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 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, 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, 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,
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 spiders (''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,
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,
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,
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, 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
A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the ...
,
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
Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female adolescent or young adult under the age of 20. This includes those who are legally considered adults in their country. The WHO defines adolescence as the period be ...
, lowest in percentage of
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
Parental consent laws (also known as parental involvement laws) in some countries require that one or more parents consent to or be notified before their minor child can legally engage in certain activities.
Parental consent may refer to:
*A pa ...
requirements. Utah has the lowest
child poverty
Child poverty refers to the state of children living in poverty and applies to children from poor families and orphans being raised with limited or no state resources. UNICEF estimates that 356 million children live in extreme poverty. It's est ...
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
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
* 11.9%
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
* 11.8%
Scandinavian (5.4%
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
, 4.0%
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
, 2.4%
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
)
* 9.0%
Mexican
* 6.6%
American
* 6.2%
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
* 4.6%
Scottish
* 2.7%
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
* 2.4%
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
* 2.2%
French
* 2.2%
Welsh
* 1.4%
Scotch Irish
* 1.3%
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
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, at 26.5%, while the county with the highest percentage was
Morgan County, at 86.1%. In addition, the result for the most populated county,
Salt Lake County
Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The cou ...
, 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
The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
(25 percent higher than the national average; the highest for a state in the U.S.).
The Mormons in Utah tend to have
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
views when it comes to most political issues and the majority of voter-age Utahns are unaffiliated voters (60%) who vote overwhelmingly
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
.
Mitt Romney received 72.8% of the Utahn votes in 2012, while
John McCain polled 62.5% in the
2008 United States presidential election
The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator f ...
and 70.9% for
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
in 2004. In 2010 the
Association of Religion Data Archives The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. One of the primary goals of the archive is to democratize access to academic information on religion by making th ...
(ARDA) reported that the three largest denominational groups in Utah are the LDS Church with 1,910,504 adherents; the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
with 160,125 adherents, and the
Southern Baptist Convention with 12,593 adherents.
According to a
Gallup poll
Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Starting in the 1980s, Gallup transitioned its ...
, Utah had the third-highest number of people reporting as "Very Religious" in 2015, at 55% (trailing only
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
and
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
). 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
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
. In addition, it had the highest average weekly church attendance of any state, at 51%.
Languages
The
official language
An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
in the state of Utah is
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
Utah English
Western American English (also known as Western U.S. English) is a variety of American English that largely unites the entire Western United States as a single dialect region, including the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexic ...
is primarily a merger of Northern and Midland American dialects carried west by LDS Church members, whose original
New York dialect later incorporated features from
northeast
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 se ...
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
and
central Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
. 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 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
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
' list of "Best States For Business". A November 2010 article in ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' 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
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
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable 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 tax
A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inhe ...
es are assessed and collected locally. Utah does not charge
intangible property taxes and does not impose an
inheritance tax.
Tourism
Tourism is a major industry in Utah. With five
national parks
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...
(Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion), Utah has the third most national parks of any state after
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
and California. In addition, Utah features eight
national monuments (
Cedar Breaks,
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
,
Grand Staircase–Escalante,
Hovenweep,
Natural Bridges,
Bears Ears
The Bears Ears are a pair of buttes located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah, United States. They are protected as part of and the namesake of the Bears Ears National Monument, managed by the Bureau of Land Management and United States ...
,
Rainbow Bridge, and
Timpanogos Cave
Timpanogos Cave National Monument is a United States National Monument protecting the Timpanogos Cave Historic District and a
cave system on Mount Timpanogos in American Fork Canyon in the Wasatch Range, near Highland, Utah, Highland, Utah, in the ...
), two
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 ...
s (
Flaming Gorge and
Glen Canyon
Glen Canyon is a natural canyon carved by a length of the Colorado River, mostly in southeastern and south-central Utah, in the United States. Glen Canyon starts where Narrow Canyon ends, at the confluence of the Colorado River and the Dirty D ...
), seven
national forests (
Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsc'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...
,
Caribou-Targhee,
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 ...
,
Fishlake,
Manti-La Sal,
Sawtooth, and
Uinta-Wasatch-Cache), and numerous
state parks
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
and monuments.
