Navajo Nation

Navajo Nation
Naabeehó Bináhásdzo (Navajo)
Location of the Navajo Nation.
Checkerboard-area in lighter shade (see § Geography)
EstablishedJune 1, 1868 (Treaty)
Expansions1878–2016
Chapter system1922
Tribal Council1923
CapitalWindow Rock
(Tségháhoodzání)
Subdivisions
Government
 • TypeTribal Autonomous administrative division
 • BodyNavajo Nation Council
 • PresidentBuu Nygren (D)
 • Vice PresidentRichelle Montoya
 • SpeakerCrystalyne Curley
 • Chief JusticeEleanor Shirley (interim)
Area
 • Total
27,000 sq mi (71,000 km2)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
165,158
 • Density6.0/sq mi (2.3/km2)
 160,552 Native American
4,606 White
Time zoneMST/MDT
Websitewww.navajo-nsn.gov

The Navajo Nation (Navajo: Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in Window Rock, Arizona.

At roughly 17,544,500 acres (71,000 km2; 27,413 sq mi), the Navajo Nation is the largest Indian reservation in the United States, exceeding the size of ten U.S. states. It is one of the few reservations whose lands overlap the nation's traditional homelands.

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%), border towns (10%), and elsewhere in the U.S. (17%). In 2020, the number of tribal members increased to 399,494, surpassing the Cherokee Nation as the largest tribal group by enrollment.

The United States gained ownership of what is today Navajoland in 1848 after the end of the Mexican–American War. The reservation was first established in 1868 within New Mexico Territory, initially spanning roughly 3,300,000 acres (13,000 km2); it subsequently straddled what became the Arizona–New Mexico border in 1912, when the states were admitted to the union. Unlike many reservations in the U.S., it has since expanded several times since its formation, reaching its current boundaries in 1934 and retained sovereignty.

The official language of the Navajo Nation is Navajo Diné Bizaad.