List of cities and towns in Arizona
There are 91 incorporated cities and towns in the U.S. state of Arizona as of 2010. Incorporated places in Arizona are those that have been granted home rule, possessing a local government in the form of a city or town council. The 2010 census put 5,021,810 of the state's 6,392,017 residents within these cities and towns, accounting for 78.56% of the population. Most of the population is concentrated within the Phoenix metropolitan area, with an 2010 census population of 4,192,887 (65.60% of the state population).
The oldest incorporated place in Arizona is Tucson which incorporated in 1877 and the most recent was the town of Tusayan which incorporated in March 2010. As of 2010, Phoenix, the capital and largest city in Arizona, is ranked as the sixth most populous city in the United States. Other Arizona cities among the 100 most populous in the country are Tucson, Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, Gilbert and Scottsdale.
Municipal incorporation
The Arizona Constitution has, since its ratification in 1912, allowed for the creation of municipal corporations in any community with a population of 3,500 or greater. According to the constitution, a municipal charter cannot be created by special laws or by the legislature, but rather by the communities themselves as provided by general law. The population limit specified by the constitution was lowered by state law to a minimum of population of 1,500 for most locations, and further reduced to 500 for communities located within 10 miles (16 km) of a national park or national monument. State law further restricts the incorporation of new municipalities within urbanized areas, which are defined as a specific buffer zone surrounding existing cities and towns.