Denver

Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United States and the fifth most populous state capital. It is the principal city of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood metropolitan statistical area, the most populous metropolitan statistical area in Colorado and the first city of the Front Range Urban Corridor.

Denver is in the western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Its downtown district is immediately east of the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River, about east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It is named after James W. Denver, a governor of the Kansas Territory. It is nicknamed the Mile High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile () above sea level. for more than a century. When the National Geodetic Survey makes adjustments to its national elevation measurements, the State of Colorado moves the official mile-high elevation point up or down the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol to reflect the changes. Most of Denver actually lies above this elevation.}} The 105th meridian west of Greenwich, the longitudinal reference for the Mountain Time Zone, passes directly through Denver Union Station.

Denver is ranked as a Beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. The 10-county Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 2,963,821 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 19th most populous U.S. metropolitan statistical area. The 12-county Denver–Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area had a population of 3,623,560 at the 2020 U.S. census, making it the 17th most populous U.S. primary statistical area. Denver is the most populous city of the 18-county Front Range Urban Corridor, an oblong urban region stretching across two states with a population of 5,055,344 at the 2020 U.S. census. Its metropolitan area is the most populous within a radius and it is the second-most populous city in the Mountain West after Phoenix, Arizona. In 2016, it was named the best place to live in the United States by ''U.S. News & World Report''. Provided by Wikipedia