Portal:Utah

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Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, and Nevada to the west. In comparison to all the U.S. states and territories, Utah, with a population of just over three million, is the 13th largest by area, the 30th most populous, and the 11th least densely populated. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two regions: the Wasatch Front in the north-central part of the state, which includes the state capital, Salt Lake City, and is home to roughly two-thirds of the population; and Washington County in the southwest, which has approximately 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, such as the ancient Puebloans, 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 New Spain (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 Mormon Trail. In 1848, after the Mexican–American War, the region was annexed by the U.S., becoming part of the Utah Territory, 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 45th state.

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 (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 Utah's culture, politics, and daily life. However, since the 1990s, Utah has become both more religiously diverse and more secular. (Full article...)

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Four Corners Monument, after its 2010 reconstruction

The Four Corners Monument marks the quadripoint in the Southwestern United States where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. It is the only point in the United States shared by four states, leading to the area being named the Four Corners region. The monument also marks the boundary between two semi-autonomous Native American governments, the Navajo Nation, which maintains the monument as a tourist attraction, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Reservation.

The origins of the state boundaries marked by the monument occurred just prior to, and during, the American Civil War, when the United States Congress acted to form governments in the area to combat the spread of slavery to the region. When the early territories were formed, their boundaries were designated along meridian and parallel lines. Beginning in the 1860s, these lines were surveyed and marked. These early surveys included some errors, but even so, the markers placed became the legal boundaries, superseding the written descriptions of geographical meridians and parallels. This includes the Four Corners Monument, which has been legally established as the corner of the four states. (Full article...)

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Credit: National Park Service

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park

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August 11, 1999 - An F-2 tornado rips through downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, killing one person and injuring over 100.

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Young c. 1865

Brigham Young (/ˈbrɪɡəm/ BRIG-əm; June 1, 1801 – August 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. He also served as the first governor of the Utah Territory from 1851 until his resignation in 1858.

Young was born in 1801 in Vermont and raised in Upstate New York. After working as a painter and carpenter, he became a full-time LDS Church leader in 1835. Following a short period of service as a missionary, he moved to Missouri in 1838. Later that year, Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs signed the Mormon Extermination Order, and Young organized the migration of the Latter Day Saints from Missouri to Illinois, where he became an inaugural member of the Council of Fifty. In 1844, while he was traveling to gain support for Joseph Smith's presidential campaign, Smith was killed by a mob, igniting the Illinois Mormon War and triggering a succession crisis in the Latter Day Saint movement. After negotiating a ceasefire, Young was unanimously elected as the church's second president in 1847. During the Mormon exodus, Young led his followers west from Nauvoo, Illinois, via the Mormon Trail to the Salt Lake Valley. Once settled in Utah, he ordered the construction of numerous temples, including the Salt Lake Temple. He also formalized the prohibition of black men attaining priesthood and directed the Mormon Reformation. A supporter of education, Young worked to establish the learning institutions that would later become the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. (Full article...)

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The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest institution of higher education. The university received its current name in 1892, four years before Utah attained statehood, and moved to its current location in 1900. It is the flagship university of the Utah System of Higher Education.

As of fall 2023, there were 26,827 undergraduate students and 8,409 graduate students, for an enrollment total of 35,236, making it the second-largest public university in Utah. Graduate studies include the S.J. Quinney College of Law and the School of Medicine, Utah's first medical school. It is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". (Full article...)

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Rice-Eccles Stadium on the campus of the University of Utah

...that the surface at Rice-Eccles Stadium (pictured) is FieldTurf?
...that the Uinta Mountains are unusual for a mountain range because they run east to west?
...that Paul D. Boyer (born in Provo, Utah) is one of the laureates for the 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry?

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Credit: U.S. Geological Survey

Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah in 1913, looking east along 200 South from West Temple Street. To the far left is the Salt Lake Temple. The very white building right of the Temple is Hotel Utah, about one year old at the time. Just visible on the right side of the photo is the Salt Lake City and County Building clocktower. The Wasatch Mountains are in the background.

