Utah Geostatistics
- Land area:
(land)144 sq. miles
(water)2,736 sq. miles
(TOTAL) 84,880 sq. miles - Land area: (all states)
- Horizontal Width: 272 miles
- Vertical Length: 347 milesNote: Maximum lengths and widths are point to point, straight line measurements from the Mercator map projection and will vary some usage of other map projections
- Border States: (6) Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona
- Districts: (29) map
- County: (largest in population) Salt Lake, 898,387
- Geographic Center: 3 miles north of Manti, in Sanpet County
- Tallest Point: Kings Peak, MTS Screws, 13,528 feet.
- Lowest Point: Beaverdam Wash, located near St. George in Washington County (2,000 ft.)
- Latitude and longitude
- Average Elevation: 6,092 feet.
Utah Latitude/Longitude
LATITUDE & LONGITUDE:
- Latitude/Longitude: (Absolute Locations)
Salt Lake City: (capital) 40º 45′ N, 111º 53′ W
Moab: 38º 34′ N, 109º 32′ W - Latitudes and Longitudes: (specific details)
- Find any Latitude & Longitude
- Relative locations: (specific details)
RELATIVE LOCATION:
Utah is positioned in both the northern and western hemispheres. Located in the west-central region (or Mountain States) of the United States of America, part of North America – Utah is bordered by the states of Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Utah is a state in the Mountain States group in the western United States. Area 219.9 thousand square kilometers, population 2.316 million (2002). The administrative center is Salt Lake City. Major cities: Ogden, Provo. See counties in Utah.
Geographical position
Utah borders Idaho to the north, Wyoming to the northeast, Colorado to the east, Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west.
The terrain is mostly mountainous. In the central part of the state – the Rocky Mountains with the Wasatch Ranges, Uinta. The highest point is Mount Kings Peak (4123 m). Mountains alternate with desert plateaus. To the east is the Colorado Plateau , to the west is the Great Basin Highlands. In the north of the state is the Great Salt Lake (the largest lake in the western United States). The main river is the Colorado. There are many forests (a third of the territory, the majority are forest reserves). The climate is dry continental. Precipitation is the least in the United States.
- AbbreviationFinder: Introduction to the state of Utah, covering commonly used acronyms and the list of main cities and town in Utah.
Natural resources and economics
The state is rich in minerals (more than 200 types, including oil, natural gas, coal, copper); copper, beryllium (the world leader in the extraction of this metal), gold, silver, lead, uranium, molybdenum, various salts, coal, and gilsonite (required for the production of asphalt) are mined. The main industries are mechanical engineering (production of construction and mining equipment), aerospace (aviation parts, components of rockets and spacecraft); production of electrical equipment; food, petrochemical and printing industries.
Manufacture of computer hardware and software. Three quarters of the population is employed in the service sector. Tourism is developed (ski resorts).
The state capital – Salt Lake City – is a regional trade and financial center (large banks and insurance companies). Air bases. No more than 5% of the population works in agriculture (beef animal husbandry and fruit growing are the most developed). The state has a high birth rate and a low death rate. About 70% of the population are Mormons. Various universities and colleges.
History
The Indians who lived in the Great Basin region more than 10 thousand years ago were hunters or gatherers. About 2,000 years ago, the Basket Makers culture developed here in the Colorado Plateau region. Representatives of the creators of this culture mastered the technique of weaving all kinds of baskets, including waterproof ones for cooking. The area was later inhabited by the Pueblo tribes, whose rock caves survive in the southeast of the state. The Ute, Paiute, Navajo, and Goshute Indians inhabited the region until the arrival of the first Europeans. The first to appear here in 1540 were the soldiers of F. de Coronado. They were looking for the fabulous Seven Cities of Cibola. In 1776, an expedition of two Franciscan missionaries, Silvestre de Escalante and Francisco Dominguez, whose task it was to find a convenient route for laying a road between Santa Fe and the Spanish missions in California, explored this region. Fur traders entered the state in 1825.
As a result of the American-Mexican War of 1846, Mexico ceded to the United States Utah and five other states (almost half of its territory). In the 1840s, many expeditions and settlers to California passed through Utah. It was visited by trappers and fur traders W. Ashley, J. Bridger, J. Smith. In 1843-1844, J. Fremont was the first to explore the area of the Great Basin. In 1847, along the route of the half-dead Donner expedition, the first Mormons came to the future state. from Illinois, led by B. Young, hiding from persecution. Mormons played a decisive role in the development of the region. In 1849, they founded their state in Utah, which was called the “State of honey bees” and covered the territory from Oregon to Mexico. The Mormons petitioned the US Congress to grant statehood to their state.
In 1850, Congress passed a resolution to create the smaller Utah Territory, of which Young became governor. For the next decades, the settlers waged a constant struggle with the Indians. By order of President John Buchanan, federal troops were sent to the state in 1857 to install a new non-Mormon governor of the territory (the so-called “Utah War” of 1857-1858). Conflicts ceased in 1867 after the establishment of Indian reservations here. In 1895, the constitution of the future state was adopted, which had an unusual provision for those times on the right to vote for women. In 1869, the construction of the transcontinental railroad was completed. The flow of immigrants, including non-Mormons, increased. Intensive development of agriculture and industry began.
Utah became the 45th state of the United States only in 1896, because before that the authorities were not satisfied with the doctrine of the Mormon Church, which approved polygamy. At the beginning of the 20th century, mineral deposits (silver, gold, zinc, copper) were discovered on the territory of the state, they are being mined (copper since 1907, oil since 1948) and processed. Agricultural land has expanded due to the development of the irrigation system. During the world wars, thanks to military orders, the processing and mining industries are booming. After the Second World War, most of the population began to concentrate in large cities. For 30 years (1970-2000), the population of the state has more than doubled (by 120%). In the 1980s, the role of the service sector and tourism increased.
Culture
Most cultural and historical monuments are concentrated in Salt Lake City. The state has many national parks and reserves (including Arches National Park, founded in 1829, on its territory there are giant stone arches formed as a result of erosion and weathering), as well as ski resorts in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, salt fields of Lake Bonneville, reservoirs, bases for winter sports.