{{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
style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0ff;"
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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Official name	City of Lamar, Colorado
Native name
Settlement type	City
Motto
Map caption	Location in Prowers County and the State of Colorado
Pushpin map
Pushpin label position
Pushpin mapsize
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name
Subdivision type1	State
Subdivision name1
Subdivision type2	County
Subdivision name2	Prowers County Seat
Subdivision name4
Government type	Home Rule Municipality
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Rodger Stagner
Leader title1
Established title
Established title2	Incorporated
Established date2	December 5, 1886
Established title3
Established date3
Unit pref	Imperial
Area total km2	11
Area land km2	11
Area water km2	0
Area total sq mi	4.2
Area land sq mi	4.2
Area water sq mi	0
Area blank1 sq mi
Population as of	2000
Population total	8869
Population density km2	806.3
Population density sq mi	2111.7
Population density blank1 sq mi
Timezone	Mountain (MST)
Utc offset	-7
Timezone dst	MDT
Utc offset dst	-6
Coordinates type	region:US-CO_type:city(8869)
Coordinates display	displayinline,title
Elevation footnotes
Elevation m	1105
Elevation ft	3625
Postal code type	ZIP code
Postal code	81052
Area code	719
Blank name	FIPS code
Blank info	08-43110
Blank1 name	GNIS feature ID
Blank1 info	[ 0203835]
Website	City of Lamar
Footnotes	}}

The City of Lamar is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Prowers County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 8,869 at the U.S. Census 2000.

History

Neoplan USA (a bus and coach manufacturer) use to have its corporate headquarters in Lamar until the company went bankrupt in 2006.

The northern site of the Pierre Auger Observatory of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is planned to be built near Lamar.

Geography

Lamar is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles (11.0 km²), all of it land. Lamar is east of Pueblo, on the Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 8,869 people, 3,324 households, and 2,247 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,095.8 people per square mile (809.5/km²). There were 3,656 housing units at an average density of 863.9/sq mi (333.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 76.24% White, 0.38% African American, 1.48% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 18.81% from other races, and 2.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 36.54% of the population.

There were 3,324 households out of which 36.0% had children living with them, 49.2% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.1% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,660, and the median income for a family was $32,560. Males had a median income of $24,145 versus $20,133 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,900. About 14.4% of families and 19.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.5% of those under age 18 and 12.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Primary and secondary education

Lamar is part of School District RE-2.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Rail

Lamar receives intercity passenger rail service via Amtrak's Southwest Chief, which runs between Chicago and Los Angeles, stopping twice each day, once in each direction. See Lamar (Amtrak station).

Highways

20px US 50 is an east-west highway running from Interstate 80 near West Sacramento, California to an intersection with Maryland State Highway 528 , at Ocean City, Maryland. It is also the main route to Pueblo and Las Animas.

20px State Highway 196 is a stretch that connects around Lamar to Wiley.

20px 20px US 287/385 are two concurrent highways that run south through Lamar. They connect Lamar to Springfield. US 287 runs from US 69/96 near Port Arthur, Texas to US 89 at Choteau, Montana. US 385 runs from Big Bend National Park in Texas to US 85 in Deadwood, SD.

Gallery

Notable people

Gordon L. Allott — U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1955–1973, practiced law in Lamar.

Doug Brocail — Major League Baseball pitcher.

Ken Curtis — Actor (Festus Haggen on ''Gunsmoke'') and Western music singer, reared in Las Animas near Lamar

Scott Elarton — Major League Baseball pitcher.

Wayne R. Grisham — California politician.

