Coordinates

34°03′″N118°15′″N

{{infobox u.s. state |name

Colorado |Fullname State of Colorado |Flag Flag of Colorado.svg |Flaglink Flag |Seal Seal of Colorado.svg |Map Map_of_USA_CO.svg |Nickname The Centennial State |Motto Nil sine numine (Nothing without providence) |Former Colorado Territory |Capital Denver |OfficialLang English |Demonym Coloradan |LargestCity capital |LargestMetro Denver-Aurora-Broomfield MSA |Governor John Hickenlooper (D) |Lieutenant Governor Joseph A. Garcia (D) |Legislature General Assembly |Upperhouse Senate |Lowerhouse House of Representatives |Senators 2 – Mark Udall (D) 3 – Michael Bennet (D) |Representative4 Republicans and 3 Democrats |PostalAbbreviation CO |TradAbbreviation Colo. |AreaRank 8th |TotalArea 269,837 |TotalAreaUS 104,094 |LandArea 268,875 |LandAreaUS 103,718 |WaterArea 962 |WaterAreaUS 376 |PCWater 0.36% |PopRank 22nd |2000Pop (2010) 5,029,196 |DensityRank 37th |2000Density 18.64 |2000DensityUS 48.31 |MedianHouseholdIncome $56,993 |IncomeRank 13th |AdmittanceOrder 38th State |AdmittanceDate August 1, 1876 |TimeZone MSTUTC-07, MDTUTC-06 |Latitude 37°N to 41°N |Longitude 102°03'W to 109°03'W |Width 612 |WidthUS 380 |Length 451 |LengthUS 280 |HighestPoint Mount Elbert |HighestElev 4401.2 |HighestElevUS 14,440 |MeanElev 2073 |MeanElevUS 6,800 |LowestPoint Arikaree River |LowestElev 1011 |LowestElevUS 3,317 |ISOCode US-CO |Website www.colorado.gov }}

Colorado (pronounced or, ) is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is part of the Western United States and the Mountain States.

The state was named for the Colorado River, which early Spanish explorers named the ''Rio Colorado'' for the red colored () silt the river carried from the mountains. On August 1, 1876, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signed a proclamation admitting Colorado as the 38th state. Colorado is nicknamed the "Centennial State" because it was admitted to the Union as the 38th state in 1876, the centennial year of the United States Declaration of Independence.

Colorado is bordered by the northwest state of Wyoming to the north, the midwest states of Nebraska and Kansas to the northeast and east, on the south by New Mexico and a small portion of the southern state of Oklahoma, and on the west by Utah. The four states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at one common point known as the Four Corners, which is known as the heart of the American Southwest. Colorado is one of only three U.S. states with no natural borders, the others being neighboring Wyoming and Utah.

Colorado is noted for its vivid landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers, and desert lands. The 2010 United States Census tallied the state population at 5,029,196 as of April 1, 2010, an increase of 16.92% since the 2000 United States Census. Denver is the capital and the most populous city of Colorado. Residents of the state are properly known as "Coloradans", although the archaic term "Coloradoan" is still used.

Geography

The borders of Colorado were originally defined to be lines of latitude and longitude, making its shape a latitude-longitude* quadrangle which 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). Colorado, Wyoming and Utah are the only states which have boundaries defined solely by lines of latitude and longitude. When placing the border markers for the Territory of Colorado, minor surveying errors resulted in several nearly imperceptible kinks, most notably along the border with the Territory of Utah. Once agreed upon by the federal, state, and territorial governments, those surveyors' benchmarks, became the legal boundaries for the Colorado Territory, kinks and all.

The summit of Mount Elbert at in elevation in Lake County is the highest point of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. Colorado is the only U.S. state that lies entirely above elevation. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County, Colorado, and into Cheyenne County, Kansas, is the lowest point in Colorado at elevation. This point holds the distinction of being the highest low elevation point of any state.

A little over one fourth of the area of Colorado is flat and rolling land. East of the Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Colorado at elevations ranging from roughly . The midwest plains states of Kansas and Nebraska border Colorado to the east and northeast. The Colorado plains are usually thought of as prairies, but actually they have many patches of deciduous forests, buttes, and canyons, much like the high plains in New Mexico as well. Eastern Colorado is presently mainly covered in farmland, along with small farming villages and towns. Precipitation is fair, averaging from annually. The summers in the plains are normally hot and dry, while the winters are often quite cold, snowy, and icy. Corn, wheat, hay, soybeans, and oats are all typical crops, and most of the villages and towns in this region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator. As well as the farming of crops, Eastern Colorado has a good deal of livestock raising, such as at cattle ranches and hog farms. In eastern Colorado, a good deal of irrigation water is available from the South Platte, the Arkansas River, and a few other streams, and also from subterranean sources, including artesian wells. However, heavy use of ground water from wells for irrigation has caused underground water reserves to decline.

Most of Colorado's population resides along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Front Range Urban Corridor between Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Pueblo, Colorado. This region is partially protected from prevailing storms that blow in from the Pacific Ocean region by the high Rockies in the middle of Colorado. The only other significant population centers are at Grand Junction and Durango in far western Colorado.

To the west of Great Plains of Colorado rises the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Notable peaks of the Rocky Mountains include Longs Peak, Mount Evans, Pikes Peak, and the Spanish Peaks near Walsenburg, in southern Colorado. This area drains to the east and the southeast, ultimately either via the Mississippi River or the Rio Grande into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Continental Divide extends along the crest of the Rocky Mountains. The area of Colorado to the west of the Continental Divide is called the Western Slope of Colorado. Drainage water west of the Continental Divide flows to the southwest via the Green River and the Colorado River into the Gulf of California.

Within the interior of the Rocky Mountains are several large so-called "parks" or high broad basins. In the north, on the east side of the Continental Divide is the North Park of Colorado. The North Park is drained by the North Platte River, which flows north into Wyoming and Nebraska. Just to the south of North Park, but on the western side of the Continental Divide, is the Middle Park of Colorado, which is drained by the Colorado River. The South Park of Colorado is the region of the headwaters of the South Platte River.

In southmost Colorado is the large San Luis Valley, where the headwaters of the Rio Grande are located. The valley sits between the Sangre De Cristo Mountains and San Juan Mountains, and consists of large desert lands that eventually run into the mountains. The Rio Grande drains due south into New Mexico, Mexico, and Texas. Across the Sangre de Cristo Range to the east of the San Luis Valley lies the Wet Mountain Valley. These basins, particularly the San Luis Valley, lie along the Rio Grande Rift, a major geological formation of the Rocky Mountains, and its branches.

The Rocky Mountains within Colorado contain about 54 peaks that are or higher in elevation above sea level, known as fourteeners. These mountains are largely covered with trees such as conifers and aspens up to the tree line, at an elevation of about in southern Colorado to about in northern Colorado. Above this only alpine vegetation grows. Only small parts of the Colorado Rockies are snow-covered year round. Much of the alpine snow melts by mid-August with the exception of a few snowcapped peaks and a few small glaciers. The Colorado Mineral Belt, stretching from the San Juan Mountains in the southwest to Boulder and Central City on the front range, contains most of the historic gold- and silver-mining districts of Colorado.

The 30 highest major summits of the Rocky Mountains of North America all lie within the state. Colorado is home to four national parks, six national monuments, two national recreation areas, two national historic sites, three national historic trails, a national scenic trail, 11 national forests, two national grasslands, 41 national wilderness areas, two national conservation areas, eight national wildlife refuges, 44 state parks, a state forest, 323 state wildlife areas, and numerous other scenic, historic, and recreational attractions.

The Western Slope of Colorado is drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries (primarily the Green River and the San Juan River), or by evaporation in its arid areas. Prominent in the southwestern area of the Western Slope are the high San Juan Mountains, a rugged mountain range, and to the west of the San Juan Mountains, the Colorado Plateau, a high arid region that borders Southern Utah. The city of Grand Junction, Colorado, is the largest city on the Western Slope, Grand Junction and Durango are the only major centers of radio and television broadcasting, newspapers, and higher education on the Western Slope. The Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Western State College in Gunnison, and Fort Lewis College in Durango are the only four-year colleges in Colorado west of the Continental Divide.

Grand Junction is located along Interstate 70, the only major highway of Western Colorado. Grand Junction is also along the major railroad of the Western Slope, the Union Pacific, which also provides the tracks for Amtrak's California Zephyr passenger train, which crosses the Rocky Mountains between Denver and Grand Junction via a route on which there are no continuous highways.

To the southeast of Grand Junction is the Grand Mesa, said to be the world's largest flat-topped mountain. Other towns of the Western Slope include Glenwood Springs with its resort hot springs, and the ski resorts of Aspen, Breckenridge, Vail, Crested Butte, Steamboat Springs, and Telluride.

The northwestern corner of Colorado is a sparsely-populated region, and it contains part of the noted Dinosaur National Monument, which is not only a paleontological area, but is also a scenic area of high, rocky hills, canyons, and streambeads. Here, the Green River briefly crosses over into Colorado.

From west to east, the land of Colorado consists of desert lands and desert plateaus, then alpine mountains with National Forests, then some scattered desert land in the southern mountain areas in the state, and then the relatively-flat grasslands and scattered forests of the Great Plains. The famous Pikes Peak is located just west of Colorado Springs. Its isolated peak is visible from nearly the Kansas border on clear days, and also far to the north and the south. The desert lands in Colorado are located in and around areas such as, the Royal Gorge, Pueblo, Canon City, Florence, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, San Luis Valley, Cortez, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, Hovenweep National Monument, Ute Mountain, Delta, Grand Junction, Colorado National Monument, Roan Plateau, and other areas surrounding the Uncompahgre Plateau and Uncompahgre National Forest.

Colorado is one of four states in the United States that share a common geographic point the Four Corners, together with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. At this intersection, it is possible to stand in four states at once.

Climate

The climate of Colorado is quite complex compared to most of the United States. Unlike in other states, southern Colorado is not necessarily warmer than northern Colorado. Most of Colorado is made up of mountains, foothills, high plains, and desert lands. Mountains and surrounding valleys greatly affect local climate. As a general rule, with an increase in elevation comes a decrease in temperature and an increase in precipitation. Northeast, east, and southeast Colorado are mostly the high plains, while Northern Colorado is a mix of high plains, foothills, and mountains. Northwest and west Colorado are predominantly mountainous, with some desert lands mixed in. Southwest and southern Colorado are a complex mixture of desert and mountain areas.

Eastern Plains

The climate of the Eastern Plains is semi-arid (Köppen climate classification ''''BSk'''') with low humidity and moderate precipitation, usually from annually. The area is known for its abundant sunshine and cool clear nights, which give this area a great average diurnal temperature range. In summer, this area can have many days above and sometimes , although is the maximum in the front range cities above . In the plains, the winter extremes can be from 0 °F (-18 °C) to and . About 75% of the precipitation falls within the growing season, from April to September, but this area is very prone to droughts. Most of the precipitation comes from thunderstorms, which are often severe, and from major snowstorms that occur most often in the early spring, late autumn, and sometimes winter. Otherwise, winters tend to be mostly dry and cold. In much of the region, March and April are the snowiest months. April and May are normally the rainiest months, while April is the wettest month overall. The Front Range cities closer to the mountains tend to be warmer in the winter due to chinook winds which warm the area, sometimes bringing temperatures of or higher in the winter. The average July temperature is in the morning and close to in the afternoon. The average January temperature is in the morning and in the afternoon, although variation between consecutive days can be 40 °F (22 °C).

West of the plains and foothills

West of the plains and foothills, the weather of Colorado is much less uniform. Even places a few miles apart can experience entirely different weather depending on the topography of the area. Most valleys have a semi-arid climate, which becomes an alpine climate at higher elevations. Humid microclimates also exist in some areas. Generally, the wettest season in western Colorado is winter while June is the driest month. This is the opposite of precipitation patterns in the east. The mountains have cool summers with many days of high temperatures around to , although frequent thunderstorms can cause sudden drops in temperature. Summer nights are cool or even cold at the highest elevations, which sometimes get snow even in the middle of the summer. The winters bring abundant, powdery snowfall to the mountains with abundant sunshine in between major storms. The western slope has high summer temperatures similar to those found on the plains, while the winters tend to be slightly cooler due to the lack of warming winds common to the plains and Front Range. Other areas in the west have their own unique climate.

