The 'State of New Mexico' (
IPA: /
) is a
state in the
southwestern region of the
United States of America. Over its relatively long history it has also been occupied by
Native American populations and has been part of the
Spanish viceroyalty of
New Spain, part of a territory of
Mexico, and a
U.S. territory. Among
U.S. states, New Mexico has simultaneously the highest percentage of
Hispanic Americans (some recent immigrants and others descendants of
Spanish colonists) and the second-highest percentage of
Native Americans after
Alaska (mostly
Navajo and
Pueblo peoples). As a result, the demographics and culture of the state are unique for their strong Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. Amerindian cultural influences. The
United States Census Bureau estimates that the state population was 1,954,599 in 2006, a 7.45% increase since 2000.
[ Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Population for the United States and States, and for Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 ]
Geography
Desert scene approx. 20 miles (32 km) South of
Santa Fe
Digitally colored elevation map of NM
The eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W with
Oklahoma, and 3 miles (5 km) west of 103° W with Texas. Texas also lies south of most of New Mexico, although the southwestern boot-heel borders the Mexican states of
Chihuahua and
Sonora. The western border with
Arizona runs along 109° W. The 37° N parallel forms the northern boundary with
Colorado. The states New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and
Utah come together at the
Four Corners in the northwestern corner of New Mexico.
The
landscape ranges from wide, rose-colored deserts to broken
mesas to high, snow-capped peaks. Despite New Mexico's arid image, heavily
forested mountain wildernesses cover a significant portion of the state, especially towards the north. The
Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) Mountains, the southernmost part of the
Rocky Mountains, run roughly north-south along the east side of the
Rio Grande in the rugged, pastoral north.
Cacti,
yuccas,
creosote bush,
sagebrush, and desert grasses cover the broad, semiarid plains that cover the southern portion of the state.
The Federal government protects millions of acres of New Mexico as
national forests including:
★
Carson National Forest
★
Cibola National Forest (headquartered in
Albuquerque)
★
Lincoln National Forest
★
Santa Fe National Forest (headquartered in
Santa Fe)
Other protected lands include the following national monuments:
★
Aztec Ruins National Monument at
Aztec
★
Bandelier National Monument in
Los Alamos
★
Capulin Volcano National Monument near
Capulin
★
Carlsbad Caverns National Park near
Carlsbad
★
Chaco Culture National Historical Park at
Nageezi
★
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail
★
El Malpais National Monument in
Grants
★
El Morro National Monument in
Ramah
★
Fort Union National Monument at
Watrous
★
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument near
Silver City
★
Old Spanish National Historic Trail
★
Pecos National Historical Park in
Pecos
★
Petroglyph National Monument near Albuquerque
★
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument at
Mountainair
★
Santa Fe National Historic Trail
★
White Sands National Monument near
Alamogordo
A scene of Northern New Mexico, often noted for being somewhat wetter and cooler than the central and southern regions.
Visitors also frequent the surviving native pueblos of New Mexico. Tourists visiting these sites bring significant monies to the state. Other areas of geographical and scenic interest include
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument and the
Valles Caldera National Preserve. The
Gila Wilderness lies in the southwest of the state.
History
Wagon in the mechanics corral of Fort Union National Monument, New Mexico
The first known inhabitants of New Mexico were members of the
Clovis culture of
Paleo-Indians. Indeed the culture is named for the New Mexico city where the first artifacts of this culture were discovered. Later inhabitants include
Native Americans of the
Anasazi and the
Mogollon cultures. By the time of European contact in the 1500s, the region was settled by the villages of the
Pueblo peoples and groups of
Navajo,
Apache and
Ute.
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado assembled an enormous expedition at
Compostela in 1540–1542 to explore and find the mystical
Seven Golden Cities of Cibola as described by
Cabeza de Vaca who had just arrived from his eight-year ordeal traveling from Florida to Mexico. Coronado's men found several mud baked pueblos in 1541, but found no rich cities of gold. Further widespread expeditions found no fabulous cities anywhere in the Southwest or Great Plains. A dispirited and now poor Coronado and his men began their journey back to Mexico leaving New Mexico behind.
Over 50 years after Coronado,
Juan de Oñate founded the
San Juan colony on the Rio Grande in 1598, the first permanent European settlement in the future state of New Mexico. Oñate pioneered the grandly named
El Camino Real, "The Royal Road", as a 700 mile (1,100 km) trail from the rest of
New Spain to his remote colony. Oñate was made the first governor of the new
Province of New Mexico. The Native Americans at
Acoma revolted against this Spanish encroachment but faced severe suppression.
