Arizona

The state hosts the following major league teams (called the Cactus league) for spring training:. Florida also hosts the following minor league baseball teams:. Arizona is a popular location for Major League Baseball spring training. As of 2004, Florida hosts the following major league teams for spring training:. For a complete list, see List of people from Arizona.. Florida is an extremely popular location for Major League Baseball spring training, with teams informally organized into the "Grapefruit League". Labor leader Cesar Estrada Chavez is from Yuma. [2] (http://www.sptimes.com/News/050801/State/Bush_s_trustees_mostl.shtml) In 2002, Democratic Senator Bob Graham started a ballot referendum designed to revert to the Board of Regents system.

Film director Steven Spielberg grew up in Scottsdale, as did Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter. This has not been without controversy. From the rock and roll world, both Alice Cooper and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac are from Phoenix; Linda Ronstadt is from Tucson. As is typical of executive-appointed government boards, the appointees so far have been overwhelmingly Republican. Famous Arizonans also include Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, author Zane Grey, former Governor and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Presidential candidate (1964) and former Senator Barry Goldwater, Presidential candidate (2000) and Senior Republican Senator John McCain, former senator Carl Hayden and former Solicitor General Rex E. Lee . Instead, each public university is now controlled by its own Board of Trustees who are directly appointed by the governor.
. In 2000, Governor Bush and the state legislature acted to abolish the Board of Regents that governed the State University System of Florida.

Ranked by per capita income. Major testing organizations frequently discount the use of state average test score rankings, or any average of scaled scores, as a valid metric (see psychometrics for more details on scaled test scores). Each city named in bold has a population greater than 100,000. Governor Jeb Bush has been criticized by many Florida educators for a program that penalizes underperforming schools (as indicated by standardized tests, such as the FCAT) with fewer funding dollars. See: List of cities in Arizona, List of cities in Arizona (by population), List of Arizona counties. It should be noted that many education surveys are not scientific, but do measure prestige. There is also a significant Mormon population. Florida public schools have consistently ranked in the bottom 25% of many national surveys and average test score rankings.

Four in five Arizonans are self-described Christians, with large numbers of both Catholics and Protestants living in the state. states. See also the list of Arizona Natives.. Average teacher salaries rank near the middle of U.S. 49.9% of the population is male, 50.1% is female. Florida's public school revenue per student and spending per $1000 of personal income usually ranks in the bottom 25% of U.S. states. As of 2000, 74.1% of Arizona residents age 5 and older speak English at home and 19.5% speak Spanish. Navajo is the third most spoken language at 1.9%, followed by Other Native North American languages at 0.6% and German at 0.5%. See complete list of Florida places.

In 2003, for the first time, there were more Hispanic births in the state than white non-Hispanic births. Ranked by per capita income. Arizona is likely to become a minority-majority state by the year 2035 at the latest. The three largest Protestant denominations in Florida are: Baptist (22% of the total state population), Methodist (8%), Presbyterian (4%). Only California has more Indians than Arizona, and Arizona has slightly more Indians than Oklahoma [1] (http://eire.census.gov/popest/data/states/ST-EST2002-ASRO-03.php). Religiously, Florida is mostly Protestant, but with a growing Roman Catholic community due to Hispanic immigration. 286,680 reportedly live in Arizona, this represents more than 10% of the country's total Indian population of 2,752,158. The five largest ancestries in the state are: African American (14.6%), German (11.8%), Irish (10.3%), English (9.2%), American (8%).

According to 2003 Census esimates, Arizona has the second highest number of Native Americans of any state in the Union. As of 2003, the state had a population of 17,019,068. The racial breakdown of the state is as follows:. Today most of the spam businesses appear to be operating out of South Florida. As of 2003, Arizona had a population of 5,580,811 according Census Bureau estimates. Historically Florida has also been home to large telemarketing firms. High-tech employment was led by software and computers, with 34,314; electronics components manufacturing, 30,358; aerospace manufacturing, 25,641; architectural and engineering services, 21,378; telecommunications, 21,224; and instruments manufacturing, 13,056. Spammers are not the first business men of questionable ethics to use Florida as a home base.

