Utah

Utah is a landlocked state in the <a href="/facts/Mountain_states/gpUhI8m7">Mountain West</a> subregion of the <a href="/facts/Western_United_States/uY9UGAus">Western United States</a>. It is one of the <a href="/facts/Four_Corners/LlMUhNY4">Four Corners</a> states, sharing a border with <a href="/facts/Arizona/6ayM3swJ">Arizona</a>, <a href="/facts/Colorado/IgIHrJI5">Colorado</a>, and <a href="/facts/New_Mexico/wosJCGaW">New Mexico</a>. It also borders <a href="/facts/Wyoming/kuKmWryL">Wyoming</a> to the northeast, <a href="/facts/Idaho/68ELs9Um">Idaho</a> to the north, and <a href="/facts/Nevada/HNWhCrQv">Nevada</a> to the west. In comparison to all the U.S. states and territories, Utah, with a population of just over three million, is the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area/q3nFXQlt">13th largest by area</a>, the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_population/ytDJqMaH">30th most populous</a>, and the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._states_by_population_density/KyIUGAlc">11th least densely populated</a>. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two regions: the <a href="/facts/Wasatch_Front/GvTf7Q1T">Wasatch Front</a> in the north-central part of the state, which includes the state capital, <a href="/facts/Salt_Lake_City/vDHXskTN">Salt Lake City</a>, and is home to roughly two-thirds of the population; and <a href="/facts/Washington_County%2c_Utah/2TTylbaD">Washington County</a> in the southwest, which has approximately 180,000 residents. Most of the western half of Utah lies in the <a href="/facts/Great_Basin/w135lKBN">Great Basin</a>.
Utah has been inhabited for thousands of years by various <a href="/facts/Indigenous_people_of_the_United_States/lr8Qmd6N">indigenous groups</a>, such as the <a href="/facts/Ancestral_Puebloans/KBn3XUVd">ancient Puebloans</a>, the Navajo, and the Ute. The first Europeans to arrive – in the mid-16th century – were the Spanish. Because of the region's challenging geography and harsh climate, it only became a peripheral part of <a href="/facts/New_Spain/NYaDwcqK">New Spain</a> (and later of Mexico). Even while it was Mexican territory, many of the Utah region's earliest European settlers were from the United States; notable among these were Mormons who were fleeing marginalization and persecution in the United States and arrived via the so-called <a href="/facts/Mormon_Trail/dPE06pwG">Mormon Trail</a>. In 1848, after the <a href="/facts/Mexican%25E2%2580%2593American_War/7ttRIwah">Mexican–American War</a>, the region was <a href="/facts/Mexican_Cession/CfRUs8oX">annexed by the U.S.</a>, becoming part of the <a href="/facts/Utah_Territory/whlecHsX">Utah Territory</a>, which included what later became Colorado and Nevada. Disputes between the dominant Mormon community and the federal government delayed Utah's admission as a state: in 1896, after it agreed to outlaw polygamy, it was admitted as the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._states_by_date_of_admission_to_the_Union/RCcIFsJI">45th state</a>.
People from Utah are known as Utahns. Slightly over half of all Utahns are <a href="/facts/Mormons/2DPWLeVJ">Mormons</a>, the vast majority of whom are members of <a href="/facts/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints/rcgQH9bT">the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</a> (LDS Church), which has <a href="/facts/Church_Office_Building/yGWN4pN4">its world headquarters</a> 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 Utah's 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 <a href="/facts/Economy_of_Utah/kVQgC025">economy</a>, with major sectors including transportation, <a href="/facts/Education_in_Utah/DKARc387">education</a>, information technology and research, <a href="/facts/Government_of_Utah/pESr08pn">government</a> services, mining, <a href="/facts/Multi-level_marketing/P5frBGnS">multi-level marketing</a>, and tourism. Utah has been one of the fastest growing states since 2000, with the <a href="/facts/United_States_Census_Bureau/heKtzoXX">2020 U.S. census</a> confirming the fastest population growth in the nation since 2010. <a href="/facts/St._George%2c_Utah/82DcaPAv">St. George</a> was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. It has the <a href="/facts/Household_income_in_the_United_States/LTyktYdQ">12th-highest median average income</a> and the <a href="/facts/List_of_U.S._states_by_Gini_coefficient/LaPLAb2S">least income inequality</a> of any U.S. state. Over time and influenced by <a href="/facts/Climate_change/rEN4BDE7">climate change</a>, <a href="/facts/Drought/LVW0rfuV">droughts</a> in Utah have been increasing in frequency and severity, putting a further strain on Utah's <a href="/facts/Water_security/HpED6HUL">water security</a> and impacting the state's economy.

Utah open-in-new

Utah