See also

Lamar Amtrak train station

Madonna of the Trail monument

National Old Trails Road

Santa Fe Trail

References

Further reading

''The National Old Trails Road To Southern California, Part 1 (LA to KC)''; Automobile Club Of Southern California; 64 pages; 1916. (Download 6.8MB PDF eBook)

External links

City of Lamar

CDOT map of Lamar

Santa Fe Trail Research Site

Category:Populated places in Prowers County, Colorado Category:Cities in Colorado Category:County seats in Colorado

bg:Ламар (Колорадо) ca:Lamar (Colorado) de:Lamar (Colorado) es:Lamar (Colorado) fr:Lamar (Colorado) it:Lamar (Colorado) ht:Lamar, Kolorado nl:Lamar (Colorado) pt:Lamar (Colorado) vi:Lamar, Colorado vo:Lamar (Colorado)

name	T. Boone Pickens
birth date	May 22, 1928
birth place	Holdenville, Oklahoma, U.S.
occupation	Financier; Chairman, BP Capital Management
networth	US$1.4 billion(2011)
residence	Dallas, Texas
spouse	1) Lynne O'Brien2) Beatrice Carr3) Nelda Cain4) Madeleine Paulson
children	Four children with Lynne O'Brien
parents	Thomas Boone Pickens &Grace Molonson
alma mater	Oklahoma State University – Stillwater
website	www.boonepickens.com www.pickensplan.com
footnotes	}}

Thomas Boone Pickens, Jr. (born May 22, 1928), known as T. Boone Pickens, is an American financier who chairs the hedge fund BP Capital Management. He was a well-known takeover operator and corporate raider during the 1980s. With an estimated net worth of about $1.4 billion, he is ranked by ''Forbes'' as the 328th-richest person in America and ranked 879th in the world.

Early life

Pickens was born in Holdenville, Oklahoma. His father worked as an oil and mineral landman (rights leaser). During World War II, his mother ran the local Office of Price Administration, rationing gasoline and other goods in four counties. Pickens was the first child born via Caesarean section in the history of Holdenville hospital.

At age 12, Pickens delivered newspapers. He quickly expanded his paper route from 28 papers to 156. Pickens later cited his boyhood job as an early introduction to "expanding quickly by acquisition," a business practice he favored later in life.

When the oil boom in Oklahoma ended in the late 1930s, Pickens' family moved to Amarillo, Texas. Pickens never served in the military but instead attended Texas A&M; on a basketball scholarship, but he lost the scholarship and transferred to Oklahoma A&M; (now Oklahoma State University), where he majored in Geology. He is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. He graduated from Oklahoma A&M; with a degree in geology in 1951. Following his graduation, Pickens was employed by Phillips Petroleum. He worked for Phillips until 1954. In 1956, following his period as a wildcatter, he founded the company that would later become Mesa Petroleum.

Career

By 1981, Mesa had grown into one of the largest independent oil companies in the world. Pickens led Mesa's first major acquisition, a takeover of the Hugoton Production Company, which was 30 times the size of Mesa. He then shifted his focus to acquiring other oil and gas companies by making solicited and unsolicited buyout bids and other merger and acquisition activity.

Pickens corporate acquisitions made him a celebrity during the "deal-making" 1980s. His most publicized deals included attempted buyouts of Cities Service, Gulf Oil, Phillips Petroleum, and Unocal. It was during this period that Pickens led Mesa's successful acquisitions of Pioneer Petroleum and the mid-continent assets of Tenneco.

These as well as other deals placed Pickens at the center of controversy during the 1980s. His celebrity rose so quickly after the Gulf Oil takeover bid that''Time'' magazine put Pickens on the cover for the March 1985 issue. He briefly considered running for president in the 1988 elections. During this period, he was often characterized as a corporate raider and greenmailer. This is due to the fact that many of his deals were not completed. Although Pickens and the shareholders he represented received substantial profits through the eventual sale of their stock as a result. His later takeover targets included Newmont Mining, a New York-based firm, Diamond Shamrock, and Koito Mfg., Ltd., a Japanese auto-parts manufacturer, making substantial gains in the process. He was also involved in the creation of the United Shareholders Association (USA), which from 1986–1993 attempted to influence the governance of several large companies. After nearly two years of periodic hearing and debate, in July 1998 the Securities and Exchange Commission voted 4–1 to approve a one-share, one-vote rule, a primary USA objective.

