Flagstaff ( FLAG-staf) is a city in, and the county seat of, Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2019, the city’s estimated population was 75,038. Flagstaff’s combined metropolitan Place has an estimated population of 139,097.

Flagstaff lies near the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau and within the San Francisco volcanic field, along the western side of the largest contiguous ponderosa pine reforest in the continental United States. The city sits at more or less 7,000 feet (2,100 m) and is adjoining Mount Elden, just south of the San Francisco Peaks, the highest mountain range in the disclose of Arizona. Humphreys Peak, the highest reduction in Arizona at 12,637 feet (3,852 m), is virtually 10 miles (16 km) north of Flagstaff in Kachina Peaks Wilderness. The geology of the Flagstaff Place includes abundant volcanic rocks joined with the San Francisco Volcanic Field that range in age from late Miocene to late Holocene. It afterward includes exposed rock from the Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras, with Moenkopi Formation red sandstone having subsequent to been quarried in the city; many of the historic downtown buildings were build up with it. The Rio de Flag river runs through the city, but by yourself flows in greeting to rain or snowmelt.

Originally arranged by the pre-Columbian indigenous Sinagua people, the Place of Flagstaff has fertile land from volcanic ash after eruptions in the 11th century. It was first established as the present-day city in 1876. Local businessmen lobbied for Route 66 to pass through the city, which it did, turning the local industry from lumber to tourism and developing downtown Flagstaff. In 1930, Pluto was discovered from Flagstaff. The city developed new through to the decrease of the 1960s, with various observatories afterward used to choose Moon landing sites for the Apollo missions. Through the 1970s and 1980s, downtown fell into disrepair, but was revitalized later than a major cultural parentage project in the 1990s.

The city remains an important distribution hub for companies such as Nestlé Purina PetCare, and is house to the U.S. Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station, the United States Geological Survey Flagstaff Station, and Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff has a strong tourism sector, due to its proximity to Grand Canyon National Park, Oak Creek Canyon, the Arizona Snowbowl, Meteor Crater, and Historic Route 66.