Pueblo Ruins at Aztec Ruins National Monument.
In 1609,
Pedro de Peralta, a later
governor of the Province of New Mexico, established the settlement of
Santa Fe at the foot of the
Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The city, along with most of the settled areas of the state, was abandoned by the Spanish for 12 years (1680-1692) as a result of the successful
Pueblo Revolt. After the death of the Pueblo leader
Popé,
Diego de Vargas restored the area to Spanish rule. While developing Santa Fe as a trade center, the returning settlers founded the old town of
Albuquerque in 1706, naming it for the viceroy of New Spain, the Duke of Alburquerque.
Mexican province
As a part of
New Spain, the claims for the province of New Mexico passed to independent
Mexico following the 1810-1821
Mexican War of Independence. During the brief 26 year period of nominal Mexican control, Mexican authority and investment in New Mexico were weak, as their often conflicted government had little time or interest in a New Mexico that had been poor since the Spanish settlements started. Some Mexican officials, saying they were wary of encroachments by the growing United States, and wanting to reward themselves and their friends, began issuing enormous
land grants (usually free) to groups of Mexican families as an incentive to populate the province.
Small trapping parties from the United States had previously reached and stayed in Santa Fe, but the Spanish authorities officially forbade them to trade. Trader
William Becknell returned to the United States in November 1821 with news that independent Mexico now welcomed trade through Santa Fe.
William Becknell left
Independence, Missouri, for Santa Fe early in 1822 with the first party of traders. The
Santa Fe Trail trading company, headed by the brothers
Charles Bent and
William Bent and
Ceran St. Vrain, was one of the most successful in the West. They had their first trading post in the area in 1826, and, by 1833, they had built their adobe fort and trading post called
Bent's Fort on the
Arkansas River. This fort and trading post, located about 200 miles (322 km) east of
Taos, New Mexico, was the only place settled by whites along the Santa Fe trail before it hit Taos. The
Santa Fe National Historic Trail follows the route of the old trail, with many sites marked or restored.
Route of the Old Spanish Trail
The
Spanish Trail from
Los Angeles, California to
Santa Fe, New Mexico was primarily used by Hispanics, white traders and ex-trappers living part of the year in or near Santa Fe. Started in about 1829, the trail was an arduous 2,400 (3862 km) mile round trip pack train sojourn that extended into Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California and back, allowing only one hard round trip per year. The trade consisted primarily of blankets and some trade goods from Santa Fe being traded for horses in California.
The
Republic of Texas claimed the mostly vacant territory north and east of the
Rio Grande when it successfully seceded from Mexico in 1836. New Mexico authorities captured a group of Texans who embarked an
expedition to assert their claim to the province in 1841.
American territory
Following the
Mexican-American War, from 1846-1848 and the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Mexico forcibly ceded its mostly unsettled northern holdings, today known as the
American Southwest and
California to the United States of America in exchange for an end to hostilities, the evacuation of Mexico City and many other areas under American control. Mexico also received $15 million cash, plus the assumption of slightly more than $3 million in outstanding Mexican debts.
The Congressional
Compromise of 1850 halted a bid for statehood under a proposed antislavery constitution. Texas transferred eastern New Mexico to the federal government, settling a lengthy boundary dispute. Under the compromise, the American government established the
Territory of New Mexico on
September 9,
1850. The territory, which included most of the future states of
Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of
Colorado, officially established its capital at
Santa Fe in 1851.
The United States acquired the southwestern boot heel of the state and southern
Arizona below the
Gila river in the mostly desert
Gadsden Purchase of 1853. This purchase was desired when it was found that a much easier route for a proposed transcontinental railroad was located slightly south of the Gila river. The Southern Pacific built the second transcontinental railroad though this purchased land in 1881.
During the
American Civil War,
Confederate troops from
Texas briefly occupied the Rio Grande valley as far north as Santa Fe.
Union troops from the
Territory of Colorado re-captured the territory in March
1862 at the
Battle of Glorieta Pass. The
Territory of Arizona was split off as a separate territory on
February 24,
1863.
1867 map
There were centuries of
conflict between the
Apache, the
Navajo and Spanish-Mexican settlements in the territory. It took the federal government another 25 years after the Civil War to exert control over both the civilian and Native American populations of the territory. This started in 1864 when the Navajo were sent on
"The Long Walk" to Bosque Redondo Reservation and then returned to most of their lands in 1868. The Apache were moved to various reservations and
Apache wars continued until
Geronimo finally surrendered in 1886.
