COLORADO Cultural Information
WELCOME TO
Colorado
Nicknamed “The Centennial State” because it became the 38th state in 1876, which was the 100-year anniversary of the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The name “Colorado” is the Spanish adjective which means “ruddy”, the color of red sandstone. The state includes most of the Southern Rocky Mountains. Native Americans lived in the area for more than 13 000 years and the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains was used by the early people to move into the rest of the country.
Colorado Motto
Nil sine numine which translates to “Nothing without providence”.
- Spoken Languages: English: 85.3% • Spanish: 11.9% • Other: 2.8%
- Colorado is a state in the Western region of the United States. At 104,094 square miles (269,837 km2), and with more than 5.7 million residents in 2020, it is the eighth-largest U.S. state by area.
- Colorado is bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas to the east, Oklahoma to the southeast, New Mexico to the south, Utah to the west, and touches Arizona to the southwest at the Four Corners. Colorado is well known for its great landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers, and desert lands. Colorado is one of the Mountain States.
- Denver is the capital of and most populous city in Colorado. Residents of the state are known as Coloradans but the old-fashioned term “Coloradoan” is used occasionally.
- Major parts of the economy include government and defense, mining, agriculture, tourism, and increasingly other kinds of manufacturing. With increasing temperatures and decreasing water availability, Colorado’s agriculture, forestry, and tourism economies are expected to be heavily affected by climate change
Sports in COLORADO
Sports played include baseball, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, football, rugby, soccer, lacrosse, soccer, roller derby, athletics and more.
The Colorado Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum that honors individuals who merit recognition and distinction for their exploits, accomplishments, and leadership in sports and athletic endeavors in the state of Colorado. The museum is found in Denver at Gate #1 on the west side of Empower Field at Mile High.
Fun facts about COLORADO
- The Spanish were the first European visitors who arrived in Colorado in the 1500s.
- The name “cheeseburger” was trademarked by Louis Ballast of Humpty Dumpty Drive-In in Denver in 1935
- The state is nicknamed the “Centennial State” because it joined the Union after a century of the United States Declaration of Independence
- Denver is also known as the “Mile High City” because it sits at 5,280 feet above sea level—exactly one mile.
- Colorado is home to the United States Air Force Academy.
- Colorado Springs is the largest city in Colorado by area.
COLORADO slang words
- Rockpile = Cheapest seats to sit in during Rockies games.
- Pow = A fun term used to describe a fresh, powdery snowfall.
- Colorado Kool-Aid = Coors beer.
- LoDo = short for Lower Downtown (Denver)
- The Front Range= Refers to the cities that make up the non-mountainous parts of Colorado