Extreme weather

Extreme weather is a common occurrence in Colorado. Thunderstorms are common east of the Continental divide in the spring and summer, and Colorado is one of the leading states in deaths due to lightning. Hail is a common sight in the mountains east of the divide and in the northwest part of the state. The Eastern Plains have some of the biggest hail storms in North America. Also the Eastern Plains are part of Tornado Alley and produce some of the deadliest U.S. tornadoes. Some damaging tornadoes in the Eastern Plains include the 1990 Limon F3 tornado and the 2008 Windsor EF3 tornado, which devastated the town. The plains are also susceptible to floods, which are caused both by thunderstorms and by the rapid melting of snow in the mountains during warm weather. Denver's record in 1921 for the number of consecutive days above was broken during the summer of 2008. The new record of 24 consecutive days surpassed the previous record by almost a week. Much of Colorado is a relatively dry state averaging only of rain per year statewide and rarely experiences a time when some portion of the state is not in some degree of drought. The lack of precipitation contributes to the severity of wildfires in the state such as the Hayman Fire, one of the largest wildfires in American history, and the Fourmile Canyon Fire of 2010, the most destructive wildfire in Colorado's recorded history.

However, there are some of the mountainous regions of Colorado which receive a huge amount of moisture via winter snowfalls. The spring melts of these snows often cause great waterflows in such rivers as the Yampa River, the Grand River, the Colorado River, the Rio Grande, the Arkansas River, Cherry Creek, the North Platte River, and the South Platte River. Water flowing out of the Colorado Rocky Mountains is a very significant source of water for the farms, towns, and cities of fellow southwest states of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, as well as midwest like Nebraska and Kansas, and also southern states like Oklahoma and Texas. A significant amount of water is also diverted for use in California; occasionally (formerly naturally and consistently) the flow of water reaches northern Mexico.

Records

The highest temperature recorded in Colorado was on July 11, 1888, at Bennett, whereas the lowest was on February 1, 1985, at Maybell. >

+ Monthly normal high and low temperatures for various Colorado cities (°F)

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Alamosa

Colorado Springs

Denver

Grand Junction

Pueblo

Earthquakes

On August 22, 2011, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake occurred nine miles WSW of the city of Trinidad. No casualties and only small damage was reported. It was the second largest earthquake in Colorado since a magnitude 5.7 earthquake was recorded in 1973.

History

The region that is today the state of Colorado has been inhabited by Native Americans for more than 13 millennia. The Lindenmeier Site in Larimer County contains artifacts dating from approximately 11200 BCE to 3000 BCE. The eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains was a major migration route that was important to the spread of early peoples throughout the Americas. The Ancient Pueblo Peoples lived in the valleys and mesas of the Colorado Plateau. The Ute Nation inhabited the mountain valleys of the Southern Rocky Mountains and the Western Rocky Mountains. The Arapaho Nation and the Cheyenne Nation moved west to hunt across the High Plains.

The United States acquired a territorial claim to the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains with the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803. This U.S. claim conflicted with the claim of Spain to a huge region surrounding its colony of Santa Fé de Nuevo Méjico as its sovereign trading zone with native peoples. Zebulon Pike led a U.S. Army reconnaissance expedition into the disputed region in 1806. Colonel Pike and his men were arrested by Spanish cavalrymen in the San Luis Valley the following February, taken to Chihuahua, and then expelled from Mexico the following July.

The United States relinquished its claim to all land south and west of the Arkansas River and south of 42nd parallel north and west of the 100th meridian west as part of its purchase of Florida from Spain with the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819. The treaty took effect February 22, 1821. Having settled its border with Spain, the United States admitted the southeastern portion of the Territory of Missouri to the Union as the state of Missouri on August 10, 1821. The remainder of the Missouri Territory, including what would become northeastern Colorado, became unorganized territory, and would remain so for 33 years over the question of slavery. After 11 years of war, Spain finally recognized the independence of Mexico with the Treaty of Córdoba signed on August 24, 1821. Mexico eventually ratified the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1831. The Texian Revolt of 1835–1836 fomented a dispute between the United States and Mexico which eventually erupted into the Mexican-American War in 1846. Mexico surrendered its northern territory to the United States with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the conclusion of the war in 1848.

Most American settlers traveling overland west to the Oregon Country, the new goldfields of California, or the new Mormon settlements of Deseret in the Salt Lake Valley, avoided the rugged Southern Rocky Mountains, and instead followed the North Platte River and Sweetwater River to South Pass, the lowest crossing of the Continental Divide between the Southern Rocky Mountains and the Central Rocky Mountains. In 1849, the Mormons of the Salt Lake Valley organized the extralegal State of Deseret, claiming the entire Great Basin and all lands drained by the Green, Grand, and Colorado rivers. The federal government of the United States flatly refused to recognize the new Mormon government, because it was theocratic and sanctioned plural marriage. Instead, the Compromise of 1850 divided the Mexican Cession and the northwestern claims of Texas into a new state and two new territories, the state of California, the Territory of New Mexico, and the Territory of Utah. On April 9, 1851, Mexican American settlers from the area of Taos settled the village of San Luis, then in the New Mexico Territory, later to become Colorado's first permanent Euro-American settlement.

In 1854, Senator Stephen A. Douglas persuaded the U.S. Congress to divide the unorganized territory east of the Continental Divide into two new organized territories, the Territory of Kansas and the Territory of Nebraska, and an unorganized southern region known as the Indian territory. Each new territory was to decide the fate of slavery within its boundaries, but this compromise merely served to fuel animosity between free soil and pro-slavery factions.

Gold was discovered along the South Platte River then in western Kansas Territory in July 1858, precipitating the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. The placer gold deposits along the rivers and streams of the region rapidly played out, but prospectors soon discovered far more valuable seams of hard rock gold in the nearby mountains.

The gold seekers organized the Provisional Government of the Territory of Jefferson on August 24, 1859, but this new territory failed to secure approval from the Congress of the United States embroiled in the debate over slavery. The election of Abraham Lincoln for the President of the United States on November 6, 1860, led to the secession of nine southern slave states and the threat of civil war among the states. Seeking to augment the political power of the Union states, the Republican Party dominated Congress quickly admitted the eastern portion of the Territory of Kansas into the Union as the free State of Kansas on January 29, 1861, leaving the western portion of the Kansas Territory, and its gold-mining areas, as unorganized territory.

Thirty days later on February 28, 1861, outgoing U.S. President James Buchanan signed an Act of Congress organizing the free Territory of Colorado. The original boundaries of Colorado remain unchanged today. The name Colorado was chosen because it was commonly believed that the Colorado River originated in the territory. In 1776, Spanish priest Silvestre Vélez de Escalante recorded that Native Americans in the area knew the river as ''el Rio Colorado'' for the red-brown silt that the river carried from the mountains. In 1859, a U.S. Army topographic expedition led by Captain John Macomb located the confluence of the Green River with the Grand River in what is now Canyonlands National Park in Utah. The Macomb party designated the confluence as the source of the Colorado River.

On April 12, 1861, South Carolina artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter to start the American Civil War. While many gold seekers held sympathies for the Confederacy, the vast majority remained fiercely loyal to the Union cause. In 1862, a force of Texas cavalry invaded the Territory of New Mexico and captured Santa Fe on March 10. The object of this Western Campaign was to seize or disrupt the gold fields of Colorado and California and to seize ports on the Pacific Ocean for the Confederacy. A hastily organized force of Colorado volunteers force-marched from Denver City, Colorado Territory, to Glorieta Pass, New Mexico Territory, in an attempt to block the Texans. On March 28, the Coloradans and local New Mexico volunteers stopped the Texans at the Battle of Glorieta Pass, destroyed their cannon and supply wagons, and ran off 500 head of their horses and mules. The Texans were forced to retreat to Santa Fe. Having lost the supplies for their campaign and finding little support in New Mexico, the Texans abandoned Santa Fe and returned to San Antonio in defeat. The Confederacy made no further attempts to seize the Southwestern United States.

In 1864, Territorial Governor John Evans appointed the Reverend John Chivington as Colonel of the Colorado Volunteers with orders to protect white settlers from Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors who were accused of stealing cattle. Colonel Chivington ordered his men to attack a band of Cheyenne and Arapaho encamped along Sand Creek. Chivington reported that his troops killed more than 500 warriors. The militia returned to Denver City in triumph, but several officers reported that the so called battle was a blatant massacre of Indians at peace, that most of the dead were women and children, and that bodies of the dead had been mutilated and desecrated in hideous manner. Three U.S. Army inquiries condemned the action, and incoming President Andrew Johnson asked Governor Evans for his resignation, but none of the perpetrators was ever punished.

In the midst and aftermath of Civil War, many discouraged prospectors returned to their homes, but a determined few stayed on to develop mines, mills, farms, ranches, roads, and towns in the Territory. On September 14, 1864, James Huff discovered silver near Argentine Pass, the first of many silver strikes. In 1867, the Union Pacific Railroad laid its tracks west to Weir, now Julesburg, in the northeast corner of the Territory. The Union Pacific linked up with the Central Pacific Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869, to form the First Transcontinental Railroad. The Denver Pacific Railway reached Denver in June of the following year, and the Kansas Pacific arrived two months later to forge the second line across the continent. In 1872, rich veins of silver were discovered in the San Juan Mountains on the Ute Indian reservation in southwestern Colorado. The Ute people were removed from the San Juans the following year.

The United States Congress passed an enabling act on March 3, 1875, specifying the requirements for the Territory of Colorado to become a state. On August 1, 1876 (28 days after the Centennial of the United States), U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signed a proclamation admitting Colorado to the Union as the 38th state and earning it the moniker "Centennial State".

The discovery of a major silver lode near Leadville in 1878, triggered the Colorado Silver Boom. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 invigorated silver mining, and Colorado's last, but greatest, gold strike at Cripple Creek a few months later lured a new generation of gold seekers. Colorado women were granted the right to vote beginning on November 7, 1893, making Colorado the second state to grant universal suffrage and the first one by a popular vote (of Colorado men). The repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893 led to a staggering collapse of the mining and agricultural economy of Colorado, but the state slowly and steadily recovered.

Colorado became the first western state to host a major political convention when the Democratic Party met in Denver in 1908. By the U.S. Census in 1930, the population of Colorado first exceeded one million residents. Colorado suffered greatly through the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, but a major wave of immigration following World War II boosted Colorado's fortune. Tourism became a mainstay of the state economy, and high technology became an important economic engine. The United States Census Bureau estimated that the population of Colorado exceeded five million in 2009.

Three warships of the U.S. Navy have been named the USS ''Colorado''. The first USS ''Colorado'' was named for the Colorado River. The later two ships were named in honor of the state, including the battleship USS ''Colorado'' which served in World War II in the Pacific beginning in 1941. At the time of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, this USS ''Colorado'' was located at the naval base in San Diego, Calif. and hence went unscathed.

Demographics

Colorado's most populous city, and capital, is Denver. The Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area with an estimated 2009 population of 3,110,436, is home to 61.90% of the state's residents.

As of 2005, Colorado has an estimated population of 4,665,177, which is an increase of 63,356, or 1.4%, from the prior year and an increase of 363,162, or 8.4%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 205,321 people (that is 353,091 births minus 147,770 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 159,957 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 112,217 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 47,740 people.

The largest increases are expected in the Front Range Urban Corridor, especially in the Denver metropolitan area. The state's fastest-growing counties are Douglas and Weld. The center of population of Colorado is located just north of the village of Critchell in Jefferson County.

Colorado has a high proportion of Hispanic, mostly Mexican-American, citizens in Metropolitan Denver, Colorado Springs, as well as the smaller cities of Greeley and Pueblo, and in many other smaller cities and towns all throughout the state. Colorado is well known for its strong Latino culture and presence. Southern, Southwestern, and Southeastern Colorado has a large number of Hispanos, the descendants of the early Mexican settlers of colonial Spanish origin. The 2000 United States Census found that 10.5% of people aged five and over in Colorado speak only Spanish at home, with the 2009 estimate being roughly 14%. Colorado also has a large immigration presence all throughout the state, which has led to Colorado cities being referred to as "Sanctuary Cities" for illegal immigrants as well. Colorado has the 5th highest percentage of undocumented people in the U.S., only behind Nevada, Arizona, California, and tied with Texas. An estimated 5.5-6.0% of the state's population is composed of illegal immigrants. Also, over 20% of the state's prisoners are undocumented inmates. Colorado, like New Mexico, is very rich in archaic Spanish idioms.

