Editing Navajo Nation (section)

==Geography==
{{see also|Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation|Alamo Navajo Indian Reservation|Tohajiilee Indian Reservation}}
[[File:NavajoNation map en.svg|thumb|upright=1.15|Map showing populated places on the Navajo Nation and surrounding area]]
[[File:Cañon de Chelly.jpg|thumb|''Navajo. Seven riders on horseback and dog trek against background of canyon cliffs''. [[Edward S. Curtis]] (1904)]]

The land area of the Navajo Nation is over {{convert|27,000|sqmi|km2}},<ref name="NavajoNationGeography">{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.navajo-nsn.gov/history.htm|website=Navajo-nsn.gov|access-date=27 July 2017|archive-date=April 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417183704/https://www.navajo-nsn.gov/history.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="EPAEnvironmentalSetting">{{cite web|title=Environmental Setting 3–1 to 3–11|date=4 September 2015|url=https://yosemite.epa.gov/r9/sfund/r9sfdocw.nsf/688299b284b16e92882574260073faef/8868aaa6f5752fd688257dd3007e6e6f/$FILE/Environmental%20Setting,%20pages%203-1%20to%203-11.pdf|publisher=Environmental Protection Agency|access-date=27 July 2017|archive-date=February 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225061915/https://yosemite.epa.gov/r9/sfund/r9sfdocw.nsf/688299b284b16e92882574260073faef/8868aaa6f5752fd688257dd3007e6e6f/$FILE/Environmental%20Setting,%20pages%203-1%20to%203-11.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> making it the largest Indian reservation in the United States; it is approximately 8,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> larger than the state of [[West Virginia]].<ref name="NavajoBusinessGeography">{{cite web|title=Fast Facts, Geography, Topography|url=http://navajobusiness.com/fastFacts/locationMap2.htm|website=navajobusiness.com|access-date=27 July 2017|archive-date=June 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601190122/http://navajobusiness.com/fastFacts/locationMap2.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Adjacent to or near the Navajo Nation are the [[Southern Ute Indian Reservation|Southern Ute]] of Colorado, and the [[Ute Mountain Ute Tribe]] of Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, both along the northern borders; the [[Jicarilla Apache]] Tribe to the east; the [[Zuni Indian Reservation|Zuni Pueblo]] and [[Fort Apache Indian Reservation|White Mountain Apache]] to the south; and the Hualapai Bands in the west. The Navajo Nation's territory fully surrounds the [[Hopi Indian Reservation]].<ref name="EPAEnvironmentalSetting" />

In the 1980s, a conflict over shared lands peaked when the [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]] attempted to relocate Navajo residents living in what is still referred to as the [[Navajo–Hopi Joint Use Area]]. The litigious and social conflict between the two tribes and neighboring communities ended with "[[The Bennett Freeze]]" Agreement, completed in July 2009 by President Barack Obama.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 2020 |title=Former Bennett Freeze Area: Draft Integrated Resource Management Plan |url=https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/assets/bia/navreg/Draft_FBFA_IRMP_05.15.2020.pdf |access-date=4 Aug 2023 |archive-date=August 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804174545/https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/assets/bia/navreg/Draft_FBFA_IRMP_05.15.2020.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The agreement lessened the contentious land disagreement by providing a 75-year lease to Navajo who had land claims dating to before the US occupation of the territory.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 2018 |title=Office Of Navajo And Hopi Indian Relocation |url=https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/691898.pdf |access-date=4 Aug 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author-link=Bureau of Land Management |date=2020-11-25 |title=BLM ES GLO Record of the Week November 29 2020 StoryMap - The Lands of Navajo Nation |url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/71ce3cb86e5442f4aeb91f198e59872c |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=ArcGIS StoryMaps |language=en |archive-date=August 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804174544/https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/71ce3cb86e5442f4aeb91f198e59872c |url-status=live }}</ref>

Situated on the Navajo Nation are [[Canyon de Chelly National Monument]], [[Monument Valley]], [[Rainbow Bridge National Monument]], the [[Shiprock]] [[monadnock]], and the eastern portion of the [[Grand Canyon]]. Navajo Territory in New Mexico is popularly referred as the "Checkerboard" area because it is interrupted by Navajo and non-Native fee ownership of numerous plots of land.  In this area, Navajo lands are intermingled with fee lands, owned by both Navajo and non-Navajo, and federal and state lands under various jurisdictions.<ref name="CheckerboardReservation">{{cite web|last1=Comerford|first1=Kevin|title=Checkerboard Reservation, New Mexico|url=http://ehillerman.unm.edu/node/1999#sthash.uKYhaqlK.Ia1s90RJ.dpbs|website=The Tony Hillerman Portal|publisher=University of New Mexico Libraries|access-date=27 July 2017|archive-date=August 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808062553/https://ehillerman.unm.edu/node/1999#sthash.uKYhaqlK.Ia1s90RJ.dpbs|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="EPAEnvironmentalSetting" /> Three large non-contiguous sections located in New Mexico are also under Navajo jurisdiction: these are the [[Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation]], the [[Alamo Navajo Indian Reservation]], and the [[Tohajiilee Indian Reservation]] near Albuquerque.<ref name="EPAEnvironmentalSetting" />

===Climate===
Much of the Navajo Nation is situated on the [[Colorado Plateau]].<ref name="CarletonGeography">{{cite web|title=Climate and Biota|url=https://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/nativelands/navajo/climateandbiota.html|website=Navajo Nation|access-date=27 July 2017|archive-date=February 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212005626/http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/nativelands/navajo/climateandbiota.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The large variation in altitude ({{convert|3,080|to|10,346|ft|m|disp=semicolon}}) throughout the Navajo Nation produces considerable variations in climate, from an arid, desert climate, accounting for 55% of the area, through an intermediate steppe region, to the cold, sub-humid climate of the mountainous 8% of the area.<ref name="RissettoGeography">{{cite web|last1=Rissetto|first1=Adriana C.|title=Geography of Dine Bikeyah|url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma97/dinetah/geo.html|website=xroads.virginia.edu|access-date=27 July 2017|archive-date=August 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823063946/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA97/dinetah/geo.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="NavajoPeopleGeography">{{cite web|title=Navajo Nation|url=http://navajopeople.org/navajo-nation.htm|website=navajopeople.org|access-date=27 July 2017|language=en|archive-date=August 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807065804/http://navajopeople.org/navajo-nation.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="EPAEnvironmentalSetting" /> Average daily temperatures range from {{convert|43|to|60|F|C}}, with a low of {{convert|4|F|C}} in mountainous regions and a high of {{convert|110|F|C}} in the desert. Average rainfall is {{convert|16|-|27|inch|mm}} at higher elevations, and {{convert|7|-|11|inch|mm}} in the desert.<ref name="NavajoPeopleGeography" />

===Daylight saving time===
The Navajo Nation observes [[daylight saving time]] (DST) on its Arizona land as well as on its Utah and New Mexico lands. But the rest of Arizona, including the [[Hopi Reservation]], an enclave within the Arizona portion of the Nation, have opted out of DST.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timetemperature.com/tzus/arizona_time_zone.shtml|title=Arizona Time Zone|website=Timetemperature.com|access-date=13 October 2017|archive-date=November 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102235134/https://www.timetemperature.com/tzus/arizona_time_zone.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>