Orem, city, Utah county, north-central Utah, U.S., 4 miles (6.5 km) north of Provo. The Provo River flows to the east in Provo River canyon (containing the scenic Bridal Veil Falls), and to the west lies Utah Lake, a 150-square-mile (390-square-km) remnant of ancient Lake Bonneville. The city was called Provo Bench until it was renamed for railroad owner Walter Orem. It was founded as an agricultural district; unlike most Mormon settlements, where farmlands lay outside the residential district, Orem was planned to mix private homes among fields and orchards. Now a populous suburb of Salt Lake City, the area has prospered from the introduction of high-technology manufacturing and software firms and television-production studios, which displaced other industries in the 1990s. Inc. 1919. Pop. (2000) 84,324; Provo-Orem Metro Area, 376,774; (2010) 88,328; Provo-Orem Metro Area, 526,810.