The
Moab area, in the southeastern part of the state, is known for its challenging mountain biking trails, including
Slickrock. Moab also hosts the famous
Moab Jeep Safari
The Jeep Safari is an annual event hosted by the Red Rock 4-Wheelers off-road club, where 4-wheelers come to challenge the rough terrain of the backcountry in the Moab, Utah area. Although its title does say it is a festival of Jeeps, a few take o ...
semiannually.
Utah has seen an increase in tourism since the
2002 Winter Olympics
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 internation ...
.
Park City
Park City may refer to: a city in Utah.
Places
* National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London
in the United States
* Park City, Illinois
* Park City, Kansas
* Park City, Kentucky
* Park City, Montana
* Park City, ...
is home to the
United States Ski Team
The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and ...
. Utah's ski resorts are primarily located in northern Utah near Salt Lake City, Park City, Ogden, and
Provo. Between 2007 and 2011
Deer Valley
Deer Valley is an alpine ski resort in the Wasatch Range, located east of Salt Lake City, in Park City, Utah, United States. The resort, known for its upscale amenities, is consistently ranked among the top ski resorts in North America.
Deer ...
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
Brian Head Ski Resort is a ski destination for Southern Utah and the southern California, Arizona, and Las Vegas areas. It is located 3.5 hours north of Las Vegas and four hours south of Salt Lake City. The resort is Utah's southernmost. Brian He ...
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
The Utah Olympic Park is a winter sports park built for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and is located in Summit County ( east of Salt Lake City) northwest of Park City, Utah, United States. During the 2002 games the park hosted the bobsleigh, skele ...
and
Utah Olympic Oval
The Utah Olympic Oval is an indoor speed skating oval located southwest of Salt Lake City, in Kearns, Utah. The Oval was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics and it hosted the long track speed skating events for the 2002 games. Inside the facili ...
are still in operation for training and competition and allows the public to participate in numerous activities including
ski jumping
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...
,
bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...
, and
speed skating
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skatin ...
.
Utah features many cultural attractions such as
Temple Square
Temple Square is a complex, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah. The usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities that are immediately ...
, the
Sundance Film Festival, the
Red Rock Film Festival, the
DOCUTAH Film Festival, the
Utah Data Center
The Utah Data Center (UDC), also known as the Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative Data Center, is a data storage facility for the United States Intelligence Community that is designed to store data estimated to b ...
, 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
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
The Bingham Canyon Mine, more commonly known as Kennecott Copper Mine among locals, is an open-pit mining operation extracting a large porphyry copper deposit southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, in the Oquirrh Mountains. The mine is the largest m ...
, among the world's largest open pit mines), companies attracted large numbers of
immigrants
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
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 in Tooele County,
Silver Reef in Washington County,
Eureka
Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...
in Juab County,
Park City
Park City may refer to: a city in Utah.
Places
* National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London
in the United States
* Park City, Illinois
* Park City, Kansas
* Park City, Kentucky
* Park City, Montana
* 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
The Crandall Canyon Mine, formerly Genwal Mine, was an underground bituminous coal mine in northwestern Emery County, Utah.
The mine made headline news when six miners were trapped by a collapse in August 2007. Ten days later, three rescue worker ...
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 Mining Complex, about west of the small mining town of
Huntington in
Emery County
Emery County is a county in east-central Utah, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 10,976. Its county seat is Castle Dale, and the largest city is Huntington.
History Prehistory
Occupation of the San Rafael ...
.
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
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...
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
I-80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
are the main
interstate
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
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. I-80 spans northern Utah east-to-west, entering from Nevada at
Wendover
Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...
, 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.
I-84
Interstate 84 may refer to:
* Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N
* Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts)
Interstate 84 (I-84) is an Interstate Highway in the Northeaster ...
West enters from Idaho near
Snowville (from
Boise
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area' ...
) and merges with I-15 from
Tremonton to Ogden, then heads southeast through the Wasatch Mountains before terminating at I-80 near
Echo Junction.
