The face of Colorado is changing. Census figures released Monday show that 17 percent of Colorado's population identified themselves as Hispanic.

The exact number -- 735,601 -- shows a surge of 73 percent from 1990.

Summit County led with 614 percent growth in Hispanics, who are 2,306 strong in the mountain resort area.

"This is not a surprise to us," said Rufina Hernandez, head of the Latin American Research and Service Agency in Denver. "In fact we've been trying to advise people earlier on that this was going to be the case, but without the hard data, it's been hard to convince them."

Larry Trujillo, director of the Department of Personnel/General Support Services, said that statewide growth in the Hispanic population means more responsibilities for Hispanics and also the state.

"Without educating this population and making sure they're part of the mainstream, the state of Colorado itself cannot prosper," Trujillo said. "The prosperity of the state of Colorado in the future will largely depend on how prosperous the minority groups are because they are as large as they are."

"The challenge is to make sure that Colorado is prepared to not only provide the infrastructure for transportation and water and all the things that all of us consume and need, but also to make sure that our educational system is one that's ready to address these new challenges," Gov. Bill Owens said.

Census figures show about 35 percent of Hispanics in Colorado are younger than 18, meaning the full political clout of the Hispanic community has yet to be realized.

Communities already are adapting. In Aurora, the school system has seen at least a 300 percent increase in students with Hispanic surnames in the last six years, spokeswoman Debbie Lynch said. About 28 percent of the 30,000 children in the system are Hispanic.

The school system offers Spanish classes for its staff and makes interpreters available for parent-teacher conferences in Korean, Chinese, German and Russian.

Making children feel comfortable is crucial as the Colorado Student Assessment Program, a test administered in English, becomes more important under Owens' plan to evaluate school performance.

Lynch said that Aurora has long dealt with diversity and students learning English as a second language.

"People see it as a challenge and one we need to step up and accept," Lynch said. "People who walk through our doors are entitled to the best education we can provide."

Businesses are changing, too.

For the first time this year, Vail Resorts has offered in Spanish a program that gives merchants discounted lift tickets if they undergo customer service training.

The company also found a bilingual speaker in the human resources department and offered orientation in Spanish and English this year.

Salazar said the "Hispanicization" of Colorado has encouraged more people to learn Spanish, including American-born Latinos like him, who grew up speaking English.

Valentina Garcia, news editor and reporter at La Voz, says that the tacquerias, joyerias and men pedaling ice cream carts along streets in Denver are familiar sights to her from her native Venezuela.

"What you see in Miami, LA, New York is trickling up to Denver," she said. "Not only that, but new immigrants in California are now coming to Denver. The quality of life is better here, crime is down, the schools are better, there are less people."

David Salazar, who says that he and his family held various jobs on a farm in Kersey and in drug stores, says that the opportunities for Hispanics were growing.

"There were no role models, no teachers, no judges. Not many Hispanics were being educated at a higher level," Salazar said. "It's changing. Now we're getting middle class people who are lawyers, authorities."