Here in Utah, we love our state and we love our pets. Utah residents can be found walking through state parks with their dogs in summer or cuddled up with a cat in their laps on a cold winter day. Utah is a great place for a pet lover to live.
Utah is in the western United States, between Nevada and Colorado. Utah has a diverse landscape, parts of the state are in the Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Plateau. That means you can see everything from mountains, to pine forests, to deserts with sand dunes. The state has mostly dry weather, with less than 12 inches of precipitation, and much of that is snow in the winter. Although the winters are cold, the summers can be very hot in places.
Utah is paradise if you love the outdoors. There are 45 state parks to visit, along with famous national parks like Arches National Park, Zion National Park, and Canyonlands National Park. The state is also home to world-class ski resorts, so it's a top winter destination for many.
Utah was inhabited for thousands of years by the Pueblo people, and their beautiful buildings are still preserved in special historic sites across the state. Europeans largely used the area for fur trapping until the 1840s, and many of its cities, like Provo, are named for fur-trappers. Brigham Young led the first wave of Mormon settlers to Utah in 1847, beginning the state's modern history.
Tourism is the state's major industry, with five national parks, eight national monuments, and forty-five state parks taking full advantage of the state's natural beauty. In addition to tourism, mining is still an important industry.
Brigham Young is the most significant figure in the state's history, and Utah is still the location of the Headquarters of the Church of Latter-Day Saints.
Nicknamed the Beehive State, and there's even a beehive featured on the state flag. Utah's official motto is "industry." The state flower is the sego lily, and it symbolizes peace. The state has adopted the California gull as it's state bird, the Rocky Mountain Elk as it's state mammal, and the Utahraptor as it's state dinosaur. The name "Utah" is likely derived from the Ute tribe, which inhabited much of the state before European settlement.
Utah's population was 2,817,222 in 2011. It ranks 11th in the nation for median income. Utah's natural beauty and varied landscape make it a must-see destination for anyone who loves the outdoors.