Denver

Denver, Colorado USA

With its concentration of people, culture and commerce, the Mile High City of Denver is the capital of Colorado. The metropolitan Denver region is home to 2.5 million people, over half of the state’s entire population. The city was born in 1858, when gold was discovered in the sands of Cherry Creek. It was incorporated as a city in 1861 and became the territorial capital in 1867. The city is named for James W. Denver, governor of the Kansas Territory, which included part of Colorado. The city prospered from the famous gold and silver mines of the 1870s and 1880s. Today Denver is an important cultural, industrial, transportation, tourist, and marketing center and the unofficial capital of the entire Rocky Mountain region. It is also a regional center for many federal government agencies and a leader in the development of western energy resources. Denver's fastest-growing industries include telecommunications, information technology, environmental products and services and business and financial services.

The city is also home to numerous cultural amenities which include the second-largest performing arts complex in the United States, more open space and parks than any other city in the world, first-class art, science and history museums and championship-winning sports teams.