Colorado: Difference between revisions

Colorado is notable for its diverse geography, which includes alpine mountains, high plains, deserts with huge sand dunes, and deep canyons. In 1861, the [[Thirty-sixth United States Congress|United States Congress]] defined the boundaries of the new [[Territory of Colorado]] exclusively by lines of [[latitude]] and [[longitude]], stretching from [[37th parallel north|37°N]] to [[41st parallel north|41°N]] latitude, and from [[25th meridian west from Washington|102°02′48″W]] to [[32nd meridian west from Washington|109°02′48″W]] longitude ([[25th meridian west from Washington|25°W]] to [[32nd meridian west from Washington|32°W]] from the [[Washington Meridian]]).<ref name="ColoradoOrganicAct">{{cite web|url=https://govtrackus.s3.amazonaws.com/legislink/pdf/stat/12/STATUTE-12-Pg172.pdf|title=An Act to provide a temporary Government for the Territory of Colorado|work=[[Congressional Record]]|publisher=[[Thirty-sixth United States Congress]]|date=February 28, 1861|pages=172–177|access-date=May 28, 2023}}</ref> After {{age|1861|02|28}} years of government surveys, the borders of Colorado were officially defined by 697 [[boundary marker]]s and 697 [[Border|straight boundary lines]].<ref name="FM">{{cite web|publisher=Fascinating Maps|title=Colorado is NOT a perfect rectangle|url=https://fascinatingmaps.com/colorado-is-not-a-perfect-rectangle/|access-date=November 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617202941/https://fascinatingmaps.com/colorado-is-not-a-perfect-rectangle/|archive-date=June 17, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> Colorado, [[Wyoming]], and [[Utah]] are the only states that have their borders defined solely by straight boundary lines with no natural features.<ref name="BT">{{cite web|publisher=The Big Think, Inc.|title=Colorado is a rectangle? Think again.|date=October 31, 2018|url=https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/colorado-is-not-a-rectangle|access-date=November 15, 2018}}</ref> The southwest corner of Colorado is the [[Four Corners Monument]] at [[37th parallel north|36°59′56″N]], [[32nd meridian west from Washington|109°2′43″W]].<ref name="FourCorners">{{cite web|title=Shared Solution: Four Corners|url=https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/OPUS/getDatasheet.jsp?PID=BBCD57&ts=10354154008&style=modern|work=NGS Survey Monument Data Sheet|publisher=[[United States National Geodetic Survey]]|date=July 7, 2010|access-date=May 27, 2023}}</ref>{{efn|name="FourCornersMonument"|The official [[Four Corners Monument]] is located at [[37th parallel north|36°59'56.31608″N]], [[32nd meridian west from Washington|109°2'42.62075"W]], {{convert|574|ft}} southeast of the [[37th parallel north|37°N]], [[32nd meridian west from Washington|109°02′48″W]] location [[Thirty-sixth United States Congress|Congress]] originally designated.}} The [[Four Corners Monument]], located at the place where Colorado, [[New Mexico]], [[Arizona]], and [[Utah]] meet, is the only place in the United States where four states meet.<ref name=BT/>