El Paso, Texas
City of El Paso
El Paso Skyline from Rim Road
Flag
Seal
Nickname(s): "The Sun City"[1]
Location in the state of Texas
Coordinates: 31°47′25″N 106°25′24″W /
31.79028°N 106.42333°W / 31.79028;
-106.42333
Country
United States
State
Texas
County
El Paso
Government
- Mayor
John Cook
Area
- City
250.5 sq mi (648.8 km2)
- Land
249.08 sq mi (645.11 km2)
- Water
1.46 sq mi (3.78 km2)
Elevation
3,740 ft (1,140 m)
Population (2005[2])
- City
606,913
- Density
2,446.7/sq mi (944.7/km2)
- Metro
736,310
Time zone
MST (UTC-7)
- Summer (DST) MDT (UTC-6)
Area code(s)
915
FIPS code
48-24000[3]
GNIS feature ID
1380946[4]
Website
www.elpasotexas.gov
Downtown El Paso as seen from I-10 West.
El Paso is a city in and the county seat of
El Paso County, Texas, United States,[5] and
part of the American Southwest. According to
the United States Census Bureau’s 2006 pop-
ulation estimates, the city had a population of
606,913.[2] It is the sixth-largest city in Texas
and the 22nd-largest city in the United
States. Its metropolitan area covers all of El
Paso County. The metropolitan area has a
population of 736,310.
El Paso stands on the Rio Grande (Río
Bravo del Norte), across the border from Ci-
udad Juárez, Chihuahua. The image to the
right shows Downtown El Paso and Juárez,
with the Juárez Mountains in the back-
ground. The two cities form a combined In-
ternational Area with Juarez being the signi-
ficantly larger of the two. Together they have
a combined population of 2,049,648, with
Juárez accounting for 2/3 of the population.[6]
El Paso is home to the University of Texas
at El Paso (founded in 1914 as The Texas
State School of Mines and Metallurgy). Fort
Bliss, a major United States Army installa-
tion, lies to the east and northeast of the city,
with training areas extending north into New
Mexico, up to the White Sands Missile Range.
The Franklin Mountains extend into El Paso
from the north and nearly divide the city into
two sections, with downtown connecting the
two sections at the south end of the mountain
range.