New Mexico

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 México was the Spanish name for the territory north and west of the Rio Grande.

USS New Mexico was named in honor of this state.

History

The United States took control of the land from Mexico as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. New Mexico was admitted to the Union as the 47th state on January 6, 1912.

New Mexico is home to two National Laboratories, Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratories

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

Law and Government

Geography

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 snow-capped mountains. Despite New Mexio's arid image, forests cover a significant portion of the state.

New Mexico has several areas of geographical and scenic interest such as White Sands National Monument, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, the Valles Caldera National Preserve and the Gila wilderness.

Economy

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 related 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 American settlement in the region, ranging from pioneer farmers and ranchers in the territorial period to military families in later decades, makes New Mexico a particularly heterogeneous state.

Important Cities and Towns

Education

Colleges and Universities

Miscellaneous Information

State Bird: Roadrunner

State Flower: Yucca flower

State Insect: Tarantula hawk wasp

State Fish: Cutthroat trout

State Vegetables: Chili and pinto beans

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 Links

• New Mexico Government

Referenced By