corroborative testimonies coming out of Utah from Mormons and former Mormons influenced Congress and the people of the United States.
In the
1890 Manifesto, the LDS Church banned polygamy. When Utah applied for statehood again, it was accepted. One of the conditions for granting Utah statehood was that a ban on polygamy be written into the state constitution. This was a condition required of other western states that were admitted into the Union later. Statehood was officially granted on January 4, 1896.
20th century to present
![Children reading 1940](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Children_reading_1940.jpg)
Beginning in the early 20th century, with the establishment of such national parks as
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park () is an American national park located in southwestern Utah. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern ...
and
Zion National Park
Zion National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety of ...
, Utah became known for its natural beauty. Southern Utah became a popular filming spot for arid, rugged scenes featured in the popular mid-century western film genre. From such films, most US residents recognize such natural landmarks as
Delicate Arch and "the Mittens" of
Monument Valley. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, with the construction of the
Interstate highway system, accessibility to the southern scenic areas was made easier.
Since the establishment of
Alta Ski Area
Alta is a ski area in the western United States, located in the town of Alta in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, in Salt Lake County. With a skiable area of , Alta's base elevation is and rises to for a vertical gain of . One of the oldest ski ...
in 1939 and the subsequent
development of several ski resorts in the state's mountains, Utah's skiing has become world-renowned. The dry, powdery snow of the
Wasatch Range
The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the G ...
is considered some of the best skiing in the world (the state license plate once claimed "the Greatest Snow on Earth"). Salt Lake City won the bid for the
2002 Winter Olympic Games
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internationa ...
, and this served as a great boost to the economy. The ski resorts have increased in popularity, and many of the Olympic venues built along the
Wasatch Front
The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the nort ...
continue to be used for sporting events. Preparation for the Olympics spurred the development of the light-rail system in the
Salt Lake Valley, known as
TRAX, and the re-construction of the freeway system around the city.
In 1957, Utah created the Utah State Parks Commission with four parks. Today,
Utah State Parks
Utah State Parks is the common name for the Division of Utah State Parks and Recreation; a division of the Utah Department of Natural Resources. This is the state agency that manages the state park system of the U.S. state of Utah.
Utah's ...
manages 43 parks and several undeveloped areas totaling over of land and more than of water. Utah's state parks are scattered throughout Utah, from
Bear Lake State Park at the Utah/Idaho border to
Edge of the Cedars State Park
Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum is a state park and museum of Utah, USA, located in Blanding. It is an Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site, a museum, and an archaeological repository. Cowboys from the nearby town of Bluff
Bluff or The ...
Museum deep in the
Four Corners region and everywhere in between. Utah State Parks is also home to the state's
off highway vehicle
An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with de ...
office, state boating office and the trails program.
During the late 20th century, the state grew quickly. In the 1970s growth was phenomenal in the suburbs of the Wasatch Front.
Sandy was one of the fastest-growing cities in the country at that time. Today, many areas of Utah continue to see boom-time growth. Northern
Davis, southern and western
Salt Lake,
Summit, eastern
Tooele
Tooele ( ) is a city in Tooele County in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 35,742 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Tooele County. Located approximately 30 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City, Tooele is known for Tooele Army ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
,
Wasatch, and
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
counties are all growing very quickly. Management of transportation and urbanization are major issues in politics, as development consumes agricultural land and wilderness areas and transportation is a major reason for poor
air quality in Utah
Air quality in Utah is often some of the worst in the United States. Poor air quality in Utah is due to the mountainous topography which can cause pollutants to build up near the surface (especially during inversions) combined with the prevalenc ...
.
Geography and geology
![Utah Counties](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Utah_Counties.png)
Utah is known for its natural diversity and is home to features ranging from arid deserts with
sand dunes to thriving
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...
forests in mountain valleys. It is a rugged and geographically diverse state at the convergence of three distinct geological regions: the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
, the
Great Basin, and the
Colorado Plateau.
Utah covers an area of . It is one of the
Four Corners states and is bordered by Idaho in the north, Wyoming in the north and east, by Colorado in the east, at a single point by
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
to the southeast, by Arizona in the south, and by Nevada in the west. Only three U.S. states (Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming) have exclusively latitude and longitude lines as boundaries.
One of Utah's defining characteristics is the variety of its
terrain
Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin wo ...
. Running down the middle of the state's northern third is the
Wasatch Range
The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the G ...
, which rises to heights of almost above sea level. Utah is home to world-renowned
ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...
s made popular by light, fluffy snow and winter storms that regularly dump up to three feet of it overnight. In the state's northeastern section, running east to west, are the
Uinta Mountains
The Uinta Mountains ( ) are an east-west trending chain of mountains in northeastern Utah extending slightly into southern Wyoming in the United States. As a subrange of the Rocky Mountains, they are unusual for being the highest range in the c ...
, which rise to heights of over . The highest point in the state,
Kings Peak, at ,
lies within the Uinta Mountains.
At the western base of the Wasatch Range is the
Wasatch Front
The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the nort ...
, a series of valleys and basins that are home to the most populous parts of the state. It stretches approximately from
Brigham City at the north end to
Nephi at the south end. Approximately 75 percent of the state's population lives in this corridor, and population growth is rapid.
Western Utah is mostly arid desert with a
basin and range
Basin and range topography is characterized by alternating parallel mountain ranges and valleys. It is a result of crustal extension due to mantle upwelling, gravitational collapse, crustal thickening, or relaxation of confining stresses. The e ...
topography. Small mountain ranges and rugged terrain punctuate the landscape. The
Bonneville Salt Flats
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bur ...
are an exception, being comparatively flat as a result of once forming the bed of ancient
Lake Bonneville
Lake Bonneville was the largest Late Pleistocene paleolake in the Great Basin of western North America. It was a pluvial lake that formed in response to an increase in precipitation and a decrease in evaporation as a result of cooler temperature ...
. Great Salt Lake,
Utah Lake
Utah Lake is a shallow freshwater lake in the center of Utah County, Utah, United States. It lies in Utah Valley, surrounded by the Provo- Orem metropolitan area. The lake's only river outlet, the Jordan River, is a tributary of the Great Salt ...
,
Sevier Lake
Sevier Lake is an intermittent and endorheic lake which lies in the lowest part of the Sevier Desert, Millard County, Utah. Like Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake, it is a remnant of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville. Sevier Lake is fed primarily by t ...
, and
Rush Lake are all remnants of this ancient freshwater lake, which once covered most of the eastern Great Basin. West of the
Great Salt Lake, stretching to the Nevada border, lies the arid
Great Salt Lake Desert
The Great Salt Lake Desert (colloquially referred to as the West Desert) is a large dry lake in northern Utah, United States, between the Great Salt Lake and the Nevada border. It is a subregion of the larger Great Basin Desert, and noted for wh ...
. One exception to this aridity is
Snake Valley, which is (relatively) lush due to large springs and wetlands fed from
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...
derived from snow melt in the
Snake Range
The Snake Range is a mountain range in White Pine County, Nevada, United States. The south-central portion of the range is included within Great Basin National Park, with most of the remainder included within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Fores ...
,
Deep Creek Range
The Deep Creek Range, (often refereed to as the Deep Creek Mountains (Goshute: Pi'a-roi-ya-bi), are a mountain range in the Great Basin located in extreme western Tooele and Juab counties in Utah, United States.
The range trends north-south (wit ...
, and other tall mountains to the west of Snake Valley.
Great Basin National Park
Great Basin National Park is an American national park located in White Pine County in east-central Nevada, near the Utah border, established in 1986. The park is most commonly entered by way of Nevada State Route 488, which is connected to U ...
is just over the Nevada state line in the southern Snake Range. One of western Utah's most impressive, but least visited attractions is
Notch Peak
Notch Peak is a distinctive summit located on Sawtooth Mountain in the House Range, west of Delta, Utah, United States. The peak and the surrounding area are part of the Notch Peak Wilderness Study Area (WSA). Bristlecone pines, estimated to ...
, the tallest limestone cliff in North America, located west of
Delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
.
Much of the scenic southern and southeastern landscape (specifically the
Colorado Plateau region) is
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
, specifically
Kayenta sandstone and
Navajo sandstone
The Navajo Sandstone is a geological formation in the Glen Canyon Group that is spread across the U.S. states of southern Nevada, northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, and Utah as part of the Colorado Plateau province of the United States.Anonymo ...
. The
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...
and its tributaries wind their way through the sandstone, creating some of the world's most striking and wild terrain (the area around the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers was the last to be mapped in the lower 48 United States). Wind and rain have also sculpted the soft sandstone over millions of years. Canyons, gullies, arches, pinnacles, buttes, bluffs, and mesas are the common sights throughout south-central and southeast Utah.
This terrain is the central feature of protected state and federal parks such as
Arches
An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it.
Arches may be synonymous with vault ...
,
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon National Park () is an American national park located in southwestern Utah. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern ...
