El Paso is a city in El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121.

El Paso stands on the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte), across the border from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The image to the right shows Downtown El Paso and Juárez, with the Juárez Mountains in the background. The two cities form a combined international metropolitan area, sometimes called Juarez-El Paso, with Juárez being the significantly larger of the two in population. Together they have a combined population of 2 million, with Juárez accounting for 2/3 of the population. In 2010 El Paso was awarded an All-America City Award, the oldest community recognition program in the United States.

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 later, Texas Western College; its present name dates from 1967) and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso. Fort Bliss, one of the largest military complexes of the United States Army, lies to the east and northeast of the city, with training areas extending north into New Mexico, up to the White Sands Missile Range and neighboring Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo. The Franklin Mountains extend into El Paso from the north and nearly divide the city into two sections, the western half forming the beginnings of the Mesilla Valley and with the eastern slopes connecting in the central business district at the south end of the mountain range.

Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate was the first European explorer known to have arrived at the Rio Grande near El Paso, in 1598, celebrating Thanksgiving Mass there on April 30, 1598 (several decades before the Pilgrims' Thanksgiving). However, it is thought that the 4 survivors of the Narváez expedition passed through the area in the mid-1530s. El Paso del Norte (the present day Ciudad Juárez), was founded on the south bank of the Río Bravo del Norte, (Rio Grande) in 1659 by Spanish conquistadors. In 1680 the small village of El Paso became the base for Spanish governance of the territory of New Mexico, remaining the largest settlement in New Mexico until its cession to the US in 1848, when Texas took it in 1850.

Mining and other industries gradually developed in the area. The El Paso and Northeastern Railway was chartered in 1897, in order to help exploit the natural resources of surrounding ares, especially in southeastern New Mexico Territory. The Arizona and Southeastern Railroad was slowly extended towards El Paso (owned by the Phelps Dodge company), in order to allow the construction of a second copper refinery in El Paso to refine copper ore being produced in Arizona and southwestern New Mexico by Phelps Dodge. In 1901, the Arizona and Southeastern was re-named the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad, and the tracks finally reached El Paso in 1902. The 1920s and 1930s saw the emergence of major business development in the city partially enabled by Prohibition era bootlegging. The Depression era hit the city hard and population declined through the end of World War II. Following the war, military expansion in the area as well as oil discoveries in the Permian Basin (North America) helped to cause rapid economic expansion in the mid 1900s. Copper smelting, oil refining, and the proliferation of low wage industries (particularly garment making) led the city's growth. The expansion slowed again in the 1960s but the city has continued to grow in large part because of the increased importance of trade with Mexico.

El Paso's tallest building, the Wells Fargo Plaza, was built in the early-1970s as State National Plaza. The black-windowed, 296-foot (90 m) building is famous for its 13 white horizonal lights (18 lights per row on the east and west sides of the building, and 7 bulbs per row on the north and south sides) that were lit at night. The tower did use a design of the United States flag during the 4th of July holidays as well as the American hostage crisis of 1980, and was lit continuously following the September 11 attacks in 2001 until around 2006. During the Christmas holidays, a design of a Christmas tree was used, and at times, the letters "UTEP" was used to support University of Texas at El Paso athletics. The tower is now only lit during the holiday months, or when special events take place in the city.

El Paso is the Operational Headquarters of Helen of Troy Limited, a NASDAQ listed company that manufactures personal health care products under many labels such as OXO, Dr. Scholls, Vidal Sassoon, Sunbeam, among others. Also headquartered in El Paso is Western Refining, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and Spira Footwear, and Fred Loya Insurance, an insurance company.

More than 70 Fortune 500 companies have offices in El Paso, including The Hoover Company, Eureka, Boeing, and Delphi (auto parts).

El Paso is an important entry point to the U.S. from Mexico. Once a major copper refining area, chief manufacturing industries in El Paso now include food production, clothing, construction materials, electronic and medical equipment, and plastics. Cotton, fruit, vegetables, livestock, and pecans are produced in the area. With El Paso's attractive climate and natural beauty, tourism has become a booming industry as well as trade with neighboring Ciudad Juárez.