The railway encouraged the great cattle boom of the 1880s and the development of accompanying cow towns. The cattle barons could not keep out sheepherders, and eventually homesteaders and squatters overwhelmed the cattlemen by fencing in and plowing under the "sea of grass" on which the cattle fed. Conflicting land claims led to bitter quarrels among the original Spanish inhabitants, cattle ranchers, and newer homesteaders. Despite destructive overgrazing, ranching survived and remains a mainstay of the New Mexican economy.
Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico, on the middle Rio Grande, was incorporated in 1889.
Statehood
Congress admitted New Mexico as the 47th state in the Union on
January 6,
1912. The admission of the neighboring State of
Arizona on
February 14,
1912 completed the contiguous 48 states.
The United States government built the
Los Alamos Research Center in 1943 amid the
Second World War. Top-secret personnel there developed the
atomic bomb, first detonated at
Trinity site in the desert on the
White Sands Proving Grounds between
Socorro and
Alamogordo on
July 16,
1945.
Albuquerque expanded rapidly after the war. High-altitude experiments near
Roswell in 1947 reputedly led to persistent but unproven suspicions that the government captured and concealed extraterrestrial corpses and equipment. The state quickly emerged as a leader in nuclear, solar, and geothermal energy research and development. The
Sandia National Laboratories, founded in 1949, carried out nuclear research and special weapons development at
Kirtland Air Force Base south of Albuquerque and at
Livermore, California.
Located in the remote
Chihuahuan Desert the
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is located 26 miles (42 km) southeast of
Carlsbad. Here nuclear wastes are buried deep in carved out salt formation disposal rooms mined 2,150 feet (655 m) underground in a 2,000-foot (610 m) thick salt formation that has been stable for more than 200 million years. WIPP began operations on
March 26,
1999.
Demographics
New Mexico Population Density Map
(See also
List of cities in New Mexico and
New Mexico locations by per capita income) As of 2005, New Mexico has an estimated population of 1,928,384, which is an increase of 25,378, or 1.3%, from the prior year and an increase of 109,338, or 6.0%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 74,397 people (that is 143,617 births minus 69,220 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 37,501 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 27,974 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 9,527 people.
The
center of population of New Mexico is located in
Torrance County, in the town of
Manzano[1].
As of 2004, 27% of the residents of the state were foreign-born, and more than 2% of state residents were illegal immigrants.
According to the Census Bureau, 1.5% of the population is Multiracial/Mixed-Race, a population larger than both the Asian and NHPI population groups. New Mexico has the highest percentage of people of
Hispanic ancestry of any state, some recent immigrants and others descendants of
Spanish colonists. The state also has a large
Native American population, third behind
Alaska and
Oklahoma. Hispanics of colonial ancestry, along with recent Mexican immigrants, are present in most of the state, especially northern, central, and northeastern New Mexico. Mexican immigrants, legal or illegal, are prominent in southern parts of the state. The northwestern corner of the state is primarily occupied by Native Americans, of which Navajos and Pueblos are the largest tribes. As a result, the demographics and culture of the state are unique for their strong American, Colonial Spanish, Mexican, and Native American cultural influences.
Ancestry groups
According to the U.S. Census, the largest ancestry groups in New Mexico are:
★
Mexican (18.1%)
★
Native American (10.3%)
★
German (9.8%)
★
Hispanic flag
(9.4%)
★
Spanish (9.3%)
★
English (7.6%)
★
Irish (7.3%).
Many are mixtures of all of these groups and others.
7.2% of New Mexico's population was reported as under 5 years of age, 28% under 18, and 11.7% were 65 or older. Females make up approximately 50.8% of the population.
Languages
According the
2000 U.S. Census, 28.76% of the population aged 5 and over speak
Spanish at home, while 4.07% speak
Navajo[2].
New Mexico is commonly thought to have Spanish as an official language alongside
English, due to the widespread usage of Spanish in the state. Although the original state constitution of 1912 provided for a temporarily bilingual government, New Mexico has no official language. Nevertheless, the state government publishes election ballots and a driver's manual in both languages, and, in 1995, New Mexico adopted a "State Bilingual Song", titled "
New Mexico-Mi Lindo Nuevo México".
'January 6, 1912 Statehood Proclamation signed by President Taft'
The constitution provided that, for the following twenty years, all laws passed by the legislature be published in both Spanish and English, and thereafter as the legislature should provide.
Prior to 1967, notices of statewide and county elections were required to be printed in English and "may be printed in Spanish."
Additionally, many legal notices today are required to be published in both English and Spanish.