On the local level, Pickens chaired the Board of Regents of West Texas State University in Canyon and in 1987–1988 contributed to the restoration of the administration building known as "Old Main". He was also active in the Republican Party in Potter County. Pickens organized a campaign in the mid-1980s against the ''Amarillo Globe-News'' newspaper, for what he claimed was inaccurate reporting about his deals and Mesa. Although the newspaper owner, Morris Communications, replaced its publisher twice during the conflict, Pickens' attempts to have the paper change its editorial policy failed. Shortly thereafter, in 1989, Pickens and Mesa moved to a suburb of Dallas.

In 1997 Pickens founded BP Capital Management (then called BP Energy Fund) — the initials standing for "Boone Pickens" and not related to British Petroleum. He holds a 46% interest in the company which runs two hedge funds, Capital Commodity and Capital Equity, both of which invest primarily in traditional energy companies such as oil, natural gas, and nuclear power corporations like Halliburton, Schlumberger, and Shaw Group.

In 2006, Pickens earned $990 million from his equity in the two funds and $120 million from his share of the 20% fees applied to fund profits. In 2007, Pickens earned $2.7 billion, as BP Capital Equity Fund grew by 24% after fees, and the then $590 million Capital Commodity fund grew 40%, thanks to, among others, large positions in the stocks of Suncor Energy, ExxonMobil and Occidental Petroleum.

Pickens' most recent recognition comes from The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. T. Boone Pickens received the 2009 Bower Award for Business Leadership for 50 years of visionary leadership in oil and other types of energy production, including domestic renewable energy, and for his philanthropic leadership contributing to education, medical research, and wildlife conservation.

Natural gas

Pickens has been speaking out on the issue of peak oil, claiming that world oil production is about to enter a period of irrevocable decline. He has called for the construction of more nuclear power plants, the use of natural gas to power the country's transportation systems, and the promotion of alternative energy. Pickens's involvement with the natural gas fueling campaign is long-running. He formed Pickens Fuel Corp. in 1997 and began touting natural gas as the best vehicular fuel alternative because it is a domestic resource that, among many advantages, is cleaner-burning (Natural Gas Vehicles or NGVs emit up to 30% less pollution than gasoline or diesel vehicles) and reduces foreign oil consumption. Reincorporated as Clean Energy Fuels Corp. in 2001, the company now owns and operates natural gas fueling stations from British Columbia to the Mexican border.

Activism

Political interests and contributions

Since 1980, Pickens has made over $5 million in political donations. He was a financial supporter of President George W. Bush and contributed heavily to both his Texas and national political campaigns. In 2004, Pickens contributed to Republican 527 groups, including a $2 million contribution to the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth which ran an advertising campaign asserting that Bush's rival, John Kerry, exaggerated claims about his service in Vietnam, and $2.5 million to the Progress for America advocacy group. In 2005, Pickens was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to Bush's second inauguration.

On July 16, 2007, Pickens wrote an article for the ''National Review'' supporting Rudy Giuliani for President. "In Rudy Giuliani, a gracious and committed public servant I’ve known for many years, we see that rare blend of big-picture vision and proven track record of achieving the 'impossible.' We see a forward-looking, accomplished executive eager to tackle the challenges of today’s America and ensure that tomorrow we wake up stronger, freer, and more united than ever before." Pickens was an executive-committee member of the Rudy Giuliani presidential committee.

Pickens chaired the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the ''American Spectator'', a conservative U.S. monthly magazine covering news and politics.

Pickens has focused his advocacy on alternative energy such as solar and wind. ''The Washington Post'' says that "perhaps the strangest role" Pickens "has fashioned for himself is his current one: the billionaire speculator as energy wise man, an oil-and-gas magnate as champion of wind power, and a lifetime Republican who has become a fellow traveler among environmentally minded Democrats – even though he helped finance the 'Swift boat' ads that savaged" Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential campaign. In an editorial, the New York Times reports Pickens "has decided that drilling for more oil is not the whole answer to the nation's energy problems.

