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Place Name
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New Mexico
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Place Status (Type)
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state
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Capital is
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SANTA FE
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Population
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1,685,401 (1995)
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Location
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New Mexico, United States, North America
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Latitude
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34°38'N
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Longitude
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105°50'W
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New Mexico
, state (
121,598 sq mi/314,939 sq km;
1995 est. pop. 1,685,401), SW U.S.; 
Santa Fe;
34°38'N 105°50'W. The largest city is Albuquerque.
Admitted to the Union in 1912 as the 47th state. The state is bounded
on the N by Colo., on the E by Okla. and Texas, on the S by Texas and
Mexico (Sonora and Chihuahuas), and on the W by Ariz. At its NW
corner, Ariz., Utah (UT), Colo., and N.Mex. meet at right angles—the only
point in the U.S. common to 4 states (Four Corners). N.Mex. is roughly
bisected by the Rio Grande and has an approximate mean elev. of
5,700 ft/1,737 m. The topography of the state
is marked by broken mesas, wide deserts, heavily forested mt.
wildernesses, and high, bare peaks. The mt. ranges, part of the Rocky
Mts., rising to their greatest elev. (more than
13,000 ft/3,962 m) in the Sangre de Cristo
Mts., are in broken groups, running N to S through central N.Mex. and
flanking the Rio Grande. In the SW is the tumbled Gila Wilderness.
Broad, semiarid plains, particularly prominent in S N.Mex., are covered
with cactus, yucca, creosote bush, sagebrush, and desert grasses. Water
is rare in these near-arid regions, where the scanty rainfall is
subject to rapid evaporation. Because irrigation opportunities are few,
most of the farmland is given over to grazing. There are many large
ranches, and cattle and sheep graze year-round on the open range. The 2
notable rivers besides the Rio Grande—the Pecos and the San Juan—are
used for some irrigation; the Carlsbad and Fort Sumner reclamation
projects are on the Pecos, and the Tucumcari project is nearby. Other
projects utilize the Colorado R. basin; however, the Rio Grande,
harnessed by the Elephant Butte Dam, remains the major irrigation
source for the area of most extensive farming (Dona Ana co.). In
the regions that support dry farming, the major crops are hay and
sorghum grains. Important are crops relating to the popular Mex. food
industry, esp. chiles, jalapenos, and blue corn. Onions,
potatoes, and dairy prods. are also very important, and several crops,
such as pinon nuts, pinto beans, and chilies, are esp.
characteristic of N.Mex. Much of the state's income is derived from
its considerable mineral wealth. N.Mex. is a leading producer of
uranium ore, manganese ore, potash, salt, perlite, copper ore, natural
gas, beryllium, and tin concentrates. Petroleum and coal are also found
in smaller quantities. Silver and turquoise have been used in making
Indian jewelry since long before Eur. exploration. Navajo pottery, in
NW and “Pueblo” pottery in N central. The Federal govt. is the
largest employer in the state, accounting for over ¼
of N.Mex.'s jobs. A large percentage of govt. jobs in the state are
related to the military. The climate of the state and the increasing
pop. have aided N.Mex.'s effort to attract new industries;
mfg., centered esp. around Albuquerque, includes food and mineral
processing and the production of chemicals, electrical equip., and
ordnance. High-technology mfg. has also become increasingly important,
much of it in the defense industry. Pinewood is the chief commercial
wood. Millions of acres of the state are under Federal control as natl.
forests and monuments, and, together with the attractive climate and
scenery, make tourism a chief source of income. Best known of the
state's attractions are the Carlsbad Caverns Natl. Park in SE and the
Aztec Ruins Natl. Monument in NW. Thousands of tourists annually visit
the White Sands, Bandelier, Capulin Mt., El Morro, El Malpais, Fort
Union, Gila Cliff Dwellings, and Salina Pueblo Missions (or
Salinas) natl. monuments and the Chaco Culture Natl. Historical Park.
Natl. forests include Carson and Santa Fe in N; Cibola, Gila, and part
of Apache-Sitgreaves in W; Lincoln in S. Kiowa Natl. Grasslands in NE.