,
Canyonlands
Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and thei ...
,
Capitol Reef, and
Zion
Zion ( he, צִיּוֹן ''Ṣīyyōn'', LXX , also variously transliterated ''Sion'', ''Tzion'', ''Tsion'', ''Tsiyyon'') is a placename in the Hebrew Bible used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole (see Nam ...
national parks,
Cedar Breaks,
Grand Staircase–Escalante,
Hovenweep, and
Natural Bridges national monuments,
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (shortened to Glen Canyon NRA or GCNRA) is a national recreation area and conservation unit of the United States National Park Service that encompasses the area around Lake Powell and lower Cataract Canyon ...
(site of the popular tourist destination,
Lake Powell
Lake Powell is an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It is the second largest artificial reservoir by maximum ...
),
Dead Horse Point and
Goblin Valley state parks, and
Monument Valley. The
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...
also extends into southeastern Utah. Southeastern Utah is also punctuated by the remote, but lofty
La Sal,
Abajo, and
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
mountain ranges.
Eastern (northern quarter) Utah is a high-elevation area covered mostly by plateaus and basins, particularly the Tavaputs Plateau and
San Rafael Swell
The San Rafael Swell is a large geologic feature located in south-central Utah, United States about west of Green River. The San Rafael Swell, measuring approximately , consists of a giant dome-shaped anticline of sandstone, shale, and limesto ...
, which remain mostly inaccessible, and the
Uinta Basin
The Uinta Basin (also known as the Uintah Basin) is a physiographic section of the larger Colorado Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division. It is also a geologic structural basin in ...
, where the majority of eastern Utah's population lives. Economies are dominated by mining,
oil shale
Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitut ...
,
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
, and natural gas-drilling,
ranching, and
recreation. Much of eastern Utah is part of the
Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation
The Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation (, ) is located in northeastern Utah, United States. It is the homeland of the Ute Indian Tribe ( Ute dialect: Núuchi-u), and is the largest of three Indian reservations inhabited by members of the Ute Trib ...
. The most popular destination within northeastern Utah is
Dinosaur National Monument near
Vernal
Vernal, the county seat and largest city in Uintah County is in northeastern Utah, approximately east of Salt Lake City and west of the Colorado border. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,089. The population has since grown to ...
.
Southwestern Utah is the lowest and hottest spot in Utah. It is known as Utah's
Dixie
Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...
because early settlers were able to grow some cotton there.
Beaverdam Wash
The Beaver Dam Wash is a seasonal stream near the southwestern Utah-Nevada border in the United States. At its southern end in northern Arizona, near the point where it empties into the Virgin River, the stream flows throughout the year. Part of t ...
in far southwestern Utah is the lowest point in the state, at .
The northernmost portion of the
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...
is also located in this area. Dixie is quickly becoming a popular recreational and retirement destination, and the population is growing rapidly. Although the Wasatch Mountains end at
Mount Nebo
Mount Nebo ( ar, جَبَل نِيبُو, Jabal Nībū; he, , Har Nəḇō) is an elevated ridge located in Jordan, approximately above sea level. Part of the Abarim mountain range, Mount Nebo is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses ...
near
Nephi, a complex series of mountain ranges extends south from the southern end of the range down the spine of Utah. Just north of Dixie and east of
Cedar City
Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...
is the state's highest ski resort,
Brian Head.
Like most of the
western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
and
southwestern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
states, the
federal government owns much of the land in Utah. Over 70 percent of the land is either
BLM
BLM most commonly refers to:
* Black Lives Matter, an international anti-racism movement and organization
* Bureau of Land Management, a U.S. federal government agency
BLM may also refer to:
Organizations
* BLM (law firm), United Kingdom and ...
land
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...
, Utah State Trustland, or
U.S. National Forest,
U.S. National Park,
U.S. National Monument
In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the President of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments prot ...
,
National Recreation Area
A national recreation area (NRA) is a protected area in the United States established by an Act of Congress to preserve enhanced recreational opportunities in places with significant natural and scenic resources. There are 40 NRAs, which emphasiz ...
or
U.S. Wilderness Area
The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the Na ...
. Utah is the only state where every county contains some national forest.
File:Arches 1 - panoramio.jpg, Arches National Park
Arches National Park is a national park in eastern Utah, United States. The park is adjacent to the Colorado River, north of Moab, Utah. More than 2,000 natural sandstone arches are located in the park, including the well-known Delicate Arch, ...
File:My Public Lands Roadtrip- Pariette Wetlands in Utah (20220345702).jpg, Pariette Wetlands
File:LCLfallfoliage2005.JPG, Little Cottonwood Canyon
Little Cottonwood Canyon lies within the Wasatch-Cache National Forest along the eastern side of the Salt Lake Valley, roughly 15 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah. The canyon is part of Granite, a CDP and "Community Council" designated by Salt L ...
File:Deer Creek Reservoir.jpg, Deer Creek Reservoir
The Deer Creek Dam and Reservoir hydroelectric facilities are on the Provo River in western Wasatch County, Utah, United States, about northeast of Provo. The dam is a zoned earthfill structure high with a crest length of . The dam contains 2, ...
File:American Fork Canyon from Timpanogos Cave entrance.jpg, American Fork Canyon
File:Kolob Canyon at Zion National Park, March 2019.jpg, Kolob Canyons
Zion National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety ...
at Zion National Park
Zion National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety of ...
Adjacent states
*
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
(north)
*
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
(east and north)
*
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
(east)
*
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
(west)
*
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 ...
(south)
Climate
![Köppen Climate Types Utah](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/K%C3%B6ppen_Climate_Types_Utah.png)
Utah features a dry,
semi-arid
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...
to
desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...
, although its many mountains feature a large variety of climates, with the highest points in the
Uinta Mountains
The Uinta Mountains ( ) are an east-west trending chain of mountains in northeastern Utah extending slightly into southern Wyoming in the United States. As a subrange of the Rocky Mountains, they are unusual for being the highest range in the c ...
being above the
timberline. The dry weather is a result of the state's location in the
rain shadow of the
Sierra Nevada in California. The eastern half of the state lies in the rain shadow of the
Wasatch Mountains
The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the G ...
. The primary source of precipitation for the state is the Pacific Ocean, with the state usually lying in the path of large Pacific storms from October to May. In summer, the state, especially southern and eastern Utah, lies in the path of
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...
moisture from the
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...
.
Most of the lowland areas receive less than of precipitation annually, although the
I-15 corridor, including the densely populated
Wasatch Front
The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the nort ...
, receives approximately . The Great Salt Lake Desert is the driest area of the state, with less than . Snowfall is common in all but the far southern valleys. Although St. George receives only about per year, Salt Lake City sees about , enhanced by the
lake-effect snow from the Great Salt Lake, which increases snowfall totals to the south, southeast, and east of the lake.
Some areas of the
Wasatch Range
The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the G ...
in the path of the lake-effect receive up to per year. This micro climate of enhanced snowfall from the Great Salt Lake spans the entire proximity of the lake. The cottonwood canyons adjacent to Salt Lake City are located in the right position to receive more precipitation from the lake. The consistently deep powder snow led Utah's ski industry to adopt the slogan "the Greatest Snow on Earth" in the 1980s. In the winter,
temperature inversion
In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to an inversion of the air temperature lapse rate, in which case it is called a temperature inversion. Nor ...
s are a common phenomenon across Utah's low basins and valleys, leading to thick haze and fog that can last for weeks at a time, especially in the
Uintah Basin
The Uinta Basin (also known as the Uintah Basin) is a physiographic section of the larger Colorado Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division. It is also a geologic structural basin in e ...
. Although at other times of year its air quality is good, winter inversions give Salt Lake City some of the worst wintertime pollution in the country.
Previous studies have indicated a widespread decline in snowpack over Utah accompanied by a decline in the snow–precipitation ratio while anecdotal evidence claims have been put forward that measured changes in Utah's snowpack are spurious and do not reflect actual change. A 2012 study found that the proportion of winter (January–March) precipitation falling as snow has decreased by nine percent during the last half century, a combined result from a significant increase in rainfall and a minor decrease in snowfall. Meanwhile, observed snow depth across Utah has decreased and is accompanied by consistent decreases in snow cover and surface albedo. Weather systems with the potential to produce precipitation in Utah have decreased in number with those producing snowfall decreasing at a considerably greater rate.
![RoseParkStreets](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/RoseParkStreets.jpg)
Utah's temperatures are extreme, with cold temperatures in winter due to its elevation, and very hot summers statewide (with the exception of mountain areas and high mountain valleys). Utah is usually protected from major blasts of cold air by mountains lying north and east of the state, although major Arctic blasts can occasionally reach the state. Average January high temperatures range from around in some northern valleys to almost in St. George.