Colorado also has some African-American communities located in Denver, in the neighborhoods of Montbello, Green Valley Ranch, Park Hill, Five Points, Whittier, and many other East Denver areas. A decent amount of African Americans are also found in Colorado Springs on the east and southeast side of the city. The state has sizable numbers of Asian-Americans of Mongolian, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Southeast Asian and Japanese descent. The highest population of Asian Americans can be found on the south and southeast side of Denver, as well as some on Denver's southwest side. The Denver metropolitan area is considered more liberal and diverse than much of the state when it comes to political issues and environmental concerns.

According to the 2000 Census, the largest ancestry groups in Colorado are German (22%) including of Swiss and Austrian nationalities, Mexican (18%), Irish (12%), and English (12%). Persons reporting German ancestry are especially numerous in the Front Range, the Rockies (west-central counties) and Eastern parts/High Plains. Denver, as well as all of Colorado, have numerous amount of predominately Latino neighborhoods and communities. Also, Denver and nearby areas on the Front Range has sizable German, Scandinavian, Italian, Slavic and Jewish American communities, partly a legacy of gold rushes in the late 19th century (1861–1889).

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Colorado had a population of 5,029,196. In terms of race and ethnicity, the state was 81.3% White (70.0% Non-Hispanic White Alone), 4.0% Black or African American, 1.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.8% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 7.2% from Some Other Race, and 3.4% from Two or More Races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race made up 20.7% of the population.

There were a total of 70,331 births in Colorado in 2006. (Birth Rate of 14.6). In 2007, non-Hispanic whites were involved in 59.1% of all the births. Some 14.06% of those births involved a non-Hispanic white person and someone of a different race, most often with a couple including one Hispanic. A birth where at least one Hispanic person was involved counted for 43% of the births in Colorado. As of the 2010 Census, Colorado has the seventh highest percentage of Hispanics (20.7%) in the U.S. behind New Mexico (46.3%), California (37.6%), Texas (37.6%), Arizona (29.6%), Nevada (26.5%), and Florida (22.5%). Per the 2000 census, the Hispanic population is estimated to be 918,899 or approximately 20% of the state total population. Colorado has the 4th largest population of Mexican-Americans behind California, Texas, and Arizona. In percentages, Colorado has the 6th highest percentage of Mexican-Americans behind New Mexico, California, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada.

Religion

Major religious affiliations of the people of Colorado are:

Christian — 64%

* Protestant — 44%

** Evangelical — 23%

** Mainline — 19%

** Other Protestant — 2%

* Roman Catholic — 19%

* Latter Day Saint / Mormon — 2%

* Orthodox — 1%

Jewish — 2%

Muslim — 1%

Other Religions — 5%

Unaffiliated — 25%

The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Roman Catholic Church with 752,505; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 92,326 (133,727 year-end 2007) ; and Baptist with 85,083.

At 25%, Colorado also has an above-average proportion of citizens who claim no religion. The U.S. average is 17%.

Health

Colorado also has a reputation for being a state of active and athletic people. According to several studies, Coloradans have the lowest rates of obesity of any state in the US. As of 2007 the 18% of the population was considered medically obese, and while the lowest in the nation, the percentage had increased from 17% from 2004. Colorado Governor Bill Ritter commented: “As an avid fisherman and bike rider, I know first-hand that Colorado provides a great environment for active, healthy lifestyles,” although he highlighted the need for continued education and support to slow the growth of obesity in the state.

Culture

List of museums in Colorado

Fine arts

Music of Colorado

Theater in Colorado

Cuisine

Colorado is known for its Southwest and Rocky Mountain cuisine. Mexican restaurants are throughout the state.

Boulder, Colorado was named America’s Foodiest Town 2010 by Bon Appétit. Boulder, and Colorado in general, is home to a number of national food and beverage companies, top-tier restaurants and farmers' markets. Boulder, Colorado also has more Master Sommeliers per capita than any other city, including San Francisco and New York.

The Food & Wine Classic held annually each June in Aspen, Colorado. Aspen also has a reputation as the culinary capital of the Rocky Mountain region.

Denver, Colorado is known for steak, but now has a diverse culinary scene with many top-tier restaurants.

Wine

Colorado wines include award-winning varietals that have attracted favorable notice from outside the state. With wines made from traditional ''Vitis vinifera'' grapes along with wines made from cherries, peaches, plums and honey, Colorado wines have won top national and international awards for their quality. Colorado's grape growing regions contain the highest elevation vineyards in the United States, with most viticulture in the state practiced between and feet above sea level. The mountain climate ensures warm summer days and cool nights. Colorado is home to two designated American Viticultural Areas of the Grand Valley AVA and the West Elks AVA, where most of the vineyards in the state are located. However, an increasing number of wineries are located along the Front Range.

Economy

[[File:Denver CO DT WTC AMH 322.JPG|thumb|upright|right|Denver World Trade Center. The Denver financial district along 17th Street is known as the ''Wall Street of the West''.]] CNBC's list of "Top States for Business for 2010" has recognized Colorado as the third best state in the nation, falling short to only Texas and Virginia. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that the total state product in 2008 was $248.6 billion. Per capita personal income in 2010 was $51 940, ranking Colorado 11th in the nation. The state's economy broadened from its mid-19th century roots in mining when irrigated agriculture developed, and by the late 19th century, raising livestock had become important. Early industry was based on the extraction and processing of minerals and agricultural products. Current agricultural products are cattle, wheat, dairy products, corn, and hay.

The federal government is also a major economic force in the state with many important federal facilities including NORAD, United States Air Force Academy and Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs; NOAA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder; U.S. Geological Survey and other government agencies at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood; the Denver Mint, Buckley Air Force Base, and 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver; and a federal Supermax Prison and other federal prisons near Cañon City. In addition to these and other federal agencies, Colorado has abundant National Forest land and four National Parks that contribute to federal ownership of of land in Colorado, or 37% of the total area of the state. In the second half of the 20th century, the industrial and service sectors have expanded greatly. The state's economy is diversified and is notable for its concentration of scientific research and high-technology industries. Other industries include food processing, transportation equipment, machinery, chemical products, the extraction of metals such as gold (see Gold mining in Colorado), silver, and molybdenum. Colorado now also has the largest annual production of beer of any state. Denver is an important financial center.

A number of nationally known brand names have originated in Colorado factories and laboratories. From Denver came the forerunner of telecommunications giant Qwest in 1879, Samsonite luggage in 1910, Gates belts and hoses in 1911, and Russell Stover Candies in 1923. Kuner canned vegetables began in Brighton in 1864. From Golden came Coors beer in 1873, CoorsTek industrial ceramics in 1920, and Jolly Rancher candy in 1949. CF&I; railroad rails, wire, nails and pipe debuted in Pueblo in 1892. Holly Sugar was first milled from beets in Holly in 1905, and later moved its headquarters to Colorado Springs. The present-day Swift packed meat of Greeley evolved from Monfort of Colorado, Inc., established in 1930. Estes model rockets were launched in Penrose in 1958. Fort Collins has been the home of Woodward Governor Company's motor controllers (governors) since 1870, and Waterpik dental water jets and showerheads since 1962. Celestial Seasonings herbal teas have been made in Boulder since 1969. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory made its first candy in Durango in 1981.

Colorado has a flat 4.63% income tax, regardless of income level. Unlike most states, which calculate taxes based on federal ''adjusted gross income'', Colorado taxes are based on ''taxable income'' – income after federal exemptions and federal itemized (or standard) deductions. Colorado's state sales tax is 2.9% on retail sales. When state revenues exceed state constitutional limits, full-year Colorado residents can claim a sales tax refund on their individual state income tax return. Many counties and cities charge their own rates in addition to the base state rate. There are also certain county and special district taxes that may apply.

Real estate and personal business property are taxable in Colorado. The state's senior property tax exemption was temporarily suspended by the Colorado Legislature in 2003. The tax break is scheduled to return for assessment year 2006, payable in 2007.

As of September 2010, the state's unemployment rate is 8.2%.

Philanthropy

Major philanthropic organizations based in Colorado, including the Daniels Fund, the Anschutz Family Foundation, the Gates Family Foundation, the El Pomar Foundation and the Boettcher Foundation, grant approximately $400 million each year from approximately $7 billion of assets.

Natural resources

Colorado has significant hydrocarbon resources. 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. Conventional and unconventional natural gas output from several Colorado basins typically account for more than 5 percent of annual U.S. natural gas production. Colorado’s oil shale deposits hold an estimated of oil – nearly as much oil as the entire world’s proven oil reserves; the economic viability of the oil shale, however, has not been demonstrated. Substantial deposits of bituminous, subbituminous, and lignite coal are found in the state. Kimberlite volcanic pipes have been found in Colorado; the Kelsey Lake Diamond Mine operated for several years, recovering gem quality diamonds.

Colorado's high Rocky Mountain ridges and eastern plains offer wind power potential, and geologic activity in the mountain areas provides potential for geothermal power development. Much of the state is sunny and could produce solar power. Major rivers flowing from the Rocky Mountains offer hydroelectric power resources. Corn grown in the flat eastern part of the state offers potential resources for ethanol production.

Transportation

Colorado transportation system connects its cities, residents, and visitors through a diverse and well regulated modes.

Highways and roads

{| |+ Interstate and Federal Highway Routes in Colorado |- | valign="top" | | valign="top" | | valign="top" | | valign="top" | |}

Aviation

{| |+ Commercial Airports in Colorado |- | valign="top" |

ALS – San Luis Valley Regional Airport

ASE – Aspen-Pitkin County Airport

CEZ – Cortez Municipal Airport

COS – City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport

DEN – Denver International Airport

DRO – Durango-La Plata County Airport

EGE – Eagle County Regional Airport

| valign="top" |

FNL – Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport

GJT – Grand Junction Regional Airport

GUC – Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport

HDN – Yampa Valley Airport

MTJ – Montrose Regional Airport

PUB – Pueblo Memorial Airport

TEX – Telluride Regional Airport

WBU - Boulder Municipal Airport

|}

Rail

{| |+ Amtrak Passenger Railroad Routes through Colorado |- | valign="top" |

''California Zephyr:''  Chicago, Galesburg, Omaha, Fort Morgan, Denver, Winter Park, Granby, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Salt Lake City, Reno, Sacramento, and Emeryville'''

''Southwest Chief:''  Chicago, Galesburg, Kansas City, Topeka, Lamar, La Junta, Trinidad, Raton, Lamy, Albuquerque, Gallup, Flagstaff, and Los Angeles

|}

Mass transit

{| |+ Communities in Colorado with Regional Bus Service |- | valign="top" | Alamosa, Aurora, Boulder, Brush, Berthoud, Colorado Springs, Delta, Denver, Durango, Englewood, Frisco, Fort Collins, Fort Morgan, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Greeley, Lamar, Limon, Longmont, Loveland, Montrose, Pueblo, Rocky Ford, Springfield, Sterling, Trinidad, Vail, and Walsenburg |}

Denver and Colorado Springs are serviced by the FREX regional bus.

Fort Collins, Loveland, Berthoud, and Longmont are serviced by the FLEX regional bus.

Accidents

In 2011, Colorado ranked among the five deadliest states for debris/litter–caused vehicle accidents per total number of registered vehicles and population size. Figures derived from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show at least 16 persons in Colorado were killed each year in motor vehicle collisions with non-fixed objects, including debris, dumped litter, animals and their carcasses.

In the United States including Colorado, most civil aviation incidents are investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as well as the Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI). When investigating an aviation disaster, NTSB investigators piece together evidence from the crash and determine the likely cause or causes. Where as the CBI will also investigate if there is any involved criminal actions.

Government and politics

State government

+ Gubernatorial election results
! Year	Republican Party (United States)>Republican	Democratic Party (United States)>Democratic
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style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0ff;"
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Just like all the states, Colorado's state constitution provides for three branches of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial branches. The Governor heads the state's executive branch. The Colorado Supreme Court is the highest judicial court in the state. The state legislative body is the Colorado General Assembly, which is made up of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The House has 65 members and the Senate has 35. Currently, the House is controlled by the Republican Party by a one vote majority and the Senate is controlled by the Democratic Party. The 2005 Colorado General Assembly was the first to be controlled by the Democrats in forty years. The incumbent governor is Democrat John Hickenlooper.

Most Coloradans are originally native to other states (nearly 60% according to the 2000 census), and this is illustrated by the fact that the state did not have a native-born governor from 1975 (when John David Vanderhoof left office) until 2007, when Bill Ritter took office; his election the previous year marked the first electoral victory for a native-born Coloradan in a gubernatorial race since 1958 (Vanderhoof had ascended from the Lieutenant Governorship when John Arthur Love was given a position in Richard Nixon's administration in 1973).

