Phoenix is the capital and largest city in the state of Arizona with a population of 1,445,632 people (as of 2010) and notably, the population growth rate of the Phoenix metro area has been nearly 4% per year for the past 40 years. Phoenix is the most populous state capital and the sixth most populous city in the entire US. Phoenix is also known as the Valley of the Sun, which in turn is a part of the Salt River Valley. The city is the 13th largest metro area by population in the United States, with approximately 4.3 million people in 2010. In addition, Phoenix is one of the largest cities in the United States by land area. Settled in 1867 as an agricultural community near the confluence of the Salt and Gila Rivers, Phoenix incorporated as a city in 1881. Located in the northeastern reaches of the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix has a subtropical desert climate and despite this, its canal system led to a thriving farming community. The “Five C’s” (Cotton, Cattle, Citrus, Climate, and Copper), remained the driving forces of Phoenix's economy until after World War II, when high tech industries began to move into the valley.