Temperatures dropping below should be expected on occasion in most areas of the state most years, although some areas see it often (for example, the town of
Randolph averages about fifty days per year with temperatures that low). In July, average highs range from about . However, the low humidity and high elevation typically leads to large temperature variations, leading to cool nights most summer days. The record high temperature in Utah was , recorded south of St. George on July 4, 2007, and the record low was , recorded at
Peter Sinks Peter Sinks is a natural sinkhole in northern Utah that is one of the coldest places in the contiguous United States.
Peter Sinks is located above sea level, in the Bear River Mountains east of Logan, within the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. ...
in the
Bear River Mountains of northern Utah on February 1, 1985. However, the record low for an inhabited location is at
Woodruff on December 12, 1932.
Utah, like most of the western United States, has few days of thunderstorms. On average there are fewer than 40 days of thunderstorm activity during the year, although these storms can be briefly intense when they do occur. They are most likely to occur during
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...
season from about mid-July through mid-September, especially in southern and eastern Utah. Dry lightning strikes and the general dry weather often spark wildfires in summer, while intense thunderstorms can lead to
flash flooding, especially in the rugged terrain of southern Utah. Although spring is the wettest season in northern Utah, late summer is the wettest period for much of the south and east of the state. Tornadoes are uncommon in Utah, with an average of two striking the state yearly, rarely higher than EF1 intensity.
One exception of note, however, was the unprecedented
Salt Lake City Tornado
The 1999 Salt Lake City tornado was a rare tornado that struck Downtown Salt Lake City, downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, on August 11, 1999. It was among the most notable tornadoes to hit west of the Great Plains in the 20th century ...
that moved directly across downtown Salt Lake City on August 11, 1999. The
F2 tornado
The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...
killed one person, injured sixty others, and caused approximately $170 million in damage;
it was the second strongest tornado in the state behind an F3 on August 11, 1993, in the Uinta Mountains.
The only other reported tornado fatality in Utah's history was a 7-year-old girl who was killed while camping in
Summit County on July 6, 1884.
The last tornado of above (E)F0 intensity occurred on September 8, 2002, when an F2 tornado hit
Manti.
Wildlife
![California-gull](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/California-gull.jpg)
Utah is home to more than 600 vertebrate animals
as well as numerous invertebrates and insects.
Mammals
Mammals are found in every area of Utah. Non-predatory larger mammals include the
plains bison
The Plains bison (''Bison bison bison'') is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American bison, the other being the wood bison (''B. b. athabascae''). A natural population of Plains bison survives in Yellowstone National Park (the Yellowstone ...
,
elk
The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...
,
moose
The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...
,
mountain goat
The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs an ...
,
mule deer
The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer.
Unlike the related whi ...
,
pronghorn
The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...
,
and multiple types of
bighorn sheep
The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...
.
Non-predatory small mammals include
muskrat,
and
nutria
The nutria (''Myocastor coypus''), also known as the coypu, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent.
Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, ''Myocastor'' is now included within Echimyidae, the family of ...
.
Large and small predatory mammals include the
black bear
Black bear or Blackbear may refer to:
Animals
* American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species
* Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species
Music
* Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
,
cougar,
Canada lynx
The Canada lynx (''Lynx canadensis''), or Canadian lynx, is a medium-sized North American lynx that ranges across Alaska, Canada, and northern areas of the contiguous United States. It is characterized by its long, dense fur, triangular ears ...
,
bobcat,
fox (
gray
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...
,
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
, and
kit),
coyote,
badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...
,
black-footed ferret,
mink,
stoat
The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...
,
long-tailed weasel
The long-tailed weasel (''Neogale frenata''), also known as the bridled weasel, masked ermine, or big stoat, is a species of mustelid distributed from southern Canada throughout all the United States and Mexico, southward through all of Central A ...
,
raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
,
and
otter.
The
brown bear
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...
was formerly found within Utah, but has been
extirpated
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...
.
There are no confirmed mating pairs of
gray wolf in Utah, though there have been sightings in northeastern Utah along the
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
border.
Birds
As of January 2020, there were 466 species included in the official list managed by the Utah Bird Records Committee (UBRC).
Of these, 119 are classed as
accidental, 29 are classed as occasional, 57 are classed as rare, and 10 have been
introduced to Utah or North America. Eleven of the accidental species are also classed as provisional.
Due to the
miracle of the gulls incident in 1848, the most well known bird in Utah is the
California gull
The California gull (''Larus californicus'') is a medium-sized gull, smaller on average than the herring gull but larger on average than the ring-billed gull, though it may overlap in size greatly with both.
Description
Adults are similar in ap ...
, which is the Utah state bird.
A
monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
in Salt Lake City commemorates this event, known as the "
Miracle of the Gulls".
Other gulls common to Utah include
Bonaparte's gull
Bonaparte's gull (''Chroicocephalus philadelphia'') is a member of the gull family Laridae found mainly in northern North America. At in length, it is one of the smallest species of gull. Its plumage is mainly white with grey upperparts. During ...
,
the
ring-billed gull
The ring-billed gull (''Larus delawarensis'') is a medium-sized gull. The genus name is from Latin ''Larus'' which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific ''delawarensis'' refers to the Delaware River.
Description ...
, and
Franklin's gull
Franklin's gull (''Leucophaeus pipixcan'') is a small (length 12.6–14.2 in, 32–36 cm) gull. The genus name ''Leucophaeus'' is from Ancient Greek ''leukos'', "white", and ''phaios'', "dusky". The specific ''pipixcan'' is a Nahuatl name f ...
.
Other birds commonly found include the
American robin,
the
common starling, finches (
black rosy,
Cassin's,
and
goldfinch),
the
black-billed magpie
The black-billed magpie (''Pica hudsonia''), also known as the American magpie, is a bird in the corvid family found in the western half of North America. It is black and white, with black areas on the wings and tail showing iridescent hints o ...
,
mourning dove
The mourning dove (''Zenaida macroura'') is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove, the rain dove, and colloquially as the turtle dove, and was once known as the Carolina pigeon and Caroli ...
s, sparrows (
house,
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
,
black-chinned,
black-throated,
Brewer's,
and
chipping),
Clark's grebe
Clark's grebe (''Aechmophorus clarkii'') is a North American waterbird species in the grebe family. Until the 1980s, it was thought to be a pale Polymorphism (biology), morph of the western grebe, which it resembles in size, range, and behavior. ...
,
the
ferruginous hawk
The ferruginous hawk, (''Buteo regalis''), is a large bird of prey and belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks. An old colloquial name is ferrugineous rough-leg, due to its similarity to the closely related rough-legged hawk (''B. lagopus'').
...
, geese (
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
,
cackling,
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
),
eagles (
golden
Golden means made of, or relating to gold.
Golden may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall
* Golden Cap, Dorset
*Golden Square, Soho, London
*Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...
and
bald
Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from part of the head or body. Typically at least the head is involved. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body. Inflammation or scarrin ...
),
California quail
The California quail (''Callipepla californica''), also known as the California valley quail or Valley quail, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. These birds have a curving crest or '' plume'', made of six feathers, tha ...
,
mountain bluebird
The mountain bluebird (''Sialia currucoides'') is a small migratory thrush that is found in mountainous districts of western North America. It has a light underbelly and black eyes. Adult males have thin bills and are bright turquoise-blue and so ...
, and hummingbirds (
calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; grc, Καλλιόπη, Kalliópē, beautiful-voiced) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muse ...
,
black-chinned,
and
broad-tailed).
Invertebrates
![Latrodectus hesperus (F Theridiidae)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Latrodectus_hesperus_%28F_Theridiidae%29.jpg)
Utah is host to a wide variety of
arachnid
Arachnida () is a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegar ...
s,
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s,
mollusk
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...
s, and other
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s. Arachnids include the
Arizona bark scorpion,
Western black widow spiders,
crab spiders,
hobo spider
The hobo spider (''Eratigena agrestis'', formerly ''Tegenaria agrestis'') is a member of the family of spiders known colloquially as funnel web spiders, but not to be confused with the Australian funnel-web spider. Individuals construct a funnel ...
s (''Tegenaria agrestis''),
cellar spiders,
American grass spiders,
woodlouse spider
The woodlouse spider (''Dysdera crocata'') is a species of spider that preys primarily upon woodlice. Other common names refer to variations on the common name of its prey, including woodlouse hunter, sowbug hunter, sowbug killer, pillbug hunter ...
s.
Several spiders found in Utah are often mistaken for the
brown recluse spider
The brown recluse (''Loxosceles reclusa''), Sicariidae (formerly placed in a family "Loxoscelidae") is a recluse spider with necrotic venom. Similar to those of other recluse spiders, their bites sometimes require medical attention. The brown r ...
, including the
desert recluse spider (found only in
Washington County), the cellar spider, and
crevice weaving spiders.
The brown recluse spider has not been officially confirmed in Utah .
One of the most rare insects in Utah is the
Coral Pink Sand Dunes tiger beetle, found only in
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is a state park in southwestern Utah, United States, located between Mount Carmel Junction and Kanab, south and west of U.S. Highway 89 in Kane County. The park features uniquely pink-hued sand dunes located be ...
