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The City and County of Denver (pronounced
/ˈdɛnvɚ/)
is the capital and the most populous city of Colorado,
in the United States. Denver is located in the South Platte
River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front
Range of the Southern Rocky Mountains. The Denver downtown
district is located immediately east of the confluence
of Cherry Creek with the South Platte River, approximately
15 miles (24 km) east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Denver is nicknamed the Mile-High City because its official
elevation is exactly one mile (5280 feet or 1609.344 m)
above sea level. The 105th meridian west of Greenwich
passes through Denver Union Station, making it the reference
point for the Mountain Time Zone.
The United States Census Bureau estimates
that the population of the City and County of Denver was
588,349 on 2007-07-01, making it the 26th most populous
U.S. city] The 5-county Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical
Area had an estimated 2007 population of 2,464,866 and
ranked as the 21st most populous U.S. metropolitan statistical
area, and the 12-county Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined
Statistical Area had an estimated 2007 population of 2,998,878
and ranked as the 17th most populous U.S. metropolitan
area.The 18-county Front Range Urban Corridor had a
estimated 2007 population of 4,166,855] It is also the
second largest city in the Mountain West after Phoenix.
The city claims to have the 10th largest central business
district in the United States.
History
Former Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver visited
his namesake city in 1875 and in 1882.Denver City was
founded in November of 1858 as a mining town during the
Pikes Peak Gold Rush in western Kansas Territory.
That summer, a group of gold prospectors from Lawrence,
Kansas, arrived and established Montana City on the banks
of the South Platte River. This was the first settlement
in what was later to become the city of Denver. The site
faded quickly, however, and was abandoned in favor of
Auraria (named after the gold-mining town of Auraria,
Georgia) and St. Charles City by the summer of 1859.
The Montana City site is now Grant-Frontier Park and
includes mining equipment and a log cabin replica.
On November 22, 1858, General William Larimer,
a land speculator from eastern Kansas, placed cottonwood
logs to stake a claim on the hill overlooking the confluence
of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, across the
creek from the existing mining settlement of Auraria. Larimer
named the town site Denver City to curry favor with Kansas
Territorial Governor James W. Denver.Larimer hoped
that the town's name would help make it the county seat
of Arapaho County, but ironically Governor Denver had already
resigned from office. The location was accessible to existing
trails and was across the South Platte River from the site
of seasonal encampments of the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The
site of these first towns is now the site of Confluence
Park in downtown Denver. Larimer, along with associates
in the St. Charles City Land Company, sold parcels in the
town to merchants and miners, with the intention of creating
a major city that would cater to new emigrants. Denver
City was a frontier town, with an economy based on servicing
local miners with gambling, saloons, livestock and goods
trading. In the early years, land parcels were often traded
for grubstakes or gambled away by miners in Auraria.
The Colorado Territory was created on February
28, 1861, Arapahoe County was formed on November 1,
1861, and Denver City was incorporated on November
7, 1861.Denver City served as the Arapahoe County Seat
from 1861 until consolidation in 1902. In 1865, Denver
City became the Territorial Capital.With its new-found
importance, Denver City shortened its name to just Denver.
On August 1, 1876, Denver became the State Capital when
Colorado was admitted to the Union.
Between 1880-1895 the city experienced
a huge rise in city corruption, as crime bosses, such as
Soapy Smith, worked side-by-side with elected officials
and the police to control the elections, gambling, and
the bunko gangs. In 1887, the precursor to the international
charity United Way was formed in Denver by local religious
leaders who raised funds and coordinated various charities
to help Denver's poor. By 1890, Denver had grown to
be the second largest city west of Omaha, but by 1900 it
had dropped to third place behind San Francisco and Los
Angeles.
Geography
Denver is located at 39°44′21″N, 104°59′05″W[16]
in the center of the Front Range Urban Corridor, between
the Rocky Mountains to the west and the High Plains to
the east. According to the United States Census Bureau,
the city has a total area of 154.9 square miles (401.3
km²), of which 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), or
1.03%, is water. The City and County of Denver is surrounded
by only three other counties: Adams
Climate
The average temperature in Denver
is 50.1 °F (10.1 °C),
and the average yearly precipitation is 15.81 inches (40.2
cm). The season's first snowfall generally occurs around
October 19, and the last snowfall is about April 27, averaging
54.9 inches (156 cm) of seasonal accumulation. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records an annual
average of sunshine during 69 percent of all possible daylight
hours .
Denver's winters can vary from mild
to cold, and although large amounts of snow can fall
on the mountains just west of the city, the effects of
orographic lift dry out the air passing over the Front
Range, shielding the city from precipitation for much
of the season. Additionally, warm chinook winds occasionally
occur as air passing over the mountains heats as it descends,
quickly melting snow accumulations and making Denver's
winters milder than areas without this effect. The coldest
temperature ever recorded in Denver was recorded on January
9, 1875 at -29 °F (-34 °C),
though the last time Denver recorded a temperature below
-20 °F (-29 °C) was in 1990.
A thunderstorm in Denver.Spring brings with it significant
changes as Denver can be affected by air masses on all
sides. Arctic air from the north can often combine with
Pacific storm fronts bringing snow to the city. In fact,
March is Denver's snowiest month, averaging 11.7 inches
(29.7 cm) of snow. Additionally, warm air from the Gulf
of Mexico can bring the first thunderstorms of the season,
and continental warm air can bring summer-like warm and
dry conditions.
Starting in mid-July, the monsoon
brings tropical moisture into the city and with it come
frequent short (and occasionally severe) late-afternoon
thunderstorms. However, despite this tropical moisture,
humidity levels during the day generally remain low.
The average high during the summer is 88 °F (31°C) and the average low is 59 °F
(15 °C). The hottest temperature ever recorded in Denver
is 105°F (41°C).
In the autumn, the tropical monsoon
flow dies down and as Arctic air begins to approach,
it can combine with moisture from the Pacific Northwest
to bring significant snowfall to the city – November
is Denver's second snowiest month, and Denver's greatest
recorded snowfall from a single storm, 45.7 inches (116
cm), fell in late autumn from December 1 to December
6, 1913.
Demographics
The United States Census Bureau estimates
that, in 2006, the population of the City and County of
Denver was 566,974, making it the 27th most populous U.S.
city.The Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area
had an estimated 2006 population of 2,408,750 and ranked
as the 21st most populous U.S. metropolitan statistical
area,[5] and the larger Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined
Statistical Area had an estimated 2006 population of 2,927,911
and ranked as the 17th most populous U.S. metropolitan
area. Denver is the most populous city within a radius
of 550 miles (885 km).[31] Residents of the city and county
of Denver are known as Denverites.
According to census estimates, the
City and County of Denver contains approximately 566,974
people (2006) and 239,235 households (2000). The population
density is 3,698/sq mi (1,428/km²). There are 268,540
housing units (2005) at an average density of 1,751/sq
mi (676/km²).
The racial make up of the city, as of 2005,
is 50.3% White, 10.6% Black, 3.1% Asian American, 1.4%
Native American, 0.2% Pacific Islander, and 1.9% from two
or more races. 34.7% of the population is Hispanic or Latino
of any race.11.3% were of German, 7.2% Irish and 6.2%
English ancestry according to Census 2000. 73.2% spoke
English and 21.1% Spanish as their first language.
There are 250,906 households, out of which 23.2% have
children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.7% are
married couples living together, 10.8% have a female householder
with no husband present, and 50.1% are non-families. 39.3%
of all households are made up of individuals and 9.4% have
someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The
average household size is 2.27 and the average family size
is 3.14.
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