New Mexico is a state in the southwestern United States and its U.S. postal abbreviation is NM. The state's two official languages are English and Spanish. 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.

Contents [showhide]
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

7.1 Colleges and universities

8 Miscellaneous information

9 Some fauna

10 Further reading

11 External link

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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.

Tierra O Muerte – Land or DeathMost 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 ceded by Mexico under the 1853 Gadsden Purchase. The Territory of New Mexico was established on September 9, 1850; under the terms of the Missouri Compromise, slavery was legal in the territory, but does not appear to have taken significant hold there. The eastern half of the territory became the State of New Mexico, which was admitted to the Union as its 47th member on January 6, 1912, the western half being admitted separately as the 48th state of Arizona on February 14, 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.

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

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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, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, the Valles Caldera National Preserve, the Gila wilderness, and Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

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Interstate highways
Interstate 10
Interstate 25
Interstate 40
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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

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Economy
New Mexico's 1999 total gross state product was $51 billion, placing it 38th in the nation. Its 2000 Per Capita Personal Income was $22,203, 48th in the nation. The state's main agricultural outputs are cattle, dairy products, hay, nursery stock, pecans and chiles. 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.

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Demographics
According to the Census Bureau, as of the 2003, the population of New Mexico was 1,874,614. The population of New Mexico has grown 23.7% from its 1990 levels.

The racial makeup of the state is:

44.7% White
42.1% Hispanic
9.5% American Indian
1.9% Black
1.1% Asian
3.6% are mixed race
The 5 largest ancestry groups in New Mexico are Mexican (18.1%), German (9.9%), American Indian (9.5%), Spanish (9.3%), English (7.6%).

The 5 largest religious denominations in New Mexico are Roman Catholic (42%), Baptist (10%), "Christian" (5%), Presbyterian (4%), Pentecostal (3%). 19% of the population is nonreligious.

7.2% of New Mexico's 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 and 18th centuries. In the southern part 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.

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Important cities and towns

New MexicoThe largest (by far) city in New Mexico is Albuquerque. Each city or urbanized area named in bold has a population at least 100,000.

Albuquerque
Rio Rancho
South Valley
North Valley
Las Cruces
Sunland Park
Santa Fe
Farmington
Roswell
Clovis
Alamogordo
Los Lunas
Hobbs
Carlsbad
Espanola
Gallup
Las Vegas
Deming
Belen
Taos
Silver City
Portales
Artesia
Los Alamos
Grants

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Education
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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

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Miscellaneous information

Welcome to New Mexico
Hasta la VistaState Bird: Roadrunner
State Flower: Yucca flower
State Tree: Two-Needle Pinyon pine
State Insect: Tarantula hawk wasp
State Fish: Cutthroat trout
State Vegetables: Chile pepper and pinto bean
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Some fauna
Gila monster
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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 082630530X)
Great River, The Rio Grande in North American History, Paul Horgan, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, reprint, 1977, in one hardback volume, (ISBN 0030293057)
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External link
New Mexico Government (http://www.state.nm.us)
US Census Bureau (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/35000.html)

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "New Mexico".

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