, near
Kanab
Kanab ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States.[Find a County]
". ''N ...
.
It was proposed in 2012 to be listed as a threatened species,
but the proposal was not accepted.
Other insects include
grasshoppers
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Grasshop ...
,
green stink bugs,
the
Army cutworm
The army cutworm is the immature form of ''Euxoa auxiliaris''. The adult moth is called a "miller moth" because of the fine scales on its wings that rub off easily and remind people of the dusty flour that covers the clothing of a miller.
These ...
,
the
monarch butterfly,
and
Mormon fritillary butterfly.
The
white-lined sphinx moth is common to most of the United States, but there have been reported outbreaks of large groups of their larvae damaging tomato, grape and garden crops in Utah. Four or five species of
firefly are also found across the state.
In February 2009,
Africanized honeybee
The Africanized bee, also known as the Africanized honey bee and known colloquially as the "killer bee", is a hybrid of the western honey bee (''Apis mellifera''), produced originally by crossbreeding of the East African lowland honey bee (''A. ...
s were found in southern Utah. The bees had spread into eight counties in Utah, as far north as
Grand
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and c ...
and
Emery counties by May 2017.
Vegetation
![FallPando02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/FallPando02.jpg)
Several thousand plants are native to Utah,
including a variety of trees, shrubs, cacti, herbaceous plants, and grasses. , there are 3,930 species of plants in Utah, with 3,128 of those being indigenous and 792 being introduced through various means.
Common trees include pines/piñons (
white fir
''Abies concolor'', the white fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Cascade Range and southern Rocky Mountains, and into the isolated mountain ranges ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
,
single-leaf,
Great Basin bristlecone,
ponderosa,
Engelmann spruce
''Picea engelmannii'', with the common names Engelmann spruce, white spruce, mountain spruce, and silver spruce, is a species of spruce native to western North America. It is mostly a high-altitude mountain tree but also appears in watered canyon ...
,
Rocky Mountain white), and
Acer grandidentatum
''Acer grandidentatum'', commonly called bigtooth maple, is a species of maple native to interior western North America. It occurs in scattered populations from western Montana to central Texas in the United States and south to Coahuila in northe ...
,
quaking aspen
''Populus tremuloides'' is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, one of several species referred to by the common name aspen. It is commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, mountain or golden aspen, tr ...
,
bigtooth maple
''Acer grandidentatum'', commonly called bigtooth maple, is a species of maple native to interior western North America. It occurs in scattered populations from western Montana to central Texas in the United States and south to Coahuila in nort ...
,
Utah juniper
''Juniperus osteosperma'' (Utah juniper; syn. ''J. utahensis'') is a shrub or small tree native to the southwestern United States.
Description
The plant reaches , rarely to 9 m, tall. The shoots are fairly thick compared to most junipers, ...
,
speckled alder
''Alnus incana'', the grey alder or speckled alder, is a species of multi-stemmed, shrubby tree in the birch family, with a wide range across the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Tolerant of wetter soils, it can slowly spread with runners ...
,
red birch,
Gambel oak
''Quercus gambelii'', with the common name Gambel oak, is a deciduous small tree or large shrub that is widespread in the foothills and lower mountains of western North America. It is also regionally called scrub oak, oak brush, and white oak.
...
,
desert willow,
blue spruce
The blue spruce (''Picea pungens''), also commonly known as green spruce, Colorado spruce, or Colorado blue spruce, is a species of spruce tree. It is native to North America, and is found in USDA growing zones 1 through 7. It is found naturall ...
, and
Joshua trees. Utah has a number of named trees, including the
Jardine Juniper
The Jardine Juniper is an individual of the species Rocky Mountain juniper found within Logan Canyon in the Cache National Forest. Often credited with an age of over 3,000 years, core samples taken in the 1950s revealed that it was around 1,500 ...
,
Pando,
and the
Thousand Mile Tree
Thousand Mile Tree is a pine tree located in Weber Canyon near the community of Henefer, Utah, Henefer, Utah along the Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad), Overland Route of the Union Pacific Railroad. In January 1869, graders of the railroad ...
. Shrubs include a number of different
ephedra Ephedra may refer to:
* Ephedra (medicine), a medicinal preparation from the plant ''Ephedra sinica''
* ''Ephedra'' (plant), genus of gymnosperm shrubs
See also
* Ephedrine
Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is of ...
s (
pitamoreal,
Navajo,
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 ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
,
Torrey's jointfir, and
green Mormon tea), sagebrushes (
little
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
,
Bigelow,
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
,
Michaux's wormwood,
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
,
pygmy
In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...
,
bud
In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...
, and
Great Basin),
blue elderberry,
Utah serviceberry,
chokecherry
''Prunus virginiana'', commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, and western chokecherry (also black chokecherry for ''P. virginiana'' var. ''demissa''), is a species of bird cherry (''Prunus'' subgenus ''Padus'') nat ...
, and
skunkbush sumac.
Western poison oak
''Toxicodendron diversilobum'' (syn. ''Rhus diversiloba''), commonly named Pacific poison oak or western poison oak, is a woody vine or shrub in the sumac family, Anacardiaceae. It is widely distributed in western North America, inhabiting coni ...
,
poison sumac
''Toxicodendron vernix'', commonly known as poison sumac, or swamp-sumach, is a woody shrub or small tree growing to 9 metres (30 feet) tall. It was previously known as ''Rhus vernix''. This plant is also known as thunderwood, particul ...
, and
western poison ivy are all found in Utah.
There are many varieties of cacti in Utah's varied deserts, especially in the southern and western parts of the state. Some of these include
desert prickly pear,
California barrel cactus,
fishhook cactus
Fishhook cactus is a common name for any hook-spined species of the genera ''Mammillaria'', '' Echinomastus'' or '' Sclerocactus''. They are small cacti, usually growing up to 6-7 inches (20 cm) high, and are shaped similar to a barre ...
,
cholla,
beavertail prickly pear, and
Uinta Basin hookless cactus. Despite the desert climate, many different grasses are found in Utah, including
Mormon needlegrass,
bluebunch wheatgrass
''Pseudoroegneria spicata'' is a species of grass known by the common name bluebunch wheatgrass. This native western North American perennial bunchgrass is also known by the scientific synonyms ''Elymus spicatus'' and ''Agropyron spicatum''. The g ...
,
western alkali grass,
squirreltail
''Elymus elymoides'' is a species of wild rye known by the common name squirreltail. This grass is native to most of North America west of the Mississippi River and occurs in a number of ecosystems, from the alpine zone to desert sage scrub to ...
,
desert saltgrass, and
cheatgrass
''Bromus tectorum'', known as downy brome, drooping brome or cheatgrass, is a winter annual grass native to Europe, southwestern Asia, and northern Africa, but has become invasive in many other areas. It now is present in most of Europe, southe ...
.
Several invasive species of plants are considered
noxious weeds by the state, including
Bermuda grass
''Cynodon dactylon'', commonly known as Bermuda grass, is a grass found worldwide. It is native to Europe, Africa, Australia and much of Asia. It has been introduced to the Americas. Although it is not native to Bermuda, it is an abundant invasiv ...
,
field bindweed,
henbane
''Hyoscyamus niger'', commonly known as henbane, black henbane, or stinking nightshade, is a poisonous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is native to temperate Europe and Siberia, and naturalised in Great Britain and Ireland.
...
,
jointed goatgrass,
Canada thistle
''Cirsium arvense'' is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native throughout Europe and western Asia, northern Africa and widely introduced elsewhere.Joint Nature Conservation Committee''Cirsium arvense'' The standa ...
,
Balkan and
common toadflax,
giant cane,
couch grass Couch grass, as a vernacular common name, may refer to:
* ''Cynodon dactylon'', known as couch grass in Australia and South Africa, often planted as a turf grass
* ''Elymus repens'', known as couch grass in the United Kingdom and North America, of ...
,
St. John's wort
''Hypericum perforatum'', known as St. John's wort, is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae and the type species of the genus ''Hypericum''.
Possibly a hybrid between ''Hypericum maculatum, H. maculatum'' and ''Hypericum attenuatum, H. ...
,
hemlock,
sword grass,
Russian olive
''Elaeagnus angustifolia'', commonly called Russian olive, silver berry, oleaster, or wild olive, is a species of ''Elaeagnus'', native to western and central Asia, Iran, from southern Russia and Kazakhstan to Turkey, parts of Pakistan and parts of ...
,
myrtle spurge,
Japanese knotweed
''Reynoutria japonica'', synonyms ''Fallopia japonica'' and ''Polygonum cuspidatum'', is a species of herbaceous perennial plant in the knotweed and buckwheat family Polygonaceae. Common names include Japanese knotweed and Asian knotweed. It is ...
,
salt cedar
The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tam ...
, and
goat's head.
