<P> During and following the war, military expansion in the area, as well as oil discoveries in the Permian Basin (North America), helped to engender 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 . Additionally, the departure of region's rural population, which was mostly white, to cities like El Paso, brought a short term burst of capital and labor . However, this was balanced by additional departures of middle class Americans to other parts of the country which offered new and better paying jobs . In turn, local businesses looked south to the opportunities afforded by cheap Mexican labor . Furthermore, the period from 1942 to 1956 saw the bracero program which brought in cheap Mexican labor into the rural area to replace the losses of the native white population . In turn, seeking better - paying jobs these migrants also moved to El Paso . By 1965, Hispanics once again were a majority . Meanwhile, the post-war expansion slowed again in the 1960s, but the city continued to grow with the annexation of surrounding neighborhoods and in large part because of its significant economic relationship with Mexico . </P> <P> El Paso is at 31 ° 47 ′ 25" N 106 ° 25 ′ 24" W ﻿ / ﻿ 31.79028 ° N 106.42333 ° W ﻿ / 31.79028; - 106.42333 (31.790208, − 106.423242). It lies at the intersection of three states (Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua) and two countries (the U.S. and Mexico). It is the only major Texas city on Mountain Time . Ciudad Juarez used to be on Central Time, but both cities are now on Mountain Time . </P> <P> El Paso is closer to the capital cities of four other states - Phoenix, Arizona (348 miles away); Santa Fe, New Mexico, (272 miles away); Ciudad Chihuahua, Chihuahua, (212 miles away); and Hermosillo, Sonora (327 miles away) - than it is to the capital of its own state, Austin (526 miles away). It is closer to Los Angeles, California (702 miles away) than it is to Orange, Texas (762 miles away), the easternmost town in the state . </P> <P> El Paso is located within the Chihuahuan Desert, the easternmost section of the Basin and Range Region . The Franklin Mountains extend into El Paso from the north and nearly divide the city into two sections; the west side forms the beginnings of the Mesilla Valley, and the east side expands into the desert and lower valley . They connect in the central business district at the southern end of the mountain range . </P>

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