State symbols

Boxwidth	25em
Flag	Flag of Colorado.svg
Name	Colorado
Bird	Lark Bunting''Calamospiza melanocoryus''
Fish	Greenback Cutthroat Trout''Oncorhynchus clarki somias''
Flower	Rocky Mountain Columbine''Aquilegia caerules''
Grass	Blue Grama Grass''Bouteloua gracilis''
Insect	Colorado Hairstreak Butterfly''Hypaurotis cysaluswas''
Mammal	Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep''Ovis canadensis''
Reptile	Western Painted Turtle''Chrysemys picta bellii''
Tree	Colorado Blue Spruce''Picea pungens''
Dance	Square Dance
Fossil	Stegosaurus
Gemstone	Aquamarine
Mineral	Rhodochrosite
Staterock	Yule Marble
Soil	Seitz
Song	''Where the Columbines GrowRocky Mountain High''
Tartan	Colorado State Tartan
Route marker	Colorado 5.svg
Quarter	Colorado quarter, reverse side, 2006.jpg
Quarterreleasedate	2006 }}

Federal politics

+ Presidential elections results
! Year	Republican Party (United States)>Republican	Democratic Party (United States)>Democratic
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Colorado is considered a swing state in both state and federal elections. Coloradans have elected 17 Democrats and 12 Republicans to the governorship in the last 100 years. In presidential politics, Colorado supported Democrats Bill Clinton in 1992 and Barack Obama in 2008, and supported Republicans Robert J. Dole in 1996 and George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. The presidential outcome in 2008 was the second closest to the national popular vote, after Virginia.

Colorado politics has the contrast of conservative cities such as Colorado Springs and liberal cities such as Boulder. 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 Republicans are strongest in the Eastern Plains, Colorado Springs, Greeley, and far Western Colorado near Grand Junction.

Former Colorado senator and attorney general Ken Salazar is the current United States Secretary of the Interior (as of January 20, 2009).

The state of Colorado is represented by its two United States Senators:

United States Senate Class 2 – Mark Emery Udall (Democratic) 2009–

United States Senate Class 3 – Michael Farrand Bennet (Democratic) 2009– Colorado is represented by seven Representatives to the United States House of Representatives:

Colorado's 1st congressional district - Diana Louise DeGette (Democratic) 1997-

Colorado's 2nd congressional district - Jared Schutz Polis (Democratic) 2009-

Colorado's 3rd congressional district - Scott Tipton (Republican) 2011–

Colorado's 4th congressional district - Cory Gardner (Republican) 2011–

Colorado's 5th congressional district - Douglas L. "Doug" Lamborn (Republican) 2007-

Colorado's 6th congressional district - Michael "Mike" Coffman (Republican) 2009-

Colorado's 7th congressional district - Edwin George "Ed" Perlmutter (Democratic) 2007-

Counties

thumb|An enlargeable map of the [[List of counties in Colorado|64 counties of the state of Colorado]] The state of Colorado is divided into 64 counties. Counties are important units of government in Colorado since the state has no secondary civil subdivisions such as townships. Two of these counties, the City and County of Denver and the City and County of Broomfield, have consolidated city and county governments.

Nine Colorado counties have a population in excess of 250,000 each, while eight Colorado counties have a population of less than 2,500 each. The ten most populous Colorado counties are located in the Front Range Urban Corridor.

{|class="wikitable sortable" |+The 25 Most Populous Colorado Counties 2010 !Pop Rank !County !2010 Census !2000 Census !Pop Change |- |El Paso County |- |Denver City and County |- |Arapahoe County |- |Jefferson County |- |Adams County |- |Larimer County |- |Boulder County |- |Douglas County |- |Weld County |- |Pueblo County |- |Mesa County |- |Garfield County |- |Broomfield City and County |- |Eagle County |- |La Plata County |- |Fremont County |- |Montrose County |- |Delta County |- |Morgan County |- |Summit County |- |Montezuma County |- |Routt County |- |Teller County |- |Elbert County |- |Logan County |}

Metropolitan areas

The United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has defined one Combined Statistical Area (CSA), seven Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), and seven Micropolitan Statistical Areas (μSAs) in the state of Colorado.

The most populous of the 14 Core Based Statistical Areas in Colorado is the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. This area had a population of 2,543,482 at the 2010 United States Census, an increase of 17.88% since the 2000 United States Census.

The more extensive Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO Combined Statistical Area had a population of 3,090,874 at the 2010 United States Census, an increase of +17.52% since the 2000 United States Census.

The most populous extended metropolitan region in Rocky Mountain Region is the Front Range Urban Corridor along the northeast face of the Southern Rocky Mountains. This region with Denver at its center had a population of 4,333,742 at the 2010 United States Census, an increase of +17.50% since the 2000 United States Census.

Municipalities

The state of Colorado currently has 271 active incorporated municipalities, including 196 towns, 73 cities, and two consolidated city and county governments.

Colorado municipalities operate under one of five types of municipal governing authority. Colorado has one town with a territorial charter, 160 statutory towns, 12 statutory cities, 96 home rule municipalities (61 cities and 35 towns), and 2 consolidated city and county governments.

{|class="wikitable sortable" |+The 25 Most Populous Colorado Municipalities 2010 !Pop Rank !Municipality !2010 Census !2000 Census !Pop Change |- |City and County of Denver |- |City of Colorado Springs |- |City of Aurora |- |City of Fort Collins |- |City of Lakewood |- |City of Thornton |- |City of Pueblo |- |City of Arvada |- |City of Westminster |- |City of Centennial |- |City of Boulder |- |City of Greeley |- |City of Longmont |- |City of Loveland |- |City of Grand Junction |- |City and County of Broomfield |- |Town of Castle Rock |- |City of Commerce City |- |Town of Parker |- |City of Littleton |- |City of Northglenn |- |City of Brighton |- |City of Englewood |- |City of Wheat Ridge |- |City of Fountain |} The City and County of Denver and the City of Aurora both levy an Occupational Privilege Tax (OPT or Head Tax) on employers and employees.

If any employee performs work in the city limits and is paid over US$500.00 for that work in a single month, the employee and employer are both liable for the OPT regardless of where the main business office is located or headquartered.

In Denver, the employer is liable for US$4.00 per employee per month and the employee is liable for US$5.75 per month.

In Aurora, both employer and employees are liable for US$2.00 per month.

It is the employer's responsibility to withhold, remit, and file the OPT returns. If an employer does not comply, they can be held liable for both portions of the OPT as well as penalties and interest.

Unincorporated communities

In addition to its 271 municipalities, Colorado has 187 unincorporated United States census designated places and many other small communities. {|class="wikitable sortable" |+The 15 Most Populous Census Designated Places in Colorado 2010 !Pop Rank !Census Designated Place !2010 Census !2000 Census !Pop Change |- |Highlands Ranch |- |Security-Widefield |- |Ken Caryl |- |Dakota Ridge |- |Pueblo West |- |Columbine |- |Clifton |- |Sherrelwood |- |Cimarron Hills |- |Welby |- |Fort Carson |- |Black Forest |- |Berkley |- |Cherry Creek |- |The Pinery |}

Districts

The state of Colorado has more than 3,000 districts with taxing authority. These districts may provide schools, law enforcement, fire protection, water, sewage, drainage, irrigation, transportation, recreation, infrastructure, cultural facilities, business support, redevelopment, or other services.

Some of these districts have authority to levy sales tax and well as property tax and use fees. This has led to a hodgepodge of sales tax and property tax rates in Colorado. There are some street intersections in Colorado with a different sales tax rate on each corner, sometimes substantially different.

Some of the more notable Colorado districts are:

The Regional Transportation District (RTD), which affects the counties of Denver, Boulder, Jefferson, and portions of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, and Douglas Counties

The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), a special regional tax district with physical boundaries contiguous with county boundaries of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson Counties

* It is a 0.1% retail sales and use tax (one penny on every $10).

* According to the Colorado statute, the SCFD distributes the money to local organizations on an annual basis. These organizations must provide for the enlightenment and entertainment of the public through the production, presentation, exhibition, advancement or preservation of art, music, theater, dance, zoology, botany, natural history or cultural history.

* As directed by statute, SCFD recipient organizations are currently divided into three "tiers" among which receipts are allocated by percentage.

** Tier I includes regional organizations: the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Botanic Gardens, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Zoo, and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. It receives 65.5%.

** Tier II currently includes 26 regional organizations. Tier II receives 21%.

** Tier III has over 280 local organizations such as small theaters, orchestras, art centers, and natural history, cultural history, and community groups. Tier III organizations apply for funding to the county cultural councils via a grant process. This tier receives 13.5%.

* An 11-member board of directors oversees the distributions in accordance with the Colorado Revised Statutes. Seven board members are appointed by county commissioners (in Denver, the Denver City Council) and four members are appointed by the Governor of Colorado.

The Football Stadium District (FD or FTBL), approved by the voters to pay for and help build the Denver Broncos' stadium INVESCO Field at Mile High

Local Improvement Districts (LID) within designated areas of southeast Jefferson and Boulder counties

Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) taxes at varying rates in Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, Gunnison County

Education

thumb|upright|right|The United States Air Force Academy. Colleges and universities in Colorado: thumb|upright|right|The University of Colorado at Boulder. upright|right|thumb|The University of Denver.

Military installations

thumb|upright|Peterson Air Force Base

Air Reserve Personnel Center

Buckley Air Force Base

Fort Carson (U.S. Army)

*Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site

Peterson Air Force Base

*Cheyenne Mountain Directorate

Pueblo Chemical Depot (U.S. Army)

Schriever Air Force Base

United States Air Force Academy

Protected areas

thumb|upright|Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve thumb|upright|Spruce Tree House in Mesa Verde National Park Units of the National Park System in Colorado: Arapaho National Recreation Area

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Canyons of the Ancients 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 UNESCO 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

Sports

Professional sports teams

thumb|upright|The Colorado Rockies National League baseball club at Coors Field in Denver. thumb|upright|Sports Authority Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos National Football League club and the Denver Outlaws Major League Lacrosse club. thumb|upright|Pepsi Center in Denver, home of the Denver Nuggets National Basketball Association club, the Colorado Avalanche National Hockey League club, and the Colorado Mammoth National Lacrosse League club. Colorado is the least populous state with a franchise in each of the major professional sports leagues. {|class="wikitable sortable" |+Professional Sports Clubs based in Colorado !Club !Home !First game !Sport !League |- |Denver Broncos |Denver |align=center| |Football |National Football League |- |Denver Barbarians |Denver |align=center| |Rugby Union |Rugby Super League |- |Denver Nuggets |Denver |align=center| |Basketball |National Basketball Association |- |Colorado Springs Sky Sox |Colorado Springs |align=center| |Baseball |Minor League Baseball (AAA) |- |Colorado Rockies |Denver |align=center| |Baseball |Major League Baseball |- |Colorado Avalanche |Denver |align=center| |Ice hockey |National Hockey League |- |Colorado Rapids |Commerce City |align=center| |Soccer |Major League Soccer |- |Colorado Mammoth |Denver |align=center| |Lacrosse |National Lacrosse League |- |Colorado Eagles |Loveland |align=center| |Ice hockey |ECHL |- |Denver Outlaws |Denver |align=center| |Lacrosse |Major League Lacrosse |}

College athletics

The following universities and colleges participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I.

See also

List of federal lands in Colorado

List of National Register of Historic Places in Colorado

List of people from Colorado

List of places in Colorado

Mountain peaks of Colorado

U.S. state

References

Further reading

Explore Colorado, A Naturalist's Handbook, The Denver Museum of Natural History and Westcliff Publishers, 1995, ISBN 1-56579-124-X for an excellent guide to the ecological regions of Colorado.

The Archeology of Colorado, Revised Edition, E. Steve Cassells, Johnson Books, Boulder, Colorado, 1997, trade paperback, ISBN 1-55566-193-9.

Chokecherry Places, Essays from the High Plains, Merrill Gilfillan, Johnson Press, Boulder, Colorado, trade paperback, ISBN 1-55566-227-7.

The Tie That Binds, Kent Haruf, 1984, hardcover, ISBN 0-03-071979-8, a fictional account of farming in Colorado.

Railroads of Colorado: Your Guide to Colorado's Historic Trains and Railway Sites, Claude Wiatrowski, Voyageur Press, 2002, hardcover, 160 pages, ISBN 0-89658-591-3

External links

State government

Colorado state government website

*Colorado information

*Colorado state government

*Colorado state agencies

**Colorado Department of Transportation

***Colorado highway maps

****Colorado Travel Map

*Colorado counties

*Colorado municipalities

*Colorado special districts

*Colorado tourism

Colorado State and County Government Websites

List of searchable databases produced by Colorado state agencies hosted by the American Library Association Government Documents Roundtable.

