Mesa

The City in Brief

Founded: 1878 (incorporated in 1883)

Head Official: Mayor Keno Hawker (since 2000)

City Population

1980: 152,453

1990: 288,091

2000: 396,375

2003 estimate: 432,376

Percent change, 1990-2000: 37.6%

U.S. rank in 1990: 53rd (3rd in state)

U.S. rank in 2000: 51st (3rd in state)

Metropolitan Area Population (PMSA)

1980: 1,508,030

1990: 2,122,101

2000: 3,251,876

Percent change, 1990-2000: 53.2%

U.S. rank in 2000: 14th

Area: 125.18 square miles (2000)

Elevation: 1,241 feet above sea level

Average Annual Temperature: 84.5° F

Average Annual Precipitation: 8.5 inches

Major Economic Sectors: aerospace/aviation, agri-business, automotive, business services, education services, electronics, health services, manufacturing, retail, transportation services

Unemployment Rate: 4.0% (January 2005)

Per Capita Income: $19,601

2002 FBI Crime Index Total: 33,335

Major Colleges and Universities: Arizona State University East, Mesa Community College, East Valley Institute of Technology

Daily Newspapers: East Valley Tribune

MESA

MESA, a flat-topped area of land with bluffy walls, sometimes hundreds of feet high, that stands above eroded terrain. A mesa may comprise an acre or a thousand acres. This geological formation is characteristic of the southwestern United States. Acoma, New Mexico, the "city in the sky, " is a noted example.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Shoumatoff, Alex. Legends of the American Desert: Sojourns in the Greater Southwest. New York: Knopf, 1997.

J. FrankDobie/a. e.

See alsoAncestral Pueblo (Anasazi) ; Hopi ; Navajo ; Pueblo ; Southwest .

me·sa / ˈmāsə/ • n. an isolated flat-topped hill with steep sides, found in landscapes with horizontal strata.

mesa Flat-topped hill of limited extent, but wider than a butte and normally underlain by near-horizontally bedded sediments. A land-form similar to a mesa but larger is called a ‘plateau’.

Me·sa / ˈmāsə/ a city in south central Arizona, east of Phoenix; pop. 396,375.