High-tech payroll in 2001 was $2.2 billion, or 14.7 percent of the private-sector total. In 2005 Spamhaus declared Florida the spam capital of the world [1]  (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-sbspammain08may08,0,7702631.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines). Experts have estimated that Florida is an attractive place of business for Spammers due to the gorgeous weather, low key atmosphere, nearby Internet data centers and the state's reputation as "a good place to do dirty business". In 2001, 161,166 Arizonans were employed in the high-tech sector, accounting for about 8.3 percent of total private-sector employment of more than 1.9 million. Florida did not have any state minimum wage laws until November 2, 2004, when voters passed a Constitutional Amendment requiring inflationary increases to the minimum wage every six months. Arizona lost much of its advantage as a high-technology industry leader between 1990 and 2001, according to a state Department of Commerce (http://www.commerce.state.az.us/) report. With the arrival of the space program at Kennedy Space Center in the 1960s, Florida has attracted a large number of aerospace and military industries to the state. The state government is the state's largest employer, while Wal-Mart is the state's largest private employer, with 17,343 employees in 2003. Other major industries include citrus fruit and juice production, banking, and phosphate mining.

Copper is still produced in abundance from many giant open-pit mines and underground mines. The large Walt Disney World Resort with four theme parks and over twenty hotels plus countless water parks, shopping centres and other facilities, located in Lake Buena Vista drives the economy of that area, along with more recent entries into the theme park arena such as the Universal Orlando Resort. The great amount of sales tax revenue is what allows the state to be one of the few to not levy a personal income tax. At one point Arizona was the largest producer of cotton in the country. Warm weather most of the year and hundreds of miles of beach provide a thriving vacation spot for travelers from around the world. Its per capita income was $27,232, 39^th in the United States. Early in its history, Arizona's economy relied on the "five C's": copper, cotton, cattle, citrus and climate (i.e., tourism). Florida's economy is heavily based on tourism. The 2003 total gross state product was $182 billion. The per capita personal income was $30,098, ranking 26^th in the nation.

It is rare for tornadoes to occur in Arizona. The gross state product of Florida in 2003 was $550 billion. The monsoons bring lightning, thunderstorms, wind and torrentious, if usually brief, evening downpours. Many other smaller hurricanes have hit or brushed Florida, and many more hurricanes will hit in the future. Monsoon season in Arizona is from the end of July through August. Among a long list of other infamous hurricane strikes were the Miami Hurricane of 1926, the Lake Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928, the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Hurricane Donna in 1960 and Hurricane Opal in 1995. Extreme cold temperatures are not unknown, cold air systems from the northern states and Canada occasionally push into the state bringing temperatures below -20C ( subzero Fahrenheit) temperatures in the higher parts of the state. history, Hurricane Andrew, which cost twenty-five billion dollars when it struck on August 12, 1992.

However, the northern third of Arizona is a plateau at signficantly higher altitudes than the lower desert, and has an appreciably cooler climate, with cold winters and mild summers. Hurricanes Charley (August 13), Frances (September 4-5), Ivan (September 16), and Jeanne (September 25-26) cumulatively cost forty-two billion dollars to the state. Florida was also the site of the most costly single weather disaster in U.S. Due to the primarily dry climate, large temperature swings often occur between day and night temperatures, with temperature swings as large as 10 C (50 F) in the summer months. Florida saw a slew of destruction in 2004 when it was hit by a record four hurricanes. The summer months of May through August bring a dry, heat ranging from 35 to 40 degrees Celsius (the high 90-100s), with occasional high temperatures exceeding 50C (125 F) have been observed in the desert area. Hurricanes pose a threat during the summer and fall. About midway through February, the temperatures start to rise again with sunny warm days, and cool breezy nights. Snow flurries fell on Miami Beach for the only time in history.

