Last updated on July 1st, 2024
Utah is the 30th most populous and the 13th most extensive of the 50 states of the United States. It is in the western United States. The state attained statehood on January 4, 1896, becoming the 45th state to join the union. Its six bordering states are Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Utah (nicknamed: Beehive State, Deseret) has 29 counties. The state’s capital is Salt Lake City. The abbreviation for Utah is UT. With these facts about Utah, let us learn more about its history, geography, economy, people, culture, nature and wildlife etc.
Facts about Utah
1. Utah gets its name from the Native American tribe, Ute. The tribe has lived here for centuries, much before the first Europeans arrived in America. While traditionally the Ute tribe hunted, fished and gathered food, they also traded with other Native American tribes and with the Spanish. In fact, after they bought horses from the Spanish, the manner in which the tribe functioned changed dramatically. The state now has three tribal reservations.
2. Archaeological evidence supports the fact that the Utah region has been inhabited by Native Americans for about 12,000 years. The archaeological ruins at Range Creek are an archaeologist and historian’s delight. The remains of dugout pit houses date back to over a millennium. It is the geographical location of the settlement that helped preserve the ancient site. Furthermore, the rancher who bought the land kept it a secret for half a century.
3. In 1846, after the death of their religious leader and prophet, Latter Day Saints or Mormons began their journey from Illinois to Utah. Today, more than 60% of Utah residents are Mormons. This makes Utah, the only American state where most of the population belongs to the same church.
4. Utah’s first Mormon (Latter-Day Saints) settlement was made by Brigham Young when he arrived in Salt Lake Valley with 148 Mormons. On July 24, 1847 when he first saw the Salt Lake valley he said “This is the place.” They came to Utah to escape persecution in Illinois.
5. Utah’s nickname “Beehive State” honors its Mormons settlers. The community people wanted the state to enter the Union with the name Deseret, meaning “honeybee.” However, Congress thought that the name sounded like desert so the state was named after the native Ute people.
Where is Utah on the map?
6. The Utah State Song is “Utah, This is the Place,” written by Sam and Gary Francis. The song was adopted as the official state song of Utah on March 4, 2003.
7. The state of Utah has an interesting geography. It features three distinct land forms. These include the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Ridge Region. It also has some distinguished geographical features such as an enormous salt water lake and salt flats.
8. The Great Salt Lake is the largest of its kind in the Western world. Though the size of the lake keeps changing, based on the season, it is spread across about 1700 square miles. The water in the lake has nine times more salt than that found in oceans. Great Salt Lake is salty because it does not have an outlet.
9. The Spiral Jetty, located in the Great Salt Lake, is an artwork made of mud, salt crystals, and basalt rocks that forms a 1,500-foot-long spiral.
10. The 30,000 acres of the Bonneville Salt Flats offer an incredible sight. The smooth and densely packed salt terrain makes this area of great interest to speed racers. In 1964, when a speed racer lost control of his vehicle, it resulted in skid marks that stretched across six miles.
11. Several land speed records have been set at Bonneville Salt Flats. On October 23, 1970, when Gary Gabelich’s rocket-powered Blue Flame peaked at 1,014.656 kph, he became the first to exceed 1,000 kph.
12. The state is known for its unique geological formations called hoodoos, which can be found in places like Goblin Valley State Park.
13. Utah was home to the shortest commercial airport runway in the United States, located in Dutch John, which was only 3,400 feet long. It was recently extended to 6,000 feet long.
14. The first departmental store in the country was established in Utah. The Zion Cooperative Mercantile Store was established in 1868, and was successfully run until 1999, when the store was bought over by Macy’s.
15. In 1896, Martha Hughes Cannon was elected the first woman senator. Interestingly, one of her opponents was her husband. She received 10,288 votes while her husband only received 8,054 votes.
16. In 1913, Utah became the first state to have a law setting a standard legal blood alcohol content (BAC) for drivers.
Utah with bordering states
17. Utah has the highest birth rate in the United States, with an average of 2.1 children per woman.
18. Only two states which completely outlaw all forms of gambling are: Hawaii, and Utah.
19. Utah has one of the highest literacy rates of any U.S. state, with about 85.5% of adults being able to read.
20. In 1982, at the University of Utah, Robert Jarvik invented the world’s first artificial heart. He called it the Jarvik-7 and it was made from plastic, aluminum, and dacron polyester.
