Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation (Navajo: Naabeehó Diné Biyaad) is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly 17,544,500 acres (71,000 km2; 27,413 sq mi), the Navajo Nation is the largest land area held by a Native American tribe in the U.S., exceeding ten U.S. states. In 2010, the reservation was home to 173,667 out of 332,129 Navajo tribal members; the remaining 158,462 tribal members lived outside the reservation, in urban areas (26 percent), border towns (10 percent), and elsewhere in the U.S. (17 percent).[3] The seat of government is located in Window Rock, Arizona.
Navajo Nation
| |
|---|---|
 Seal | |
| Anthem: ("Dah Naatʼaʼí Sǫʼ bił Sinil"[1] and "Shí naashá" used for some occasions) | |
 Location of the Navajo Nation. Checkerboard-area in lighter shade (see text) | |
| Established | June 1, 1868 (Treaty) |
| Expansions | 1878–2016 |
| Chapter system | 1922 |
| Tribal Council | 1923 |
| Capital | Window Rock (Tségháhoodzání) |
| Subdivisions | |
| Government | |
| • Body | Navajo Nation Council |
| • President | Buu Nygren |
| • Vice President | Richelle Montoya |
| • Speaker | Crystalyne Curley |
| • Chief Justice | JoAnn Jayne |
| Area | |
| • Total | 71,000 km2 (27,413 sq mi) |
| Population (2020)[2] | |
| • Total | 165,158 |
| • Density | 2.3/km2 (6.0/sq mi) |
| 160,552 American Indian 4,606 White | |
| Time zone | MST/MDT |
| GDP | $12.8 billion (2018) |
| Website | www.navajo-nsn.gov |
The United States gained ownership of this territory in 1848 after acquiring it in the Mexican-American War. The reservation was within New Mexico Territory and straddled what became the Arizona-New Mexico border in 1912, when the states were admitted to the union. Unlike many reservations, it has expanded several times since its establishment in 1868 to include most of northeastern Arizona, a sizable portion of northwestern New Mexico, and most of the area south of the San Juan River in southeastern Utah. It is one of a few indigenous nations whose reservation lands overlap its traditional homelands.