November through February are the coldest months with temperatures typically ranging from 4 - 24 degrees Celsius (40-75 degrees Fahrenheit), although occasional frosts are not uncommon. The most widespread snowfall in Florida history happened in February 1978 with snow falling over much of the state in different times of the month, extending as far south as Homestead. Typically, from late fall to early spring, the weather is mild, averaging a minimum of 15 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit). The Great Blizzard of 1899, was also the only time the temperature has fallen below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, registering -2f in Tallahassee. In the lower elevations, the climate is primarily desert, with mild winters and hot summers. During that time, the Tampa Bay area had "Gulf effect" snow, similar to Lake effect snowfall. Due to its large area and variations in elevation, the state has a wide variety of climates. During the Great Blizzard of 1899, Florida experienced blizzard conditions for possibly the first time.

Several major Hollywood films, such as U-Turn, Waiting to Exhale, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure have been made there (as indeed have many Westerns). Snow is a rare occurrence in Florida, although it usually snows somewhere in Florida almost every winter. Many tourist souvenirs produced in Arizona or by its residents display immediately characteristic images, such as sunsets, coyotes, and desert plants. Florida has more lightning strikes than any other state and also leads the nation in tornadoes per square mile(although the tornadoes in Florida do not get as large as those in the Midwest or Great Plains. Hail is not an uncommon occurrence in some of the more severe thunderstorms. Sedona and Tubac are known as budding artist colonies, and small arts scenes exist in the larger cities and near the state universities. These thunderstorms which are caused by airflow from the Gulf of Mexico seemingly "pop up" in the early afternoon and can often bring heavy downpours, high winds and sometimes tornadoes. The state is a recognized center of Native American art, with a number of galleries such as the Heard Museum showcasing historical and contemporary works. Statewide, Florida has the highest average precipitation of any state, due in large part to afternoon thunderstorms which are common throughout most of the state from late spring until the early autumn.

Arizona has witnessed a continuous string of dancing and performing groups of many ethnicities. While Florida's nickname is the "Sunshine State", severe weather is a common occurrence in Florida. Nearly 2 billion years of the Earth's history has been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut through layer after layer of sediment as the Colorado Plateaus have uplifted. The Gulf stream has a moderating effect on Florida climate and although it is common for much of Florida to see a high summer temperature over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, it is not common for the mercury to go above 100 degrees Fareinheit in Florida. The canyon, created by the Colorado River cutting a channel over millions of years, is about 277 mile (446 km) long, ranges in width from 6 to 29 kilometers (4 to 18 miles) and attains a depth of more than 1,6 km (1 mile). The seasons in Florida often called "Hot and Hotter" are actually determined more by precipitation than by temperature with warm, relatively dry winters and autumns (the dry season) and hot, wet springs and especially the summers (the wet season). President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of the Grand Canyon area, visiting on numerous occasions to hunt mountain lion and enjoy the breathtaking scenery. Most of the state has a humid subtropical climate with the extreme tip of Florida and the Florida Keys bordering on a true tropical climate.

The canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and is largely contained in the Grand Canyon National Park - one of the first national parks in the United States. The climate of Florida is tempered somewhat by its proximity to water. The Grand Canyon is a colorful, steep-sided gorge, carved by the Colorado River, in northern Arizona. At 345 feet (105 metres) above sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida (it's also the lowest state highpoint.). The Mogollon Rim, a 600-meters (2000-foot) escarpment, cuts across the central section of the state and marks the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, where the state experienced its worst forest fire ever in 2002. It is near the countries of the Caribbean, particularly the Bahamas, Cuba, and Haiti. More than half of the state features mountains and plateaus and contains the largest stand of Ponderosa pine in the United States. It is bordered on the north by the states of Georgia and Alabama and on the west, at the end of the panhandle, by Alabama.