Source:
[3]
Religion
New Mexico has the highest percentage of Roman Catholics of any
Western U.S state. In comparison to other
U.S. states, and like many other states in the region, New Mexico has a higher-than-average percentage of people who claim no religion. {ref}
★
Christian – 81%
★
★
Roman Catholic – 41%
★
★
Protestant – 35%
★
★
★
Baptist – 10%
★
★
★
Presbyterian – 4%
★
★
★
Pentecostal – 3%
★
★
★ Other
Protestant or general Protestant – 18%
★
★
LDS (Mormon) – 4%
★
★ Other
Christian – 1%
★ Other
Religions – 1%
★ Non-
Religious – 19%
Within the Catholic church, New Mexico belongs to the '
Ecclesiastical Province of Santa Fe'. New Mexico has three
dioceses, one of which is an
archdiocese:
★
Archdiocese of Santa Fe
★
Diocese of Gallup
★
Diocese of Las Cruces
Economy
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that New Mexico's total state product in 2003 was $57 billion. Per capita personal income in 2003 was $24,995, 48
th in the nation.
[4]
| New Mexico Industries by 2004 Taxable Gross Receipts (000s) |
|---|
| Retail Trade | 12,287,061 |
| Construction | 5,039,555 |
| Other Services (excluding Public Administration) | 4,939,187 |
| Professional, Scientific and Technology Services | 3,708,527 |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 2,438,460 |
| Wholesale Trade | 2,146,066 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 1,897,471 |
| Utilities | 1,654,483 |
| Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction | 1,238,211 |
| Manufacturing | 926,372 |
| Information and Cultural Industries | 849,902 |
| Unclassified Establishments | 725,405 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | 544,739 |
| Finance and Insurance | 254,223 |
| Transportation and Warehousing | 221,457 |
| Public Administration | 159,013 |
| Educational Services | 125,649 |
| Arts, Entertainment and Recreation | 124,017 |
| Admin & Support, Waste Management & Remediation | 73,062 |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting | 71,853 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 48,714 |
|
| Totals | 39,473,429 |
| 'Source:' State of New Mexico Department of Labor |
★ Cattle and dairy products top the list of major animal products of New Mexico. Cattle, sheep, and other livestock graze most of the arable land of the state throughout the year.
★ Limited, scientifically controlled dryland farming prospers alongside cattle ranching. Major crops include hay, nursery stock, pecans, and
chile peppers. Hay and
sorghum top the list of major dryland crops. Farmers also produce onions, potatoes, and dairy products. New Mexico specialty crops include
piñon nuts,
pinto beans, and chiles.
★ The Carlsbad and Fort Sumner reclamation projects on the
Pecos River and the nearby Tucumcari project provide adequate water for limited irrigation in those areas of the desert and semiarid portions of the state where scant rainfall evaporates rapidly, generally leaving insufficient water supplies for large-scale irrigation.. Located upstream of
Las Cruces, the
Elephant Butte Reservoir provides a major irrigation source for the extensive farming along the
Rio Grande. Other irrigation projects use the
Colorado River basin and the
San Juan River.
★ Lumber mills in
Albuquerque process pinewood, the chief commercial wood of the rich timber economy of northern New Mexico.
★ Mineral extraction: New Mexicans derive much of their income from mineral extraction. Even before European exploration, Native Americans mined turquoise for making jewelry.
[1]. After the Spanish introduced refined silver alloys they were incorporated into the Indian jewelry designs. New Mexico produces uranium ore, manganese ore, potash, salt, perlite, copper ore, beryllium, and tin concentrates. Natural gas, petroleum, and coal are also found in smaller quantities.
★ Industrial output, centered around Albuquerque, includes electric equipment; petroleum and coal products; food processing; printing and publishing; and stone, glass, and clay products. Defense-related industries include ordnance. Important high-technology industries include lasers, data processing, and solar energy.
★ Federal government spending is a major driver of the New Mexico economy. The federal government spends $2 on New Mexico for every dollar of tax revenue collected from the state. This rate of return is higher than any other state in the Union.
[2]. The federal government also a major employer in New Mexico providing more than a quarter of the state's jobs. Many of the federal jobs relate to the military; the state hosts three air force bases (
Kirtland Air Force Base,
Holloman Air Force Base, and
Cannon Air Force Base); a testing range (
White Sands Missile Range); an army proving ground and maneuver range (Fort Bliss Military Reservation - McGregor Range);national observatories; and the technology labs of
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). SNL conducts electronic and industrial research on Kirtland AFB, on the southeast side of Albuquerque. These installations also include the missile and spacecraft proving grounds at
White Sands. In addition to the military employers, other federal agencies such as the
National Park Service, the
United States Forest Service, and the
United States Bureau of Land Management are a big part of the states rural employment base.