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The following are images from various Utah-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Western black widow spider (from Utah)
Image 2Children reading in Santa Clara, Utah, in 1940 (from Utah)
Image 3First Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City (from Utah)
Image 4Pando, considered one of the heaviest and oldest organisms on Earth. (from Utah)

Map of counties in Utah by racial plurality, per the 2020 US Census

Legend

Non-Hispanic White

60–70%

70–80%

80–90%

90%+

Native American

50–60%

(from Utah)

Image 6Arches National Park (from Utah)
Image 7Sri Sri Radha Krishna (Hindu) Temple (from Utah)
Image 8Farms and ranches (from Utah)
Image 9Snow in Rose Park, Salt Lake City (from Utah)
Image 10A sketch of Salt Lake City in 1860 (from Utah)
Image 11The Golden Spike where the First transcontinental railroad was completed in the U.S. on May 10, 1869, in Promontory, Utah (from Utah)
Image 12The boundaries of the provisional State of Deseret—as proposed in 1849—are shown with a dotted line. The Utah Territory as organized in 1850, is shown in blue with black outline. (from History of Utah)
Image 13The Rocky Mountain elk is the Utah state mammal. (from Utah)
Image 14American Fork Canyon (from Utah)
Image 15Jake Garn (top-right), former Senator of Utah (1974–1993), and astronaut on Space Shuttle flight STS-51-D (from Utah)
Image 16Salt Lake International Airport is the largest airport in Utah (from Utah)
Image 17Navajo homeland in Monument Valley (from History of Utah)
Image 18Bryce Canyon National Park Amphitheater (winter view) (from Utah)
Image 19The Olympic cauldron is lit by the 'Miracle on Ice' 1980 U.S. men's ice hockey team at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (from Utah)
Image 20Deer Creek Reservoir (from Utah)
Image 21FrontRunner commuter rail runs between Ogden and Provo via Salt Lake City (from Utah)
Image 22"Welcome to Utah" sign (from Utah)
Image 23Location where the Mormons entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, now the This is the Place Monument and Deseret Village (from History of Utah)
Image 24The California gull is the Utah state bird. (from Utah)
Image 25Bonneville Salt Flats (from History of Utah)
Image 26Downtown Salt Lake City in the early 20th century. (from History of Utah)
Image 27Utah State Route 12 through Red Canyon in Dixie National Forest (from Utah)
Image 28Fremont petroglyph, Dinosaur National Monument (from History of Utah)
Image 29The Scott Matheson Courthouse is the seat of the Utah Supreme Court. (from Utah)
Image 30Pariette Wetlands (from Utah)
Image 31Joshua trees, yuccas, and cholla cactus occupy the far southwest corner of the state in the Mojave Desert (from Utah)
Image 32Map showing Utah in 1838 when it was part of Mexico, Britannica 7th edition (from Utah)
Image 33Map showing Utah in 1838 when it was part of Mexico. From Britannica 7th edition. (from History of Utah)
Image 34Brigham Young led the first Mormon pioneers to the Great Salt Lake. (from Utah)
Image 35Deseret Village recreates Utah pioneer life for tourists. (from Utah)
Image 36The Huntsman Cancer Institute on the campus of the University of Utah (U of U) in Salt Lake City (from Utah)
Image 37The Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City (from Utah)
Image 38Utah population density map (from Utah)
Image 39One out of every 14 flash memory chips in the world is produced in Lehi, Utah. (from Utah)
Image 40The Utah Jazz playing against the Houston Rockets (from Utah)
Image 41Mining has been a large industry in Utah since it was first settled. The Bingham Canyon Mine in Salt Lake County is one of the largest open pit mines in the world. (from Utah)
Image 42Köppen climate types of Utah, using 1991–2020 climate normals. (from Utah)
Image 43Utah county boundaries (from Utah)
Image 44The LDS Salt Lake Temple, the primary attraction in the city's Temple Square (from Utah)
Image 45Robbie Russell playing for Real Salt Lake (from Utah)
Image 46The Eyring Science Center on the campus of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah (from Utah)
Image 47The Wasatch Front region has seen large growth and development despite the economic downturn. Shown is the City Creek Center project, a development in downtown Salt Lake City with a price tag of $1.5–2.5 billion. (from Utah)
Image 48Little Cottonwood Canyon (from Utah)
Image 49Zion National Park in southern Utah is one of five national parks in the state. (from Utah)
Image 50Kolob Canyons at Zion National Park (from Utah)
Image 51TRAX light rail serves Salt Lake County (from Utah)
Image 52Zion National Park (from History of Utah)
Image 53Hovenweep Castle, San Juan River basin (from History of Utah)

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State facts

Nickname: The Beehive State
Capital and largest city: Salt Lake City
Total area: 219,887 km² (84,899 sq mi)
Population (2010 Census): 2,736,424
Date admitted to the Union: January 4, 1896

State symbols:

Animal: Rocky Mountain elk
Bird: California seagull
Fish: Bonneville cutthroat trout
Flower: Sego lily
Grass: Indian ricegrass
Insect: European honey bee
Tree: Quaking aspen
Fossil: Allosaurus
Gemstone: Topaz
Mineral: Copper
Motto: Industry
Rock: Coal
Snackfood: Green Jell-O
Song: "Utah, This Is the Place"

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