Phoenix
Phoenix is the largest city and also the capital of Arizona. It was founded in 1881 on the ruins of an ancient Indian city.
The name of the town comes from a phoenix that rises from the ashes after its death. On the territory of the modern city lived people of the culture Hohokam for over a thousand years, . They have dug a network of channels, some of which have served over time to build a modern sewerage system - this is the case with the Arizona Canal.
The population is over one million four hundred thousand people. Of all the capitals of America, Phoenix is the largest city in area, this list includes even the capital Washington.
Phoenix is located in the Salt River Valley, three hundred and forty meters above sea level, in the middle of the desert Sonora. Salt River crosses the city from east to west.
The watercourse is almost always dry, except for the waste water from the reservoir, designed to continuously supply the city with fresh water, which is positioned upstream of river.
The area of the city is surrounded by the Superstition Mountains, McDowell Mountains, White Tank Mountains and the Sierra Estrella. The city occupies an area of 1230, 5 square kilometers, of which 1229, 9 are land, the rest is surface water.
The climate of the city of Phoenix is very dry. More than eighty days per year - from late June to September, the average air temperature reaches up to thirty eight degrees Celsius. Absolute maximum of fifty degrees Celsius was recorded in 1990. In winter, minimum temperatures rarely reach below freezing. Wettest month in the year is December.
In the city of Phoenix snow is really very rare- in the city snow has fallen less than ten times, the last time this happened is December 1985. Phoenix is one of the driest and hottest cities in the United States. Phoenix is one of the hottest cities in the world.
The agglomeration of Phoenix includes other cities and suburban settlements of central Arizona. This agglomeration has received the romantic name “Valley of the Sun” and the total number of people living on its territory is more than 4.3 million people.
From 1990 to 2000 the population of the urban agglomeration of Phoenix grew by forty-five percent, which exceeds three times the average indicator for the U.S. That allowed Arizona to become the second most rapidly growing state after Nevada.
