Answer:
The southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. The largest cities by metropolitan area are Phoenix, Las Vegas, El Paso, Albuquerque, and Tucson.[2] Prior to 1848, in the historical region of Santa Fe de Nuevo México as well as parts of Alta California and Coahuila y Tejas, settlement was almost non-existent outside of Nuevo México's Pueblos and Spanish or Mexican municipalities. Much of area had been a part of New Spain and Mexico until the United States acquired the area through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and the smaller Gadsden Purchase in 1854.
Southwestern United States
Region
American Southwest, the Southwest
Phoenix AZ Downtown from airplane (cropped).jpg
Monument Valley 2.jpg Cathedral rock sedona arizona 2.jpg
Albuquerque pano sunset.jpg
BosqueNM.jpg Palace of the Governors Santa Fe.JPG
Panoramic-of-arches-national-park-with-supermoon.jpg
Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge view from Hoover Dam.jpeg 2014, Mojave Desert Desert Willow, Four WIng Saltbush, Palo Verde - panoramio.jpg
Bellagio Las Vegas December 2013 panorama.jpg
Left – right from top: Downtown Phoenix, Arizona; Monument Valley; Cathedral Rock - Sedona, AZ; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Rio Grande Bosque near Bernalillo, NM; Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, NM; Arches National Park; Hoover Dam; Mojave Desert willow; Cosmopolitan, Bellagio, and Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, Nevada.
Though regional definitions vary from source to source, Arizona and New Mexico (in dark red) are almost always considered the core, modern-day Southwest. The brighter red and striped states may or may not be considered part of this region. The brighter red states (California, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah) are also classified as part of the West by the U.S. Census Bureau, though the striped states are not; Oklahoma and Texas are often classified as part of the South.[1]
Though regional definitions vary from source to source, Arizona and New Mexico (in dark red) are almost always considered the core, modern-day Southwest. The brighter red and striped states may or may not be considered part of this region. The brighter red states (California, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah) are also classified as part of the West by the U.S. Census Bureau, though the striped states are not; Oklahoma and Texas are often classified as part of the South.[1]
