About Utah
Utah is a state of superlatives. It has the highest concentration of national parks of any state. The largest open-pit mine on Earth. The fastest-growing tech economy in the country. The highest birth rate and lowest median age in the nation. The Great Salt Lake, the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere, and one that is disappearing. The deepest powder snow in the world.
The state's character was shaped by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose pioneer members settled the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 after fleeing persecution in the East. The LDS Church remains central to Utah's culture, politics, and demographics, roughly 60% of the state identifies as members, though that share has been declining as the state draws non-LDS tech workers and transplants from California and across the country.
The geographical divide between the urban Wasatch Front, home to 80% of the population in a narrow strip along the mountains, and the vast, sparsely populated red-rock desert that makes up most of the state's land area is one of the most striking contrasts in American geography. One part of Utah is a booming, young, tech-driven city. The other is some of the most ancient and untouched landscape on the continent.
Geography, Four Distinct Regions
Utah spans three major geological provinces, the Wasatch Mountains, the Colorado Plateau, and the Great Basin , producing one of the most geographically varied states in the country.
Economy
Utah has one of the most diversified and fastest-growing economies in the nation, anchored by a booming tech sector, world-class tourism, major defense contracts, and significant mining and agriculture.
