New Mexico Information
New Mexico, short for NM, is a state known for its great cultural variety. The capital is Santa Fe. See all cities in New Mexico. You can find English, Spanish/Mexican, but also Indian influences there. This is not surprising, since the country borders Mexico and there are also many Indian reservations. Although large parts of New Mexico are used by the US military, there is also plenty to do in the field of tourism. For example, you can find different types of nature reserves in the State, including deserts and the Rocky Mountains. You can also visit caves and the famous route 66 runs through New Mexico.
Geography
New Mexico is located in the southwestern United States. It borders the US states of Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. It also borders Utah via the ‘Four Corners’. In the southwest, the state also has a border with Mexico, which includes the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora. New Mexico is a fairly large state, measuring a maximum of 625 kilometers from north to south and 550 kilometers from west to east.
The state falls largely in the Rocky Mountains, although there are no continuous mountain ranges like in neighboring Colorado. Isolated mountain ranges dominate the north and west of the state, with smaller mountain ranges elsewhere. Between the mountain ranges are dry and high plateaus. The east of the state is flatter and part of the High Plains. The highest point in New Mexico is the 4,011-foot Wheeler Peak. The Rio Grande flows through the state from north to south and is the only river worth mentioning. Large parts of New Mexico consist of barren steppe or desert, only the higher parts are forested.
History
The first white person to visit the area was Cabeza de Vaca, a castaway from Pánfilo de Narváez’s lost expedition. The Spaniard visited the area in 1536 and on his return to Mexico he told great stories about the area he discovered. He spoke of a ‘gold country’ and thus ensured that several expeditions visited the area again. These expeditions had to find, among other things, the ‘seven cities of Cibola’ described by Cabeza de Vaca.
Fray Marcos de Niza visited the Niza, the area of the Zuñi Indians, in 1539. The villages of these Indians were conquered a year later (1540) by the conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado.
Around 1581 a first attempt was made to colonize the area. In 1598
the entire area was conquered by the Spanish colonial leader Juan de Oñate whose successor, Pedro de Peralta, established the capital of New Mexico in 1610.
The Spaniards were almost all expelled from the area around 1680 during the Indian revolt. It was not until more than ten years later that the Spaniard Diego de Vargas succeeded in restoring Spanish rule in the area. After this a new city was founded: Albuquerque. However, the colony did not get going quickly after this, mainly due to the many raids by Indian tribes such as the Apache and Navaho.chtte: Sante Fe.
In 1821 Spain lost New Mexico to Mexico. However, the authority of the Mexicans in the present American state was not very strong. Many American settlers populated the area and when the Mexican-American War broke out in 1846, American General Kearny easily conquered the area.
New Mexico joined the Union as a state on January 6, 1912.
Economy
New Mexico is one of the less affluent states, with average incomes usually in the top 10 lowest of all states. A lot of oil and gas is extracted in southeastern New Mexico, which is an extension of the Texas oil industry. The federal government spends a relatively large amount of money in the state, federal spending is twice as much as every dollar paid in federal taxes. Much of federal spending is on defense, there are three Air Force bases in New Mexico, a large testing ground (White Sands Missile Range), and historically the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Abbreviation: | NM |
Nickname: | Land of Enchantment |
Joined the US as the 47th state on: | January 6, 1912 |
Capital city: | Santa Fe |
Census: | 2.082.224 |
Surface: | 315.194 km² |
Geography: | Bordering Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico, Arizona and Utah |
Governor: | Michelle Lujan Grisham |
state motto: | It grows as it goes |
California official website: | newmexico.gov |