21. In 1912, the first electric traffic light was developed by a policeman Lester F. Wire in Salt Lake City. It was first installed at the intersection of 200 South and Main Street in Salt Lake City. However, in 1914, the first traffic signal system was installed in Cleveland, Ohio.
22. Skullcandy, the popular maker of headphones, earphones and other hands free devices is based in Park City, Utah.
23. If you are an avid reader, note that the famous book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” was written by Utah businessman Stephan R. Covey. The book’s principal message is that there is an abundance of success for everyone.
24. Utah is a leader in the defence system and aerospace technology because of its vast expanses of desert.
25. The city of Tooele, Utah, is home to the Tooele Army Depot, one of the largest ammunition storage facilities in the United States.
26. The Utah Test and Training Range is the U.S. Air Force’s largest overland test range and is used for testing and evaluating weapons systems. The Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) was officially established on January 1, 1942.
27. Utah has a state centennial tartan, which was designed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the state’s founding in 1996.
28. Utah is home to the International Peace Gardens, a collection of 26 gardens representing different nations, promoting peace and cultural understanding.
29. Utah is the only state whose capital is three words long. Salt Lake City was originally named Great Salt Lake City. Great was dropped from the name in 1868.
30. Utah is one of the Four Corners states. It meets up with Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico at a single point.
31. The Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City is famous for its unique acoustics, allowing a pin to be heard dropping from 150 feet away.
32. The Utah State Fish is the Bonneville Cutthroat Trout, named after Lake Bonneville, a prehistoric lake that once covered a significant portion of the state.
33. Utah is home to the world’s largest population of peregrine falcons, a species that was once endangered but has made a remarkable recovery.
34. Utah is home to the “Miracle of the Gulls” legend, where seagulls saved early Mormon settlers’ crops by eating a plague of crickets.
35. The town of St. George in Utah holds an annual event called the “Running of the Llamas,” where llamas race alongside humans.
36. The Utah prairie dogs live in large colonies called dog towns.
37. The largest open-pit mine in the world, the Bingham Canyon Mine, is located in Utah and produces more copper than any other mine in the U.S.
38. This Bingham Canyon Mine is considered to be the biggest man-made pit in the world. For over a century, miners have been at work here. Every day the pit gets bigger as the mining company continues to take out about 250,000 tons of rock from it. The enormous crater created by mining activity is visible from space. The mine is restricted to visitors due to safety issues.
39. The world’s largest man-made excavation, the Kennecott Copper Mine, is located in Utah and is visible from space.
40. The world’s largest open-face excavation, the Geneva Steel Plant, was located in Vineyard, Utah, and produced steel for over 60 years before its closure in 2001.
41. It is Utah’s unique geographical features that make it of great interest to film and documentary makers. It was found to offer the perfect backdrop to shoot Westerns such as The Lone Ranger and Stagecoach. Other films including the Planet of the Apes and Arabian Nights were shot here.
42. The town of Kanab in southern Utah is known as “Little Hollywood” due to the numerous Western movies and TV shows filmed in the area.
43. Newspaper rock – the symbols etched in sandstone act as a 2,000 year old newspaper of native cultures.
44. Utah is home to the “Devil’s Slide,” two parallel geological formations in Weber Canyon that resemble giant slides.
45. The world’s largest collection of natural rock arches is located in Utah’s Arches National Park, with over 2,000 arches.
46. Rainbow Bridge (290 feet/88 meters tall and 270 feet/83 meters across), by Lake Powell, Utah, is the world’s largest natural bridge. It is considered sacred by Navajo culture.
47. The state of Utah lies on the Western side of the United States of America, and in the Rocky Mountain Region. Its unique location has blessed the state with magnificent mountains and canyons. Kings Peak (13,534 feet (4,125 m)), in the Uinta Mountains is Utah’s highest peak. The state has five national parks.
48. It is interesting to note that Utah is the only state in the United States where every county contains some part of a national forest.
49. Utah is one of the few places in the world where you can find a rare gem called red beryl, or “bixbite.”
50. The Utah State Gem is topaz, which can be found in various colors, including the rare pink variety.
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