Demographics
![Utah Sign during RAAM 2015 by D Ramey Logan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Utah_Sign_during_RAAM_2015_by_D_Ramey_Logan.jpg)
At the
2020 U.S. 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 ...
, Utah had a population of 3,271,616. The
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
estimated that the population of Utah was 3,205,958 on July 1, 2019, a 16.00% increase since the
2010 U.S. census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...
.
The
center of population of Utah is located in
Utah County
Utah County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Utah. The county seat and largest city is Provo, which is the state's third-largest city, and the largest outside of Salt Lake County. As of the 2020 United States Census, the ...
in the city of
Lehi. Much of the population lives in cities and towns along the
Wasatch Front
The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the nort ...
, a metropolitan region that runs north–south with the
Wasatch Mountains
The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the G ...
rising on the eastern side. Growth outside the Wasatch Front is also increasing. The St. George metropolitan area is currently the second fastest-growing in the country after the
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area is ...
, while the Heber micropolitan area is also the second fastest-growing in the country (behind
Palm Coast, Florida
Palm Coast is a city in Flagler County, Florida. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 75,180, more than twice the 32,832 counted in 2000. The population was estimated to be 89,800 in 2019. It is the most populous city in Flagler ...
).
Utah contains five
metropolitan areas (Logan, Ogden-
Clearfield, Salt Lake City, Provo-Orem, and St. George), and six
micropolitan areas (
Brigham City,
Heber,
Vernal
Vernal, the county seat and largest city in Uintah County is in northeastern Utah, approximately east of Salt Lake City and west of the Colorado border. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,089. The population has since grown to ...
, Price, Utah, Price, Richfield, Utah, Richfield, and
Cedar City
Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...
).
Health and fertility
Utah ranks among the highest in total fertility rate, 47th in teenage pregnancy, lowest in percentage of Illegitimacy, births out of wedlock, lowest in number of abortions per capita, and lowest in percentage of teen pregnancies terminated in abortion. However, statistics relating to pregnancies and abortions may also be artificially low from teenagers going out of state for abortions because of parental notification requirements. Utah has the lowest child poverty rate in the country, despite its young demographics.
According to the Gallup-Healthways Global Well-Being Index , Utahns ranked fourth in overall well-being in the United States. A 2002 national prescription drug study determined that antidepressant drugs were "prescribed in Utah more often than in any other state, at a rate nearly twice the national average". The data shows that depression rates in Utah are no higher than the national average.
Ancestry and race
![Utah population map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Utah_population_map.png)
The largest ancestry groups in the state are:
* 26.0% English Americans, English
* 11.9% German Americans, German
* 11.8% Nordic and Scandinavian Americans, Scandinavian (5.4% Danish Americans, Danish, 4.0% Swedish Americans, Swedish, 2.4% Norwegian Americans, Norwegian)
* 9.0% Mexican Americans, Mexican
* 6.6% American ancestry, American
* 6.2% Irish Americans, Irish
* 4.6% Scottish Americans, Scottish
* 2.7% Italian Americans, Italian
* 2.4% Dutch Americans, Dutch
* 2.2% French Americans, French
* 2.2% Welsh Americans, Welsh
* 1.4% Scotch-Irish Americans, Scotch Irish
* 1.3% Swiss Americans, Swiss
In 2011 one-third of Utah's workforce was reported to be bilingual, developed through a program of acquisition of second languages beginning in elementary school, and related to Mormonism's missionary goals for its young people.
In 2011, 28.6% of Utah's population younger than the age of one were ethnic minorities, meaning they had at least one parent who was of a race other than non-Hispanic white.
Religion
![Festival of Colors at the Krishna Temple near Spanish Fork, Utah 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Festival_of_Colors_at_the_Krishna_Temple_near_Spanish_Fork%2C_Utah_2012.jpg)
Mormons are the largest religious group in Utah. However, the percentage of Mormons to the overall population has been decreasing. In 2017, 62.8% of Utahns were members of the LDS Church.
This declined to 61.2% in 2018 and to 60.7% in 2019. Members of the LDS Church currently make up between 34%–41% of the population within Salt Lake City. However, many of the other major population centers such as Provo, Logan, Tooele, and St. George tend to be predominantly LDS, along with many suburban and rural areas. The LDS Church has the largest number of congregations, numbering 4,815 Ward (LDS Church), wards.
According to results from the 2010 U.S. census, combined with official LDS Church membership statistics, church members represented 62.1% of Utah's total population. The Utah county with the lowest percentage of church members was Grand County, Utah, Grand County, at 26.5%, while the county with the highest percentage was Morgan County, Utah, Morgan County, at 86.1%. In addition, the result for the most populated county, Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County, was 51.4%.
Though the LDS Church officially maintains a policy of neutrality in regard to political parties,
the church's doctrine has a strong regional influence on politics.
Another doctrine effect can be seen in Utah's high birth rate (25 percent higher than the national average; the highest for a state in the U.S.).
The Mormons in Utah tend to have Conservatism in the United States, conservative views when it comes to most political issues and the majority of voter-age Utahns are unaffiliated voters (60%) who vote overwhelmingly Republican Party (United States), Republican.
Mitt Romney received 72.8% of the Utahn votes in 2012, while John McCain polled 62.5% in the 2008 United States presidential election and 70.9% for George W. Bush in 2004. In 2010 the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) reported that the three largest denominational groups in Utah are the LDS Church with 1,910,504 adherents; the Catholic Church with 160,125 adherents, and the Southern Baptist Convention with 12,593 adherents.
According to a The Gallup Organization#Gallup Poll, Gallup poll, Utah had the third-highest number of people reporting as "Very Religious" in 2015, at 55% (trailing only Mississippi and Alabama). However, it was near the national average of people reporting as "Nonreligious" (31%), and featured the smallest percentage of people reporting as "Moderately Religious" (15%) of any state, being eight points lower than second-lowest state Vermont. In addition, it had the highest average weekly church attendance of any state, at 51%.
Languages
The official language in the state of Utah is English language, English. Utah English is primarily a merger of Northern and Midland American dialects carried west by LDS Church members, whose original New York (state), New York dialect later incorporated features from Northeast Ohio, northeast Ohio and Central Illinois, central Illinois. Conspicuous in the speech of some in the central valley, although less frequent now in Salt Lake City, is a cord-card merger, so that the vowels /ɑ/ an /ɔ/ are pronounced the same before an /ɹ/, such as in the words ''cord'' and ''card''.
In 2000, 87.5% of all state residents five years of age or older spoke only English at home, a decrease from 92.2% in 1990.
Age and gender
Utah has the highest total birth rate
and accordingly, the youngest population of any U.S. state. In 2010, the state's population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The life expectancy is 79.3 years.
Economy
![Utah Horses](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Utah_Horses.jpg)
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the gross state product of Utah in 2012 was , or 0.87% of the total United States GDP of for the same year. The Per capita personal income in the United States, per capita personal income was $45,700 in 2012. Major industries of Utah include: mining, cattle ranching, salt production, and government services.
According to the 2007 State New Economy Index, Utah is ranked the top state in the nation for Economic Dynamism, determined by "the degree to which state economies are knowledge-based, globalized, entrepreneurial, information technology-driven and innovation-based". In 2014, Utah was ranked number one in Forbes' list of "Best States For Business". A November 2010 article in ''Newsweek'' magazine highlighted Utah and particularly the Salt Lake City area's economic outlook, calling it "the new economic Zion", and examined how the area has been able to bring in high-paying jobs and attract high-tech corporations to the area during a recession. , the state's unemployment rate was 3.5%. In terms of "small business friendliness", in 2014 Utah emerged as number one, based on a study drawing upon data from more than 12,000 small business owners.
In eastern Utah petroleum production is a major industry. Near Salt Lake City, petroleum refining is done by a number of oil companies. In central Utah, coal production accounts for much of the mining activity.
According to Internal Revenue Service tax returns, Utahns rank first among all U.S. states in the proportion of Charity (practice), income given to charity by the wealthy. This is due to the standard ten percent of all earnings that Mormons give to the LDS Church.
According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, Utah had an average of 884,000 volunteers between 2008 and 2010, each of whom contributed 89.2 hours per volunteer. This figure equates to $3.8 billion of service contributed, ranking Utah number one for volunteerism in the nation.
Taxation
Utah collects personal income tax; since 2008 the tax has been a flat five percent for all taxpayers. The state sales tax has a base rate of 6.45 percent, with cities and counties levying additional local sales taxes that vary among the municipalities. Property taxes are assessed and collected locally. Utah does not charge Intangible asset, intangible property taxes and does not impose an inheritance tax.
