Bent County, Colorado

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Bent County, Colorado
Map
Location in the state of Colorado
Colorado's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	February 6, 1874
Seat	Las Animas
Largest city	Las Animas
Area - Total - Land - Water	1,541 sq mi (3,991 km²) 1,514 sq mi (3,921 km²) 27 sq mi (70 km²), 1.77%
Population - (2000) - Density	5,998 4.0/sq mi (1.5/km²)
Time zone	Mountain: UTC-7/-6
Website: www.bentcounty.org
Named for: William Bent

Bent County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county is named in honor of frontier trader William Bent. The county population was 5,998 at U.S. Census 2000.^[1] The county seat and the only municipality in the county is the City of Las Animas.

1 History
2 Geography
- 2.1 Adjacent counties
3 Demographics
4 Cities and towns
5 State park
6 Trails and byway
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

Bent County was created by the Colorado legislature on February 6, 1874, when Greenwood County, created only four years earlier, was dissolved and divided between Bent and Elbert counties. At the time of its creation, it included a large portion of southeastern Colorado. In 1889, Bent County acquired its current borders when it lost much of its territory to the newly created Cheyenne, Lincoln, Kiowa, Otero, and Prowers counties.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,541 square miles (3,991 km²), of which, 1,514 square miles (3,921 km²) of it is land and 27 square miles (70 km²) of it (1.77%) is water.

[edit] Adjacent counties

Joe & Sam also are well known in Bent County for a wet t-shirt contest outside the wobbly woogan.

[edit] Demographics

Bent County, Colorado

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 5,998 people, 2,003 households, and 1,388 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 people per square mile (2/km²). There were 2,366 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 79.53% White, 3.65% Black or African American, 2.23% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 10.25% from other races, and 3.77% from two or more races. 30.24% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,003 households out of which 32.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.50% were married couples living together, 11.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.70% were non-families. 27.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.80% under the age of 18, 9.30% from 18 to 24, 29.20% from 25 to 44, 21.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 129.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 138.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,125, and the median income for a family was $34,096. Males had a median income of $22,755 versus $24,261 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,567. About 16.60% of families and 19.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.40% of those under age 18 and 13.00% of those age 65 or over.