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is the largest city in western Colorado. It is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous town or city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction is situated west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. According to 2007 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 48,714. Grand Junction is the 15th most populous city in the State of Colorado and the most populous city on the Colorado Western Slope. Grand Junction serves as a major commercial and transportation hub within the large area between the Green River and the Continental Divide. It is the principal city of the Grand Junction Metropolitan Statistical Area which had a population of 139,137 in 2007.
The city is located along the north side of the Colorado River, where it receives the Gunnison River from south. The name "Grand" refers to the historical name of the upper Colorado River until renamed in 1921, and the word 'junction' is from the joining of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers. The city sits near the mid-point of a 30-mile (48 km) arcing valley, known as the Grand Valley, a major fruit-growing region, historically home to the Ute people and settled by white farmers in the 1880s. In recent years, several wineries have been established in the area as well. The Colorado National Monument, a series of canyons and mesas similar to the Grand Canyon overlook the city, while most of the area is surrounded by public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Interstate 70 connects the city eastward to Glenwood Springs and Denver and westward to Green River, UT and Interstate 15.
Grand Junction is located at (39.080531, -108.559097). It is 20 miles east of the Utah State Line on Interstate 70. It is about 4,597 feet above sea level in what is called 'high desert' country.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.1 square miles (80.5 km²). 30.8 square miles (79.8 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.7 km²) of it is water. The total area is 0.87% water.