Colorado is also known for its droughts that occur every few years, causing major wildfires.
The northwestern corner of Colorado bordering northern Utah and western Wyoming is mostly sparsely populated rangeland.
By the 1930 census, the population of Colorado exceeded one million residents.
According to the Energy Information Administration, Colorado hosts seven of the nation’s 100 largest natural gas fields and two of its 100 largest oil fields.
The state legislative body is the Colorado General Assembly, which is made up of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The Rocky Mountains within Colorado contain 53 peaks that are 14,000 feet (4,267 m) or higher elevation, known as fourteeners.
In 1851, Hispanic settlers from Taos New Mexico, settled the village of San Luis, then in the New Mexico Territory but now considered Colorado's first permanent European settlement.
The ancient Pueblo peoples lived in the valleys and mesas of the Colorado Plateau.
Colorado women were granted the right to vote in 1893, making Colorado the first U.S. state to grant universal suffrage by popular vote.
Colorado's rapid population growth (2 percent annually) is placing increased demands on its highways, housing market, utilities, schools, and other services.
Colorado has more than 50 mountain peaks more than 14,000 feet tall, including Pikes Peak, whose lone peak is visible from near the Kansas border (190 miles away) on clear days.
The 2000 U.S. census reported that 10.52 percent of residents aged 5 and over in Colorado speak Spanish at home.
Colorado is the least populous state with a franchise in each of the major professional sports leagues.
The climate of Colorado is quite complex compared to most of the United States.
Colorado is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado National Monument, Dinosaur National Monument, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Hovenweep National Monument, and Yucca House National Monument.
A main climatic division in Colorado occurs between the Rocky Mountains on the west and the plains on the east; the foothills form a transitional zone between the two.
Colorado offers a variety of options for elementary and secondary education: public schools, magnet schools, charter schools, homeschooling, and online classes.
Specialty schools include the U.S. Air Force Academy and the Colorado School of Mines.
Denver and some other areas have significant Mexican populations, while southern Colorado has a large number of descendants of early New Mexican settlers of colonial Spanish origin.
Thunderstorms are common east of the Continental Divide in the spring and summer, and Colorado is one of the leading states with deaths due to lightning.
Colorado is also a major retirement destination by senior citizens in search of a warmer climate, recreation activities, and higher altitude, which is said to be healthier for those with respiratory diseases.
The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Colorado into Kansas is the lowest point in the state at 3,315 feet (1,010 m) elevation, which is the highest low point of any U.S.
According to the 2000 census, the largest ancestry groups in Colorado are German (22 percent) (including of Swiss and Austrian nationalities), Irish (12.2 percent), and English (12 percent).
Today Native place-names, folktales, music, and dance are a part of the Colorado culture, as are Native artwork and jewelry.
The typical south-north/cooler-warmer variation in other states is not generally applicable in Colorado.
Colorado is one of only four states in the United States to share a common border (known as Four Corners), along with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Colorado was 118°F (48°C) on July 11, 1888, at Bennett, while the lowest was -61°F (-52°C) on February 1, 1985, at Maybell.
Democrats are strongest in metropolitan Denver, the college towns of Fort Collins and Boulder, southern Colorado (including Pueblo), and a few western ski resort counties.
The Western Slope is generally drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries.
Water west of the Continental Divide drains west into the Sea of Cortez via the Colorado River.
Colorado's range of habitats, from plains to mountains, allows for a variety of both plant and animal life.
The name Colorado was chosen because it was commonly believed that the Colorado River originated in the territory.
The Colorado Rockies are snow-covered only in the winter; most snow melts by mid-August with the exception of a few small glaciers.
The discovery of a major silver lode near Leadville in 1878 triggered the Colorado Silver Boom.
Catholicism is popular in Colorado, and is becoming more so with the influx of Latino immigrants.
LaRue, of the United States Geological Survey, identified the Green River in Wyoming as the proper headwaters of the Colorado River.
The state suffered through the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, but a major wave of immigration following World War II boosted Colorado's fortunes.
Colorado's population is predominately Christian, although it has a high percentage of religiously unaffiliated residents (like most other Western states).
