Denver, United States

Capital of Colorado, U.S.

About Denver

Denver is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Officially a consolidated city and county, it is located in the South Platte River valley on the western edge of the High Plains, and is just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains (Rockies). Denver is the 19th-most populous city in the United States and the fifth-most populous state capital, with a population of 715,522 at the 2020 census. The ten-county Denver metropolitan area, with 3.1 million residents, is the 19th-largest metropolitan area in the country and functions as the economic and cultural center of the broader Front Range Urban Corridor.

History

The greater Denver area was inhabited by several Indigenous peoples such as Apaches, Utes, Cheyennes, Comanches, and Arapahoes. By the terms of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie between the United States and various tribes including the Cheyenne and Arapaho, the United States unilaterally defined and recognized Cheyenne and Arapaho territory as ranging from the North Platte River in present-day Wyoming and Nebraska southward to the Arkansas River in present-day Colorado and Kansas. This definition specifically encompasses the land of modern Metropolitan Denver. But the discovery in November 1858 of gold in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado (then part of the western Kansas Territory) brought on a gold rush and a consequent flood of white immigration across Cheyenne and Arapaho lands. …

Geography

Denver is in the center of the Front Range Urban Corridor, between the Rocky Mountains to the west and the High Plains to the east. Its topography consists of plains in the city center with hilly areas to the north, west, and south. The city's downtown district is about 12 mi (19 km) east of the foothills of the Rockies. It is the only state capital in the United States that is a consolidated city-county. At the 2020 United States census, the City and County of Denver had an area of 99,025 acres (400.739 km2), including 1,057 acres (4.276 km2) of water. The City and County of Denver is surrounded by three other counties: Adams County to the north and east, Arapahoe County to the south and east, and Jefferson County to the west. …

Culture

Apollo Hall opened soon after the city's founding in 1859 and staged many plays for eager settlers. In the 1880s Horace Tabor built Denver's first opera house. After the start of the 20th century, city leaders embarked on a city beautification program that created many of the city's parks, parkways, museums, and the Municipal Auditorium, which was home to the 1908 Democratic National Convention and is now known as the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Denver and the metropolitan areas around it continued to support culture. In July 1982, Denver hosted the World Theatre Festival at the Denver Center for Performing Arts, which comprised a program of 114 performances of 18 plays, by theatre companies from 13 countries, across 25 days. In 1988, voters in the Denver Metropolitan Area approved the Scientific and Cultural Facilities Tax (commonly known as SCFD), a 0. …

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Economy

The Denver MSA had a gross metropolitan product of $311.9 billion in 2023, making it the 18th largest metro economy in the United States. Additionally, the 12-County Denver–Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area had a GDP of $377.7 billion in 2023 while the broader Front Range had a GDP of $474.6 billion. Denver's economy is based partially on its geographic position and its connection to some of the country's major transportation systems. Because Denver is the largest city within 500 miles (800 km), it has become a natural location for storage and distribution of goods and services to the Mountain States, Southwest states, as well as all western states. Another benefit for distribution is that Denver is nearly equidistant from large cities of the Midwest, such as Chicago and St. Louis and some large cities of the West Coast, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. …

Transportation

Most of Denver has a straightforward street grid oriented to the four cardinal directions. Blocks are usually identified in hundreds from the median streets, identified as "00", which are Broadway (the east–west median, running north–south) and Ellsworth Avenue (the north–south median, running east–west). Colfax Avenue, a major east–west artery through Denver, is 15 blocks (1500) north of the median. Avenues north of Ellsworth are numbered (with the exception of Colfax Avenue and several others, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd and Montview Blvd.), while avenues south of Ellsworth are named. There is also an older downtown grid system that was designed to be parallel to the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek. Most of the streets downtown and in LoDo run northeast–southwest and northwest–southeast. …

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, the population of the City and County of Denver was 715,522, making it the 19th most populous U.S. city. The Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated 2013 population of 2,697,476 and ranked as the 21st most populous U.S. metropolitan statistical area, and the larger Denver–Aurora–Boulder Combined Statistical Area had an estimated 2013 population of 3,277,309 and ranked as the 18th most populous U.S. metropolitan area. Denver is the most populous city within a radius centered in the city and of 550-mile (890 km) magnitude. Denverites is a term used for residents of Denver. According to the 2020 census, the City and County of Denver contained 715,522 people and 301,501 households. The population density was 3,922.6 inhabitants per square mile (1,514.5 inhabitants/km2) including the airport. …

Denver

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