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Utah was declared a U.S.
territory in 1850, after the land became part of the United States
in 1848 upon the signing of the treaty ending the Mexican-American
War. After many skirmishes over polygamy between Mormons and the
federal government, as well as the Civil War and many conflicts
with Native Americans, Utah obtained statehood in January 1896.
Today, approximately 60 percent of the state’s residents are
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Much
of Utah’s population is centered along the Wasatch Front,
a region that runs along the Wasatch Mountains from north to south
and encompasses the Logan, Salt Lake City, Provo-Orem, St. George
and Ogden-Clearfield metropolitan areas. Much of the rest of the
state is sparsely populated and extremely rural.
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Utah Real Estate
from the mining boom in the late 1800s until present day, mining
has played a large part in Utah’s economy. Today, it is home
to the world’s largest open pit mine, the Kennecott Copper
Mine, also the second largest copper producer in the U.S. Other
major state industries include cattle ranching, salt production
(due to the Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats), government
services and tourism.
In addition to being the site of the 2002 Winter Olympics, Utah
also hosts the Sundance Film Festival and the Utah Shakespearean
Festival, both of which attract many attendees. It also has countless
natural attractions, including Bonneville Salt Flats, Glen Canyon
National Recreation Area (where the popular tourist destination
Lake Powell is located) and Dead Horse Point State Park, all of
which contain landscapes one is unlikely to duplicate anywhere else.
Utah skiing is also a big attraction
for visitors and residents alike, and millions of people each year
visit Alta, Snowbird, Sundance, Park City, Solitude and Brighton.
Many people boast that these locales possess the best snow on earth
due to the combination of low relative humidity in winter and the
effect of the Great Salt Lake, creating a dry, powdery-textured
snow. Although peaks in this region are not as high in elevation
as other places in the Rocky Mountains, Utah experiences fairly
heavy snowfall annually, with many places recording over 500 inches.
The mountains are also popular for rock climbing, hiking and snowboarding.
Utah plays host to many sports teams, including the Utah Jazz of
the NBA and the Real Salt Lake of the MLS, making it the least populous
state to have professional sports organizations. Other sports, including
minor league baseball and college sports, are also very popular.
Utah has many high-quality colleges and universities,
many of which rank competitively in academics and athletics. Brigham
Young University, the flagship university of the LDS (Mormon) Church,
is probably the most well-known and also operates campuses, study
centers and facilities in Hawaii, Idaho, London, Washington, D.C.
and Israel. The University of Utah, one of only 88 colleges and
universities in the nation that are classified by the Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of Teaching as Research I universities, operates
out of Salt Lake City, as does Westminster College.
Utah State University is based in Logan and conducts
premier research into many natural resource and agricultural areas.
Utah is the fourth fastest growing state in the nation and contains
the second fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation, St.
George, as well as the 8th and 12th fastest-growing counties in
the nation. Countless new residents each year are discovering why
Utah offers the perfect combination of recreation, natural beauty
and metropolitan amenities.
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