In the spring of 2010, Senator Kerry reached out to Mr. Pickens and encouraged his support of energy/climate change legislation he was drafting with Senators Lieberman and Graham. During a May 2010 meeting with reporters, Senator Kerry endorsed key provisions of “the Pickens Plan,” incorporating aspects of that in the Kerry-backed legislation calling for the greater use of domestic natural gas to replace foreign oil/diesel/gasoline in America’s heavy duty vehicle fleets.

Swift Boat challenge

On November 6, 2007, Pickens offered a million dollars to anyone able to dispute any claims made in political ads by the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth (SVPT), a group he had supported during the 2004 presidential election. John Kerry, whose military record and anti-war activism during Vietnam was the target of the group's book and media campaign, sent Pickens a letter on November 16, 2007, accepting the challenge, requesting that Pickens donate the money to the Paralyzed Veterans of America should he succeed in disproving any of the SVPT claims. In response to Kerry's acceptance of the challenge, Pickens issued a letter the same day, narrowing the original challenge to the SVPT ads, and requiring Kerry to provide his Vietnam journal, all of his military records, specifically those covering the years after his active duty service, and copies of all movies and tapes made during his service. Pickens' letter also challenged Kerry to agree to donate $1 million to the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, if Kerry "cannot prove anything in the Swift Boat ads to be untrue." Kerry later accused Pickens of "parsing and backtracking" on his initial offer and wrote that "I am prepared to prove the lie and marshal all the evidence, the question is whether you are prepared to fulfill your obligation."

On June 22, 2008, a group of Vietnam veterans who previously served with and now work with Kerry accepted the challenge and sent a 12-page letter — with a 42-page attachment of military records to support their case — to rebut several of the accusations of the Swift boat group. Pickens has responded with a message stating "In reviewing your material, none of the information you provide speaks specifically to the issues contained in the ads,” he wrote, “and, as a result, does not qualify for the $1 million."

Lobbying efforts to stop horse slaughter

Pickens lobbied for the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (HR 503) which would prohibit the slaughter for human consumption and the trade and transport of horse flesh and live horses intended for human consumption.

Unsuccessful attempt to sell natural gas with a California Ballot Initiative

In November 2008, California voters rejected a referendum by a 60% to 40% margin regarding natural gas. Pickens owns Clean Energy Fuels Corporation, a natural gas fueling station company that was the primary backer of the November 2008 Proposition 10 on California's ballot. Much of the measure's sale of $5 billion in general fund bonds to provide alternative energy rebates and incentives ($9.8 billion after interest) would have benefitted Pickens' company to the exclusion of almost all other clean-vehicle fuels and technology.

Philanthropy

Pickens has given more than $700 million away to charity, of which nearly $500 million has been donated to Oklahoma State University. Pickens is among the billionaires who have made The Giving Pledge, a commitment to give away half of his wealth for charitable purposes.

Donations to Oklahoma State University

Pickens has been a major financial contributor to his alma mater, the Stillwater campus of Oklahoma State University (OSU). Through his contributions, Pickens has spearheaded an extremely controversial effort to create an athletic village just north of the existing campus. In order to do so, hundreds of homes were acquired by the OSU administration via eminent domain and demolished using Pickens' contributions.

Pickens' gift, albeit attracting a significant amount of criticism and controversy from the OSU and Stillwater communities, remains the largest donation to a university's athletic program in collegiate history. His total contributions to OSU come to over $400 million. Over $265 million, or 66%, of his donations have been towards athletics. Pickens also has made substantial academic gifts to Oklahoma State University, particularly to the School of Geology, which is named for him.

On December 30, 2005, Pickens made a $165 million gift to Oklahoma State University. ''The New York Times'' reported that "the money spent less than an hour on December 30 in the account of the university's charity, O.S.U. Cowboy Golf Inc., before it was invested in a hedge fund controlled by Mr. Pickens, BP Capital Management." Pickens, who is on the board of the O.S.U. Cowboy Golf, waived any management fees for the OSU monies. All profits of the fund go to growing the OSU gift. The gift is intended to help fund an upgrade of the football stadium and construction of an athletic village, but sparked controversy because OSU planned to use eminent domain to acquire residential property for the projects. The donation comes after a $70 million gift from Pickens to OSU in 2003, which was similarly structured using O.S.U. Cowboy Golf, Inc.

