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<p><b>Arizona</b> is a <a href="/pages/w/109424399076333">state</a> in the <a href="/pages/w/108285209196057">southwestern region</a> of the <a href="/pages/w/112463092102121">United States</a>. It is also part of the <a href="/pages/w/103798399658182">Western</a> and the <a href="/pages/w/109520642406667">Mountain</a> states. It is the <a href="/pages/w/135031366528510">sixth largest</a> and the <a href="/pages/w/142785289067368">14th most populous</a> of the 50 states. Its <a href="/pages/w/103765182995031">capital</a> and <a href="/pages/w/107019299335426">largest city</a> is <a href="/pages/w/105540216147364">Phoenix</a>. Arizona is one of the <a href="/pages/w/107980695897577">Four Corners</a> states. It has borders with <a href="/pages/w/108301835856691">New Mexico</a>, <a href="/pages/w/104164412953145">Utah</a>, <a href="/pages/w/109176885767113">Nevada</a>, <a href="/pages/w/108131585873862">California</a>, and <a href="/pages/w/109486839070556">Mexico</a>, and one point in common with the southwestern corner of <a href="/pages/w/106153826081984">Colorado</a>. Arizona's border with Mexico is 389 miles (626 km) long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of <a href="/pages/w/104008132969778">Sonora</a> and <a href="/pages/w/113258758687833">Baja California</a>.</p><p>Arizona is the 48th state and last of the <a href="/pages/w/109683865717546">contiguous states</a> to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. Historically part of the territory of <i><a href="/pages/w/109502885735532">Alta California</a></i> in <a href="/pages/w/102288173158755">New Spain</a>, it became part of independent Mexico in 1821. After being defeated in the <a href="/pages/w/112487848767000">Mexican–American War</a>, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the <a href="/pages/w/135419936492229">Gadsden Purchase</a>.</p>