Federal government

Energy & Environmental Data for Colorado

USGS Colorado state facts, real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Colorado

United States Census Bureau

* Colorado QuickFacts

* Colorado economic data

* Colorado housing data

* Colorado social data

USDA ERS Colorado state facts

Other

Colorado County Evolution

Ask Colorado

2000 Census of Population and Housing for Colorado

Mountain and Desert Plants of Colorado and the Southwest,

Climate of Colorado

| North = | Northeast = | West = | Centre = ''Colorado'' : Outline • Index | East = | Southwest = | South = | Southeast = }}

Category:States and territories established in 1876 Category:States of the United States

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Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	Kate Hudson
birth name	Kate Garry Hudson
birth date	April 19, 1979
birth place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
occupation	Actress
years active	1996–present
spouse	Chris Robinson (2000-2007)
partner	Matthew Bellamy (2010-present)
children	2
parents	Bill Hudson, Goldie Hawn
relatives	Oliver Hudson (brother) }}

Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in ''Almost Famous''. She then starred in the hit film ''How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'' (2003) which gained her wider fame. She has since established herself in Hollywood after starring in several productions including ''Raising Helen'' (2004), ''The Skeleton Key'' (2005), ''You, Me and Dupree'' (2006), ''Fool's Gold'' (2008) and ''Bride Wars'' (2009).

Early life

Hudson was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Academy Award-winning actress Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson, an actor, comedian, and musician. Her parents divorced eighteen months after her birth; she and her brother, actor Oliver Hudson, were raised in Colorado by her mother and her mother's long-time boyfriend, actor Kurt Russell.

Hudson has stated that her biological father "doesn't know me from a hole in the wall", and that she considers Russell to be her father. Her biological father has indicated that he has made several efforts to connect with Kate and Oliver, but neither has reciprocated. Hudson has described her mother as "the woman that I've learned the most from, and who I look up to, who has conducted her life in a way that I can look up to". She has four half-siblings: Emily and Zachary Hudson, from her biological father's subsequent marriage to actress Cindy Williams; Lalania Hudson, from his relationship with another woman; and Wyatt, from her mother's relationship with Russell.

Hudson is of Italian (from her paternal grandmother), English, and Hungarian Jewish descent. She was raised in her maternal grandmother's Jewish religion; She graduated from Crossroads, a college preparatory school in Santa Monica, in 1997. She was accepted to New York University but chose to pursue an acting career instead of an undergraduate degree.

Career

Hudson's breakthrough was as Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe's ''Almost Famous'' (2000), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture. She had previously appeared in the lesser-known films ''Gossip'', a teenage drama, and ''200 Cigarettes'', a New Year's-set comedy with a large cast of actors. Regarding her early career and success, Hudson has noted that she is a "hard worker", and did not want to be associated with her well-known parents, wishing to avoid the perception that she "rode on somebody's coattails".

In 2002, she starred in the remake of the historical romance ''The Four Feathers'', a film which was not well-received by critics or audiences. Her next film, the romantic comedy ''How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'', was a box office success, grossing over $100 million after its February 2003 release. Hudson subsequently appeared in several romantic comedies, including ''Alex and Emma'' and ''Raising Helen''; the films met with varying degrees of success.

Hudson headlined a thriller called ''The Skeleton Key'' in 2005. The film, which had a production budget of $43 million, enjoyed box office success, grossing over $91.9 million worldwide ($47.9 million in North America). Her later film, a comedy titled ''You, Me and Dupree'' and co-starring Owen Wilson and Matt Dillon, grossed $21.5 million on its opening weekend of July 14, 2006.

In 2007, Hudson directed the short film ''Cutlass'', one of Glamour magazine's "Reel Moments" based on readers' personal essays. ''Cutlass'' co-stars Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Virginia Madsen, Chevy Chase and Kristen Stewart.

In 2008, she appeared in ''Fool's Gold'', a romantic comedy released on February 8, and her second film to co-star Matthew McConaughey. She had been certified in scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef for the movie's underwater scenes. Also the same year, she appeared in another romantic comedy, ''My Best Friend's Girl'', which was released in September.

Hudson next appeared in the musical film ''Nine'', alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench. The film, directed by Rob Marshall, was released in December 2009. Hudson was critically acclaimed for her unknown dancing skills, showcased in a stylish 60's inspired original piece called "Cinema Italiano", which was written specifically for the film and for Hudson's character.

She starred in the film adaptation of Jim Thompson's ''The Killer Inside Me''. The film premiered on January 24, 2010 at the Sundance Film Festival.

Personal life

Hudson married Chris Robinson, the frontman for The Black Crowes, on December 31, 2000 in Aspen, Colorado. The couple lived in a house that was once owned by director James Whale and traveled together during Hudson's film shoots or Robinson's music tours. Hudson gave birth to son Ryder Russell Robinson in January 2004. On August 14, 2006, Hudson's publicist announced that Hudson and Robinson had separated. On November 18, 2006, Robinson filed divorce papers, citing "irreconcilable differences". The divorce was finalized on October 22, 2007. In May 2009, Hudson began dating New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. She was seen many times during the 2009 World Series in the crowd. The two had split by December 14, 2009.

In spring 2010, Hudson began dating Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy. In January 2011, it was announced Hudson and Bellamy were expecting a child. In February 2011, Hudson bought a house in London, England. A ''Daily Mail'' source reported that she plans to live in London with her partner six months a year. On April 27, 2011 on ''The Today Show'' she said that she and Matthew Bellamy got engaged the prior week. Their son Bingham Hawn Bellamy was born in July 2011.

Hudson has also said that she does not enjoy seeing herself on screen, specifying that she "gets cold... shakes and... sweats" when watching her performances for the first time.

In July 2006, Hudson sued the British version of the ''National Enquirer'' after it reported she had an eating disorder, describing her as "painfully thin". Hudson said the tabloid's statements were "a blatant lie" and she was concerned about the impact the false report could have on impressionable young women. The newspaper apologized and compensated her.

Filmography

''EZ Streets'' ''Desert Blue'' ''200 Cigarettes'' ''Dr. T & the Women'' Penny Lane ''The Cutting Room'' ''The Four Feathers (2002 film) ''Le Divorce'' ''Raising Helen'' ''The Skeleton Key'' ''You, Me and Dupree'' ''Fool's Gold (2008 film) ''Bride Wars'' ''The Killer Inside Me (2010 film)

Year			! Role	! Notes
1996	''Party of Five''	Cory
1997	|	Larraine Cahill	episode: "Neither Have I Wings to Fly"
rowspan="2">1998	|	Skye Davidson
''Ricochet River''	Lorna
1999	|	Cindy
rowspan="4"	2000	|	Dee Dee Travis
''Almost Famous''	| Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female – Newcomer<	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Breakthrough ArtistGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion PictureOnline Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated–Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated–American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion PictureNominated–BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleNominated–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising ActressNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best DressedNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Female PerformanceNominated–Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough PerformanceNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
''Gossip (2000 American film)	Gossip''	Naomi Preston
''About Adam''	Lucy Owens
2001	|	Chrissy Campbell	Uncredited
2002	The Four Feathers'' ||	Ethne
rowspan="3">2003	|	Isabel Walker
''Alex & Emma''	Emma Dinsmore
''How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days''
2004	|	Helen Harris
2005	|	Caroline Ellis
2006	|	Molly Peterson
rowspan="2"	2008	Fool's Gold''||	Tess Finnegan
''My Best Friend's Girl (2008 film)	My Best Friend's Girl''	Alexis
rowspan="2"	2009	|	Olivia "Liv" Lerner	Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Fight
''Nine (film)	Nine''
2010	The Killer Inside Me'' ||	Amy Stanton
rowspan="2"	2011	''A Little Bit of Heaven'' ||	Marley Corbett
''Something_Borrowed_(film)	Something Borrowed''	Darcy

References

External links

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American film actors Category:American film producers Category:American Jews Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Category:American television actors Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Jewish actors Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:Children of Entertainers

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The term black people is used in some socially-based systems of racial classification for humans of a dark-skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups represented in a particular social context.

Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class and socio-economic status also play a role, so that relatively dark-skinned people can be classified as white if they fulfill other social criteria of "whiteness" and relatively light-skinned people can be classified as black if they fulfill the social criteria for "blackness" in a particular setting.

As a biological phenotype being "black" is often associated with the very dark skin colors of some people who are classified as "black". But, particularly in the United States, the racial or ethnic classification also refers to people with all possible kinds of skin pigmentation from the darkest through to the very lightest skin colors, including albinos, if they are believed by others to have African ancestry, or to exhibit cultural traits associated with being "African-American". As a result, in the United States the term "black people" is not an indicator of skin color but of socially based racial classification.

Some definitions of the term include only people of relatively recent Sub-Saharan African descent (see African diaspora). Among the members of this group, dark skin is most often accompanied by the expression of natural afro-hair texture. Other definitions of the term "black people" extend to other populations characterized by dark skin, sometimes including people indigenous to Oceania.

Physiological traits

Dark skin

The evolution of dark skin is linked intrinsically to the loss of body hair in humans. By 1.2 million years ago, all people having descendants today had the same receptor protein of today's Africans; their skin was dark, and the intense sun lowered the chance of survival of those with lighter skin that resulted from mutational variation in the receptor protein. This is significantly earlier than the speciation of ''Homo sapiens'' from ''Homo erectus'' some 250,000 years ago.

Skin cancer as a result of ultraviolet light radiation causing mutations in the skin is less common among people with dark skin than it is among those with light skin. Dark skin prevents an essential B vitamin, folate, from being destroyed. In the absence of modern medicine and diet, a person with dark skin in the tropics would live longer, be healthier and more likely to reproduce than a person with light skin. As evidence of this expectation of adverse effects of light skin in the tropics, White South Africans and white Australians have some of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.

Conversely, as dark skin prevents sunlight from penetrating the skin, it hinders the production of vitamin D₃. When humans migrated to less sun-intensive regions in the north, low vitamin D₃ levels became a problem, and humans with lighter skin were more successful in reproducing. White people of Europe, who have low levels of melanin, naturally have an almost colorless skin pigmentation, especially when untanned. This low level of pigmentation allows the blood vessels to become visible, which gives the characteristic pale pink color of white people. The loss of melanin in white people is thought to have been caused by a mutation in one letter out of 3.1 billion letters of DNA.

The genetic mutations leading to light skin, though different among East Asians and Europeans, suggest the two groups experienced a similar selective pressure due to settlement in northern latitudes.

Black skin pigmentation has been linked to a number of other properties, including tactile characteristics, and slower and less pronounced development of wrinkles.

Hair

The texture of hair in people of Sub-Saharan African ancestry is noticeably different from that of European and Asian populations. Herodotus described the peoples of Libya (the "western Ethiopians") as ''woolly-haired''.

Such "afro-hair" texture is denser than its straight counterparts. Due to this, it is often referred to as "coily", "thick", "nappy", "bushy", or "woolly". For several reasons, possibly including its relatively flat cross section (among other factors), this hair type conveys a dry or matte appearance. It is coarse, and its unique shape renders it prone to breakage when combed or brushed.

The specific characteristics of the natural afro-hair form are unique among all mammals. The texture likely predates the evolution of dark skin. It evolved when, as pre-human australopithecines lost most of their fur to enable perspiration, the need to protect the newly exposed pale skin underneath this body hair was crucial (see in light of Rogers and others., 2004 and Harding and others., 2000). The trait ceased to be essential to survival at the equator upon the evolution of hairless dark skin. Yet it has continued to be expressed vestigially among most Melanesians, Andaman Islanders, and sub-Saharan Africans.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is a common, if imprecise term that encompasses African countries located south of the Sahara Desert. It is commonly used to differentiate the region culturally, ecologically, politically and, more controversially, racially, from North Africa, which has historically been considered part of the Mediterranean sphere.

Because the indigenous people of this region are primarily dark-skinned, it is alternatively called "Black Africa". However the terminology Black Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa is considered by some as a pejorative term and a vestige of colonialism, which divided Africa into European terms of homogeneity.Some criticize the use of the term, because, as it has become in many quarters synonymous with ''Black Africa'', people may not realize that there are also indigenous black populations in North Africa. In addition, the Sahara cuts across countries such as Mauritania, Mali, Niger, and Chad, leaving some parts of them in North Africa and some in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some black Africans prefer to be culturally distinguished from those who live in the north of the continent.