Tourism
Tourism is a major industry in Utah. With five national parks (Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion), Utah has the third most national parks of any state after Alaska and California. In addition, Utah features eight National monument (United States), national monuments (
Cedar Breaks, Dinosaur National Monument, Dinosaur,
Grand Staircase–Escalante,
Hovenweep,
Natural Bridges, Bears Ears National Monument, Bears Ears, Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Rainbow Bridge, and Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Timpanogos Cave), two national recreation areas (Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Flaming Gorge and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Glen Canyon), seven United States National Forest, national forests (Ashley National Forest, Ashley, Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Caribou-Targhee, Dixie National Forest, Dixie, Fishlake National Forest, Fishlake, Manti-La Sal National Forest, Manti-La Sal, Sawtooth National Forest, Sawtooth, and Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache), and numerous Utah State Parks, state parks and monuments.
The Moab, Utah, Moab area, in the southeastern part of the state, is known for its challenging mountain biking trails, including Slickrock Trail, Slickrock. Moab also hosts the famous Moab Jeep Safari semiannually.
Utah has seen an increase in tourism since the 2002 Winter Olympics. Park City, Utah, Park City is home to the United States Ski Team. Utah's ski resorts are primarily located in northern Utah near Salt Lake City, Park City, Ogden, and Provo, Utah, Provo. Between 2007 and 2011 Deer Valley in Park City, has been ranked the top ski resort in North America in a survey organized by ''Ski Magazine''.
Utah has many significant ski resorts. The 2009 Ski Magazine reader survey concluded that six of the top ten resorts deemed most "accessible", and six of the top ten with the best snow conditions, were located in Utah. In Southern Utah, Brian Head Ski Resort is located in the mountains near
Cedar City
Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...
. Former Olympic venues including Utah Olympic Park and Utah Olympic Oval are still in operation for training and competition and allows the public to participate in numerous activities including ski jumping, bobsleigh, and speed skating.
Utah features many cultural attractions such as Temple Square, the Sundance Film Festival, the Red Rock Film Festival, the DOCUTAH Film Festival, the Utah Data Center, and the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Temple Square is ranked as the 16th most visited tourist attraction in the United States by ''Forbes'' magazine, with more than five million annual visitors.
Other attractions include
Monument Valley, the Great Salt Lake, the
Bonneville Salt Flats
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bur ...
, and
Lake Powell
Lake Powell is an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It is the second largest artificial reservoir by maximum ...
.
Branding
The state of Utah relies heavily on income from tourists and travelers visiting the state's parks and ski resorts, and thus the need to "brand" Utah and create an impression of the state throughout the world has led to several state slogans, the most famous of which being "The Greatest Snow on Earth", which has been in use in Utah officially since 1975 (although the slogan was in unofficial use as early as 1962) and now adorns nearly 50 percent of the state's license plates. In 2001, Utah Governor Mike Leavitt approved a new state slogan, "Utah! Where Ideas Connect", which lasted until March 10, 2006, when the Utah Travel Council and the office of Jon Huntsman Jr., Governor Jon Huntsman announced that "Life Elevated" would be the new state slogan.
Mining
![BinghamCanyon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/BinghamCanyon.jpg)
Beginning in the late 19th century with the state's mining boom (including the Bingham Canyon Mine, among the world's largest open pit mines), companies attracted large numbers of immigrants with job opportunities. Since the days of the Utah Territory mining has played a major role in Utah's economy. Historical mining towns include Mercur, Utah, Mercur in Tooele County, Silver Reef, Utah, Silver Reef in Washington County, Eureka, Utah, Eureka in Juab County, Park City, Utah, Park City in Summit County and numerous coal mining camps throughout Carbon County such as Castle Gate, Spring Canyon, and Hiawatha.
[Utah Department of Community and Culture, Mining Heritage Alliance]
Highlights
http://finance.utah.gov/highlights.html as found at Utah.gov http://finance.utah.gov/highlights.html
These settlements were characteristic of the boom and bust cycle that dominated mining towns of the American West. Park City, Utah, and Alta, Utah were boom towns in the early twentieth centuries. Rich silver mines in the mountains adjacent to the towns led to many people flocking to the towns in search of wealth. During the early part of the Cold War era, uranium was mined in eastern Utah. Today mining activity still plays a major role in the state's economy. Minerals mined in Utah include copper, gold, silver, molybdenum, zinc, lead, and beryllium. Fossil fuels including coal, petroleum, and natural gas continue to play a large role in Utah's economy, especially in the eastern part of the state in counties such as Carbon, Emery, Grand, and Uintah.
Incidents
In 2007, nine people were killed at the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse.
On March 22, 2013, one miner died and another was injured after they became trapped in a cave-in at a part of the Castle Valley, Utah, Castle Valley Mining Complex, about west of the small mining town of Huntington, Utah, Huntington in Emery County, Utah, Emery County.
Energy
Utah extracts more coal and generates more electricity than it consumes. The state has the potential to generate 31.6 TWh/year from 13.1 GW of wind power, and 10,290 TWh/year from Solar power in Utah, solar power using 4,048 GW of photovoltaic (PV), including 5.6 GW of rooftop photovoltaic, and 1,638 GW of concentrated solar power. The Blue Castle Project is working toward building the state's first nuclear power plant near Green River, Utah. It is projected to be completed in 2030.
Transportation
Road
I-15 and Interstate 80 in Utah, I-80 are the main Interstate Highway System, interstate highways in the state, where they intersect and briefly merge near downtown Salt Lake City. I-15 traverses the state north-to-south, entering from Arizona near St. George, paralleling the
Wasatch Front
The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the nort ...
, and crossing into Idaho near Portage, Utah, Portage. I-80 spans northern Utah east-to-west, entering from Nevada at Wendover, Utah, Wendover, crossing the
Wasatch Mountains
The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the G ...
east of Salt Lake City, and entering Wyoming near Evanston, Wyoming, Evanston. Interstate 84 in Utah, I-84 West enters from Idaho near Snowville, Utah, Snowville (from Boise, Idaho, Boise) and merges with I-15 from Tremonton, Utah, Tremonton to Ogden, then heads southeast through the Wasatch Mountains before terminating at I-80 near Echo, Utah, Echo Junction.
Interstate 70 in Utah, I-70 splits from I-15 at Cove Fort, Utah, Cove Fort in central Utah and heads east through mountains and rugged desert terrain, providing quick access to the many national parks and national monuments of southern Utah, and has been noted for its beauty. The stretch from Salina, Utah, Salina to Green River, Utah, Green River is the country's longest stretch of interstate without services and, when completed in 1970, was the longest stretch of entirely new highway constructed in the U.S. since the Alaska Highway was completed in 1943.
Rail and transit
![Green line Trax at Gallivan Plaza](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Green_line_Trax_at_Gallivan_Plaza.jpg)
Utah's Class I railroad, Class I freight railroads are the BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railway. Interstate passenger rail is provided by Amtrak, Amtrak's daily ''California Zephyr'' train, which runs between Chicago Union Station and Emeryville station, Emeryville, California, with stops in Utah at , , , and the Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub. The state was previously served by Amtrak's Pioneer (train), ''Pioneer'' and ''Desert Wind'' trains. Heritage railway, Heritage railroads include the Heber Valley Railroad and the Wild Kingdom Train Zoo, Wild Kingdom Train.
The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) operates public transport services throughout the
Wasatch Front
The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the nort ...
region. TRAX (light rail), TRAX, the UTA's light rail system, consists of three lines. The Blue Line (TRAX), Blue Line (formerly Salt Lake/Sandy Line) begins in the suburb of Draper, Utah, Draper and ends in Downtown Salt Lake City. The Red Line (TRAX), Red Line (Mid-Jordan/University Line) begins in the Daybreak Community of South Jordan, Utah, South Jordan, a southwestern valley suburb, and ends at the University of Utah. The Green Line (TRAX), Green Line begins in West Valley, Utah, West Valley City, passes through downtown Salt Lake City, and ends at Salt Lake City International Airport. The UTA also operates FrontRunner, a Commuter rail in North America, commuter rail line running between Ogden and Provo via Salt Lake City.
The UTA's bus system stretches from the
Salt Lake Valley west to Grantsville, Utah, Grantsville and east to Park City, Utah, Park City. Beyond UTA, the cities of
Cedar City
Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...
,
Logan, Park City, and
St. George are served by local bus operators. In the winter, the UTA and several private bus companies operate shuttle routes to Utah's ski resorts.
Air
![SLC airport, 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/SLC_airport%2C_2010.jpg)
Salt Lake City International Airport is the only international airport in the state and serves as a hub for Delta Air Lines. The airport has consistently ranked first in on-time departures and had the fewest cancellations among U.S. airports. The airport has non-stop service to more than a hundred destinations throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as well as to Amsterdam, London and Paris. Canyonlands Field (near Moab, Utah, Moab), Cedar City Regional Airport, Ogden-Hinckley Airport, Provo Municipal Airport, St. George Regional Airport, and Vernal Regional Airport all provide limited commercial air service. A new regional airport at St. George opened on January 12, 2011. SkyWest Airlines is also headquartered in St. George and maintains a hub at Salt Lake City.