★
Virgin Galactic, the first
space tourism company to develop commercial flights into space, has decided to put its world headquarters and mission control in
Upham, New Mexico (25 miles (40 km) south of
Truth or Consequences); Virgin Galactic will have its inaugural launch of the
VSS Enterprise spaceship in
2008, and will begin launching ordinary citizens in early
2009.
[5][6][7]
★ Tourism provides many service jobs. For top attractions see:
Tourism.
★ Private service economy in urban New Mexico, especially in Albuquerque, has boomed in recent decades. Since the end of
World War II, the city has gained an ever-growing number of retirees, especially among armed forces veterans and government workers. It is also increasingly gaining notice as a health conscious community, and contains many hospitals and a high per capita number of massage and alternative therapists. The warm, semiarid climate has contributed to the exploding population of Albuquerque, attracting new industries to New Mexico. By contrast, many heavily Native American and Hispanic rural communities remain economically underdeveloped.
Taxes
★ Personal
income tax rates for New Mexico range from 1.7% to 5.3%, within 4 income brackets.
★ New Mexico does not have a
sales tax. Instead, it has a 5% gross receipts tax. In almost every case, the business passes along the tax to the consumer, so that the gross receipts tax resembles a sales tax. The combined gross receipts tax rate varies throughout the state from 5.125% to 7.8125%. The total rate is a combination of all rates imposed by the state, counties and municipalities. Beginning Jan. 1, 2005, New Mexicans no longer pay taxes on most food purchases; however, there are exceptions to this program. Also beginning Jan. 1, 2005, the state eliminated the tax on certain medical services.
★ In general, taxes are not assessed on
personal property. Personal household effects, licensed vehicles, registered aircraft, certain personal property warehoused in the state and business personal property that is not depreciated for federal income tax purposes are exempt from the
property tax.
★ Property tax rates vary substantially and depend on the type of property and its location. The state does not assess tax on intangible personal property. There is no
inheritance tax, but an inheritance may be reflected in a taxpayer's modified gross income and taxed that way.
Largest employers
(Not ranked by size)
★ Northern
★
★
College of Santa Fe
★
★
Boy Scouts of America
★
★
U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
★
★
Mesa Air Group
★
★
Navajo Nation
★
★
Los Alamos National Laboratory
★ Central
★
★
PNM Resources and PNM Electric & Gas Services
★
★ Presbyterian Health Plan
★
★
Sandia National Laboratories
★
★
Intel
★
★
University of New Mexico
★
★ New Mexico State Government
★ Eastern
★
★
Albertson's Supermarket
★
★
Kmart Corporation
★
★
U.S. Postal Service
★
★
Wal-Mart
★
★ Navajo Refining Company
★
★
U.S. National Park Service (NPS)
★
★ Allsup's Convenience Stores
★ Southwestern
★
★
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
★
★ Lockheed Engineering and Sciences
★
★
New Mexico State University
★
★ Lovelace Healthcare
★
★
Pepsi Bottling
★
★
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
★
★
U.S. Army (
Fort Bliss)
::
'Source:' Economic Research & Analysis Bureau New Mexico Department of Labor[8]
Transportation
Passenger trains
The
New Mexico Rail Runner Express is a
commuter rail system serving the metropolitan area of
Albuquerque, New Mexico. It began operation on July 14, 2006. The system is in Phase I of planned development, operating on an existing
BNSF Railway right of way from
Belen to
Bernalillo. Phase II, scheduled to open in 2008, will extend the line northward to
Santa Fe.
Amtrak's
Southwest Chief passes through daily at stations in
Gallup,
Albuquerque,
Lamy,
Las Vegas, and
Raton, offering connections to
Los Angeles,
Flagstaff,
Kansas City, and
Chicago. The only true transcontinental train in the United States, The
Sunset Limited makes stops three times a week in
Lordsburg, and
Deming.
Roadways
Law and government
The Constitution of 1912, as amended, dictates the form of government in the state.
Governor
Bill Richardson and Lieutenant Governor
Diane Denish, both Democrats, won re-election in 2006. Their terms expire in January 2011. Governors serve a term of four years and may seek reelection. For a list of past governors, see
List of New Mexico Governors.
Other Constitutional officers, all of whose terms also expire in January 2011, include Secretary of State
Mary Herrera [9], Attorney General
Gary King[10], State Auditor
Hector Balderos [11], State Land Commissioner
Pat Lyons [12], and State Treasurer
James B. Lewis[13]. Herrera, King, Balderos and Lewis are Democrats. Lyons is a Republican.