Cultural ideas of a black race

South Africa

In South Africa during the apartheid era, the population was classified into four main racial groups: ''Black'', ''White'', ''Asian'' (mostly Indian), and ''Coloured''. The Coloured group included people of mixed Bantu, Khoisan, and European descent (with some Malay ancestry, especially in the Western Cape). The Coloured definition occupied an intermediary position between the Black and White definitions in South Africa.

The apartheid bureaucracy devised complex (and often arbitrary) criteria in the Population Registration Act to determine who belonged in which group. Minor officials administered tests to enforce the classifications. When it was unclear from a person's physical appearance whether a person was to be considered Colored or Black, the "pencil test" was employed. This involved inserting a pencil in a person's hair to determine if the hair was kinky enough for the pencil to get stuck.

During the apartheid era, those classed as "Coloured" were oppressed and discriminated against. But, they had limited rights and overall had slightly better socioeconomic conditions than those classed as "Black".

In the post-apartheid era, the ANC government's laws in support of their affirmative action policies define "Black" people to include "Africans", "Coloureds" and "Asians". Their affirmative action policies have also favored "Africans" over "Coloureds". Some South Africans categorized as "African Black" openly state that "Coloureds" did not suffer as much as they did during apartheid. The popular saying by "Coloured" South Africans to illustrate their dilemma is:

In 2008, the High Court in South Africa ruled that Chinese South Africans who were residents during the apartheid era (and their descendents) are to be reclassified as "Black people" solely for the purposes of accessing affirmative action benefits, because they were also "disadvantaged" by racial discrimination. Chinese people who arrived in the country after the end of apartheid do not qualify.

Other than by appearance, "Coloureds" can usually be distinguished from "Blacks" by language. Most speak Afrikaans or English as a first language, as opposed to Bantu languages such as Zulu or Xhosa. They also tend to have more European-sounding names than Bantu names.

In the Middle East

Near East and North Africa

Black African and Near Eastern peoples have interacted since prehistoric times. Some historians estimate that as many as 14 million black slaves were transported across the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Sahara Desert in the Arab slave trade from 650 to 1900 CE. The Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail "the Bloodthirsty" (1672–1727) raised a corps of 150,000 black slaves, called his Black Guard, who coerced the country into submission.

In more recent times, about 1000 CE, interactions between black people and Arabs resulted in the incorporation of extensive Arabic vocabulary into Swahili, which became a useful ''lingua franca'' for merchants. Some of this linguistic exchange occurred as part of the slave trade; the history of Islam and slavery shows that the major juristic schools traditionally accepted the institution of slavery. As a result, Arab influence spread along the east coast of Africa and to some extent into the interior (see Swahili people). Timbuktu was a trading outpost that linked West Africa with Berber, Arab, and Jewish traders throughout the Arab World. As a result of these interactions, some female-mediated gene flow into the Middle East from Sub-Saharan Africa can be observed in certain populations.

According to Dr. Carlos Moore, resident scholar at Brazil's University of the state of Bahia, Afro-multiracials in the Arab world self-identify in ways that resemble Latin America. He claims that black-looking Arabs, much like black-looking Latin Americans, consider themselves white because they have some distant white ancestry. Moore also claims that a film about Egyptian President Anwar Sadat had to be canceled when Sadat discovered that an African-American had been cast to play him. In fact, the 1983 television movie ''Sadat'', starring Louis Gossett, Jr., was not canceled. The Egyptian government refused to let the drama air in Egypt, partially on the grounds of the casting of Gossett.

Sadat's mother was a dark-skinned Sudanese woman and his father was a lighter-skinned Egyptian. In response to an advertisement for an acting position he remarked, "I am not white but I am not exactly black either. My blackness is tending to reddish".

Fathia Nkrumah was another Egyptian with ties to Black Africa. She was the late wife of Ghanaian revolutionary Kwame Nkrumah, whose marriage was seen as helping plant the seeds of cooperation between Egypt and other African countries as they struggled for independence from European colonization. This helped advance the formation of the African Union. Because of the patriarchal nature of Arab society, Arab men enslaved more black women than men, and used more black female slaves than males. The men interpreted the Qur'an to permit sexual relations between a male master and his female slave outside of marriage, leading to many mixed-race children. When an enslaved woman became pregnant with her Arab master's child, she became ''umm walad'' or “mother of a child”, a status that granted her privileged rights. The child was allowed to prosper from the wealth of the father and was given rights of inheritance. Because the society was patrilineal, the children took their fathers' status at birth and were born free. Some succeeded their fathers as rulers, as was the case with Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, who ruled Morocco from 1578 to 1608. His mother was a Fulani concubine of his father.

Such tolerance, however, was not extended to wholly black persons, even when technically "free." Arabs commonly believed that blacks were slaves. The term "abd", (,) "slave," remains a common term for black people in the Middle East, and, depending on the context, usually though not always derogatory.

Turkey

Beginning several centuries ago, a number of sub-Saharan Africans were brought by slave traders during the Ottoman Empire to plantations between Antalya and Istanbul in modern-day Turkey. Some of their descendants remain, mixed with the rest of the population in these areas, and many migrated to larger cities. Some came from the island of Crete following the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923.

Israel

About 150,000 black people live in Israel, amounting to just over 2% of the nation's population. The vast majority of these, some 120,000, are Beta Israel, most of whom came during the 1980s and 1990s from Ethiopia. In addition, Israel is home to over 5,000 members of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem movement, who reside mainly in a distinct neighborhood in the Negev town of Dimona. Unknown numbers of black converts to Judaism reside in Israel, most of them converts from the UK, Canada, and the United States. Thousands of mixed-race individuals with non-black Jewish relatives also live in Israel.

In the Americas

Approximately 12 million Africans were shipped to the Americas during the Atlantic slave trade from 1492 to 1888. Today their descendants number approximately 150 million, most of whom live in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America. Most notably Brazil has the largest population in the world, aside from Nigeria, of individuals of at least partial African descent. Many have a multiracial background of African, Amerindian, European and Asian ancestry. The various regions developed complex social conventions with which their multi-ethnic populations were classified.

United States

In the first 200 years that black people were in the United States, they commonly referred to themselves as Africans. In Africa, people primarily identified themselves by ethnic group (closely allied to language) and not by skin color. Individuals would be Ashanti, Igbo, Bakongo or Wolof. But when Africans were brought to the Americas, they were forced to give up their ethnic affiliations when they were combined with other groups from Africa. In areas of the Upper South, different ethnic groups were brought together. This is significant as Africans came from a vast geographic region, the West African coastline stretching from Senegal to Angola and in some cases from the south east coast such as Mozambique. A new identity and culture was born that incorporated elements of the various ethnic groups and of European cultural heritage, resulting in fusions such as the Black church and Black English. This new identity was based on African ancestry and slave status rather than any one ethnic group.

In March 1807, Britain, which largely controlled the Atlantic, declared the trans-atlantic slave trade illegal, as did the United States. (The latter prohibition took effect January 1, 1808, the earliest date on which Congress had the power to do so under Article I, Section 9 of the United States Constitution.)

By that time, the majority of black people were U.S.-born, so use of the term "African" became problematic. Though initially a source of pride, many blacks feared the use of African as an identity would be a hindrance to their fight for full citizenship in the US. They also felt that it would give ammunition to those who were advocating repatriating black people back to Africa. In 1835 black leaders called upon black Americans to remove the title of "African" from their institutions and replace it with "Negro" or "Colored American". A few institutions chose to keep their historic names, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church. "Negro" and "colored" remained the popular terms until the late 1960s.

The term ''black'' was used throughout but not frequently as it carried a certain stigma. In his 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. uses the terms ''Negro'' 15 times and ''black'' four times. Each time he uses ''black'' it is in parallel construction with ''white'' (for example,, black men and white men).

With the successes of the civil rights movement, a new term was needed to break from the past and help shed the reminders of legalized discrimination. In place of ''Negro'', activists promoted the use of ''black'' as standing for racial pride, militancy and power. Some of the turning points included the use of the term "Black Power" by Kwame Toure (Stokely Carmichael) and the release of James Brown's song "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud". In 1988 Jesse Jackson urged Americans to use the term African American because the term has a historical cultural base. Since then African-American and black have essentially a coequal status. Controversy continues over which term is more appropriate. Some such as Maulana Karenga and Owen Alik Shahadah argue African-American is more appropriate because it accurately articulates geography and historical origin. Others have argued that "black" is a better term because "African" suggests foreignness, despite the long presence of black people in the US. Still others believe the term black is inaccurate because African Americans have a variety of skin tones. Surveys show that the majority of black Americans have no preference for "African American" or "Black," although they have a slight preference for "black" in personal settings and "African-American" in more formal settings. Increases in the number of immigrants to the United States from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America have brought up questions about who uses the term African-American. The more recent African immigrants may sometimes view themselves, and be viewed, as culturally distinct from native-born people who are descendants of African slaves.

The U.S. census race definitions says a black is a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "Black, African Am., or Negro," or who provide written entries such as African-American, Afro-American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian. However, the Census Bureau notes that these classifications are socio-political constructs and should not be interpreted as scientific or anthropological.

A considerable portion of the U.S. population identified as ''black'' also has some Native American or European ancestry. For instance, genetic studies of African-American people show an ancestry that is on average 17–18% European.

One-drop rule

Since the late nineteenth century, the South used a colloquial term, the ''one-drop rule'', to classify as black a person of any known African ancestry. This practice of hypodescent was not put into law until the early twentieth century. Legally the definition varied from state to state, and was more flexible in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries before the American Civil War. For instance, Thomas Jefferson held persons who were legally white (less than 25% Black) according to Virginia law at the time, but, because they were born to slave mothers, they were born into slavery, according to the principle of ''partus sequitur ventrem,'' which Virginia adopted into law in 1662.

Outside of the US, some other countries have adopted the one-drop rule, but the definition of who is black and the extent to which the one-drop "rule" applies varies greatly from country to country.

The one-drop rule may have originated as a means of increasing the number of black slaves and been maintained as an attempt to keep the white race pure. One of the results of the one-drop rule was uniting the African-American community. Some of the most prominent civil-rights activists were multiracial, and advocated equality for all.

Blackness

The concept of blackness in the United States has been described as the degree to which one associates themselves with mainstream African-American culture and values. To a certain extent, this concept is not so much about race but more about culture and behavior. Blackness can be contrasted with "acting white," where black Americans are said to behave with assumed characteristics of stereotypical white Americans, with regard to fashion, dialect, taste in music, and possibly, from the perspective of a significant number of black youth, academic achievement.

The notion of blackness can also be extended to non-black people. Toni Morrison once described Bill Clinton as the first black president, because of his warm relations with African Americans, his poor upbringing and also because he is a jazz musician. Christopher Hitchens was offended by the notion of Clinton as the first black president noting "we can still define blackness by the following symptoms: alcoholic mothers, under-the-bridge habits...the tendency to sexual predation and shameless perjury about the same". Some black activists were also offended, claiming Clinton used his knowledge of black culture to exploit black people like no other president before for political gain, while not serving black interests. They note his lack of action during the Rwanda genocide and his welfare reform which some claim led to the worst child poverty since the 1960s along with the fact that the number of black people in jail increased during his administration.

The question of blackness also arose in Democrat Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Commentators have questioned whether Obama, who was elected the first black President of the United States, is black enough, as his mother was white American, and his father was a black Kenyan immigrant. Obama refers to himself interchangeably as black and African-American. "Is Barack Obama the first black President of the United States?"

Brazil

The topic of race in Brazil is a complex and diverse one. A Brazilian child was never automatically identified with the racial type of one or both parents, nor were there only two categories to choose from. Between a pure black and a very light mulatto over a dozen racial categories would be recognized in conformity with the combinations of hair color, hair texture, eye color, and skin color. These types grade into each other like the colors of the spectrum, and no one category stands significantly isolated from the rest. That is, race referred to appearance, not heredity. There is some disagreement among scholars over the effects of social status on racial classifications in Brazil. It is generally believed that upward mobility and education results in reclassification of individuals into lighter skinned categories. The popular claim is that in Brazil poor whites are considered black and wealthy blacks are considered white. Some scholars disagree arguing that whitening of one's social status may be open to people of mixed race, but a typically black person will consistently be identified as black regardless of wealth or social status. Multiracial persons can even reappreciate their African heritage and start to declare themselves as black persons with increasings of social status and education.

