El Paso is the county seat of El Paso County in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the 2005 U.S. Census population estimates, the city had a population of 598,590, making it the largest in west Texas, the sixth-largest city in Texas and the 21st-largest city in the United States. El Paso is second only to San Diego, California in size among all U.S. cities on the U.S.-Mexico border. Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua lies opposite of the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo del Norte) —which separates the two cities—forming a bi-national metropolitan area of 2,280,782, (of which 721,598 lies north of the Rio Grande). In all, the total population of El Paso-Juarez compromises the second-largest bi-national metropolitan area on the U.S.–Mexico border.

El Paso is home to the University of Texas at El Paso (founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy and receiving university status 1967). Fort Bliss, a major United States Army installation, lies to the east and northeast of the city, extending north 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.

El Paso is served by El Paso International Airport, Amtrak via the historic Union Depot, Interstate 10, U.S. Route 54 (known locally as the "North-South Freeway"), U.S. Route 180 (Montana Avenue), U.S. Route 85 (Paisano Drive), U.S. Route 62(also Montana Avenue), Texas Loop 375, Texas Loop 478 (Copia Street-Pershing Drive-Dyer Street), numerous Farm to Market Roads (FM's) and the city's original thoroughfare, Texas 20 (formerly U.S. Route 80).

You can find more great information, including the history of El Paso, at our Wikipedia entry.

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