Like other states of the Southwest, Arizona has an abundance of topographical characteristics in addition to its desert climes. Florida consists of a panhandle extending along the northern Gulf of Mexico and a large peninsula with the Atlantic Ocean as its eastern border and the Gulf of Mexico as its western border. Arizona gained two seats in the House of Representatives due to redistricting based on Census 2000. See: List of counties in Florida. Hayworth (R-5), Jeff Flake (R-6), Raul Grijalva (D-7), and Jim Kolbe (R-8). The state use tax is 6 percent on purchases made out of state and brought into Florida within 6 months of the purchase date. Arizona's representatives in the United States House of Representatives are Rick Renzi (R-1), Trent Franks (R-2), John Shadegg (R-3), Ed Pastor (D-4), J.D. Local governments may levy a local option sales on top of that, so sales taxes vary by county between 6 and 7.5 percent.

The two Arizona US Senators are Senator John McCain (Republican) and Senator Jon Kyl (Republican). The state sales tax rate is 6 percent. She has been governor since 2003. See:List of Arizona Governors. Florida is one of the nine states which does not impose personal income tax (list of others). The current Governor of Arizona is Janet Napolitano, a Democrat. See: List of Florida Governors. The governor may serve any number of terms, though no more than two in a row. Outside of liberal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the Florida Democratic Party tends to be socially conservative and heavily associated with the good ol' boy network.

Arizona's executive branch is headed by a governor elected for a four-year term. Tampa, once a hotbed of Democratic union support, is now about 50% both registered Republicans and Democrats making it, and surrounding areas, part of the important I-4 Corridor swing region. However, no more than four terms may be served consecutively. In Miami, the liberal Democrats vie for control with wealthy Cuban conservative Republicans and their business allies. Arizona state senators and representatives are elected for two year terms and there are no terms limits. As such, and because of its high population and large number of electoral votes, Florida is considered by political analysts to be a key swing state in Presidential elections. The executive budget has allocated money to previously passed legislation. The Presidential election in Florida in 2000 was extremely close.

Besides the money spent on state agencies, money has also been allocated for tax cuts, pay raises for government employees, and health insurance for government employees. Despite this demographic parity, Republicans control the governorship and most other statewide elected offices; both houses of the state legislature; 18 of the state's 25 seats in the House of Representatives; and one of the state's two senate seats. The 2002 budget of the Arizona state legislature was $14.3 billion, while the executive budget was $13.8 billion. Though Florida has traditionally been a Democratic state, in recent years explosive population growth has brought with it many Republicans, leaving the state approximately evenly split between the two parties. The majority party is the Republican party, which has held power since 1950. Bush. Arizona's legislature consists of a thirty-member Senate and a 60-member House of Representatives. W.

See: List of Congressmen. Bush and son of former President George H. Arizona was admitted into the Union on February 14, 1912. The current governor is Republican Jeb Bush, brother of President George W. The site was purchased after the war by the Maytag family, and is currently the Phoenix Zoo. The Florida Legislature has a Senate of 40 members and a House of 120 members. Arizona was also the site of a German and Italian prisoner of war camp during WWII. Today, Florida is the fourth most populous state in the Union.

With the encouragement of Brigham Young, Mormons went to Arizona from Utah in the mid to late 1800s to the Phoenix Valley (or "Valley of the Sun"), Mesa, Tempe, Prescott, Snowflake, Heber, and many other Arizona towns to settle there. After the fall of the Confederacy in 1865, Florida was readmitted into the Union on June 25, 1868. Arizona was administered as part of the Territory of New Mexico until it was organized into a separate territory on February 24, 1863. Florida joined the CSA on February 10, 1861. In 1853 the land below the Gila River was acquired from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase. On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the United States of America. Florida seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861 and was one of the founding members of the Confederate States of America (CSA, also known as the Confederacy). The United States took possession of most of Arizona at the end of the Mexican War in 1848. Spain finally ceded Florida to the United States with the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819, in exchange for the US renouncing any claims on Texas.