Statistics

!Ethnic group 3,787,289 26,171,778 75,704,927

Brazilian Population, by Race, from 1872 to 1991 (Census Data)
|	White	Black	Brown	Yellow (Asian)	Undeclared	Total
1872	|	1,954,452	4,188,737	-	-	9,930,478
1940	|	6,035,869	8,744,365	242,320	41,983	41,236,315
1991	|	7,335,136	62,316,064	630,656	534,878	146,521,661

+Demographics of Brazil
Year!! White !! Pardo!! Black
1835	24.4%	18.2%	51.4%
2000	53.7%	38.5%
2010	48.4%	42.4%

From the year 1500 to 1850 an estimated 3.5 million Africans were forcibly shipped to Brazil. It is estimated that more than half of the Brazilian population is at least in part descendants of these Africans. Brazil has the largest population of Afro-descendants outside of Africa. In contrast to the US there were no segregation or anti-miscegenation laws in Brazil and as a result intermarriage has affected a large majority of the Brazilian population. Even much of the white/Asian population has either African or Amerindian blood. According to the last census of the twentieth century 54% identified themselves as white, 6.2% identified themselves as black and 39.5% identified themselves as Pardo (brown) — a broad multiracial category.

A philosophy of whitening emerged in Brazil in the nineteenth century. Until recently the government did not keep data on race. However, statisticians estimate that in 1835 half the population was black, one fifth was Pardo (brown) and one fourth white. By 2000 the black population had fallen to only 6.2% and the Pardo had increased to 40% and white to 55%. Essentially most of the black population was absorbed into the multiracial category by intermixing. A recent study found that at least 29% of the middle class white Brazilian population had some recent African ancestry.

Race relations in Brazil

Because of the ideology of miscegenation, Brazil has avoided the polarization of society into black and white. The bitter and sometimes violent racial tensions that divide the US are notably absent in Brazil. According to the census, 6.7% of Brazilians said they were black, compared with 6.2% in 2000, and 43.1% said they were mixed race, up from 38.5%. According to Brazil's minister for racial equality, Elio Ferreira de Araujo, attributed the change to growing pride among his country's black and indigenous communities.

However, the philosophy of the racial democracy in Brazil has drawn criticism from some quarters. Brazil has one of the largest gaps in income distribution in the world. The richest 10% of the population earn 28 times the average income of the bottom 40%. The richest 10 percent is almost exclusively white. One-third of the population lives under the poverty line, with blacks and other non-whites accounting for 70 percent of the poor. In the US, black people earn 75% of what white people earn. In Brazil, non-whites earn less than 50% of what whites earn. Some have posited that Brazil does in fact practice the one-drop rule when social economic factors are considered. This is because the gap in income between blacks and other non-whites is relatively small compared to the large gap between whites and non-whites. Other factors such as illiteracy and education level show the same patterns. Unlike in the US where African Americans were united in the civil-rights struggle, in Brazil the philosophy of whitening has helped divide blacks from other non-whites and prevented a more active civil rights movement.

Though Brazilians of African heritage make up a large percentage the population there are very few black politicians. The city of Salvador, Bahia, for instance, is 80% Afro-Brazilian but has never had a black mayor. Critics indicate that US cities that have a black majority, such as Detroit and New Orleans, have never had white mayors since first electing black mayors in the 1970s. Non-white people also have limited media visibility. The Latin American media, in particular the Brazilian media, has been accused of hiding its Black, Indigenous, Multiracial and East Asian population. For example the telenovelas or soaps are said to be a hotbed of largely light-eyed white and light-skinned mulattoes and mestizos (often deemed as white persons in Brazil if achieving the middle class or higher social status) actors. Most rare empowered persons of color represented in Latin American media possess typically Caucasian features due to a mix of racist standards of beauty, colourism and lookism. Nevertheless, in the last years, the number of empowered afrodescendants (either economically or by other ways) increased in Brazilian media coverage. Despite Brazil also possessing criminal black man stereotypes, it is considered a huge prejudice and mostly not used in a disordered way by the media, in spite of sometimes common "humouristic" sexist jokes and LGBT stereotyping and as such lack of politically correctness in native race issues is not a major problem (there are way more stereotypes of Asian people, Europeans or U.S. Americans, for example).

These patterns of discrimination against non-whites have led some to advocate for the use of the Portuguese term 'negro' to encompass non-whites so as to renew a black consciousness and identity, in effect an African descent rule. It generates criticism since Pardo, or Brown people, is intended to include caboclos (mestizos), assimilated Amerindians and tri-racials, not only afrodescendants — thus Brazilian of some or no recent African descent, as most White Brazilians, become 60–70% of the population, breaking the argument of possible Brazilian one-drop rule since real noticeable mulattoes, cafuzos (zambos) and black persons are a minority and the Brazilian poor represents larger percents in Brazil. As one would expect from an underdeveloped country, there are pockets of poverty in White-majority and Japanese Brazilian-majority areas, rarer in urban developments but common in rural areas. They are even more common among Mestizo-majority areas, and Amerindian communities.

In Asia and Australasia

China

As of August, 2008, ''The Migration Information Source'' article noted that "A Nigerian Embassy spokesman estimated that Nigerians possibly make up the largest group of Black Africans in China, with about 2,000 to 3,000 Nigerians in Guangdong in 2006. Most businessmen only stay temporarily."

India and Southeast Asia

The Great Andamanese are one of five Negrito ethnic groups (Adivasi or tribal) native to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; they are among the first inhabitants of what is now India, arriving over 70,000 years ago. They are facing extinction. The other four ethnic groups are the Jangil, Jarawa, Onge and Sentinelese. By their external physical appearance (phenotype) such people resemble Black Africans with dark skin and sometimes tightly coiled hair. There have been suggestions of a Black African origin. However, in the case of the Andamanese people, a study conducted by the NCBI indicated that the Andamanese people possessed closer affinities with the Southeast Asian population than with the Black African population.

In South India there are also several communities of Black African descent, such as the Sheedis/Siddis, specifically the Siddis of Karnataka, who descend from Black African slaves. In Pakistan, these descendants are known as the Makrani.

Other black people of Southeast Asia, collectively known as Negritos, include the Semang peoples of Malaysia, the Mani of Thailand the Aeta of Luzon and the Ati of Panay in the Philippines.

Melanesia

There are several groups of dark-skinned people who live in various parts of Asia, Australia and Oceania who sometimes are referred to as black people. They include the Indigenous Australians, the Melanesians (now divided into Austronesian-speaking populations and Papuans, and including the great genetic diversity of New Guinea), the Semang people of the Malay peninsula, and indigenous first nation Fijians. They are as genetically, anthropologically and culturally related to Africans only as much as all other non-Africans are related to Africans, and because of this it has been deemed controversial to label them black people in the sense of some relation to the native African peoples and the African diaspora that is not similarly present in other Asian, Oceanic or European populations.

In Europe

United Kingdom

According to the Office for National Statistics, as of the 2001 census, there are over a million black people in the United Kingdom; 1% of the total population describe themselves as "Black Caribbean", 0.8% as "Black African", and 0.2% as "Black other". Britain encouraged the immigration of workers from the Caribbean after World War II; the first symbolic movement was those who came on the ship the ''Empire Windrush''. The preferred official umbrella term is "black and minority ethnic" (BME), but sometimes the term "black" is used on its own, to express unified opposition to racism, as in the Southall Black Sisters, which started with a mainly British Asian constituency, and the National Black Police Association, which has a membership of "African, African-Caribbean and Asian origin".

France

While census collection of ethnic background is illegal in France, it is estimated that there are about 2.5 – 5 million black people residing there.

Balkans

Due to the Ottoman slave trade that had flourished in the Balkans, the coastal town of Ulcinj in Montenegro had its own black community. As a consequence of the slave trade and privateer activity, a considerable number of Ulcinj inhabitants until 1878 were black. The Ottoman Army also sent an estimated 30,000 Black African troops and cavalrymen to its expedition in Hungary during the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18.

Eastern Europe

As African states became independent in the 1960s, the Soviet Union offered many of their citizens the chance to study in Russia. Over a period of 40 years, about 400,000 African students from various countries moved to Russia to pursue higher studies, including many Black Africans. This extended beyond the Soviet Union to many countries of the Eastern bloc.

A cultural classification of people as "black" exists in Russia. Certain groups of people who are ethnically different, and generally darker, than ethnic Russians are pejoratively referred to as "blacks" (''chernye''), and face specific sorts of social exclusion (see Racism in Russia). Roma, Georgians, and Tatars fall into this category. Those referred to as "black" are from the former Soviet republics, predominantly peoples of the Caucasus, for example, Chechens. Although "Caucasian" is used in American English to mean "white people", in Russian – and most other varieties of English – it only refers to the Caucasus, not European people in general.

See also

African-American

African diaspora

African Jews

Afro-Europeans

Afro-Asian

Afro Asians (African Asians)

Afro-Latino

Afro-Trinbagonian

Black British

Black Canadians

Black Hispanic and Latino Americans

Black Indians

Black Jews

Black nationalism

Black Power

Black pride

Black separatism

Black supremacy

Creole peoples

List of topics related to the Black Diaspora

Mulatto

Negritos

Négritude

Stereotypes of black people

Sub-Saharan Africa

''The Minds of Marginalized Black Men'' (book)

Footnotes

Category:Latin American caste system Category:Race

ca:Raça negra de:Schwarze et:Neegrid es:Negro (persona) eo:Nigrulo fr:Noir (humain) ko:흑인 la:Nigrita pt:Negros simple:Black people sv:Svart (hudfärg) uk:Негр ug:قارا تەنلىكلەر wuu:黑人 yi:שווארצע zh-yue:黑人 bat-smg:Negrā zh:黑人

Craig Morris is a world-renowned orchestral trumpeter. He is widely known for serving as the Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is also known as a critically acclaimed soloist and chamber musician. He is an endorsing artist for the New York Trumpet Company, and is currently Professor of Trumpet at the University of Miami.

History

Craig Morris was born in 1968 in Texas. He received much musical influence from his father, a local band director and tuba player. After high school he attended the University of Texas and received his Bachelor of Music. In 1991 he received a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory.

Career

Craig Morris was a member of the Pinnacle Brass Quintet from 1991–1994, as well as a member of Dallas Brass. He obtained the position of Principal Trumpet in the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra, Opera, and Ballet from 1994-1996. From 1998-2001 he was Associate Principal Trumpet for the San Francisco Symphony. In 1998 Craig Morris also had a short stint with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as Fourth/Utility trumpet. In 2001 he was named Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at only 32 years of age. He has also appeared as a solo artist with the Austin Handel-Haydn Society, Diablo Symphony Orchestra, and the San Francisco Old & New Music Ensemble.

Mr. Morris is currently the Professor of Trumpet at the University of Miami, Frost School of Music. Morris spends each August performing as Principal Trumpet at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, having been appointed by Music Director Marin Alsop in 2007.

Major performances

Soloist with the Chicago Symphony, playing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 and Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat.

Solo artist at the Ravinia Festival.

Performed the world premier of Thom Sleeper's ''Concerto for Trumpet''.

References

http://craigmorristrumpet.com/

Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:University of Miami faculty Category:Texas classical music

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
birth date	August 10, 1960 (age 51)
birth place	Málaga, Andalucia, Spain
birth name
spouse	Ana Leza (1987–95)Melanie Griffith (1996–present)
occupation	director/actor }}

José Antonio Domínguez Banderas (born August 10, 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer. He began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar and then appeared in high-profile Hollywood films including ''Assassins'', ''Evita'', ''Interview with the Vampire'', ''Philadelphia'', ''Desperado'', ''The Mask of Zorro'', ''Spy Kids'' and the ''Shrek'' sequels.

Early life

Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalucía, Spain, in 1960 to Ana Banderas, a school teacher, and José Domínguez Prieto, a police officer in the Guardia Civil. He has a younger brother, Francisco. Although the family name is Domínguez, he took his mother's surname as his stage name. He initially wanted to become a professional soccer player until a broken foot sidelined his dreams at the age of fourteen. He went on to enroll in some drama classes, eventually joining a theater troupe that toured all over Spain. His work in the theater, and his performances on the streets, eventually landed him a spot with the National Theatre of Spain.

Career

Early work, 1982–90

His acting career began at the age of 19, when he worked in small theatres during Spain’s post-dictatorial cultural movement known as the 'Movida'. While performing with the theatre, Banderas caught the attention of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, who cast the young actor in his 1982 film debut, ''Labyrinth of Passion''. Two years later he went on to appear in the director's ''Law of Desire'', making headlines with his performance as a gay man, which required him to engage in his first male-to-male onscreen kiss. After Banderas appeared in Almodóvar's 1986 ''Matador'', the director cast him in his internationally acclaimed 1988 film, ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown''. The recognition Banderas gained for his role increased two years later when he starred in Almodóvar's controversial ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' as a mental patient who kidnaps a porn star (Victoria Abril) and keeps her tied up until she returns his love. It was his breakthrough role in ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'', that helped spur him on to Hollywood. Having become a regular feature of Almodóvar's movies all throughout the 1980s, Almodóvar is credited for helping launch Banderas's international career.

