20 interesting facts about Utah

1. Utah is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896.
2. Capital: Salt Lake City.
3. Total Area: 13th among states 219,900 sq km (84,904 sq mi).
4. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,736,424 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City.
5. The Sundance Film Festival is an internationally recognized celebration of independent motion pictures, held annually at the Sundance Ski Resort and nearby cities.
6. The name "Utah" is derived from the name of the Ute tribe and means "people of the mountains."
7. The world's first transcontinental railroad was completed at Promontory where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads met on May 10, 1869. The location is now known as Golden Spike National Historic Site.
   
8. Utah is bordered by Arizona on the south, Colorado on the east, Wyoming on the northeast, Idaho on the north and Nevada on the west. It also touches a corner of New Mexico.
9. Pioneer Day, July 24, commemorates the first permanent settlement of Utah on July 24, 1847, by Brigham Young and his Mormon pioneers.
10. Utah is one of the most religiously homogeneous states in the Union. Between 41% and 60% of Utahns are reported to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church).
11. The 1998 Scarborough Research Corporation stated that Salt Lake City had more personal computers per household than any other city in the United States.
12. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's population estimates, Utah was the fastest growing state in the United States as of 2008.
13. 65% of Utah's land is owned by the Federal Government.
14. Brigham Young and the first band of Mormon pioneers came to the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. Over the next 22 years, more than 70,000 pioneers crossed the plains and settled in Utah.
15. Rainbow Bridge is the world's largest natural bridge. The bridge rises 290 feet above the floor of Bridge Canyon and is 270 feet long.
16. The Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City took 40 years to complete.
17. In 1996, President Bill Clinton designated a new national monument in southern Utah. Nearly three times the size of the state of Rhode Island, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is the nation's largest.
18. The people of Salt Lake City consume more Jell-O per capita than any other city in the United States.
19. Utah peaks, on average, are the tallest in the country. The average elevation of the tallest peaks in each of Utah's counties is 11,222 ft.-higher than the same average in any other state..
20. The Uinta mountain range, named after the Ute Indians who lived in the basin, is the only East-West axis mountains in North America.