Phoenix is the most populous U.S. state capital, with a population exceeding 1.5 million in the 2020 census.
Phoenix is also Arizona’s largest city and the center of the broad Phoenix metropolitan area. It stands in the Sonoran Desert, where irrigation and later air-conditioning helped support rapid urban growth. The city is known for its hot, dry climate and extensive desert surroundings.
Phoenix became Arizona’s territorial capital in 1889 and continued as the state capital when Arizona entered the Union in 1912. Its name refers to the mythical phoenix, symbolizing a city rising from the remains of earlier Hohokam irrigation settlements. Population rankings can change, but Phoenix has remained the country’s leading state capital by city population.