New Mexico

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New Mexico

(In Detail) (Full size)
State nickname: Land of Enchantment
Other U.S. States
Capital	Santa Fe
Largest City	Albuquerque
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water  - % water	Ranked 5th 315,194 km2 314,590 km2 607 km2 0.2%
Population  - Total (2000)  - Density	Ranked 36th 1,819,046 6/km2
Admittance into Union  - Order  - Date	47th January 6, 1912
Time zone	Mountain: UTC-7/-6
Latitude Longitude	31°20'N to 37°N 103°W to 109°W
Width Length	550 km 595 km
Elevation  -Highest  -Mean  -Lowest	4,011 meters 1735 meters 866 meters
ISO 3166-2:	US-NM

New Mexico is a state in the southwestern United States and its U.S. postal abbreviation is NM. Nuevo Mexico was the Spanish name for the territory north and west of the Rio Grande.

USS New Mexico was named in honor of this state.

Table of contents

1 History 2 Law and government 3 Geography 3.1 Interstate highways 3.2 United States highways 4 Economy 5 Demographics 6 Important cities and towns 7 Education 7.3 Colleges and universities 8 Miscellaneous information 9 Some fauna 10 Further reading 11 External link

History

New Mexico is centered on the Rio Grande valley, the historical center of Spanish settlement and conquest of the Pueblo people, Native American tribes who lived in small towns along the Rio Grande and nearby as at Acoma. In 1540, the Spanish conquistador Coronado trekked through the area known today as New Mexico in search of the fabled seven cities of gold.

The incorporation of the modern-day state's territory into the United States was a gradual process. The northeastern corner was ceded by France in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The remainder of what is now New Mexico was then wholly claimed by the Spanish colony of New Spain and its successor state (after 1810), the Republic of Mexico. The incorporation of this territory into the USA came in three stages: the portion to the east of the Rio Grande was claimed by the breakaway Republic of Texas when it seceded from Mexico in 1836; this territory was transferred to the federal government by Texas in 1850. Most of the western portion of the state (to the west of the river) was surrendered by Mexico under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. Finally, the southwestern corner of the state (the "boot heel") was surrendered by Mexico under the 1853 Gadsden Purchase. The Territory of New Mexico was established on September 9 1850, and the State of New Mexico was admitted to the Union as its 47th member on January 6, 1912.

New Mexico is home to two national laboratories, Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The first atomic bomb was detonated at the Trinity site in the desert on the Alamogordo Test Range on July 16, 1945.

Law and government

The capital of New Mexico is Santa Fe and its governor is Bill Richardson. Its two U.S. senators are Jeff Bingaman (Democrat) and Pete V. Domenici (Republican). List of New Mexico Governors.

Geography

See: List of New Mexico counties It has a southern border with Mexico, an eastern border with Texas (103°) and Oklahoma, and a western border with Arizona (109°). The 37th parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The spot where New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah come together is called the Four Corners. The landscape ranges from rose-colored deserts to mountains that are snow-capped most of the year. Despite New Mexico's arid image, forests cover a significant portion of the state.

New Mexico's areas of geographical and scenic interest include White Sands National Monument, Capulin Volcano National Monument, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, the Valles Caldera National Preserve and the Gila wilderness.

Interstate highways

• Interstate 10
• Interstate 25
• Interstate 40

United States highways

North-south routes	East-west routes
U.S. Highway 285 U.S. Highway 491	U.S. Highway 550 U.S. Highway 54 U.S. Highway 56 U.S. Highway 60 U.S. Highway 62 U.S. Highway 64 U.S. Highway 66 (historic Route 66) U.S. Highway 70 U.S. Highway 80 U.S. Highway 180 U.S. Highway 380 U.S. Highway 82 U.S. Highway 84

Economy

New Mexico's 1999 total gross state product was $51 billion, placing it 38^th in the nation. Its 2000 Per Capita Personal Income was $22,203, 48^th in the nation. The state's main agricultural outputs are cattle, dairy products, hay, nursery stock, and chilies. Its industrial outputs are electric equipment; petroleum and coal products; food processing; printing and publishing; and stone, glass, and clay products. Tourism is an important source of service jobs.

Access to water is a chronic problem in the southwest; to address this problem, the Elephant Butte Dam and Reservoir impounds the waters of Rio Grande, north of Las Cruces.

New Mexico's economy is heavily tied to government and military spending, with federal properties such as the nuclear laboratories at Los Alamos and the missile and spacecraft proving grounds at White Sands adding greatly to local economies.

Despite the impact of these facilities, many communities in New Mexico, particularly in heavily Native American and Hispanic rural areas, are economically underdeveloped.

Demographics

As of the 2000 census, the population of New Mexico is 1,819,046. Its population grew 20.1% (303,977) from its 1990 levels. According to the 2000 census, 66.8% (1,214,253) identified themselves as White, 42.1% (765,386) as Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% (173,483) as American Indian or Alaska Native, 1.9% (34,343) as black, 1.1% (19,255) as Asian, 0.1% (1,503) as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 17% (309,882) as other, and 3.6% (66,327) identified themselves as belonging to two or more races.

7.2% of its population were reported as under 5, 28% under 18, and 11.7% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 50.8% of the population.

In many communities of Northern New Mexico, the Hispanic population consists of the descendants of Spanish colonizers who settled the region in the 17th century and 18th century. In the southern region of the state, the Hispanic population is mostly derived from Mexican immigration during the 20th century. The Native American population consists of Pueblo Indians, some living in communities dating from before European settlement, and the Navajo and Apache, both of Athapascan origin.

The presence of various ancient Native American communities, the long-established Spanish and Mexican influence, and the diversity of Anglo-American settlement in the region, ranging from pioneer farmers and ranchers in the territorial period to military families in later decades, make New Mexico a particularly heterogeneous state.

Important cities and towns

The largest (by far) city in New Mexico is Albuquerque. Its major cities and towns (listed in order of size) are:

Albuquerque Las Cruces Santa Fe Rio Rancho Roswell

Farmington Clovis Alamogordo Hobbs Carlsbad

Education

Colleges and universities

College of Santa Fe College of the Southwest Eastern New Mexico University New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology New Mexico Highlands University

New Mexico Military Institute New Mexico State University St. John's College Santa Fe University of New Mexico Western New Mexico University

Miscellaneous information

State Bird: Roadrunner

State Flower: Yucca flower

State Insect: Tarantula hawk wasp

State Fish: Cutthroat trout

State Vegetables: Chili and pinto beans

Some fauna

• Gila monster

Further reading

• The Great Taos Bank Robbery and other Indian Country Affairs, Tony Hillerman, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1973, trade paperback, 147 pages, (ISBN 0-8263-0530-X)
• Great River, The Rio Grande in North American History, Paul Horgan, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, reprint, 1977, in one hardback volume, (ISBN 0-03-029305-7)

External link

• New Mexico Government