The largest city in Utah has a population of almost one million. Salt Lake City is at the north end of the Salt Lake Valley and is surrounded by the huge Wasatch mountains, on the south shore of the vast Great Salt Lake, an inland sea.

Settled by Native Americans thousands of years ago, Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by a group of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) led by religious prophet Brigham Young and is now the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its wealth built on mining and the railroads, Salt Lake City is also a tourist town and has become an increasingly important commercial hub for the Rocky Mountains.

With the rugged mountains as a backdrop and the vast Great Salt Lake laid out in front, Salt Lake City is a dramatic sight. It has witnessed rapid growth in recent years and now has a small skyline, but still retains the charm of a much smaller city, with friendly, polite inhabitants.

Salt Lake City has a very mixed population, with large numbers of refugees settled in the city under various government programmes and the founding Mormons now constitute less than half the population. The variety of cultures present in the city feeds into its districts and give it an unexpectedly cosmopolitan air.

The downtown area of the city is a mixture of old and new architecture, with glass skyscrapers next to 19th century houses and civic buildings.

Beehive House in Temple Square, constructed in 1854, was Brigham Young's home and is now a museum, with many of the original furnishings and evidence of Young's polygamous life. The Salt Lake Temple, the historic Tabernacle, the LDS Conference Center and the LDS Genealogical Library all draw hoards of Mormon visitors every year.

Among the best non-religious offerings in Salt Lake City are the impressive Salt Lake City Public Library, the Pioneer Memorial Museum, the Utah State Capitol, and the Utah Museum of Natural History and Utah Museum of Fine Arts, both housed at the University of Utah.

For families, the Clarke Planetarium, the Children's Museum of Utah and the This Is the Place Heritage Park, which recreates the pioneer era, are entertaining.

Salt Lake City played host to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and boosted the city's infrastructure. Transport links around the city are now excellent and tourism has increased since the games. Local sporting events can be seen at the impressive Olympic venues.

The Bonneville Salt Flats west of the city are a strange sight, an alien landscape stretching across the plains. In the mountains around Salt Lake City, more active travellers can take part in activities such as skiing, fishing, boating, snowboarding, hiking, nature walks and mountain biking.

An increasing number of airlines are now offering flights to Salt Lake City International Airport and, as the tourist industry grows more important, hotels are springing up, with an array of accommodation now on offer.

Salt Lake City has a number of excellent restaurants and scores of more basic eateries, some good shopping malls and a selection of lively bars and music venues.