On July 28, 2007 the Board of Regents of Oklahoma State University approved a resolution to move $28 million from the OSU Foundation into Pickens' BP Capital Management company in Dallas. Oklahoma State has previously invested $277 million in the fund. Pickens has been waiving fees for the university's investments with his fund.

On May 21, 2008 Pickens donated $100 million dollars to academics at Oklahoma State University. The gift will be matched by the state of Oklahoma.

In October, 2008 it was reported in the NY Times that due to the recent financial recession, some of Pickens's gifts to the athletic department had seen a large decline in their market value while being managed in his hedge funds. The same NY Times article noted that due to the worldwide recession, most other schools and charitable organizations were also experiencing problems with investments. The article also mentions that Pickens' management of donated funds had previously "turned $6 million into $31 million" for the school's athletic fund.

Humanitarian contributions

Pickens and employees of his BP Capital LLC donated $7 million to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. The ''Chronicle of Philanthropy'' lists Pickens as among its largest charitable givers 2005 and 2006. He has donated nearly a half a billion dollars to philanthropic causes during his career.

On January 22, 2007, Pickens donated $5 million to The University of Texas at Dallas to fund educational and research initiatives in the area of brain science. Part of the donation is funding the "T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Chair in Clinical Brain Science", that is held by Dr. Denise C. Park who heads The Center for Vital Longevity at the University of Dallas at Texas.

On May 16, 2007, Pickens donated $100 million to two University of Texas health care institutions. The gifts were donated to the UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The donations are required to grow to $1 billion within twenty-five years before they can be disbursed by the recipient institutions.

On August 23, 2007, Bizjournals.com reported that Pickens is donating $2.5 million to Happy Hill Farm Academy/Home, a residential school for at-risk children and teenagers, to build a training center and guest lodge. Pickens donated $1 million to Happy Hill Farm for the construction of a new academic campus at the residential school in February 2007.

On December 5, 2007 the ''Dallas Business Journal'' reported that Pickens had donated $6 million to Jubilee Park located at S. Carroll Avenue and Lindsley/Parry Avenue in Dallas and would man a bulldozer to begin demolition of an abandoned building across the street from a kindergarten Head Start program in Jubilee Park.

On June 20, 2008 Pickens donated $25 million to the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine during a visit with Calgary Flames owner Harley Hotchkiss.

On October 21, 2008, Pickens donated $5 million to the Downtown Dallas YMCA. The Downtown YMCA will now be renamed "T. Boone Pickens YMCA" in his honor. “I want this gift to encourage individuals, corporations and the entire city to make a serious commitment to fitness and health,” Boone Pickens said. “This money isn’t just helping people work out — it will revitalize this area and make the YMCA a place for the citizens of Dallas today, and will inspire our next generation to be healthy.”

Alternative energy

On September 19, 2007, Pickens told CNBC that the price of oil could rise to $100 per barrel. "Demand is up and supply is flat, so it's got to go on up," said Pickens, whose company is betting on natural gas for vehicles. "I can give you an Oklahoma guarantee that natural gas will never sell above diesel and gasoline prices" as fuel for vehicles, Pickens added.

On January 2, 2008, the first contract for $100 bbl oil was sold on the NYMEX exchange. In early July 2008, the price of oil briefly closed above $145 per barrel. By the beginning of September 2008, the price of oil settled to under $110 per barrel. By October 9, 2008, the price plummeted back below $85 per barrel. As of November 21, 2008, the price of oil had fallen below $50 a barrel, mostly riding fears of a global recession.

Subsequently, in early 2009, Pickens restated during a Meet the Press interview with Tom Brokaw that he would bet $10 the price of oil would "be back to $100 a year from now". Two weeks later reporter John Stossel made a public $10,000 bet with financier T. Boone Pickens about whether or not the price of oil would surpass $100 by the first quarter of 2010. The bet ended on May 22, 2010 with the price of oil at $69.92. Pickens donated $10,000 to Stossel's charity but refused to concede total defeat, claiming he won on the futures markets and that Stossel should also donate $10,000 to Pickens' charity.

