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 peoples, 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 Congress 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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Bryce Canyon National Park (/braɪs/) is a national park of the United States 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 side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rock. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide distinctive views for park visitors. Bryce Canyon National Park is much smaller and sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m).

The area is in portions of Garfield County and Kane County. It was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1874. The area was originally designated as a national monument by President Warren G. Harding in 1923 and was redesignated as a national park by Congress in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres (55.992 sq mi; 14,502 ha; 145.02 km²) and receives substantially fewer visitors than Zion National Park (nearly 4.3 million in 2016) or Grand Canyon National Park (almost 6 million in 2016), largely due to Bryce's more remote location. In 2024, Bryce Canyon received almost 2.5 million visitors. (Full article...)

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Credit: Scott Catron

The cauldron used for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah was moved from the top of the Olympic stadium and now anchors the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Cauldron Park just south of Rice-Eccles Stadium. The flame is lit on special occasions, such as the opening weekend of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

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October 14, 1922 - The University of Utah beat Brigham Young University 49-0 to begin a college football rivalry known as the Holy War.

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Cassidy c. 1900

Robert LeRoy Parker (April 13, 1866 – November 7, 1908), better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American cowboy, train and bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Wild Bunch" in the Old West.

Parker engaged in criminal activity for more than a decade at the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century, but the pressures of being pursued by law enforcement, notably the Pinkerton detective agency, forced him to flee the United States. He fled with his accomplice Harry Longabaugh, known as the "Sundance Kid", and Longabaugh's girlfriend Etta Place. The trio traveled first to Argentina and then to Bolivia, where Parker and Longabaugh are believed to have been killed in a shootout with the Bolivian Army in November 1908; the exact circumstances of their fate are unclear. (Full article...)

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Skyline of Downtown Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The population was 199,723 at the 2020 census, while the Salt Lake City metropolitan area has an estimated 1.3 million residents and is the 46th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. It is also part of the larger Salt Lake City–Ogden–Provo combined statistical area, an urban corridor along a 120-mile (190 km) segment of the Wasatch Front with a population of approximately 2.8 million. It is one of the principal urban centers within the Great Basin, along with Reno, Nevada.

Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by settlers led by Brigham Young who were seeking to escape persecution they had experienced while living farther east. The Mormon pioneers, as they would come to be known, entered a semi-arid valley and immediately began building an extensive irrigation network that could feed the population and foster future growth. (Full article...)

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...that the Utah teapot (pictured) is a 3D model which has become a standard reference object in the computer graphics community?
...that Camp Steiner is the highest boy scout camp in the United States at 10,400 feet?
...that James H. Clark, who received a PhD in computer science from the University of Utah in 1974, founded Silicon Graphics, Inc., Netscape Communications Corporation and Healtheon?

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Credit: Shannon Martin

Tower of Babel in Arches National Park

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

Image 1One out of every 14 flash memory chips in the world is produced in Lehi, Utah. (from Utah)
Image 2The 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 3Brigham Young led the first Mormon pioneers to the Great Salt Lake. (from Utah)
Image 4Bryce Canyon National Park Amphitheater (winter view) (from Utah)
Image 5Joshua trees, yuccas, and cholla cactus occupy the far southwest corner of the state in the Mojave Desert (from Utah)
Image 6Sri Sri Radha Krishna (Hindu) Temple (from Utah)
Image 7Köppen climate types of Utah, using 1991–2020 climate normals. (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 9Robbie Russell playing for Real Salt Lake (from Utah)
Image 10Hovenweep Castle, San Juan River basin (from History of Utah)
Image 11The Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City (from Utah)
Image 12TRAX light rail serves Salt Lake County (from Utah)
Image 13The Scott Matheson Courthouse is the seat of the Utah Supreme Court. (from Utah)
Image 14Jake Garn (top-right), former Senator of Utah (1974–1993), and astronaut on Space Shuttle flight STS-51-D (from Utah)
Image 15Utah county boundaries (from Utah)
Image 16Zion National Park in southern Utah is one of five national parks in the state. (from Utah)
Image 17Navajo homeland in Monument Valley (from History of Utah)
Image 18First Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City (from Utah)
Image 19The Rocky Mountain elk is the Utah state mammal. (from Utah)
Image 20Children reading in Santa Clara, Utah, in 1940 (from Utah)
Image 21Fremont petroglyph, Dinosaur National Monument (from History of Utah)
Image 22The Huntsman Cancer Institute on the campus of the University of Utah (U of U) in Salt Lake City (from Utah)
Image 23Map showing Utah in 1838 when it was part of Mexico. From Britannica 7th edition. (from History of Utah)
Image 24American Fork Canyon (from Utah)
Image 25The Golden Spike where the First transcontinental railroad was completed in the U.S. on May 10, 1869, in Promontory, Utah (from Utah)
Image 26Mining 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 27Little Cottonwood Canyon (from Utah)
Image 28Kolob Canyons at Zion National Park (from Utah)
Image 29The LDS Salt Lake Temple, the primary attraction in the city's Temple Square (from Utah)
Image 30Deer Creek Reservoir (from Utah)
Image 31Snow in Rose Park, Salt Lake City (from Utah)
Image 32Utah population density map (from Utah)
Image 33Bonneville Salt Flats (from History of Utah)
Image 34The California gull is the Utah state bird. (from Utah)
Image 35Pando, considered one of the heaviest and oldest organisms on Earth. (from Utah)
Image 36"Welcome to Utah" sign (from Utah)
Image 37Downtown Salt Lake City in the early 20th century. (from History of Utah)
Image 38Salt Lake International Airport is the largest airport in Utah (from Utah)
Image 39The Eyring Science Center on the campus of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah (from Utah)
Image 40Arches National Park (from Utah)
Image 41Western black widow spider (from Utah)
Image 42Zion National Park (from History of Utah)
Image 43FrontRunner commuter rail runs between Ogden and Provo via Salt Lake City (from Utah)
Image 44Farms and ranches (from Utah)
Image 45The 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 46The 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 47The Utah Jazz playing against the Houston Rockets (from Utah)
Image 48Map showing Utah in 1838 when it was part of Mexico, Britannica 7th edition (from Utah)
Image 49Deseret Village recreates Utah pioneer life for tourists. (from Utah)
Image 50Location where the Mormons entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, now the This is the Place Monument and Deseret Village (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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