Phoenix /ˈfiːˌnɪks/ is the state capital of Arizona, and was incorporated as a city on February 25, 1881. Phoenix is located in central Arizona in the southwestern United States, 118 miles (188 km) northwest of Tucson. It is Arizona's largest city and largest metropolitan area by population. It is also the county seat of Maricopa County and the principal city of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Phoenix is called Hoozdo, or "the place is hot", in the Navajo language and Fiinigis in the Western Apache language.

In mid-2004, Phoenix was the sixth-largest city in the United States according to the U.S. Census Bureau's latest estimates. However, according to unofficial projections Phoenix surpassed Philadelphia in late 2005, moving into the top five cities in the U.S. The 2000 U.S. Census reported the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as the fourteenth-largest in the U.S., with a population of 3,251,876. The city's MSA grew to an estimated 3,790,000 by 2004. Between 1990 and 2000, the metropolitan area grew by 34 percent, making it the eighth fastest-growing metropolitan area in the U.S.

Phoenix is the largest capital city by population, meaning that it's the most populous of all U.S. capital cities (all 50 state capitals and the national capital Washington, D.C.). It is also the third-largest capital city by area in the U.S. (behind Juneau, Alaska and Oklahoma City).