"Situated in southern central Arizona, Phoenix is the state’s capital and largest city. Home to about 1.3 million residents, it is the United States' fifth largest city. Located in the northeastern corner of the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix sits on the northern shore of the Salt River, which can be seen running east to west through the center of this scene. Across the Salt River are the towns of Tempe and Mesa, to the south and southeast. Phoenix is actually surrounded by 22 towns and cities that have grown so closely together in recent decades it is almost impossible to distinguish one from another in this 30-meter-resolution satellite image. The large cluster of light brown pixels gridded by horizontal and vertical lines (roads and highways) demarcates the greater Phoenix urban area.
This true-color image of Phoenix was acquired by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+), flying aboard the Landsat 7 satellite, on May 11, 2002.
Image courtesy Ron Beck, USGS Land Processes Data Center, Satellite Systems Branch
SOURCE:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=15282
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Picture prepared for Wikipedia by Adrian Pingstone in November 2003."
from the english wikipedia, original text: "Situated in southern central Arizona, Phoenix is the state’s capital and largest city. Home to about 1.3 million residents, it is the United States' fifth largest city. Located in the northeastern corner of t