Utah is mostly rocky with three distinct geological regions: theRocky Mountains, theGreat Basin, and theColorado Plateau. Utah is known for its naturaldiversity and is home tofeatures ranging from arid deserts with sand dunes to thriving pine forests in mountain valleys, which has attracted manytourists.
Utah has a dry, semi-arid toarid climate,[8] although its manymountains have large, wide, differences of climates, with the highest points in theUinta Mountains being above thetree line. The dry weather results from the state lying mostly in therain shadow of theSierra Nevada inCalifornia. The eastern half of the state is in the rain shadow of theWasatch Mountains. The mainsource of rain for the state is thePacific Ocean, with the state normally lying in the path of large Pacific storms from mid-October throughApril, although northern Utah often sees these large storms earlier and later. In summer, the state, normally southern and eastern Utah, is in the path ofmonsoonmoisture from the Gulf of California. Most of the lowland areas get less than 12inches (300mm) of rain a year. TheGreat Salt Lake Desert is the driest area of the state, with less than 5inches (125mm). Snowfall is common in all but the far southern valleys. Although St. George only gets about 3inches (7.5cm) per year,Salt Lake City sees about 60inches (150cm),enhanced by the lake-effect snow from the Great Salt Lake, whichincreases snowfall totals to the south, southeast, and east of the lake. Some areas of the Wasatch Range in the path of the lake-effect get up to 700inches (1,770cm) per year. Theconsistently dry, fluffy, snow led Utah's skiindustry to get the slogan "the Greatest Snow on Earth" in the 1980s. In the winter, temperatureinversions are aphenomenon across Utah's low basins and valleys, leading to thickhumidity and fog that can sometimes last for weeks at a time, normally in theUintah Basin.
The center of population of Utah is in Salt Lake County in the city of "Salt Lake City".[9] As of 2020 the Census Bureau believes Utah has a population of 3,271,616.[10] In 2008, theUS Census Bureaudetermined Utah to be the fastest growing state in the country in terms of population growth.[11]
Much of the population lives incities andtowns along theWasatch Front, ametropolitanregion that runs north-south with theWasatch Mountains rising on the eastern side. Growth outside the Wasatch Front is alsoincreasing. TheSt. George metropolitan area is right now the second-fastest growing in the country after theLas Vegas metropolitan area, while theHeber metropolitan area is also the second-fastest growing in the country (right in front of Palm Coast, Florida).
The University of Utah says that the gross state product of Utah in 2005 was $92 billion, or 0.74% of the total United States GDP of $12.4 trillion for the same year. The per capital personalincome was $24,977 in 2005. Major companies of Utah are:mining,cattle ranching,salt production, andgovernment services.
In eastern Utahpetroleum making is a bigindustry. Near Salt Lake City, petroleumrefining is done by a number ofoil companies. In central Utah,coal mining accounts for much of the miningactivity.
The majority of the state's people are members ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These people are called the Mormons or the LDSChurch. As of 2020, 60.7 percent of people in the state are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[12] Mormons are not as common as they used to be in Salt Lake City. Usually, people who live in rural areas in Utah are almost all Mormon. The LDS Church does not support or oppose any political parties,[13] but the church'sdoctrine is very connected topolitics. In the past, many of Utah's lawmakers have been church members. This hascontributed to the state's laws onalcohol (sales and content) andgambling. Another effect can be seen in Utah's high birth rate (25 percent higher than thenational normal; the highest for a state in the U.S.). The Mormons in Utah normally haveconservative views in politics. Most Utahns that vote are not in a political party (60%). But, most vote forRepublicans.[source?]John McCain got 62.5% of the vote in the2008 Presidential Election. 70.9% of people of Utah voted forGeorge W. Bush in2004.
Utah's population isconcentrated in two areas, theWasatch Front in the North-Central part of the state, with a population of over 2 million; and southwestern Utah, locally known as "Dixie", with nearly 150,000 people who live there.
Utah was the fourth fastest growing state (at 29.6 percent) in theUnited States between 1990 and 2000.St. George, in the southwest, was the second-fastest growingmetropolitan area in the United States, right behindGreeley, Colorado.
The state's two fastest growing counties were: "Summit" (at 91.6 percent; ranking it 8th in the country) and "Washington" (at 86.1 percent; ranking it 12th). The cities (defined as having at least 9,000 people living there in 2000) that saw the greatest increases between 1990 and 2000 were: "Draper" (248 percent), "South Jordan" (141 percent), "Lehi" (125 percent), "Riverton" (122 percent), and "Syracuse" (102 percent). Between 1990 and 2000 the five fastest-growing cities of any size were "Cedar Hills" (302 percent), "Draper" (248 percent), "Woodland Hills" (213 percent), "Ivins" (173 percent), and "South Jordan" (141 percent). The U.S. Census Bureauestimates, the five fastest-growing cities of any size between 2000 and 2008 were "Saratoga Springs" (1,501%), "Herriman" (1,061%), "Eagle Mountain" (934%), "Cedar Hills" (209%), and "Lehi" (146%).