Law and government
![STS-51-D crew](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/STS-51-D_crew.jpg)
Utah government is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The current governor of Utah is Spencer Cox (politician), Spencer Cox, who was sworn in on January 4, 2021. The governor is elected for a four-year term. The Utah State Legislature consists of a Utah State Senate, Senate and a Utah State House of Representatives, House of Representatives. State senators serve four-year terms and representatives two-year terms. The Utah Legislature meets each year in January for an annual 45-day session.
The Utah Supreme Court is the court of last resort in Utah. It consists of five justices, who are appointed by the governor, and then subject to retention election. The Utah Court of Appeals handles cases from the trial courts. Trial level courts are the district courts and justice courts. All justices and judges, like those on the Utah Supreme Court, are subject to retention election after appointment.
In a 2020 study, Utah was ranked as the 3rd easiest state for citizens to vote in.
Counties
Utah is divided into political jurisdictions designated as ''County (United States), counties''. Since 1918 there have been 29 counties in the state, ranging from .
* Total Counties: 29
* Total 2020 population: 3,271,616
*Total state area:
Women's rights
Utah granted full suffrage, voting rights to women in 1870, 26 years before becoming a state. Among all U.S. states, only Wyoming granted Women's suffrage, suffrage to women earlier. However, in 1887 the initial Edmunds-Tucker Act was passed by Congress in an effort to curtail Mormon influence in the territorial government. One of the provisions of the Act was the repeal of women's suffrage; full suffrage was not returned until Utah was admitted to the Union in 1896.
Utah is one of the 15 states that have not ratified the U.S. Equal Rights Amendment.
Free-range parenting
In March 2018, Utah passed United States' first "free-range parenting" bill. The bill was signed into law by Republican Party (United States), Republican Governor Gary Herbert and states that parents who allow their children to engage in certain activities without supervision are not considered neglectful.
Constitution
The constitution of Utah was enacted May 8, 1895. Notably, the constitution outlawed
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
, as requested by Congress when Utah had applied for statehood, and reestablished the territorial practice of women's suffrage. Utah's Constitution has been Constitutional amendment, amended many times since its inception.
Alcohol, tobacco and gambling laws
Utah's laws in regard to alcohol (drug), alcohol, tobacco and gambling are strict. Utah is an alcoholic beverage control state. The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control regulates the sale of alcohol; wine and spirituous liquors may be purchased only at state liquor stores, and local laws may prohibit the sale of beer and other alcoholic beverages on Sundays. The state bans the sale of fruity alcoholic drinks at grocery stores and convenience stores. The law states that such drinks must now have new state-approved labels on the front of the products that contain capitalized letters in bold type telling consumers the drinks contain alcohol and at what percentage. The Utah Indoor Clean Air Act is a statewide smoking ban that prohibits it in many public places. Utah and Hawaii are the only two states in the United States to outlaw all forms of gambling.
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage became legal in Utah on December 20, 2013, when United States District Court for the District of Utah, U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby issued a ruling in ''Kitchen v. Herbert''. As of close of business December 26, more than 1,225 marriage licenses were issued, with at least 74 percent, or 905 licenses, issued to gay and lesbian couples. The Utah Attorney General's office was granted a stay of the ruling by the United States Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court on January 6, 2014, while the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals considered the case. On October 6, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court declined a certiorari, writ of ''certiorari'', and the 10th Circuit Court issued their mandate later that day, lifting their stay. Same-sex marriages commenced again in Utah that day.
Politics
![Mathesoncourthouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Mathesoncourthouse.jpg)
In the late 19th century, the federal government took issue with polygamy in the LDS Church. The LDS Church discontinued plural marriage in 1890, and in 1896 Utah gained admission to the Union. Many new people settled the area soon after the Mormon pioneers. Relations have often been strained between the LDS population and the non-LDS population. These tensions have played a large part in Utah's history (Liberal Party (Utah), Liberal Party vs. People's Party (Utah), People's Party).
Utah votes predominantly Republican. Self-identified Latter-day Saints are more likely to vote for the Republican ticket than non-Mormons. Utah is one of the most Republican states in the nation. Utah was the single most Republican Party (U.S.), Republican-leaning state in the country in every presidential election from 1976 to 2004, measured by the percentage point margin between the Republican and Democratic Party (U.S.), Democratic candidates. In 2008 United States presidential election, 2008 Utah was only the third-most Republican state (after
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
and Oklahoma), but in 2012 United States presidential election in Utah, 2012, with Mormon Mitt Romney atop the Republican ticket, Utah returned to its position as the most Republican state. However, the 2016 United States presidential election in Utah, 2016 presidential election result saw Republican Donald Trump carry the state (marking the thirteenth consecutive win by the Republican presidential candidate) with only a plurality, the first time this happened since 1992 United States presidential election in Utah, 1992.
Both of Utah's United States Senate, U.S. Senators, Mitt Romney and Mike Lee (Utah politician), Mike Lee, are Republican. Three more Republicans—Rob Bishop, Chris Stewart (politician), Chris Stewart, and John Curtis (Utah politician), John Curtis—represent Utah in the United States House of Representatives. Ben McAdams was the sole Democratic member of the Utah delegation, representing the Utah's 4th congressional district, 4th congressional district, based in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
, from 2019 to 2021, though he lost re-election to Burgess Owens, a Republican, in 2020. After Jon Huntsman Jr. resigned to serve as U.S. Ambassador to China in 2009, Gary Herbert was sworn in as governor on August 11, 2009. Herbert was elected to serve out the remainder of the term in a special election in 2010, defeating Democratic nominee Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon with 64% of the vote. He won election to a full four-year term in 2012, defeating the Democrat Peter Cooke with 68% of the vote.
The LDS Church maintains an official policy of neutrality with regard to political parties and candidates.
In the 1970s, then-Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church), Apostle Ezra Taft Benson was quoted by the Associated Press that it would be difficult for a faithful Latter-day Saint to be a liberal Democrat.
Although the LDS Church has officially repudiated such statements on many occasions, Democratic candidates—including LDS Democrats—believe Republicans capitalize on the perception that the Republican Party is doctrinally superior. Political scientist and pollster Dan Jones explains this disparity by noting that the national Democratic Party is associated with liberal positions on gay marriage and abortion, both of which the LDS Church is against. The Republican Party in heavily Mormon Utah County presents itself as the superior choice for Latter-day Saints. Even though Utah Democratic candidates are predominantly LDS, socially conservative, and pro-life, no Democrat has won in Utah County since 1994.
David Magleby, dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Brigham Young University, a lifelong Democrat and a political analyst, asserts that the Republican Party actually has more conservative positions than the LDS Church. Magleby argues that the locally conservative Democrats are in better accord with LDS doctrine. For example, the Republican Party of Utah opposes almost all abortions while Utah Democrats take a more liberal approach, although more conservative than their national counterparts. On Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, Second Amendment issues, the state GOP has been at odds with the LDS Church position opposing concealed firearms in places of worship and in public spaces.
In 1998 the church expressed concern that Utahns perceived the Republican Party as an LDS institution and authorized lifelong Democrat and Quorums of the Seventy, Seventy Marlin K. Jensen, Marlin Jensen to promote LDS bipartisanship.
Utah is much more conservative than the United States as a whole, primarily on social conservatism in the United States, social issues. Compared to other Republican-dominated states in the Mountain West such as
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
and
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
, Utah politics have a more moralistic and less Libertarianism, libertarian character, according to David Magleby.
About 80% of Utah's Legislature are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while members account for 61 percent of the population.
Since becoming a state in 1896, Utah has had only two non-Mormon governors.
In 2006, the legislature passed legislation aimed at banning joint-custody for a non-biological parent of a child. The custody measure passed the legislature and was vetoed by the governor, a reciprocal benefits supporter.
Carbon County's Democrats are generally made up of members of the large Greeks, Greek, Italians, Italian, and Balkans, Southeastern European communities, whose ancestors migrated in the early 20th century to work in the extensive mining industry. The views common amongst this group are heavily influenced by labor union, labor politics, particularly of the New Deal Era.
The state's most Republican areas tend to be Utah County, which is the home to Brigham Young University in the city of Provo, and nearly all the rural counties. These areas generally hold socially conservative views in line with that of the national Christian Religious Right. The most Democratic areas of the state lie currently in and around Salt Lake City proper.
The state has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1964. Historically, Republican presidential nominees score one of their best margins of victory here. Utah was the Republicans' best state in the 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2012 elections. In 1992, Utah was the only state in the nation where Democratic candidate Bill Clinton finished behind both Republican candidate George HW Bush and Independent candidate Ross Perot. In 2004, Republican George W. Bush won every county in the state and Utah gave him his largest margin of victory of any state. He won the state's five electoral votes by a margin of 46 percentage points with 71.5% of the vote. In the 1996 Presidential elections the Republican candidate received a smaller 54% of the vote while the Democrat earned 34%.