Breakthrough, 1991–94

Banderas was first introduced to the American audience in the documentary film ''Madonna: Truth or Dare'' (1991). In the film, Madonna says she wants to seduce Banderas even though she knows he is married.

The following year, still speaking minimal English, he began acting in U.S. films. Despite having to learn all his lines phonetically, Banderas still managed to turn in a critically praised performance as a struggling musician in his first American drama film, ''The Mambo Kings'' (1992).

Banderas then broke through to mainstream American audiences in the film, ''Philadelphia'' (1993), as the gay lover of AIDS-afflicted lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks). The film's success earned Banderas wide recognition, and the following year was given a role in Neil Jordan's high-profile adaptation of Anne Rice's ''Interview with the Vampire'', which allowed him to share the screen with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

Worldwide recognition, 1995–present

He appeared in several major Hollywood releases in 1995, including a starring role in the Robert Rodriguez-directed film, ''Desperado'' and the antagonist on the action film ''Assassins'' co starred with Sylvester Stallone. In 1996, he starred alongside Madonna in ''Evita'', an adaptation of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in which he played the narrator, Che, a role played by David Essex in the original 1978 West End production. He also made success with his role as the legendary masked swordsman, Zorro in the 1998 film ''The Mask of Zorro''. He was the first Spanish actor to portray the character.

In 2001, he collaborated with Robert Rodriguez who cast him in the ''Spy Kids'' film trilogy. He also starred in Michael Cristofer's ''Original Sin'' alongside Angelina Jolie the same year. In 2002, he starred in Brian De Palma's ''Femme Fatale'' opposite Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and in Julie Taymor's ''Frida'' with Salma Hayek. In 2003, he starred in the last installment of the trilogy ''Once Upon A Time In Mexico'' (in which he appeared with Johnny Depp and Salma Hayek). Banderas' debut as a director was the poorly-received ''Crazy in Alabama'' (1999), starring his wife Melanie Griffith.

In 2003, he returned to the musical genre, appearing to great acclaim in the Broadway revival of Maury Yeston's musical ''Nine'', based on the film ''8½'', playing the prime role originated by the late Raúl Juliá. Banderas won both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, and was nominated for the Tony Award for best actor in a musical. His performance is preserved on the Broadway cast recording released by PS Classics. The following year (2004), he received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

His voice role as Puss in Boots in ''Shrek 2'', ''Shrek the Third'' and the last film in the Shrek franchise, ''Shrek Forever After'', helped make the character popular on the family film circuit. In 2005, he reprised his role as Zorro in ''The Legend of Zorro'', though this was not as successful as ''The Mask of Zorro''. In 2006, he starred in ''Take the Lead'', a high-set movie in which he played a ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he directed his second film ''El camino de los ingleses'' (English title: ''Summer Rain''), and also received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award on 14 October. He hosted the 600th episode of ''Saturday Night Live'' (during season 31).

He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 6801 Hollywood Blvd. in 2005.

In 2011, the horror thriller ''The Skin I Live In'' marked the return of Banderas to Pedro Almodóvar, the Spanish director who launched his international career. The two had not worked together since the 1990s ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' In ''The Skin I Live In'' he breaks out of the Latin Lover mold from his Hollywood work and stars as a calculating revenge-seeking plastic surgeon following the rape of his daughter. According to the Associated Press Banderas' performance is among his strongest in recent memory. Also he once again lends his voice to Puss in Boots this time as the protagonist of the ''Shrek'' spin-off family film, ''Puss in Boots''. This film has Banderas reuniting with Salma Hayek for the sixth time.

Business activities

He has invested some of his film earnings in Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the US. He owns 50% of a winery in Villalba de Duero, Burgos, Spain, called Anta Banderas, which produces red and rosé wines.

He performed a voice-over for a computer-animated bee which can be seen in the United States in television commercials for Nasonex, an allergy medication, and was seen in the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.

He has been a veteran of the perfume industry. The actor has been working with fragrance and beauty multinational company Puig for over ten years becoming one of the brand's most successful representatives. Banderas and Puig have successfully promoted a number of fragrances so far – ''Diavolo'', ''Diavolo for Women'', ''Mediterraneo'', ''Spirit'', ''Spirit for Women'', and following the success of ''Antonio and Blue Seduction for men'' in 2007, launched his latest ''Blue Seduction for Women'' the following year.

Personal life

Both Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas were married to other people when they first met. Banderas divorced his first wife, Ana Leza, and in May 14, 1996, married American actress Melanie Griffith in a private, low-key ceremony in London. They had met a year earlier while shooting ''Two Much''. They have a daughter, Stella del Carmen (b. 1996), who appeared with her parents in the 1999 film ''Crazy in Alabama'', in which Griffith starred and which Banderas directed. In 2002, the couple's dedication to philanthropy was recognized when they received the 'Stella Adler Angel Award' for their extensive charity work.

In 1996, Banderas appeared among other figures of Spanish culture in a video supporting the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party lists in the general election.

He is a long time supporter of the Málaga CF.

He is an officer (mayordomo de trono) of a Roman Catholic religious brotherhood in Málaga and travels, with his wife and daughter, during Holy Week to take part in the processions, although in an interview with ''People'' magazine Banderas had once described himself as an agnostic. In May 2010, Banderas received his honorary doctorate from the University of Málaga in the city where he was born.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |+ Actor (Movies & TV) |- style="text-align:center;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1982 | ''Pestañas postizas'' | Antonio Juan | |- | 1982 | ''Laberinto de pasiones'' | Sadec | |- | 1983 | ''Y del seguro... líbranos Señor!'' | | |- | 1984 | ''El caso Almería'' | | |- | 1984 | ''El señor Galíndez'' | Eduardo | |- | 1984 | ''Fragmentos de interior'' | Joaquín | TV Series |- | 1984 | ''Los zancos'' | Alberto | |- | 1985 | ''Réquiem por un campesino español'' | Paco | Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie ActorMurcia Week of Spanish Cinema for Best Actor |- | 1985 | ''La corte de Faraón'' | Fray José | Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie ActorMurcia Week of Spanish Cinema for Best Actor |- | 1985 | ''Caso cerrado'' | Preso | Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1986 | ''Matador'' | Ángel | Nominated — Goya Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Murcia Week of Spanish Cinema for Best Actor |- | 1986 | ''Puzzle'' | | |- | 1986 | ''27 horas'' | Rafa | Sant Jordi Awards for Best Spanish Actor |- | 1986 | ''Delirios de amor'' | | Sant Jordi Awards for Best Spanish ActorNominated — Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1987 | ''La ley del deseo'' | Antonio Benítez | Sant Jordi Awards for Best Spanish ActorNominated — Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1987 | ''Así como habían sido'' | Damián | Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1988 | ''La Mujer de tu vida: La mujer feliz'' | Antonio | Nominated — Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best TV Actor |- | 1988 | ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' | Carlos | Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1988 | ''El placer de matar'' | Luis | Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1988 | ''Baton Rouge'' | Antonio | Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1989 | ''Bajarse al moro'' | Alberto | Nominated — Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1989 | ''Si te dicen que caí'' | Marcos | Nominated — Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1989 | ''La Blanca Paloma'' | Mario | Valladolid International Film Festival for Best ActorFotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1989 | ''Hasta Luego Tenis'' | Jake Spicer | |- | 1989 | ''El Acto'' | Carlos | |- | 1990 | ''La otra historia de Rosendo Juárez'' | Rosendo Juárez | TV |- | 1990 | '''' | Ricky | Golden India Catalina Award for Best ActorFotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie ActorACE Awards for Best ActorNominated — Goya Awards for Best Actor |- | 1990 | ''Contra el viento'' | Juan | Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1992 | ''Una Mujer bajo la lluvia'' | Miguel | Nominated — Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1992 | '''' | Néstor Castillo | Nominated — Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie ActorNominated — Spanish Actors Union Award for Lead Performance |- | 1993 | ''Il Giovane Mussolini (Benito)'' | Benito Mussolini | TV |- | 1993 | '' (Outrage!)'' | Marcos | Nominated — Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1993 | '''' | Pedro Tercero García | his first English-language film |- | 1993 | ''Philadelphia'' | Miguel Álvarez | |- | 1994 | ''Of Love and Shadows'' | Francisco | Nominated — NCLR Bravo Awards for Best Actor in a Feature Film |- | 1994 | ''Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles'' | Armand | |- | 1995 | ''Miami Rhapsody'' | Antonio | |- | 1995 | ''Desperado'' | El Mariachi (Manito) | Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best KissNominated — MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Male |- | 1995 | ''Four Rooms'' | as Man (segment "The Misbehavers") | |- | 1995 | ''Assassins'' | Miguel Bain | |- | 1995 | ''Never Talk to Strangers'' | Tony Ramirez | |- | 1995 | ''Two Much'' | Art Dodge | Nominated — Goya Award for Best ActorNominated — Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Movie Actor |- | 1996 | ''Evita'' | Che | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 1997 | ''Wag the Dog'' | Ramón | later on replaced by the real Ramón |- | 1998 | '''' | Alejandro Murrieta/Zorro | European Film Awards for Best European Actor |- | 1998 | ''Andrew Lloyd Webber's Royal Albert Hall Celebration'' | Che/Phantom | |- | 1999 | '''' | Ahmad ibn Fadlan | Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film |- | 1999 | '''' | Morales Pittman | |- | 1999 | ''Play It to the Bone'' | César Domínguez | |- | 2001 | '''' | Father Matt Gutiérrez | |- | 2001 | ''Spy Kids'' | Gregorio Cortez | Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion PictureNominated — Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Male Butt Kicker |- | 2001 | ''Original Sin'' | Luís Vargast | |- | 2002 | ''Femme Fatale'' | Nicolas Bardo | |- | 2002 | ''Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams'' | Gregorio Cortez | |- | 2002 | ''Frida'' | David Alfaro Siqueiros | |- | 2002 | ''Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever'' | Agent Jeremiah Ecks | |- | 2003 | ''Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over'' | Gregorio Cortez | |- | 2003 | ''Once Upon a Time in Mexico'' | El Mariachi | |- | 2003 | ''And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself'' | Pancho Villa | |- | 2003 | ''Imagining Argentina'' | Carlos Rueda | |- | 2004 | ''Far Far Away Idol'' | rowspan=2| Puss In Boots | Voice |- | 2004 | ''Shrek 2'' | VoiceNominated — Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature ProductionNominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceNominated — VES Award for Best Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture |- | 2005 | '''' | Don Alejandro de la Vega/Zorro | Nominated — |- | 2006 | ''Take the Lead'' | Pierre Dulaine | |- | 2007 | ''Bordertown'' | Díaz | |- | 2007 | ''Shrek the Third'' | Puss In Boots | Voice |- | 2008 | ''My Mom's New Boyfriend'' | Tommy Lucero / Tomas Martinez | |- | 2008 | ''The Other Man'' | Ralph (pronounced "Rafe") | |- | 2009 | ''Thick as Thieves'' | Gabriel Martin | |- | 2010 | ''Shrek Forever After'' | Puss In Boots | Voice |- | 2011 | ''The Big Bang'' | Ned Cruz | |- | 2011 | ''The Skin I Live In'' | Dr. Ledgard | |- | 2011 | ''Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World'' | Gregorio Cortez | uncredited (scenes cut) |- | 2011 | ''Puss in Boots'' | Puss in Boots | post-production |- | 2012 | ''Haywire | TBA | filming |}

+ Director & Producer
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1999	''Crazy in Alabama''	Director	ALMA Award for Best Director of a Feature FilmEuropean Film Award for Achievement in World CinemaNominated — Golden Lion for Directing
2006		Director
2008	''Missing Lynx''	Producer

Musicals on Broadway

+ Theater
Year	Play	Role	Notes
2003		Guido Contini	Theatre World Award
2011		Alexis Zorba	Broadway Revival will open in the Fall of 2011

See also

[[List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References

External links

Antonio Banderas appointed Goodwill Ambassador at Bay Ledger

Category:1960 births Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:Spanish people Category:Andalusian people Category:Living people Category:People from Málaga (city) Category:Spanish film actors Category:Spanish musical theatre actors Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:GLAAD Media Awards winners

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