All of what is now Arizona became part of Mexico's northwest frontier upon the Mexican assertion of independence from Spain in 1810. Control of parts of Florida passed among Spanish, British, and American control. Father Kino developed a chain of missions and taught the Indians Christianity in Pimería Alta (now southern Arizona and northern Sonora) in the 1690's and early 1700's. Spain founded fortified towns (presidios) at Tubac in 1752 and Tucson in 1775. The area of Florida diminished with the establishment of British colonies to the north and French colonies to the west. Coronado's expedition entered the area in 1540–42 during its search for Cibola. Over the following century, the Spanish and French both established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success. Beyond its original native inhabitants, Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan, explored the area in 1539. Archaelogical finds indicate that Florida had been inhabited for many thousands of years prior to any European settlements. Spaniards first arrived in 1513 and laid claim to a large, imprecisely defined area extending from about modern day Gainesville northward to the Carolinas, which they called La terra florida, "The flowery land".

USS Arizona was named in honor of this state. Main article: History of Florida. Three possible derivations are:. USS Florida was named in honor of this state. Historians disagree about the origin of the name "Arizona" and its attachment to the region. Postal abbreviation is FL. Besides the Grand Canyon, a number of other National Forests, Parks, Monuments, and Indian reservations are located in the state. The U.S.

Its major cities are Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, and Flagstaff. It was discovered by Spanish explorers during the Easter season, which is called Pascua Florida in Spanish. It is also the name of a US Battleship, the USS Arizona. "Florida" is a Spanish adjective which means "flowery". It is one of the Four Corners states, south and east of the Colorado River, bordering New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California and Mexico, and touching Colorado. It is known as the Sunshine State. Arizona was the 48th state admitted to the United States and is part of the Southwest United States. Florida is a southern state in the United States.

Texas Rangers in Surprise. Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin. Seattle Mariners in Peoria. Petersburg. San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale. Tampa Bay Devil Rays in St. San Diego Padres in Peoria. Saint Louis Cardinals in Jupiter.

Oakland Athletics in Phoenix. Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton. Milwaukee Brewers in Phoenix. Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Tempe. New York Yankees in Tampa. Kansas City Royals in Surprise. Lucie.

Colorado Rockies in Tucson. New York Mets in Port St. Chicago White Sox in Tucson. Washington Nationals in Viera. Chicago Cubs in Mesa. Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers. Arizona Diamondbacks in Tucson. Los Angeles Dodgers in Vero Beach.

Phoenix Suns (National Basketball Association). Houston Astros in Kissimmee. Phoenix Mercury (Women's National Basketball Association). Florida Marlins in Jupiter. Phoenix Coyotes (National Hockey League). Detroit Tigers in Lakeland. Arizona Sting (National Lacrosse League). Cleveland Indians in Winter Haven.

Arizona Rattlers (Arena Football League). Cincinnati Reds in Sarasota. Arizona Diamondbacks (Major League Baseball). Boston Red Sox in Palms Park. Arizona Cardinals (National Football League). Baltimore Orioles in Fort Lauderdale. Arizona Music Educators Association. Atlanta Braves at Walt Disney World.

Western International University. University of Phoenix. Thunderbird - The Garvin School of International Management. Southwestern College.

Prescott College. Grand Canyon University. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. DeVry University, Phoenix.

Collins College, Tempe. American Indian College of the Assemblies of God. Northland Pioneer College. Arizona Western College.

South Mountain Community College. Mohave Community College. Cochise College. Prescott College.

Yavapai Community College. Eastern Arizona College. Pima Community College. South Mountain Community College.

Scottsdale Community College. Rio Salado Community College. Phoenix College. Paradise Valley Community College.

Mesa Community College. Glendale Community College. GateWay Community College. Estrella Mountain Community College.

Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Northern Arizona University. University of Arizona. Arizona State University.

18% No Religion. 2% Non-Christian religions. 6% Mormon. 25% Other Protestants.

4% Lutheran. 5% Methodist. 9% Baptist. 43% Protestant