The
New Mexico State Legislature is comprised of a 70-seat
House of Representatives and a 42-seat
Senate. The Democratic Party generally dominates state politics, and
as of 2004 50% of voters were registered Democrats, 33% were registered Republicans, and 17% did not affiliate with either of the two major parties.
New Mexico sent Democrat
Jeff Bingaman to the
United States Senate until January 2013 and Republican
Pete V. Domenici until January 2009. Republicans
Steve Pearce and
Heather Wilson and Democrat
Tom Udall represent the state in the
United States House of Representatives.
Politics
In national politics, New Mexico has given its
electoral votes to all but two Presidential election winners since statehood. In these exceptions, New Mexicans supported Republican President
Gerald Ford over Georgia Governor
Jimmy Carter in 1976, and Democratic Vice President
Al Gore over Texas Governor
George W. Bush in 2000. No presidential candidate has won an absolute majority in New Mexico since
George H. W. Bush in 1988, and no Democrat has done so since
Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. In the last four elections, New Mexico supported Democrats in 1992, 1996, and 2000. New Mexico was one of only two states to support Al Gore in 2000 and George Bush in 2004 (the other state was
Iowa). In 2004, George W. Bush narrowly won the state's electoral votes by a margin of 0.8 percentage points with 49.8% of the vote. Democrat
John Kerry won in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, two northwestern counties, and by large margins in six counties of Northern New Mexico (Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Taos, Mora, San Miguel, and Guadalupe).
Major political parties in New Mexico include the
Democratic and
Republican Parties; minor qualified parties include the
Green Party of New Mexico, the
Constitution Party, and
Libertarian Party.
Important cities and towns
New Mexico
New Mexico's largest cities are
Albuquerque,
Las Cruces,
Santa Fe,
Rio Rancho,
Roswell, and
Farmington.
Military
In addition to the National Guard,New Mexico has a
State Defense Force.
Education
Secondary education
Main articles: List of high schools in New Mexico
Colleges and universities
Main articles: List of colleges and universities in New Mexico
Miscellaneous topics
State symbols
('
★ ')The official state question refers to a question commonly heard at restaurants, where waiters will ask customers ''"red or green?"'' in reference to which kind of
chili pepper or ''"chile sauce"'' the customers wants served with their meal. This type of "chile" is usually distinct from
salsa, as the chile sauce is much finer and thicker and more commonly served with meals. Natives are more likely to refer to the chili sauce put on their meal as just plain "chile", and not as any form of "salsa" (which is usually reserved by natives in English for the salsa served with chips; everything else is just "chile"). If the diner wants both they can answer with, ''"Christmas"'' (or ''"Navidad"'' in
Spanish), in reference to the two traditional colors of
Christmas—Red and Green.
('
★
★ ')The second
USS ''New Mexico'', SSN-779, is scheduled to be constructed.
★ In 1947, a craft of unknown origin crashed at or near
Roswell, New Mexico. Allegedly, in 1949, ''another'' craft of unknown origin crashed near this city.
★
Taos, New Mexico is known for a humming noise. See
Taos Hum.
Culture
With a
Native American population of 134,000 in 1990, New Mexico still ranks as an important center of American Indian culture. Both the
Navajo and
Apache share
Athabaskan origin. The Apache and some
Ute live on federal reservations within the state. With 16 million acres (6,500,000
ha), mostly in neighboring
Arizona, the reservation of the
Navajo Nation ranks as the largest in the United States. The prehistorically agricultural
Pueblo Indians live in pueblos scattered throughout the state, many older than any European settlement.
More than one-third of New Mexicans claim Hispanic origin, the vast majority of whom descend from the original Spanish colonists in the northern portion of the state. Most of the considerably fewer recent Mexican immigrants reside in the southern part of the state.
There are many New Mexicans who also speak a unique dialect of Spanish.
New Mexican Spanish has vocabulary often unknown to other Spanish speakers. Because of the historical isolation of New Mexico from other speakers of the Spanish language, the local dialect preserves some late medieval
Castillian vocabulary considered archaic elsewhere, adopts numerous Native American words for local features, and contains much Anglicized vocabulary for American concepts and modern inventions.
The presence of various indigenous 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.
There are natural history and atomic museums in Albuquerque, which also hosts the famed
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
A large artistic community thrives in
Santa Fe. The capital city has museums of Spanish colonial, international folk, Navajo ceremonial, modern Native American, and other modern art. Another museum honors resident
Georgia O'Keeffe. Colonies for artists and writers thrive, and the small city teems with art galleries. In August, the city hosts the annual
Santa Fe Indian Market, which is the oldest and largest juried Native American art showcase in the world.
