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MARICOPA
COUNTY
Maricopa
County, named after the Maricopa Tribe, was created from
portions of Pima and Yavapai counties in 1871. It was the fifth county
formed in Arizona, and eventually portions were used to create Gila and
Pinal counties.
In the late 19th century, citizens living far south of Prescott, the
territorial capital and site of the Territorial Legislature, petitioned
for a more local seat of government. Residents of the Salt River Valley
and the Gila River area wanted a new county in their respective
locations. After weighing both proposals, the Legislature agreed with
the Salt River Valley group and created Maricopa County. In 1889,
Phoenix became the final site of the territorial capital and retains
its status as Arizona’s capital city.
More than half of the state’s population resides in Maricopa County,
which includes the cities of Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale, Scottsdale,
Tempe, Chandler, Peoria, and Gilbert. This metropolitan area is the
state’s major center of political and economic activity. In addition to
housing the state capital, the county is home to a growing high-tech
industry; manufacturing and agricultural industries; 15 institutions of
higher learning, including Arizona State University and the Thunderbird
Garvin School of International Management; various cultural
attractions; major league professional basketball (Phoenix Suns and
Phoenix Mercury), football (Arizona Cardinals), hockey (Phoenix
Coyotes) and baseball’s 2001 World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks; and
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, fifth busiest in the world
with over 1,300 daily flights.
Today Maricopa County measures 9,222 square miles, 98 square miles of
which is water. Twenty-nine percent of this area is owned individually
or by corporation, and 28 percent is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land
Management. The U.S. Forest Service and the State of Arizona each
control 11 percent of the county; an additional 16 percent is owned
publicly. Almost 5 percent is Indian reservation land. Parts of 11
jurisdictions in western Maricopa County are designated Enterprise
Zones as well as central and southern areas in the City of Phoenix. The
cities of Tempe, Chandler and Mesa each have an Enterprise Zone in the
central part of the city.
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