Portal:Colorado

The Colorado Portal

Colorado is the state of the United States of America that encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the high western edge of the Great Plains. Admitted to the Union on August 1, 1876, Colorado became the 38th U.S. state. Colorado ranks 21st in population, eighth in total area, and first in mean elevation among the 50 U.S. states. Fifty-five of the 124 highest major mountain peaks of North America rise in Colorado. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of the State of Colorado was 5,957,493 on July 1, 2024, an increase of +3.18% since the 2020 United States Census. Denver is the state capital, the most populous city, and the heart of the most populous metropolitan area of the Rocky Mountain Region. Colorado Springs is the state's second most populous city. While the population of the Front Range Urban Corridor exceeds five million, many rugged portions of the state remain pristine wilderness.

WikiProject Colorado

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Colorado Events

  • Wikimedia US Mountain West Spring 2026 online meeting, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 8:00-9:00 PM MDT
  • Wikimedia US Mountain West Summer 2026 online meeting, Tuesday, August 11, 2026, 8:00-9:00 PM MDT
  • Wikimedia US Mountain West Autumn 2026 online meeting, Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 8:00-9:00 PM MST
  • Events elsewhere

Colorado Facts

State of Colorado

Class 2. John Hickenlooper (D) (2021–)
Class 3. Michael Bennet (D) (2009–)
1. Diana DeGette (D) (1997–)
2. Joe Neguse (D) (2019–)
3. Jeff Hurd (R) (2025-)
4. Lauren Boebert (R) (2025-)
5. Jeff Crank (R) (2025-)
6. Jason Crow (D) (2019–)
7. Brittany Pettersen (D) (2023-)
8. Gabe Evans (R) (2025–)

State Symbols

State flag:                 State seal:
State motto: NIL SINE NUMINE (Latin: Nothing without providence)
State nickname: The Centennial State
State slogan: Colorful Colorado
State amphibian: Western Tiger Salamander
(Ambystoma mavortium)
State bird: Lark Bunting
(Calamospiza melanocoryus Stejneger)
State cactus: Claret Cup Cactus
(Echinocereus triglochidiatus)
State fish: Greenback Cutthroat Trout
(Oncorhynchus clarki somias)
State flower: Rocky Mountain Columbine
(Aquilegia caerulea)
State grass: Blue Grama
(Bouteloua gracilis)
State insect: Colorado Hairstreak Butterfly
(Hypaurotis cysaluswas)
State mammal: Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
(Ovis canadensis)
State pets: Colorado shelter pets
(Canis lupus familiaris & Felis catus)
State reptile: Western Painted Turtle
(Chrysemys picta bellii)
State tree: Colorado Blue Spruce
(Picea pungens)
State fossil: Stegosaurus
(Stegosaurus armatus)
State gemstone: Aquamarine
State mineral: Rhodochrosite
State rock: Yule Marble
State soil: Seitz soil
State folk dance: Square Dance
State ship: USS Colorado (SSN-788)
State songs: Where the Columbines Grow & Rocky Mountain High
State sport: Pack Burro Racing
State highway route marker:
State tartan:
Commemorative U.S. coin:
Commemorative U.S. stamp:

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Featured article -

The U.S. State of Colorado has 20 statistical areas that have been delineated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Statistical areas are important geographic delineations of population clusters used by the OMB, the United States Census Bureau, planning organizations, and federal, state, and local government entities.

On July 21, 2023, the OMB delineated three combined statistical areas, seven metropolitan statistical areas, and ten micropolitan statistical areas in Colorado. The most populous of these statistical areas is the 12-county Denver–Aurora–Greeley, CO Combined Statistical Area with a United States Census Bureau estimated population of 3,752,505 as of July 1, 2024. (Full article...)

Selected mountain -

Mount Evans 14,272 feet (4350 m)
The highest summit of the Chicago Peaks of Colorado.

Selected biography -

Zebulon Montgomery Pike
Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions through the Louisiana Purchase territory, first in 1805–1806 to reconnoiter the upper northern reaches of the Mississippi River, and then in 1806–1807 to explore the southwest to the fringes of the northern Spanish-colonial settlements of New Mexico and Texas. Pike's expeditions coincided with other Jeffersonian expeditions, including the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Red River Expedition in 1806.

Pike's second expedition crossed the Rocky Mountains into what is now southern Colorado, which resulted in his capture by the Spanish colonial authorities near Santa Fe, who then sent Pike and his men to Chihuahua (present-day Mexico) for interrogation. Later in 1807, Pike and some of his men were escorted by the Spanish through Texas and released near U.S. territory in early Louisiana.

In 1810, Pike published an account of his expeditions, a book so popular that it was translated into several languages for publication in Europe. He later achieved the rank of brigadier general in the United States Army, and served in the War of 1812 until he was killed in April 1813 by an explosion at a gunpowder magazine outside the British colonial capital of Upper Canada during the Battle of York. (Full article...)

Selected article -

The Rocky Flats Plant, a former United States nuclear weapons production facility located about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Denver, caused radioactive (primarily plutonium, americium, and uranium) contamination within and outside its boundaries. The contamination primarily resulted from two major plutonium fires in 1957 and 1969 (plutonium is pyrophoric, and shavings can spontaneously combust) and from wind-blown plutonium that leaked from barrels of radioactive waste. Much lower concentrations of radioactive isotopes were released throughout the operational life of the plant from 1952 to 1992, from smaller accidents and from normal operational releases of plutonium particles too small to be filtered. Prevailing winds from the plant carried airborne contamination south and east, into populated areas northwest of Denver.

The contamination of the Denver area by plutonium from the fires and other sources was not publicly reported until the 1970s. According to a 1972 study coauthored by Edward Martell, "In the more densely populated areas of Denver, the Pu contamination level in surface soils is several times fallout", and the plutonium contamination "just east of the Rocky Flats plant ranges up to hundreds of times that from nuclear tests." As noted by Carl Johnson in Ambio, "Exposures of a large population in the Denver area to plutonium and other radionuclides in the exhaust plumes from the plant date back to 1953." (Full article...)

Selected image -

Barack Obama accepting the presidential nomination of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

National Parks in Colorado

Rocky Mountain National Park

The 23 national parks in Colorado:

Interesting facts-

Did you know (auto-generated) -

Colorado United States U.S. counties
U.S. History U.S. Roads U.S. Streets
Geology Mountains Rivers
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