In 2020, the Associated Press wrote a piece profiling Utah's political culture during 2020 United States presidential election, that year's presidential election. The article noted a more bipartisan and cooperative environment, along with conservative support of liberal causes such as LGBT rights and marijuana use, despite the Republican dominance in the state and the political polarization seen in other parts of the U.S. at the time.
Major cities and towns
Utah's population is concentrated in two areas, the
Wasatch Front
The Wasatch Front is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from approximately Provo in the south to Logan in the nort ...
in the north-central part of the state, with over 2.6 million residents; and
Washington County, in southwestern Utah, locally known as "Utah's Dixie, Dixie", with more than 175,000 residents in the metropolitan area.
According to the 2010 census, Utah was the second fastest-growing state (at 23.8 percent) in the United States between 2000 and 2010 (behind Nevada).
St. George, in the southwest, is the second fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States, trailing Greeley, Colorado.
The three fastest-growing counties from 2000 to 2010 were Wasatch County, Utah, Wasatch County (54.7%),
Washington County (52.9%), and
Tooele County (42.9%). However,
Utah County
Utah County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Utah. The county seat and largest city is Provo, which is the state's third-largest city, and the largest outside of Salt Lake County. As of the 2020 United States Census, the ...
added the most people (148,028). Between 2000 and 2010, Saratoga Springs, Utah, Saratoga Springs (1,673%), Herriman, Utah, Herriman (1,330%), Eagle Mountain, Utah, Eagle Mountain (893%), Cedar Hills, Utah, Cedar Hills (217%), South Willard, Utah, South Willard (168%), Nibley, Utah, Nibley (166%), Syracuse, Utah, Syracuse (159%), West Haven, Utah, West Haven (158%),
Lehi (149%), Washington, Utah, Washington (129%), and Stansbury Park, Utah, Stansbury Park (116%) all at least doubled in population. West Jordan, Utah, West Jordan (35,376), Lehi (28,379),
St. George (23,234), South Jordan, Utah, South Jordan (20,981), West Valley City, Utah, West Valley City (20,584), and Herriman (20,262) all added at least 20,000 people.
* Until 2003, the Salt Lake City and Ogden-Clearfield metropolitan areas were considered as a single metropolitan area.
File:Salt Lake City - July 16, 2011.jpg, Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
File:LoganUtahCourthouse.jpg, Logan
File:Downtown ogden.jpg, Ogden, Utah, Ogden
File:Park City, Utah (2).jpg, Park City, Utah, Park City
File:Provo iv.jpg, Provo, Utah, Provo
File:Sandy, Utah city hall.jpg, Sandy
File:Dtn st george.jpg, St. George
File:Kays_Crossing_with_Train_Evening.jpg, Layton, Utah, Layton
Colleges and universities
![ESC Eyring Science Center](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/ESC_Eyring_Science_Center.jpg)
* Bridgerland Technical College in
Logan
* Broadview University, Broadview College in West Jordan, Utah, West Jordan
* Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, Provo (satellite campus in Salt Lake City)
* Davis Technical College in Kaysville, Utah, Kaysville
* Eagle Gate College in Murray, Utah, Murray and Layton, Utah, Layton
* Ensign College (formerly LDS Business College) in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
* Joyce University of Nursing and Health Sciences (formerly Ameritech College of Healthcare) in Draper, Utah, Draper
* Mountainland Technical College in
Lehi
* Neumont College of Computer Science in South Jordan, Utah, South Jordan
* Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine in Provo, Utah, Provo
* Ogden–Weber Technical College in Ogden, Utah, Ogden
* Provo College in Provo, Utah, Provo
* Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in Provo, Utah, Provo
* Roseman University of Health Sciences, Roseman University in South Jordan, Utah
* Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville, Utah, Taylorsville
* Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, Ephraim and Richfield, Utah, Richfield
* Southern Utah University in
Cedar City
Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...
* Southwest Technical College in
Cedar City
Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...
* Tooele Technical College in Tooele, Utah, Tooele
* Uintah Basin Technical College in Roosevelt, Utah, Roosevelt
* University of Phoenix at various locations statewide
* University of Utah in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
* Utah State University in
Logan (satellite campuses at various state locations)
* Utah State University Eastern in Price, Utah, Price
* Utah Tech University in
St. George (formerly Dixie State University) as of May 2022, and legal effect in July 2022.)
* Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Orem
* Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, Ogden
* Western Governors University an online only university, headquartered in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
* Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Westminster College in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
Culture
Sports
![Robbie Russell Real Salt Lake](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Robbie_Russell_Real_Salt_Lake.jpg)
Utah is the second-least populous U.S. state to have a Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, major professional sports league franchise, after the Vegas Golden Knights joined the National Hockey League in 2017. The Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association play at Vivint Arena in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
. The team moved to the city from New Orleans in 1979 and has been one of the most consistently successful teams in the league (although they have yet to win a championship). Salt Lake City was previously host to the Utah Stars, who competed in the American Basketball Association, ABA from 1970 to 1976 and won one championship, and to the Utah Starzz of the Women's National Basketball Association, WNBA from 1997 to 2003.
Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer was founded in 2005 and play their home matches at Rio Tinto Stadium (now known as America First Field in
Sandy. RSL remains the only Utah major league sports team to have won a national championship, having won the MLS Cup in 2009. RSL currently operates three adult teams in addition to the MLS side. Real Monarchs, competing in the third-tier MLS Next Pro, is the official reserve side for RSL. The team began play in the 2015 season at Rio Tinto Stadium, remaining there until moving to Zions Bank Stadium, located at RSL's training center in Herriman, Utah, Herriman, for the 2018 season and beyond. Utah Royals FC, which shares ownership with RSL and also plays at America First Field, has played in the National Women's Soccer League, the top level of U.S. women's soccer, since 2018. Before the creation of the Royals, RSL's main women's side had been Real Salt Lake Women, which began play in the Women's Premier Soccer League in 2008 and moved to United Women's Soccer in 2016. RSL Women currently play at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Orem.
Utah's highest level Minor League Baseball team is the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, who play at Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City as a part of the Pacific Coast League. Utah also has one minor league ice hockey, hockey team, the Utah Grizzlies, who play at the Maverik Center and compete in the ECHL.
Utah has seven universities that compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA. Three of the schools have college football, football programs that participate in the top-level NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision: Utah Utes, Utah in the Pac-12 Conference, Utah State Aggies, Utah State in the Mountain West Conference, and BYU Cougars, BYU as an NCAA Division I FBS independent schools, independent (although BYU competes in the non-football West Coast Conference for most other sports). In addition, Weber State Wildcats, Weber State and Southern Utah Thunderbirds, Southern Utah (SUU) compete in the Big Sky Conference of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, FCS. Utah Tech Trailblazers, Utah Tech, with an FCS football program, and Utah Valley Wolverines, Utah Valley, with no football program, are members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. After early financial struggles and scandal, the 2002 Olympics eventually became among the most successful Winter Olympics in history from a marketing and financial standpoint. Watched by more than two billion viewers, the Games ended up with a profit of $100 million.
Utah has hosted professional golf tournaments such as the Uniting Fore Care Classic and currently the Utah Championship.
Rugby union in the United States, Rugby has been growing quickly in the state of Utah, growing from 17 teams in 2009 to 70 with more than 3,000 players, and more than 55 high school varsity teams.
["Utah Youth Enjoying 7s Season, Continuing To Grow"](_blank)
, This Is American Rugby, October 8, 2014. The growth has been inspired in part by the 2008 movie ''Forever Strong''.
Utah fields two of the most competitive teams in the nation in college rugby—BYU and Utah.
BYU has won the National Championship in 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. Formed in 2017, the Utah Warriors are a Major League Rugby team based in Salt Lake City.
Entertainment
Utah is the setting of or the filming location for many books, films,
television series,
music videos, and video games.
Utah's capitol
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
is the final location in the video game ''The Last of Us''.
File:Monumentvalley.jpg, Monument Valley in southeastern Utah. This area was used to film many Hollywood Westerns.
File:Saltph26.jpg, The otherworldly look of the Bonneville Salt Flats
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bur ...
has been used in many movies and commercials.
See also
* Index of Utah-related articles
* Outline of Utah
Notes
References
Further reading
* Brown, Adam R. ''Utah politics and government: American democracy among a unique electorate'' (U of Nebraska Press, 2018).
* Ching, Jacqueline. ''Utah: Past and Present'' (Rosen, 2010).
* May, Dean L. ''Utah: A people's history'' (U of Utah Press, 1987).
* Peterson, Charles S. and Brian Q. Cannon. ''The Awkward State of Utah: Coming of Age in the Nation, 1896–1945''. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2015.
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External links
General
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Government
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Military
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Maps and demographics
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Tourism and recreation
Utah Office of Tourism Official Website
Office of Tourism(requires Adobe Flash)
Utah State ParksUtah Traffic and Road Conditions
Other
Utah State Chamber of Commerce
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Utah,
Former Spanish colonies
States and territories established in 1896
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