Wind power

In June 2007, Pickens announced the intention to build the world's largest wind farm by installing large wind turbines in parts of four Texas Panhandle counties. The project would produce up to four gigawatts of electricity. Pickens' Mesa Power LP will undertake the construction. If completed, the farm would generate more than five times the 735 megawatts produced at the present largest such farm near Abilene, according to Susan Williams Sloan, spokesman for the American Wind Energy Association.

On August 16, 2007, Pickens' Mesa Power announced that it had filed documents with the state of Texas to add four gigawatts of electricity to the state grid. The filing with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) projected that the project would be completed in 2011 and would include up to 2,700 turbines on up to in Roberts and adjacent counties in the Texas Panhandle. "We are now meeting with Panhandle landowners and negotiating wind lease and easement agreements," said Pickens. "We are excited at how quickly the pieces are falling into place."

On January 30, 2008, ''The Oklahoman'' reported that Pickens was ready to start buying wind turbines for the project within a month, that he planned to buy between 1,700 and 2,000 turbines, and that they will cost from $200 million to $300 million. Pickens added that he has been approached by twenty potential partners on the project but has not yet made a final decision. "We have not picked any banker and we have not picked any partner," Pickens said. "It is kind of nice ... I have decided I can get pretty far down the track before having to make those choices." Pickens predicted that similar wind farm projects could be built in the Texas Panhandle and the US-Canadian border in the future.

On May 15, 2008, Pickens' Mesa Power announced that it had placed a first order for 667 1.5-megawatt turbines from General Electric. The turbines will be delivered in 2010 and 2011.

On July 17, 2008, the Texas Public Utilities Commission approved ratepayer funding of $4.98 billion in electric transmission lines to connect wind farms in the Texas Panhandle to the electric grid. This implements the provisions of a 2005 Texas law designed to promote new wind energy projects.

On July 8, 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported that T. Boone Pickens has postponed plans to build his Texas wind farm. He said the project was stopped partly because existing transmission line capacity wasn't available. His company had planned to build new lines, but couldn't get financing. On the same date, The New York Times, reported that Pickens is committed to purchasing 667 wind turbines and will develop wind projects for them. On his Mesa Power Group website, Pickens said he expected to continue development of the Pampa project, but not at the pace originally expected.

On December 15, 2010, Nathanael Baker, in an article for www.theenergycollective.com, wrote that Pickens has scrapped plans for wind farms and will instead focus exclusively on natural gas. According to the article, on December 10, 2010, MSNBC reported that "Pickens said low natural gas prices have made utility companies view wind power as too expensive."

The Pickens Plan

On July 8, 2008, Pickens announced a major energy policy proposal, called the Pickens Plan. The plan promotes a radical reduction in the United States' dependency upon foreign energy, particularly oil provided by nations in the OPEC cartel. Although the plan calls for introduction of various alternatives to oil, including wind and solar, its major component is the conversion of the nation's commercial transport sector away from OPEC diesel to natural gas. The Pickens Plan also calls for the United States to utilize its wind corridor in the middle of the country stretching from Texas northerly through the Great Plains to the Canadian border. He noted in Congressional testimony in July 2008 that his plan would generate new jobs and provide economic stimulus to this area, while noting that it would also require new transmission lines which traditionally antagonize some environmentalists and/or nearby populations.

Critics of the plan, however, point out that it is self-serving: Pickens is a huge investor in wind power, and subsidies and mandates for wind power would help his personal financial position. The announcement of the plan also coincides with Pickens' need for federal subsidies for wind to be renewed, as he's already begun placing orders for his planned wind farm in Texas.

Pickens plans to spend $58 million on his multi-media effort to promote the Pickens Plan. Pickens multi-media campaign includes traditional media, such as newspaper and TV, and new media, such as YouTube and Facebook. The television ads for the Pickens Plan were produced by veteran Democratic political consultant, Joe Slade White.

Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, has expressed support for the Pickens Plan.

On December 27, 2009 during what is called the “Meet the Press Roundtable” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made the Pickens Plan case by talking about the need for energy independence.

This discussion was in the context of the failed attack on an airliner on Christmas Day, but Bloomberg echoed what Boone Pickens has been saying for the past 17 months: the USA is funding both sides of this war and the USA is transferring its wealth to people who don’t like it very much.

Pickens’ proposal for the greater use of natural gas in heavy duty trucks and fleet vehicles is included in the NAT GAS Act (H.R. 1835 and S. 1408) and the American Power Act.

Personal life

Since 2005, Pickens has been married to Madeleine Pickens, the widow of Allen E. Paulson who founded Gulfstream Aerospace. She is an activist for wild mustangs and an avid supporter of the R.O.A.M. Act to provide a sanctuary for approximately 33,000 American mustangs. They live in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of north Dallas and own a ranch along the Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle. Pickens was earlier divorced from Nelda Cain, Beatrice Carr and from Lynn O'Brien.

, Pickens had five children and twelve grandchildren.

Prior to the Oklahoma State football game against the University of Georgia, Pickens predicted that OSU would score a record 387 points on the Bulldogs. OSU did win the game, but not by nearly so many points. Pickens has since retired from football prognostication.

In December 2008, the Texas Legislative Conference honored Pickens as its "Texan of the Year".

In July 2009, Pickens was the subject of controversy after he had a construction crew go to his grandmother's former home in Holdenville, Oklahoma and remove a slab of driveway concrete that he had signed as a child. The current owner of the home asserted ownership, and the slab was returned. In February 2010, a judge ruled that the slab belonged to the current homeowner.

Pickens owns a Gulfstream V jet that he uses to fly to Stillwater for OSU games from his private airport near Pampa, TX.

Bibliography

Pickens, T. Boone, ''The First Billion is the Hardest: Reflections on a life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future'', 2008, ISBN 0-307-39577-4

Pickens, Boone, ''The Luckiest Guy in the World'', 2001, ISBN 1-58798-019-3

Pickens, Boone, ''Boone'', 1987, ISBN 0-395-47811-1

Notes

References

Forbes 400

Recent article profile at Globe & Mail

Raider to trader

Bio from BP Capital

External links

Biography of Boone Pickens (Horatio Alger Awards)

PickensPlan

''Write TV'' Public Television Interview with T. Boone Pickens

T. Boone Pickens Biography and Session Description on the World Business Forum where Pickens is a featured speaker for the 2009 event

Stop T Boone Pickens

Voices of Oklahoma interview with T. Boone Pickens. First person interview conducted on August 6, 2010 with T. Boone Pickens. Original audio and transcript archived with Voices of Oklahoma oral history project.

Category:American financiers Category:American investors Category:American money managers Category:American oil industrialists Category:American philanthropists Category:American billionaires Category:Hedge fund managers Category:People from Oklahoma Category:People from Hughes County, Oklahoma Category:Private equity and venture capital investors Category:Stock and commodity market managers Category:Texas Republicans Category:People from Dallas, Texas Category:American ranchers Category:People associated with peak oil Category:People associated with wind power Category:People from Amarillo, Texas Category:Oklahoma State University alumni Category:Corporate raiders Category:National Review people Category:The Weekly Standard people Category:The American Spectator people Category:1928 births Category:Living people Category:Sustainability advocates Category:Texas A&M; University alumni

de:T. Boone Pickens fr:T. Boone Pickens

name	NB Ridaz
background	group_or_band
origin	Phoenix, Arizona
genre	Hip hop
years active	1995 - 2006
label	Nastyboy Records
associated acts	MC Magic, Zig Zag, CeCe Peniston
website	http://www.nastyboyrecords.com
past members	MC MagicZig ZagDos }}

NB Ridaz is a hip hop group formerly known as NBK (Nastyboy Klick).

