Portal:Colorado
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Colorado Events
- Wikimedia US Mountain West Spring 2026 online meeting, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 8:00-9:00 PM MDT
- Wikimedia US Mountain West Summer 2026 online meeting, Tuesday, August 11, 2026, 8:00-9:00 PM MDT
- Wikimedia US Mountain West Autumn 2026 online meeting, Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 8:00-9:00 PM MST
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Colorado events
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Colorado Facts
- Date admitted to Union: August 1, 1876 (38th State)
- Demonym: Coloradan
- Capital: Denver
- Elected state officers:
- Governor: Jared Polis (D) (2019–)
- Lieutenant Governor: Dianne Primavera (D) (2019–)
- Secretary of State: Jena Griswold (D) (2019–)
- Treasurer: Dave Young (D) (2019–)
- Attorney General: Phil Weiser (D) (2019–)
- Colorado General Assembly:
- Colorado Senate:
- D-23 R-12 (2025–2027)
- Colorado House of Representatives:
- D-43 R-22 (2025-2027)
- Colorado Senate:
- Colorado Supreme Court:
- Monica Márquez, Chief Justice (2024–)
- Brian Boatright (2011-)
- William Hood, III (2014–)
- Richard Gabriel (2015–)
- Melissa Hart (2017–)
- Carlos Samour, Jr (2018–)
- Maria Berkenkotter (2021–)
- U.S. Senators:
- Class 2. John Hickenlooper (D) (2021–)
- Class 3. Michael Bennet (D) (2009–)
- 1. Diana DeGette (D) (1997–)
- 2. Joe Neguse (D) (2019–)
- 3. Jeff Hurd (R) (2025-)
- 4. Lauren Boebert (R) (2025-)
- 5. Jeff Crank (R) (2025-)
- 6. Jason Crow (D) (2019–)
- 7. Brittany Pettersen (D) (2023-)
- 8. Gabe Evans (R) (2025–)
- Total area: 104,094 square miles (269,602 km2) (eighth most extensive state)
- Highest elevation: Mount Elbert 14,440 feet (4,401.2 m) (third highest state)
- Mean elevation: 6,800 feet (2,070 m) (highest state)
- Lowest elevation: Arikaree River 3,317 feet (1,011 m) (highest state)
- Population (2020 census): 5,773,714 (21st most populous state)
- Population density: 55.47 per square mile (21.40 km−2) (39th most densely populated state)
- Number of counties: 64 counties (including two consolidated city and county governments)
- Number of municipalities: 273 municipalities, comprising 2 consolidated city and county governments, 73 cities, and 198 towns
- Time zone: MST=UTC−07, MDT=UTC−06
- USPS code: CO
- ISO 3166 code: US-CO
- Adjacent U.S. states: Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah (tied for third most)
- State government website: Colorado.gov
- State tourism website: Colorado.com
State Symbols
Subcategories
The Colorado River (Spanish: Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The 1,450-mile-long (2,330 km) river, the 5th longest in the United States, drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states. The name Colorado derives from the Spanish language for "colored reddish" due to its heavy silt load. Starting in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, it flows generally southwest across the Colorado Plateau and through the Grand Canyon before reaching Lake Mead on the Arizona–Nevada border, where it turns south toward the international border. After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora.
Known for its dramatic canyons, whitewater rapids, and eleven U.S. National Parks, the Colorado River and its tributaries are a vital source of water for 40 million people. An extensive system of dams, reservoirs, and aqueducts divert almost its entire flow for agricultural irrigation and urban water supply. Its large flow and steep gradient are used to generate hydroelectricity, meeting peaking power demands in much of the Intermountain West. Intensive water consumption has dried up the lower 100 miles (160 km) of the river, which has rarely reached the sea since the 1960s. (Full article...)
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Commissioned into the U.S. Navy in 1949, Carpenter became a naval aviator, flying a Lockheed P-2 Neptune with Patrol Squadron 6 (VP-6) on reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare missions along the coasts of the Soviet Union and China during the Korean War and the Cold War. In 1954, he attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, and became a test pilot. In 1958, he was named Air Intelligence Officer of USS Hornet, which was then in dry dock at the Bremerton Navy Yard.