Nearly half of the state is flat in stark contrast to Colorado's rugged Rocky Mountains.
East of the Southern Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Colorado at elevations ranging from 3,315 to 6,562 feet (1,010 to 2,000 m).
Notable to the south are the San Juan Mountains, an extremely rugged mountain range, and to the west of the San Juans, the Colorado Plateau, a high desert bordering southern Utah.
Per capita personal income in 2003 was $34,561, putting Colorado eighth in the nation.
Just south but on the west side of the Continental Divide is Middle Park, drained by the Colorado River.
West of the plains and foothills, the weather of Colorado is much less uniform.
Conventional and unconventional natural gas output from several Colorado basins typically accounts for more than 5 percent of annual U.S. natural gas production.
Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah are the only three U.S. states that lack natural borders and have only lines of latitude and longitude for boundaries.
Colorado's high Rocky Mountain ridges offer wind power potential, and geologic activity in the mountain areas provides potential for geothermal power development.
The 2005 Colorado General Assembly was the first to be controlled by the Democrats in forty years.
Colorado is considered a swing state in both state and federal elections.
Colorado is the only U.S. state that lies entirely above 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) elevation.
Colorado politics has the contrast of conservative cities and liberal cities.
When government surveyors established the border markers for the Territory of Colorado, minor surveying errors created several small kinks along the borders, most notably along the border with the Territory of Utah.
The Republicans are strongest in the Eastern Plains, Colorado Springs, Greeley, some Denver suburbs, and the western half of the state (including Grand Junction).
Notably, Colorado’s oil shale deposits hold an estimated 1 trillion barrels (160 km3) of oil – nearly as much oil as the entire world’s proven oil reserves.
The region that became Saskatchewan provided refuge to Sitting Bull and 5,000 Sioux who fled the United States army following the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn.
The bulk of Colorado's population lives along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, a region partially protected from prevailing storms by the high mountains to the west.
Colorado is defined as the geoellipsoidal rectangle that stretches from 37°N to 41°N latitude and from 102°03'W to 109°03'W longitude (25°W to 32°W from the Washington Meridian).
The region that today forms the Republic of Macedonia has been inhabited since Paleolithic times.
Colorado is one of only four states in the United States to share a common border (known as Four Corners), along with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
Colorado has one of the highest proportions of Hispanic citizens of any U.S. state, with over 19 percent reported in the 2006 census; only five states have a higher percentage.
Focus on the Family is a major conservative Christian organization headquartered in Colorado Springs.
The state suffered through the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, but a major wave of immigration following World War II boosted Colorado's fortunes.
Colorado, and specifically Colorado Springs, serves as the headquarters of numerous Christian groups, many of them Evangelical.
Early explorers identified Colorado's Gunnison River as the headwaters of the Colorado River, though the Grand River (Colorado) was later identified as the headwaters.
Colorado has the highest elevation of any state, with more than 1,000 Rocky Mountain peaks over 10,000 ft high and 54 towering above 14,000 ft. Pikes Peak, the most famous of these mountains, was discovered by U.S. Army lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike in 1806.
8 Colorado Foods and FlavorsPalisade Peaches. On the far west border of Colorado is a quaint town called Palisade located in Grand Valley. ... Rocky Mountain Oysters. ... Colorado Craft Beer. ... Green Chili / Pueblo Chilies. ... Colorado Lamb. ... Rocky Ford Cantaloupe. ... Bison. ... Olathe Sweet Corn.
"Beulah red" is the name of the red marble that gives the Colorado State Capitol its distinctive splendor. ... Colorado is the only state in history, to turn down the Olympics. ... The United States Air Force Academy is located in Colorado Springs.The world's largest flat-top mountain is in Grand Mesa.More items...
Colorado is a Spanish adjective that means “red.” The early Spanish explorers in the Rocky Mountain region named a river they found the Rio Colorado for the reddish silt that the water carried down from the mountains.Oct 16, 2015
Colorado is "colored", but it more has the meaning of "colored red" as in flush colored or "colored" as in a dirty joke as the dictionary says. In English we say my face is "red" when we're embarassed or astonished, but "color" is also used to denote skin pigmentation in general.Sep 8, 2009