Overview

The group released several successful singles as Nastyboy Klick in the late 1990s, including "Down for Yours" (1997, U.S. Billboard Hot 100 peak #69) and "Lost in Love" (1998, #53).

As NB Ridaz, their debut album "Invasion" was released in 2001 and reached independent charts. The first single from the album, “Runaway” scraped into the Billboard Hot 100, and made the Rhythmic Top 40 along with “I Wanna Love-U”. Their second album NBridaz.com made the Hip-Hop, Heatseeker and independent charts. “So Fly” broke into the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100, and charted on the Rap, R&B; and Rhythmic Top 40 charts. “Notice Me” also breached the bottom of the Billboard Hot 100, receiving more airplay than previous tracks. “Pretty Girl” also charted on the Billboard Rhythmic, R&B; and Rap charts as well.

The Lyrics of Pretty Girl, Forever, Wishing On A Star, Best Friends and a various other tracks were written by twelve year old Leonel Tissera and 11 year old Joseph Soto. Soto and Tisseras' creative works eventually caught the attention of the group. After the groups popularity increase, Soto and Tisseras' lyrics became some of the most popular songs performed by the NB Ridaz.

NB Ridaz has been discontinued as of 2006.

Biography

It all started with M.C. Magic a disc jockey who grew up in a low income housing area in Avondale, Arizona. From break dancing to sponsoring teen dances at the Avondale community center, Magic always surrounded himself with music. He eventually made a name for himself by recording personalized songs at the local park and swap.

In 1991, he formed an independent record company called Nastyboy Records. Soon there after releasing his first hit single "Lost in Love." The single did very well considering local radio stations only gave it a few spins in the evenings.

In 1995, M.C. Magic released his first full length CD entitled "Don't Worry." The album did well on a local level and helped open some doors for the next project. Nastyboy Klick began with six members Magic, DOS, Ziggy, Sly, Mischief (Magic's 10 year old son) and Bookie. Bookie soon left the group to pursue a solo project before NBK became successful.

Nastyboy Klick was recognized as one of the top up and coming hip-hop groups out of Phoenix within their first year. M.C. Magic wanted to try something new and different to grab the attention of the radio stations and its listeners. He then contacted the management of the late Roger Troutman of "Zapp and Roger." After contacting Roger Troutman he agreed to assist Nastboy Klick with vocals on "Down for Yours." using the famous Talkbox. Not only did it grab the attention of local radio stations, it reached #10 on the Billboard hot rap single chart (a first for any hip-hop group out of Phoenix). Quickly following the success of "Down for Yours" came "AZ Side", which also brought another hit single. This was the first record to ever receive sampling permission from Madonna. The "AZ Side Remix" was a rendition of Madonna's hit "Everybody."

In 1998, Nastyboy Klick released "Tha Second Coming," which is the second album that was led by the hip-hop ballad "Lost in Love." This time the record reached to #12 on the Billboard music charts. After the release of their second album NBK began touring and performing for many audiences within the next year.

After many trials and tribulations all the members returned to their regular jobs and Magic returned to working at the park and swap. . Eventually, Magic and DOS decided it would be in their best interest to pursue their career as a group, on their own. Magic and DOS asked management to release them from the recording contract with Upstairs Records, to begin working on the next phase of their career.

As Nastyboy Klick/NBK

1997: ''The First Chapter''

1998" ''Desert Funk: Soundtrack''

1998: ''Tha Second Coming'' (duet with CeCe Peniston on "I Know You Want Me")

2002: ''Pretty Girl'' *Written by Leonel Tissera and TJ Gorman.

As NB Ridaz

2001: ''Invasion (Upstairs)'' (album was released twice under two labels)

2001: ''Invasion (Nastyboy)''

2004: ''NB Ridaz.com''

2005: ''NB Ridaz: The Official DVD''

2008: ''Greatest Hits''

References

External links

Official MySpace

Nasty Boy Records Official Website

[ Allmusic.com article on the NB Rydaz]

MC Magic - Magic City

Biography

Category:American hip hop groups Category:Musical groups from Phoenix, Arizona

es:NB Ridaz