Colorado
The highest state, crown of the Rocky Mountains
Colorado is the rooftop of the country. No state averages a higher elevation, and none has more high peaks — 58 summits top 14,000 feet, the famous "fourteeners" that crowd the Rocky Mountains down its spine. The eastern third is flat High Plains, rolling toward Kansas at the foot of the mountains — the west is a maze of plateaus and canyons sloping toward Utah. Between them the Rockies rise abruptly along the Front Range, where Denver and most of the population press against the mountain wall.
The Continental Divide threads the high country, splitting the waters of the continent: rivers born here flow to both the Pacific and the Atlantic. The Colorado River itself rises in these mountains before beginning its long journey to the Gulf of California. Mount Elbert, the high point at 14,440 feet (4,401 m), is the tallest peak in the entire Rocky Mountain chain. Snowpack from these ranges supplies water to a huge swath of the arid West far beyond Colorado's borders.
Economy
Colorado has a diverse, fast-growing economy spanning aerospace and defense around Colorado Springs, technology in the Denver-Boulder corridor, energy from oil and gas to wind and solar, and a huge outdoor-recreation and tourism industry built on its ski resorts and national parks. Agriculture and a growing aerospace sector round it out along the booming Front Range.
Politics
Colorado carries 10 electoral votes. Once a competitive swing state, it has trended Democratic since the 2010s, driven by the growing, well-educated metropolitan population along the Front Range, while the rural eastern plains and western slope remain more Republican.
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Notable people
Related
- KansasThe Sunflower State, geographic heart of the nation
- NebraskaThe Cornhusker State, gateway to the Great Plains
- New MexicoThe Land of Enchantment, high desert and southern Rockies
- UtahThe Beehive State, red rock and the Great Salt Lake
- WyomingThe least populous state, high plains and the Rockies
- Animas ForksA ghost town above 11,000 feet
- AspenHigh Rocky Mountain resort town and former silver camp
- Cheyenne Mountain ComplexThe bunker inside a Colorado mountain
- Dinosaur National MonumentA fossil wall and river canyons on the Colorado-Utah line
- Four CornersThe only place where four U.S. states meet
- Royal Gorge BridgeOne of the highest bridges in the United States
- St. ElmoOne of Colorado's best-preserved ghost towns
- The Continental DivideThe Great Divide of the Rocky Mountains
- The Million Dollar HighwayA guardrail-free cliff drive in the San Juans
- Trail Ridge RoadThe highest continuous paved road in the U.S.