Tucson (population 520,116) is a city in Arizona State, United States. It serves as the county seat of Pima County. The city of Tucson is situated in the southern section of the state, only 98 km north of the border of Mexico. The city of Phoenix lies 188 km to the northwest of Tucson. The population of the metropolitan area is only more than one million. The city is the second biggest city within the state of Arizona after the city of Phoenix. The city of Tucson is the nation's 32nd largest city.
Tucson attracts over 3.5 million tourists yearly and is a key city in the Arizona Sun Corridor. The business of tourism brings in over $2 billion each and every year into the city's many hotels, resorts and attractions. The city is known as "Optics Valley" due to the roughly 150 companies designing and manufacturing optoelectronic systems and optics.
There are many huge incorporated suburbs within the city of Tucson, including: Marana, Oro Valley, South Tucson and Sahuarita. Some communities lie in or overlap the city limits, like Catalina Foothills, Casas Adobes, New Pascua, Flowing Wells, Tanque Verde, Sahuarita, Vail and Tortilita.
The city of Tucson is the home of the University of Arizona. The university is a center of economic development within the city and the 2nd biggest employer. One more large employer is the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, on the southeastern edge of Tucson. Numerous local residents are employed at Fort Huachuca, the US Army Intelligence Center, located in Sierra Vista. These core industries encourage a considerable number of high-tech businesses to locate within the area, including government contractors.
The state, city and county governments and the private sector have committed to fostering a healthy area economy built on a foundation of sophisticated technology business sectors. The following companies have a presence within Tucson: IMB, Bombardier Aerospace, Intuit Inc., Raytheon Missile Systems, Sunquest Information Systems, Texas Instruments, Sanofi-Aventis, Universal Avionics and Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.
Tucson has lots of annual events, such as the largest mineral and gem show in the world. The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, and more than 40 associated shows, are held in the early part of month of February every year.