Performing arts include the renowned
Santa Fe Opera which presents five operas in repertory each July to August, the
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival held each summer, and the restored
Lensic Theater a principal venue for many kinds of performances. The weekend after Labor Day boasts the burning of
Zozobra, a 50 ft (15 m) marionette, during
Fiestas de Santa Fe.
Writer
D. H. Lawrence lived near
Taos in the 1920s at the
D. H. Lawrence Ranch where there is a shrine said to contain his ashes.
Tourism
New Mexico tourist attractions:
★
Santa Fe
★
★
Plaza of Santa Fe
★
★
Loretto Chapel
★
★
San Miguel Mission
★
★
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi
★
★
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
★
★
Museum of International Folk Art
★
★
El Rancho de las Golondrinas (Spanish Colonial living history museum)
★
★
Santa Fe Indian Market
★
Taos County
★
★
Taos Pueblo
★
★
Taos art colony
★
★
Taos Ski Valley
★
Acoma Sky Pueblo
★
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
★
White Sands National Monument, the
Trinity Site, and
Missile Range,
Alamogordo
★
Albuquerque
★
★
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
★
★
Old Town Albuquerque
★
★
Petroglyph National Monument
★
★
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
★
★
Rio Grande Zoo
★
★
Albuquerque Biological Park
★
★
Sandia Peak Tramway
★
★
National Atomic Museum
★
★
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
★
★
Expo New Mexico, formerly the
New Mexico State Fairgrounds
★
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, San Juan Basin
★
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad,
Chama
★
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument,
Silver City
★
Roswell
★
★
Roswell UFO Landing Site
★
★
International UFO Museum
★
Upham
★
★
Virgin Galactic
★
★
Spaceport America
★ Black Jack Ketchum in
Clayton
★
Billy the Kid Museum,
Fort Sumner
★ Historic
Lincoln,
Ruidoso, and
Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation
★ Silver City was a
gold mining town in the
Wild West.
★
★ The
Piños Altos is a
ghost town located near Silver City.
★
Acoma Pueblo & Mission
★
★
Laguna Pueblo & Mission
★
★
El Malpais National Monument
★
★
Zuni Salt Lake
★ Socorro
★
★
Very Large Array
★
★
Bosque del Apache
★
★
El Camino Real Heritage Center
★
★
Mineralogical Museum
★
★
Quebradas Region
Hasta la Vista
★
Catron County
★
★
Site of the "Alma Massacre"
★
★
Catwalk National Recreation Trail
★
★
Mogollon Ghost Town
★
★
The Lightning Field
★
★
Whitewater Baldy
The state also has a number of
casinos located on Native American Indian Reservations that attract thousands of visitors each year.
Notable New Mexicans
Main articles: List of people from New Mexico
Many New Mexicans—those who were born, raised, or lived a significant period in New Mexico—have gained local, national, and international prominence. New Mexico Governor
Bill Richardson is currently one of the candidates for the
2008 United States presidential election. Notable businessmen include
Jeff Bezos, founder of
Amazon.com, and
Conrad Hilton, founder of the
Hilton Hotels Corporation. New Mexicans have also studied
outer space, notably
NASA astronauts
Sidney M. Gutierrez and
Harrison Schmitt. Astronomer
Clyde Tombaugh, a former
New Mexico State University professor, discovered
Pluto. Several New Mexicans have served roles in
popular culture, including artist
Georgia O'Keeffe, animator
William Hanna, actor
Neil Patrick Harris and actress
Demi Moore,
Pulitzer Prize winners
Bill Mauldin and
Ernie Pyle, and rapper
Xzibit. Notorious criminals include outlaw
Billy the Kid and attempted assassin
Francisco Martin Duran.
Athletes like
Ross Anderson (skier) fastest skier in
History for the
Western Hemisphere and
World Cup/
Professional Speed Skier with a
speed of 154.060 MPH on
Alpine skis.