I-70
Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the c ...
splits from I-15 at
Cove Fort
Cove Fort is a fort, unincorporated community, and historical site located in Millard County, Utah. It was founded in 1867 by Ira Hinckley (the paternal grandfather of Gordon B. Hinckley) at the request of Brigham Young. One of its distinctiv ...
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 to
Green River Green River may refer to:
Rivers
Canada
* Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River
*Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte
*Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...
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 freight railroads are the
BNSF Railway and the
Union Pacific Railway
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
. Interstate passenger rail is provided by
Amtrak's daily ''
California Zephyr
The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...
'' train, which runs between
Chicago Union Station
Chicago Union Station is an intercity and commuter rail terminal located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station is Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest. While serving long-distance passenger trains, it is also ...
and
Emeryville, California
Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisco Bay. The resident population was 12,905 ...
, with stops in Utah at , , , and the
Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub. The state was previously served by Amtrak's
''Pioneer'' and ''
Desert Wind
The ''Desert Wind'' was an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that ran from 1979 to 1997. It operated from Chicago to Los Angeles as a section of the ''California Zephyr'', serving Los Angeles via Salt Lake City; Ogden, Utah; and Las Vegas.
...
'' trains.
Heritage railroads include the
Heber Valley Railroad
The Heber Valley Railroad (HVRX) is a heritage railroad based in Heber City, Utah. It operates passenger excursion trains along a line between Heber City and Vivian Park, which is located in Provo Canyon. The HVRX carries over 110,000 pass ...
and the
Wild Kingdom Train.
The
Utah Transit Authority
The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Park City, Provo, Sal ...
(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, the UTA's
light rail system, consists of three lines. The
Blue Line (formerly Salt Lake/Sandy Line) begins in the suburb of
Draper
Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher.
History
Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...
and ends in
Downtown Salt Lake City. The
Red Line (Mid-Jordan/University Line) begins in the
Daybreak Community
Daybreak is a master-planned community over 4,000 acres (16 km²) in size that began construction in 2004 under the direction of land development company Kennecott Land (a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Group) in South Jordan, Utah. In 2016, the b ...
of
South Jordan, a southwestern valley suburb, and ends at the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
. The
Green Line begins in
West Valley City
West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County and a suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census,
making it the List of cities and towns in ...
, passes through downtown Salt Lake City, and ends at
Salt Lake City International Airport
Salt Lake City International Airport is a civil-military airport located about west of Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. The airport is the closest commercial airport for more than 2.5 million people and is within a 30-min ...
. The UTA also operates
FrontRunner
FrontRunner is a commuter rail train operated by the Utah Transit Authority that operates along the Wasatch Front in north-central Utah with service from the Ogden Intermodal Transit Center in central Weber County through Davis County, Salt ...
, a
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...
line running between Ogden and Provo via Salt Lake City.
The UTA's bus system stretches from the
Salt Lake Valley west to
Grantsville and east to
Park City
Park City may refer to: a city in Utah.
Places
* National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London
in the United States
* Park City, Illinois
* Park City, Kansas
* Park City, Kentucky
* Park City, Montana
* 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
Salt Lake City International Airport
Salt Lake City International Airport is a civil-military airport located about west of Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. The airport is the closest commercial airport for more than 2.5 million people and is within a 30-min ...
is the only international airport in the state and serves as a hub for
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...
. 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
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
Canyonlands Field (near
Moab),
Cedar City Regional Airport,
Ogden-Hinckley Airport,
Provo Municipal Airport
Provo Municipal Airport is a public-use airport west of Provo, in Utah County, Utah. It is a small regional airport with domestic flights mainly to destinations in the western United States.
Overview
The airport has rarely had scheduled airl ...
,
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, who was sworn in on January 4, 2021. The governor is elected for a four-year term. The
Utah State Legislature
The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term li ...
consists of a
Senate and a
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
. 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
The Utah Supreme Court is the supreme court of the state of Utah, United States. It has final authority of interpretation of the Utah Constitution. The Utah Supreme Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, an associate chief justice, ...
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
The Utah Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the state of Utah. It began operations in 1987.
Jurisdiction
The court's jurisdiction is complementary to that of the Utah Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals hears all app ...