In the S is part of large Fort Bliss Military Reserve (extends N from
Texas) and Holoman Air Force Base. The state is a popular place for
winter or year-round residence, particularly for retirees. Many writers
and artists have made their homes in communities such as Taos and Santa
Fe. In 1990, the Native Amer. pop. of N.Mex. was 134,355. The Apache,
Navajo, and Ute live on Federal reservations within the state—the
Navajo reservation, with over 16 million acres/6 million ha,
is the largest in the country—and the Pueblo people live in pueblos
scattered throughout the N part of the state. Indian reservations in
the state include Mescalero Apache in S; Zuni, Acoma, Laguna,
Alamo Band-Navajo in W; parts of Navajo and Ute Mt. in NW; Jicarilla
Apache in N; Isleta in center; several small Puelo Indian reservations
and land grants in N. Over ⅓ of the pop. today is of
Hispanic origin (some are recent immigrants from Mexico) and roughly
the same percentage speak Span. fluently. The state has made a great
effort to re-establish its Mex. roots. Use of the land and
minerals goes back to the prehistoric time of the early Indian cultures
in the Southwest that long preceded the flourishing sedentary
civilization of the Pueblos that the Spanish found along the Rio Grande
and its tributaries. Word of the pueblos reached the Spanish through
Cabeza de Vaca, who may have wandered across S N.Mex. bet. 1528 and
1536; they were identified by Fray Marcos de Niza as the fabulously
rich 7 Cities of Cibola. A full-scale expedition (1540-1542) to find
the cities was dispatched from New Spain, under the leadership of
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. The treatment of Native Americans
by Coronado and his men led to the long-standing hostility bet. the
Native Americans and the Spanish and slowed Span. conquest. The 1st
regular colony at
San Juan was founded by Juan de Onate
in 1598. The Native Americans of Acoma revolted against the
Span. encroachment, and were severely suppressed. In 1609, Pedro de
Peralta was made governor of the “Kingdom and Provs. of New
Mexico,” and a year later he founded his capital at Santa Fe. The
little colony did not prosper greatly, although some of the missions
flourished and haciendas were founded. The subjection of Native
Americans to forced labor and attempts by missionaries to convert them
resulted in violent revolt by the Apache in 1676 and the Pueblo in
1680. These revolts drove the Spanish entirely out of N.Mex. The
Spanish did not return until the campaign of Diego de Vargas Zapata
reestablished their control in 1692. In the 18th cent. the development
of ranching and of some farming and mining was more thorough, laying
the foundations for the Span. culture in N.Mex. to sites near
present-day El Paso, Texas (TX) and Juarez, Mexico, that still persists.
When Mexico achieved its independence from Spain in 1821, N.Mex. became
a prov. of Mexico, and trade was opened with the U.S. By the following
year the Santa Fe Trail was being traveled by the wagon trains
of Amer. traders. In 1841, a group of Texans embarked on an expedition
to assert Texan claims to part of N.Mex.; they were captured. The
Mex.-Amer. War marked the coming of the Anglo-Amer. culture to N.Mex.
Stephen W. Kearny entered (1846) Santa Fe without opposition, and 2
years later the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded N.Mex. to the U.S.
The territory, which included Ariz. and other territories, was enlarged
by the Gadsden Purchase (1853). A bid for statehood with an antislavery
constitution was halted by the Compromise of 1850, which settled the
Texas boundary question in N.Mex.'s favor and organized N.Mex. as a
territory without restriction on slavery. In the Civil War, N.Mex. was
initially occupied by Confederate troops from Texas, but was taken over
by Union forces early in 1862. After the war and the withdrawal of the
troops, the territory was plagued by conflict with the Apache and
Navajo. The surrender of Apache chief Geronimo in 1886 ended conflict
in N.Mex. and Ariz. (which was made a separate territory in 1863).
However, there were local troubles even after that time. Already the
ranchers had taken over much of the grasslands. The coming of the Santa
Fe RR in 1879 encouraged the great cattle boom of the 1880s. There were
typical cow towns, feuds among cattlemen as well as bet. cattlemen and
the authorities (notably the Lincoln Co. War), and colorful characters
such as Sheriff Pat Garrett and the outlaw Billy the Kid. The
cattlemen were unable to keep out the sheepherders and were overwhelmed
by the homesteaders and squatters, who fenced in and plowed under the
“sea of grass.” Land claims gave rise to bitter quarrels among the
homesteaders, the ranchers, and the old Span. families, who made claims
under the original grants. Despite overgrazing and reduction of lands,
ranching survived and continues to be important together with the
limited, but scientifically controlled irrigated and dry-land farming.
Statehood was granted in 1912. Pancho Villa raided Columbus, N.Mex., in
March 1916. In 1943 the U.S. govt. built
Los Alamos as a
center for atomic research. The 1st atom bomb was exploded at the White
Sands Proving Grounds in July 1945. The growth of military
establishments and advanced research facilities, including Sandia Natl.
Laboratory opened in 1956, has greatly contributed to the economic
advance of N.Mex. in recent years. Since the 1970s, high-technology
industries have become prominent in the state economy. The scarcity of
water, however, could slow N.Mex.'s impressive recent growth. The
legislature has a senate of 42 members elected for 4-year terms
and a house of representatives with 70 members elected for 2-year
terms. The governor is elected for 4 years, and may be reelected. The
state elects 2 U.S. senators and 3 representatives and has 5 electoral
votes. N.Mex. has been generally Democratic in politics, although it
joined the natl. trend toward conservatism in the 1980s. The most
prominent educational institution in the state is the Univ. of N.Mex.,
at Albuquerque. The state has 33 cos.:
Bernalillo,
Catron,
Chaves,
Cibola,
Colfax,
Curry,
De Baca,
Dona Ana,
Eddy,
Grant,
Guadalupe,
Harding,
Hidalgo,
Lea,
Lincoln,
Los Alamos,
Luna,
McKinley,
Mora,
Otero,
Quay,
Rio Arriba,
Roosevelt,
Sandoval,
San Juan,
San Miguel,
Santa Fe,
Sierra,
Socorro,
Taos,
Torrance,
Union,
Valencia.,
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