Blank Arizona map

What the outline shows

The outline traces the state boundary and nothing more. The north edge with Utah and the east edge with New Mexico are straight surveyed lines. The west edge follows the Colorado River for most of its length, giving the only irregular border. The south is the Mexican border: a straight line from the New Mexico corner west-southwest to Nogales, then a second straight line, at a shallower angle, to the Colorado River near Yuma. No county borders, rivers or roads are drawn. Capital places a dot at Phoenix, in the south-central part of the state. Abbreviation writes "AZ" in the middle. The print button sends the outline to one page.

Portrait or landscape

Arizona is about 390 miles north to south and about 340 miles east to west, almost square with a slight lean toward tall. Either orientation prints at a usable size, but portrait gives the larger map because the lower west side is cut away by the river and the state is slightly taller than wide. Choose landscape only if you want space for a written key to the right of the outline. At portrait scale on Letter paper the Gadsden Purchase angle at the southern border is still obvious, and the Colorado River's bends near Lake Havasu remain visible.

Five classroom exercises

1. Draw the Colorado River from the Utah line in the northeast corner, through the Grand Canyon westward, then south along the state's west edge to Yuma and into Mexico.
2. Mark the Four Corners point at the northeast corner and name the four states that meet there.
3. Draw the line of the Mogollon Rim running diagonally from northwest to southeast across the middle, and shade the high Colorado Plateau north of it.
4. Place Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, then draw the Gila River flowing west from New Mexico past Phoenix to join the Colorado at Yuma.
5. Mark the two straight segments of the Mexican border and the point near Nogales where the angle changes; explain that the southern piece came from the 1853 Gadsden Purchase.

How to recognise the Arizona outline

• Straight top and right edges meeting at a right angle at Four Corners.
• A wavy left edge, the Colorado River, that cuts inward toward the bottom.
• A bottom edge that is not level: it drops from right to left in two straight segments.
• Overall an almost square block, a little taller than wide, with the southwest corner clipped off.

Answer key and related maps

• Arizona map — the labeled version with capital, cities and borders; use it as the answer key.
• Printable Arizona map — the same outline with cities, county lines and the capital printed on.
• Arizona county map — all 15 counties with their seats.
• Phoenix — capital and largest city, in the Salt River valley.
• Neighbours: Utah, New Mexico, California, Nevada blank maps.
• Grand Canyon, Colorado River and Four Corners maps.
• All blank state maps and the printable US maps index.