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
A judicial retention election (or retention referendum) is a periodic process in some jurisdictions whereby a judge is subject to a referendum held at the same time as a general election. The judge is removed from office if a majority of votes ar ...
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 ''
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
''. 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
voting rights
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...
to women in 1870, 26 years before becoming a state. Among all U.S. states, only Wyoming granted
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
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Gary Herbert
Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle.
Herbert wo ...
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
amended many times since its inception.
Alcohol, tobacco and gambling laws
Utah's laws in regard to
alcohol, tobacco and gambling are strict. Utah is an
alcoholic beverage control state
Alcoholic beverage control states, generally called control states, less often ABC states, are 17 states in the United States that, as of 2016, have state monopoly over the wholesaling or retailing of some or all categories of alcoholic beverage ...
. The
Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (UDABS) is a state government agency of the U.S. state of Utah. It has its headquarters in Salt Lake City.
The Department was created by statute in 1935 by the Utah State Legislature, and it was g ...
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
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
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
on January 6, 2014, while the
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Colorado
* District of Kansas
* Distric ...
considered the case. On October 6, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court declined a
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
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
vs.
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
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
-leaning state in the country in every presidential election from 1976 to 2004, measured by the percentage point margin between the Republican and
Democratic candidates. In
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
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
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
, with Mormon
Mitt Romney atop the Republican ticket, Utah returned to its position as the most Republican state. However, the
2016 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*7 January: Kiri ...
result saw Republican
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
carry the state (marking the thirteenth consecutive win by the Republican presidential candidate) with only a plurality, the first time this happened since
1992.
Both of Utah's
U.S. Senators
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 powe ...
,
Mitt Romney and
Mike Lee
Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...
, are Republican. Three more Republicans—
Rob Bishop,
Chris Stewart, and
John Curtis—represent Utah in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
.
Ben McAdams was the sole Democratic member of the Utah delegation, representing the
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
Clarence Burgess Owens (born August 2, 1951) is an American politician, nonprofit executive and former professional football player serving as the U.S. representative for Utah's 4th congressional district since 2021. He played safety for 10 se ...
, a Republican, in 2020. After Jon Huntsman Jr. resigned to serve as U.S. Ambassador to China in 2009,
Gary Herbert
Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle.
Herbert wo ...
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-
Apostle
An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...
Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson (August 4, 1899 – May 30, 1994) was an American farmer, government official, and religious leader who served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during both presidential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower and ...
was quoted by the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
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 David Blyth Magleby (born October 20, 1949) is an American political scientist and distinguished professor of political science at Brigham Young University (BYU) and formerly the dean of the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences at that insti ...
, dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences at
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
, 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
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
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
Seventy
70 (seventy) is the natural number following 69 and preceding 71.
In mathematics
70 is:
* a sphenic number because it factors as 3 distinct primes.
* a Pell number.
* the seventh pentagonal number.
* the fourth tridecagonal number.
* the fif ...
Marlin Jensen to promote LDS bipartisanship.
Utah is much more conservative than the United States as a whole, primarily on
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
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
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, and
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 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
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
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
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
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
wrote a piece profiling Utah's political culture during
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 "
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 ...
", 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
Greeley is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, Weld County, Colorado, ...
.
The three fastest-growing counties from 2000 to 2010 were
Wasatch County
Wasatch County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 23,530. Its county seat and largest city is Heber City. The county was named for a Ute Native American word meaning ''mountain pa ...
(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
Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over ...
(1,673%),
Herriman (1,330%),
Eagle Mountain (893%),
Cedar Hills (217%),
South Willard (168%),
Nibley (166%),
Syracuse (159%),
West Haven
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
(158%),
Lehi (149%),
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 ...
(129%), and
Stansbury Park (116%) all at least doubled in population.
West Jordan (35,376), Lehi (28,379),
St. George (23,234),
South Jordan (20,981),
West Valley City
West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County and a suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census,
making it the List of cities and towns in ...
(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
File:Park City, Utah (2).jpg, Park City
Park City may refer to: a city in Utah.
Places
* National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London
in the United States
* Park City, Illinois
* Park City, Kansas
* Park City, Kentucky
* Park City, Montana
* Park City, ...
