What region is the Southwest?

The Southwest is the region of the United States generally including Arizona, New Mexico, southern Utah, southern Nevada, southern Colorado, southwestern Texas, and parts of southern California, characterized by arid desert and semiarid landscapes, distinctive Hispanic and Native American cultural heritage, the Colorado River basin, and the historical legacy of Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo American settlement.

The region's geography is defined by the Sonoran Desert (southern Arizona and parts of California), the Mojave Desert (southern California and southern Nevada), the Chihuahuan Desert (parts of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona), the Great Basin (Nevada and Utah), the Colorado Plateau (where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet at the Four Corners), and the Rio Grande and Colorado River valleys. The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, Saguaro National Park, Carlsbad Caverns, and many other natural landmarks lie in the Southwest. The Four Corners marker is the only point in the United States where four states meet at right angles.

The Southwest's history is layered. Indigenous peoples including the Pueblo (Hopi, Zuni, and the Pueblo communities of New Mexico), Navajo (Diné), Apache, Tohono O'odham, Pima, and Havasupai have lived in the region for centuries or millennia. Ancient Puebloan (Anasazi) sites at Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and other locations date to roughly 100 to 1300 CE.

Spanish exploration began with Coronado's expedition of 1540 to 1542, and Spanish colonization established Santa Fe (founded 1610, the oldest state capital in the United States) and many missions and settlements. The region was Spanish until Mexican independence in 1821 and Mexican until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848 transferred most of it to the United States, with the Gadsden Purchase of December 30, 1853 adding southern Arizona and New Mexico. Anglo American settlement intensified after the Civil War with mining, ranching, and railroad construction.

The major cities include Phoenix (the largest in the Southwest), Tucson, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, El Paso, and parts of the Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas. The Southwest's culture combines Hispanic, Native American, and Anglo influences in cuisine (chiles, beans, tortillas, mole, sopaipillas), music (Tex-Mex, mariachi, country), architecture (adobe, pueblo revival, Spanish colonial), and language (Spanish-language media and bilingual communities are widespread). Religious diversity includes Catholic majorities in many areas with strong Native traditional religions, Mormon communities in Utah and northern Arizona, and Protestant congregations.

Climate ranges from extreme desert heat in summer (Phoenix regularly exceeds 110 degrees) to mountain snow in winter. Water scarcity, immigration, and the cultural negotiation between Anglo, Hispanic, and Native communities are continuing political themes.