El Paso (/ɛl ˈpæsoʊ/; Spanish: [el ˈpaso] “the pass”) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County in the far southwestern part of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815,[4] making it the 23rd-largest city in the United States, the sixth-largest city in Texas, and the second-largest city in the Southwestern United States behind Phoenix, Arizona.[7] The city is also the second-largest majority-Hispanic city in the United States, with 81% of its population being Hispanic.[8] Its metropolitan statistical area covers all of El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas and had a population of 868,859 in 2020.[9]
El Paso stands on the Rio Grande across the Mexico–United States border from Ciudad Juárez, the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua with over 1.5 million people.[10] The Las Cruces area, in the neighboring U.S. state of New Mexico, has a population of 219,561.[11] On the U.S. side, the El Paso metropolitan area forms part of the larger El Paso-Las Cruces combined statistical area, with a population of 1,088,420.[11]
These three cities form a combined international metropolitan area sometimes referred to as the Paso del Norte or the Borderplex. The region of 2.7 million people constitutes the largest bilingual and binational workforce in the Western Hemisphere.[12]
The city is home to three publicly traded companies, and former Western Refining, now Marathon Petroleum,[13] as well as home to the Medical Center of the Americas,[14] the only medical research and care provider complex in West Texas and Southern New Mexico,[15] and the University of Texas at El Paso, the city’s primary university. The city hosts the annual Sun Bowl college football postseason game, the second-oldest bowl game in the country.[16]
El Paso has a strong federal and military presence. William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Biggs Army Airfield, and Fort Bliss are located in the area. Fort Bliss is one of the largest military complexes of the United States Army and the second-largest training area in the United States behind the nearby White Sands Missile Range. The fort is headquartered in El Paso but a large part of the training area is in New Mexico.[17] Also headquartered in El Paso are the Drug Enforcement Administration domestic field division 7, El Paso Intelligence Center, Joint Task Force North, United States Border Patrol El Paso Sector, and U.S. Border Patrol Special Operations Group.
El Paso is a five-time All-America City Award winner, winning in 1969, 2010, 2018, 2020, and 2021,[18] and Congressional Quarterly ranked it in the top three safest large cities in the United States between 1997 and 2014,[19] including holding the title of the safest city between 2011 and 2014.[20]
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