The El Paso area "at the corner of Texas and old Mexico" is rich in culture and history. The quick facts below tell a little about the area and its many attractions.

• The Spanish orignally named the area "El Paso del Norte" or the "Pass of the North" in the late 1500s.
• The population of El Paso is approximately 600,000. Juarez, Mexico has about 1,500,000 inhabitants.
• El Paso is located in the Mountain Time Zone.
• The official altitude of El Paso is 3,762 feet.
• Average annual rainfall is 8.81 inches.
• The Franklin Mountains, which divide El Paso, are the last southern ridge of the Rocky Mountains.
• El Paso is located in the Chihuahuan Desert, one of the largest desert areas in the world.
• El Paso is home to Fort Bliss, the largest Air Defense Center in the world.
• The Mission Churches of Ysleta and Socorro are considered to be the oldest of their kind in the country.
• The oldest road in the United States, the "Camino Real" or "King's Highway" leads through El Paso. once the Spanish conquistadors traveled north along this road on their search for gold and land.
• There are 15 museums in and around El Paso and Fort Bliss.
• Billy the Kid, Pancho Villa, and John Wesley Hardin all roamed the area.
• Hueco Tanks State Park was an Indian habitat that some anthropologists date back more than 2,000 years.
• The Chamizal National Memorial is built on land involved in a border dispute caused by the change in the course of the Rio Grande. The present border was established in 1963.
• Five bridges, in different parts of El Paso, connect the United States with Mexico.