The following year, Carpenter was selected as one of the Mercury Seven astronauts. He was backup to Glenn during the latter's Mercury Atlas 6 orbital mission. Carpenter flew the next mission, Mercury Atlas 7, in the spacecraft he named Aurora 7. Due to a series of malfunctions, the spacecraft landed 250 miles (400 km) downrange from its intended splashdown point, but both pilot and spacecraft were retrieved. (Full article...)
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Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is a national park of the United States located in western Colorado and managed by the National Park Service. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison was established as a national monument on March 2, 1933. It was redesignated a national park on October 21, 1999, and incorporated 4,000 acres owned by the Bureau of Land Management. The Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area was created at the same time. There are two primary entrances to the park: the south rim entrance is located 15 miles (24 km) east of Montrose, while the north rim entrance is 11 miles (18 km) south of Crawford and is closed in the winter. The park contains 12 miles (19 km) of the 48-mile-long (77 km) Gunnison River. The national park itself contains the deepest and most dramatic section of the canyon, but the canyon continues upstream into Curecanti National Recreation Area and downstream into Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area. The canyon's name owes itself to the fact that parts of the gorge only receive 33 minutes of sunlight a day, according to Images of America: The Black Canyon of the Gunnison. In the book, author Duane Vandenbusche states, "Several canyons of the American West are longer and some are deeper, but none combines the depth, sheerness, narrowness, darkness, and dread of the Black Canyon." (Full article...)
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A painting by Albert Bierstadt, 1876
National Parks in Colorado
The 23 national parks in Colorado:
- Amache National Historic Site
- Arapaho National Recreation Area
- Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
- Browns Canyon National Monument
- Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument
- Canyons of the Ancients National Monument
- Chimney Rock National Monument
- Colorado National Monument
- Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
- Curecanti National Recreation Area
- Dinosaur National Monument
- Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
- Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
- Hovenweep National Monument
- Mesa Verde National Park and World Heritage Site
- Old Spanish National Historic Trail
- Pony Express National Historic Trail
- Rocky Mountain National Park
- Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
- Santa Fe National Historic Trail
- Yucca House National Monument
Interesting facts-


- President Theodore Roosevelt signed an act of Congress creating Mesa Verde National Park on June 29, 1906.
- Denver International Airport opened on June 11, 1995.
- On November 15, 1902, Arapahoe County was split into three new counties: the City and County of Denver, Adams County, and South Arapahoe County.
- The State of Colorado had three Governors on March 17, 1905.
- The first National Western Stock Show opened in Denver on January 29, 1906.
- The Democratic National Convention meeting in Denver nominated William Jennings Bryan for President of the United States on July 10, 1908.
- President Woodrow Wilson signed an act of Congress creating Rocky Mountain National Park on January 26, 1915.
- Mamie Geneva Doud married U.S. Army lieutenant (and later General of the Army and President of the United States) Dwight Eisenhower in Denver on July 1, 1916.
- The population of Colorado first exceeded one million in 1929.
- Denver Municipal Airport opened on October 17, 1929.
- In 1942, Governor Ralph Carr welcomed Japanese-Americans to Colorado despite the war with Japan.
- The first class of the United States Air Force Academy graduated on June 3, 1959.
- UNESCO designated Mesa Verde National Park as one of the original 12 World Heritage Sites on October 9, 1978.
- John Hickenlooper, later a Colorado Governor and United States Senator, founded a popular Denver brewpub in 1988.
- The Denver Broncos won the NFL Super Bowl in 1998, 1999, and 2016.
- President Bill Clinton signed an act of Congress elevating the national monument to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on October 21, 1999.
Did you know (auto-generated) -

- ... that science writer Melissa Sevigny took a rafting trip down the Colorado River to research a book?
- ... that Donald Trump would "much prefer not having a picture than having this one"?
- ... that Ruben A. Valdez, a high-school dropout, became the speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives?
- ... that a church in Colorado merged with another congregation, was sold, became a nightclub, and then was bought by an offshoot of the merged congregation?
- ... that Kelley Dolphus Stroud hitchhiked from Colorado Springs to Boston in twelve days to compete in the 1928 United States Olympic trials?
- ... that Ivan Ivan played for the Eagles and the Eagles?
- ... that Satank Bridge to Satank, Colorado, was constructed in 1900 for $2,325, while its 2011 restoration was estimated to cost at least $750,000?
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