Phoenix serves as the state capital for Arizona and is America’s highest-populated capital city.

Nicknames for Phoenix are Valley of the Sun and The Valley. Monikers for Arizona range from The Grand Canyon State and The Copper State to The Valentine State. The latter nickname is because Arizona became a U.S. state on February 14, 1914–Valentine’s Day.

Phoenix’s Musical Instrument Museum boasts the world’s largest collection of musical instruments.

The Phoenix Zoo is America’s biggest private and non-profit zoo and is committed to re-introducing endangered species back into the wild. The Phoenix Botanical Gardens features the world’s largest ensemble of flowers and plants.

Phoenix’s city park system includes South Mountain Park, the biggest municipal park anywhere covering about 25.9 square miles (67 square kilometers).

Phoenix is the largest American city in a its hot desert climate and is the world’s sunniest major city averaging some 3,872 hours of sunshine yearly. Citizens in Phoenix enjoy short, mild winters while experiencing extremely hot and long summers. Phoenix endures an average 18 days annually with temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius).

Research website numbeo ranks Phoenix in the top 43% compared to the 250 cities evaluated on its overall quality of life index at June 2020. Phoenix scored well on index factors such as purchasing power (strongest 8%), property price to income ratio (lowest 11%) and traffic commute time (fastest 36%). On the negative side, Phoenix rates relatively poorly for climate (worst 10%), safety (bottom 29%), pollution (worst 40%) and cost of living (highest 42%).

Guinness World Records points to Phoenix as being the site of the greatest distance run on any surface within 12 hours: 101.8 miles (163.8 kilometers) by American Zach Bitter on December 14, 2013.

Another Phoenix-related world record pertains to Phoenician Scott Flansburg who was recognized as the fastest human calculator by correctly adding a randomly selected two-digit number (which was 38) to itself 36 times within 15 seconds without using a calculator.

Phoenix serves as headquarters for six large corporations recognized as belonging to the Forbes Global 2000 world’s biggest companies. These large businesses include Petsmart, waste manager Republic Services, mining firm Freeport McMoRan, electronics distributor Avnet, electricity utility Pinnacle West and private education provider Apollo Group.

From an international trade perspective, Arizona shipped US$24.669 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2019. Its most valuable exports include civilian aircraft including engines and other parts (10.9%), copper ores and concentrates (6.9%), electronic integrated circuits (3.6%), circuit processors and controllers (3.4%), bombs, grenades, missiles and similar weapons (3.2%), larger helicopters (2.6%), modems (2.4%), electrical apparatus parts (2%), non-photosensitive semiconductor devices (1.6%), and electrical plugs and sockets (1.3%) according to United States Census Bureau data.

The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area was 4.1% in 2019 same as one year earlier.

Capital Facts for Phoenix, United States: Quick Reference

 
Phoenicians celebrate Independence Day as a national holiday each July 4.

Phoenix’s land area occupies 517.86 square miles (1,341.26 square kilometers). The state capital’s population was 1.7 million Phoenicians at September 20, 2020.

At the state level, Arizona covers a land area measuring 113,990 square miles (295,234 square kilometers) home to a population of 7.4 million dwellers.

Phoenix’s population density is more concentrated averaging 3,289 residents per square mile (1,270 per square kilometer).

Zooming out to Arizona’s land boundaries, population density dilutes to an average 65 inhabitants per square mile (25 per square kilometer).