The majestic peaks of Colorado reach out so high that the average elevation of the state is more than a mile above sea level, making it the highest of all the states. More than 800 of these peaks rise above 10,000 feet (3,000 meters), and more than 50 of them are at least 14,000 feet (4,267 meters) high. Part of the Continental Divide, Colorado's Rocky Mountain ranges separate rivers that flow to the Gulf of Mexico from those that flow to the Pacific Ocean. The Rio Grande, Colorado, Arkansas, and South Platte rivers have their sources in Colorado.
In the 1950s Grand Junction became a uranium production center. Located in the fertile Grand Valley of western Colorado, the town is surrounded by the Colorado Plateau, the forest-and lake-studded Grand Mesa, and the vast Colorado National Monument--the site of stark monoliths of red sandstone, honeycombs of caves, and dinosaur beds. Rocky Mountain National Park and the town of Estes Park at its eastern entrance are also world famous. Scenic wonders--the red granite cliffs of the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River, the ancient cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park, the fantastic rock formations of the Garden of the Gods--combine with the state's dry climate to make Colorado a year-round tourist playground.
When Spanish explorers saw the brightly colored river that begins high in the Rockies, they named it Colorado, meaning red. (For a short time it had been known as Tison, meaning firebrand, after the firebrands, or burning pieces of wood, the Native Americans carried to keep warm.) The name was given to the land around the river when it became a territory. It has always been colorful in scenery and in history.
As a state, Colorado is comparatively young. Because it joined the Union in 1876--just 100 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence--its most popular nickname is the Centennial State. It is also called the Highest State and, like mountainous West Virginia, the Switzerland of America. Some former nicknames were the Buffalo Plains State, the Lead State, and the Silver State.
Colorado lies in the western United States. It is bounded on the north by Wyoming and Nebraska; on the east by Nebraska and Kansas; on the south by New Mexico and the Oklahoma Panhandle; and on the west by Utah. It is almost square in shape. Its greatest length, east to west, is 387 miles (622 kilometers). Its greatest width, north to south, is 276 miles (444 kilometers). It is the eighth largest state, with a total area of 104,091 square miles (269,595 square kilometers). The water area is 496 square miles (1,285 square kilometers).