File:Provo iv.jpg, Provo
File:Sandy, Utah city hall.jpg, Sandy
File:Dtn st george.jpg, St. George
File:Kays_Crossing_with_Train_Evening.jpg, Layton
Colleges and universities
![ESC Eyring Science Center](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/ESC_Eyring_Science_Center.jpg)
*
Bridgerland Technical College
Bridgerland Technical College (BTECH), formerly Bridgerland Applied Technical college (BATC), is a public community college in Logan, Utah. It is part of the Utah System of Higher Education. The main campus is located in Logan with two satellit ...
in
Logan
*
Broadview College in
West Jordan
*
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
in
Provo (satellite campus in Salt Lake City)
*
Davis Technical College
Davis Technical College (Davis Tech) is a public technical college in Kaysville, Utah. It provides competency-based education in an open-entry, open-exit environment which prepares over 6,000 high school and adult students with career and technic ...
in
Kaysville
Kaysville is a city in Davis County, Utah, Davis County, Utah. It is part of the Ogden–Clearfield metropolitan area. The population was 27,300 at the time of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, with an estimated population of 32,390 in 2 ...
*
Eagle Gate College
Eagle Gate College is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit college in the U.S. state of Utah that specializes in health career education. The college is accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of H ...
in
Murray
Murray may refer to:
Businesses
* Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles
* Murrays, an Australian bus company
* Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust
* D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...
and
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
Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher.
History
Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...
*
Mountainland Technical College
Mountainland Technical College (MTECH) is a public community college in Lehi, Utah with additional campuses in Orem
Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, an ...
in
Lehi
*
Neumont College of Computer Science
Neumont College of Computer Science (formerly Neumont University, originally named Northface University) is a private for-profit career college in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in 2003 by Graham Doxey, Scott McKinley, and Marlow Einelund. ...
in
South Jordan
*
Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine
The Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine is a private, for-profit medical school for osteopathic medicine located in the city of Provo in the U.S. state of Utah. It is the third medical school in the state, and the second school of osteopat ...
in
Provo
*
Ogden–Weber Technical College
Ogden–Weber Technical College (also referred to as OTECH, Ogden-Weber Tech or OWTC) is a public technical college in Ogden, Utah. It is one of the largest of the eight technical colleges within the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE). The c ...
in
Ogden
*
Provo College
Provo College is a private for-profit college focused on health care programs and located in Provo, Utah.
History
What is now Provo College opened in 1984 under the name of Dental Careers Institute. Its name changed to Advanced Careers Insti ...
in
Provo
*
Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions
Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP) is a private, for-profit university focused on graduate healthcare education and located in Provo, Utah. It was established in 1998 and is accredited by the Northwest Commission of Col ...
in
Provo
*
Roseman University in
South Jordan, Utah
South Jordan is a city in south central Salt Lake County, Utah, United States, south of Salt Lake City. Part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, the city lies in the Salt Lake Valley along the banks of the Jordan River between the Oquirrh ...
*
Salt Lake Community College
Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a public community college in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is the state's largest two-year college with the most diverse student body. It serves more than 60,000 students on 10 campuses as well as through onl ...
in
Taylorsville
*
Snow College
Snow College is a public community college in Ephraim, Utah. It offers certificates and associate degrees in a number of areas, along with bachelor's degrees in music and software engineering and a four-year nursing program. Snow College is par ...
in
Ephraim and
Richfield
*
Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...
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
Southwest Technical College (Southwest Tech) is a public technical college in Cedar City, Utah. It serves Beaver, Garfield, Iron and Kane counties. In addition to its campus in Cedar City, Southwest Tech also operates a campus in Kanab, Utah. ...
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
Tooele Technical College is a public technical school in Tooele, Utah
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 approxima ...
in
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 ...
*
Uintah Basin Technical College
Uintah Basin Technical College (UBTech) is a public technical college in Roosevelt, Utah with an additional campus in Vernal. It serves high school students and adults in Daggett, Duchesne Duchesne is a surname. Notable people with the surname i ...
in
Roosevelt
Roosevelt may refer to:
*Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president
* Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president
Businesses and organisations
* Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation)
* Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank
* Rooseve ...