See also
★
Dinetah traditional homeland of the Navajo tribe in northwestern New Mexico
★
List of rivers in New Mexico
★
Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains
★
New Mexican Food
★
New Mexico census statistical areas
★
New Mexico State Police
★
Scouting in New Mexico
References
1. U. S. Census Bureau, Population and Population Centers by State: 2000
2. MLA Language Map Data Center: Most spoken languages in New Mexico
3. "Language Rights and New Mexico Statehood", ''The Excluded Student: Educational Practices Affecting Mexican Americans in the Southwest'', Mexican American Education Study, Report III, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1972, pp. 76-82
4. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis website
5. Virgin Galactic's website overview of what is to come
6. "Spaceports" from web blog with link to BBC video
7. Scott Allen, "Richard Branson - The Rebel Billionaire and the Ultimate Multipreneur" from about.com
8. New Mexico Department of Labor statistics
9. NM Secretary of State's Office official web site
10. NM Attorney General's Office official web site
11. NM State Auditor's Office official web site
12. NM State Lands official web site
13. NM State Treasuer's Office official web site
Further reading
★ Hubert Howe Bancroft. ''The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Vol. XVII. (History of Arizona and New Mexico 1530-1888)'' (1889); reprint 1962.
online edition
★ Warren Beck. ''Historical Atlas of New Mexico'' 1969.
★ Thomas E. Chavez, ''An Illustrated History of New Mexico'', 267 pages, University of New Mexico Press 2002, ISBN 0-8263-3051-7
★ Joseph G. Dawdon III. ''Doniphan's Epic March; The 1st Missouri Volunteers in the Mexican War'', Kansas Press
[3]
★ Richard Ellis, ed. ''New Mexico Past and Present: A Historical Reader.'' 1971. primary sources
★ Lynne Marie Getz; ''Schools of Their Own: The Education of Hispanos in New Mexico, 1850-1940'' (1997)
★ Erlinda Gonzales-Berry, David R. Maciel, editors, ''The Contested Homeland: A Chicano History of New Mexico'', 314 pages - University of New Mexico Press 2000, ISBN 0-8263-2199-2
★ Nancie L. González; ''The Spanish-Americans of New Mexico: A Heritage of Pride'' (1969)
★ Ramón A. Gutiérrez; ''When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality, and Power in New Mexico, 1500-1846'' (1991)
★ Paul L. Hain; F. Chris Garcia, Gilbert K. St. Clair; ''New Mexico Government'' 3rd ed. (1994)
★
Tony Hillerman, ''The Great Taos Bank Robbery and other Indian Country Affairs'', University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1973, trade paperback, 147 pages, (ISBN 0-8263-0530-X), stories
★ Jack E. Holmes, ''Politics in New Mexico'' (1967),
★
Paul Horgan, ''Great River, The Rio Grande in North American History'', 1038 pages, Wesleyan University Press 1991, 4th Reprint, ISBN 0585380147 , Pulitzer Prize 1955
★ Sante Fe Trail: 72 References Kansas Historical Society
[4]
★ Robert W. Kern, ''Labor in New Mexico: Strikes, Unions, and Social History, 1881-1981'', University of New Mexico Press 1983, ISBN 0-8263-0675-6
★ Howard R. Lamar; ''The Far Southwest, 1846-1912: A Territorial History'' (1966, repr 2000)
★ Robert W. Larson, ''New Mexico's Quest for Statehood, 1846-1912'' (1968)
★ John M. Nieto-Phillips, ''The Language of Blood: The Making of Spanish-American Identity in New Mexico, 1880s-1930s'', University of New Mexico Press 2004, ISBN 08236324231
★ Marc Simmons, ''New Mexico: An Interpretive History'', 221 pages, University of New Mexico Press 1988, ISBN 0-8263-1110-5
★ George I. Sánchez; ''Forgotten People: A Study of New Mexicans'' (1940; reprint 1996)
★ Marc Simmons, ''New Mexico: An Interpretive History'', 221 pages, University of New Mexico Press 1988, ISBN 0-8263-1110-5, good introduction
★ Ferenc M. Szasz; and Richard W. Etulain; ''Religion in Modern New Mexico'' (1997)
★ David J. Weber, ''The Mexican Frontier, 1821-1846: The American Southwest under Mexico'' (1982)
★ David J. Weber; ''Foreigners in Their Native Land: Historical Roots of the Mexican Americans'' (1973), primary sources to 1912
External links
★
New Mexico Government
★
Documentary Film, ''Villa de Albuquerque''
★
The Santa Fe New Mexican Newspaper
★
New Mexico Tourism Department
★
Museum of New Mexico website
★
USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of New Mexico
★
US Census Bureau
★
Rio Grande Foundation Includes a spend-o-meter for the state government.
★
Bureau of Elections New Mexico Major and Minor Political Parties
★
New Mexico State Facts
★
Live Webcam of Alamogordo, N.M. and Cloudcroft, N.M.
'Directories and portals'
★
AbiquiuOnline.com - A Northern New Mexico Community Web Station
★
GoRudioso.com - A Ruidoso New Mexico Visitor Information site
★
visit.losalamos.com - An on-line Visitors Guide for Los Alamos, NM
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