Provo was originally called Fort Utah when it was settled in 1849 by 33 Mormon families from Salt Lake City, but was re-named Provo in 1850 for Étienne Provost, an early French-Canadian trapper who arrived in the region in 1825. Father Silvestre Velez de Escalante, a Spanish Franciscan missionary-explorer is considered the first European explorer to visit the area in 1776, but only came as far north as Utah Valley (Provo), some 30 miles (48 km) south of the Salt Lake City area. Escalante chronicled this first European exploration across the Great Basin desert.
Provo has grown to a population of 117,592 —making it the third-largest city in Utah, only about 3,000 people smaller than West Valley City. The Provo-Orem Metropolitan Area, consisting of Utah County and Juab County has 474,180 residents as of the July 1, 2006 U.S. Census Bureau estimate.
As of the 2000 census of 2000, there were 105,166 people, 29,192 households, and 19,938 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,653.2 people per square mile (1,024.3/km²). There were 30,374 housing units at an average density of 766.3/sq mi (295.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.52% White, 0.46% Black or African American, 0.80% American Indian, 1.83% Asian, 0.84% Pacific Islander, 5.10% from other races, and 2.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.47% of the population.
There were 29,192 households out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.0% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 11.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.34 and the average family size was 3.40.
22.3% of residents are under the age of 18, 40.2% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 8.6% from 45 to 64, and 5.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,313, and the median income for a family was $36,393. Males had a median income of $32,010 versus $20,928 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,207. About 12.5% of families and 26.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.
The residents of Provo are predominately members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS. According to data taken in 2000 by the ARDA, 88% of the overall population, and 98% of religious adherents in the Provo-Orem area are LDS.
Interstate 15 runs along the west edge of Provo, connecting it with the rest of the Wasatch Front and much of Utah. US-89 runs northwest to southeast through the city as State Street, while US-189 connects US-89 with I-15, BYU, and Orem to the north. At the north edge of the city, US-189 heads northeast into Provo Canyon, where it connects with Heber. Amtrak the national passenger rail system, provides service to Provo station, operating its California Zephyr daily in both directions between Chicago, Illinois and Emeryville, California, across the bay from San Francisco. Provo also can be accessed by Greyhound Bus Lines and the extensive Utah Transit Authority (UTA) bus system. UTA's commuter rail service, FrontRunner, is expected to be extended to Provo from Salt Lake City by 2012.