*
University of Phoenix
University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a private for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree level ...
at various locations statewide
*
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
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
Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah ...
in
Logan (satellite campuses at various state locations)
*
Utah State University Eastern in
Price
A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the ...
*
Utah Tech University
Utah Tech University (UT), formerly known as Dixie State University (DSU) and similar names, is a public university in St. George, Utah. The university offers about 240 programs (4 master's degrees, 53 bachelor's degrees, 18 associate degrees, 4 ...
in
St. George (formerly Dixie State University) as of May 2022, and legal effect in July 2022.)
*
Utah Valley University in
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 ...
*
Weber State University
Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
History
Weber State University was founded ...
in
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 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 league franchise, after the
Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expa ...
joined the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
in 2017. The
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...
of the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
play at
Vivint Arena
Vivint Arena (stylized as vivint arena), formerly known as Delta Center, EnergySolutions Arena and Vivint Smart Home Arena, is an indoor arena located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The arena serves as the home venue for the National Basketball Assoc ...
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
The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround.
History prior to moving t ...
, who competed in the
ABA from 1970 to 1976 and won one championship, and to the
Utah Starzz
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 ...
of the
WNBA from 1997 to 2003.
Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 2 ...
of
Major League Soccer was founded in 2005 and play their home matches at Rio Tinto Stadium (now known as
America First Field
America First Field (formerly Rio Tinto Stadium and referred to as The RioT) is an American soccer-specific stadium in Sandy, Utah, that serves as home stadium for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. The stadium opened on October 9, 2008, ...
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
Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of, the Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. While the senior club is ...
, competing in the third-tier
MLS Next Pro
MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS clubs ...
, 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
Zions Bank Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in Herriman, Utah, United States, with a seating capacity of 5,000. The stadium is home to Real Monarchs, a MLS Next Pro team affiliated with Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer, and the Utah Warr ...
, located at RSL's training center in
Herriman, for the 2018 season and beyond.
Utah Royals FC
Utah Royals FC was an American women's professional soccer club based in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah. Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion club, the Royals played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) from 2018 ...
, 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
Real Salt Lake Women (previously known as Salt Lake United and ''Sparta Salt Lake'') was an American women's soccer team that was founded in 2008. The team was a founding member of United Women's Soccer league, in the second tier of women’s so ...
, which began play in the
Women's Premier Soccer League
The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is the top amateur league for women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, below only National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). ...
in 2008 and moved to
United Women's Soccer
United Women's Soccer (UWS, also commonly abbreviated UWS) is a second-division pro-am women's soccer league in the United States. The league was founded in 2015 as a response to the dual problems of disorganization in the WPSL and of the fold ...
in 2016. RSL Women currently play at
Utah Valley University in
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 ...
.
Utah's highest level
Minor League Baseball team is the
Triple-A Salt Lake Bees
The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. They are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and play their home games at Smith's Ballpark. The ballpark o ...
, who play at
Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City as a part of the
Pacific Coast League. Utah also has one minor league
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
team, the
Utah Grizzlies
The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah.
Franchise history
The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Star ...
, who play at the Maverik Center and compete in the
ECHL
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL).
The ...
.
Utah has seven universities that compete in
Division I of the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
. Three of the schools have
football programs that participate in the top-level
Football Bowl Subdivision
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
:
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 ...
in the
Pac-12 Conference,
Utah State in the
Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...
, and
BYU
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...
as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
(although BYU competes in the non-football
West Coast Conference for most other sports). In addition,
Weber State
Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
History
Weber State University was founded ...
and
Southern Utah (SUU) compete in the
Big Sky Conference
The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...
of the
FCS.
Utah Tech, with an FCS football program, and
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 ...
, with no football program, are members of the
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas.
Due to mos ...
(WAC).
Salt Lake City hosted the
2002 Winter Olympics
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 internation ...
. 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
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
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.
*
External links
General
*
Government
*
*
Military
*
*
*
Maps and demographics
*
*
* .
*
*
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
{{Authority control
Utah,
Former Spanish colonies
States and territories established in 1896
States of the United States
Western United States
1896 establishments in the United States
Contiguous United States