The Colorado Plateau is a geographic province located in the Southwestern United States. It is characterized by tablelands, volcanic peaks, and deeply etched plateaus dissected by the Colorado River and its tributaries. The Colorado Plateau encompasses 130,000 square miles of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. Elevations range from about 1,200 feet (at Lake Mead) to 12,365 feet (Humphreys Peak, San Francisco Mountain). It is home to one million people, including ten Native American tribes and numerous rare species of plants and animals.