New Mexico (NM).

  • Region: Southwest
  • Population: 2,113,344 (ranked 36th) (2022)
  • Capital: Santa Fe (pop. 89,008) (2022 estimate)
  • Largest city: Albuquerque (pop. 561,008) (2022 estimate)
  • Number of counties: 33
  • State nickname: Land of Enchantment; Sunshine State
  • State motto: Crescit eundo (It grows as it goes)
  • State flag: Yellow field with red circle with four rays emanating from it

Located in the southwestern region of the United States, New Mexico is bordered by the states of Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas and the country of Mexico. New Mexico became the forty-seventh state on January 6, 1912. Its nickname, the Land of Enchantment, was inspired by the state’s scenic landscapes and colorful history, which encompasses aspects of Native American cultures, Spanish conquistadores, and the cowboys and outlaws of the Wild West.

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State Name: New Mexico was named by early Spanish explorers as they moved beyond the bounds of the "Old" Mexico to the south. The word Mexico comes from the Aztec language, meaning "place of Mexitli," in reference to one of the Aztec gods. The state has had a number of nicknames over the years, highlighting different aspects of its unusual natural gifts, pleasant climate, and fascinating history; the official nickname, Land of Enchantment, sums up all of those.

Capital:Santa Fe, located on the Santa Fe River in north central New Mexico, was founded in 1610 as the capital of the new Spanish royal colony. Among the oldest cities in the United States, it has remained the capital of New Mexico in all its iterations since then. Situated seven thousand feet above sea level, Santa Fe is the highest capital in the United States.

Flag: Adopted in 1920, the New Mexico state flag depicts an ancient Native American symbol for the sun in red on a field of yellow. The symbol is that of the Zia people, showing four groups of four rays. Four, a sacred number in Zia culture, symbolizes the four directions of the compass, the four seasons, the four parts of the day (dawn, noon, evening, night), and the four stages of life (childhood, youth, adulthood, old age). The colors are the red and yellow of the Spanish flag that once flew over New Mexico.

Although it does not appear on the flag, the state seal features an American bald eagle with its wings spread protectively over a smaller Mexican eagle. Below the eagles, a banner displays the state motto, "Crescit Eundo" (It grows as it goes). At the bottom, "1912" commemorates the year that New Mexico achieved statehood.

Official Symbols

  • Flower: Yucca
  • Bird: Greater roadrunner
  • Tree: Piñon
  • Animal: Black bear
  • Fish: Rio Grande cutthroat trout
  • Song: "O Fair New Mexico" by Elizabeth Garrett, and "Asi es Nuevo Mejico" by Amadeo Lucero

State and National Historic Sites

DEMOGRAPHICS

  • Population: 2,113,344 (ranked 36th) (2022)
  • Population density: 17.5/sq mi (2020)
  • Urban population: 74.5% (2020 estimate)
  • Rural population: 25.5% (2020 estimate)
  • Population under 18: 21.7% (2022 estimate)
  • Population over 65: 19.1% (2022 estimate)
  • White alone: 81.1% (2022)
  • Black or African American alone: 2.7% (2022)
  • Hispanic or Latino: 50.2% (2022)
  • American Indian and Alaska Native alone: 11.2% (2022)
  • Asian alone: 2.0% (2022)
  • Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone: 0.2% (2022)
  • Two or More Races: 2.8% (2022)
  • Per capita income: $29,624 (ranked 47th) (2021 estimate)
  • Unemployment: 4.0% (2022)

American Indians: The American Indian presence in New Mexico goes back thousands of years to the Mogollon and Ancestral Puebloan (formerly known as Anasazi) cultures. Later Pueblo people settled extensively across the region. Before Spanish exploration, the Navajo and Apache had also populated New Mexico; nomadic Comanche and Ute tribes also made the area part of their territory. Today New Mexico is home to twenty-three federally recognized tribal groups, including the Pueblo, the Jicarilla Apache, the Mescalero Apache, the Navajo Nation (in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah), the Ohkay Owingeh, and the Zuni. In addition, a small section of the Ute reservation, located largely in Colorado, extends into northern New Mexico.

ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY

  • Total area: 121,590 sq mi (ranked 5th)
  • Land area: 121,298 sq mi (99.8% of total area)
  • Water area: 292 sq mi (0.2% of total area)
  • National parks: 15
  • Highest point: Wheeler Peak (13,161 feet)
  • Lowest point: Red Bluff Reservoir (2,842 feet)
  • Highest temperature: 122° F (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, June 27, 1994)
  • Lowest temperature: -50° F (Gavilan, February 1, 1951)

Topography: The Great Plains in the eastern part of the state, north of the Pecos River, are cut through with deep canyons along the courses of rivers. Much of the area is used as grazing land, though in the southern portion there is some dry farming and irrigated agriculture. In the southeast, the Staked Plains (also called Llano Estacado) hug the Texas border.

The Rocky Mountains run south from Colorado down the central part of the state. Although collectively known as the Rockies, the ranges have individual names, including the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Wheeler Peak, the state’s highest point, is among these), Jemez Mountains, Nacimiento Mountains, and San Juan Mountains.

The southwestern region is crisscrossed by mountain ranges, between which lie desert basins. The Rio Grande runs a north–south course through the state from the Rocky Mountains, through this southern region, and all the way to the Mexican border. Its fertile valley is used as farmland.

Major Lakes

  • New Mexico’s few natural lakes are found mostly in areas of high elevation. Best known of these are the Bottomless Lakes near Roswell. Damming of the state’s rivers has created many lakes and reservoirs, the largest of which is Elephant Butte Reservoir.
  • Bottomless Lakes
  • Caballo Reservoir (Artificial)
  • Conchas Lake (Artificial)
  • Elephant Butte Lake (Artificial)
  • Navaho Lake (Artificial)

Major Rivers

  • Only a fraction of New Mexico’s total area of 121,590 square miles is surface water: approximately 292 square miles. That surface water includes all of the state’s rivers, streams, lakes, and reservoirs. Five rivers supply most of the state’s water.
  • Canadian River
  • Gila River
  • Pecos River
  • Rio Grande
  • San Juan River

State and National Parks: State and national parks, monuments, and historic sites can be found all around the state, showcasing New Mexico’s varied history and natural treasures. Carlsbad Caverns National Park (Carlsbad), one of the most popular tourist attractions, is among the world’s largest limestone caverns. Capulin Volcano National Monument (Capulin) features a one-thousand-foot cinder cone, and White Sands (Holloman AFB) is home to sparkling white gypsum dunes. Bird enthusiasts thrill to the country’s largest flock of greater sandhill cranes in the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge (Socorro), while rock collectors enjoy Rock Hound and City of Rocks state parks (Deming). New Mexico also boasts seven national forests, including the 3.3-million acre Gila National Forest, the largest in the United States.

Natural Resources: New Mexico is rich in mineral deposits such as oil, natural gas, uranium, copper, potash, gold, silver, and zinc. Renewable resources are also abundant, including forests, grasses for grazing, and other plants and animals.

Plants and Animals: Forests cover nearly 25 percent of New Mexico’s landscape. Aspen, spruce, and fir trees grow in the higher altitudes. Ponderosa pines, harvested for timber, are plentiful at slightly lower elevations. Cottonwoods, junipers, pinons and scrub oaks grow throughout much of the state, as does New Mexico’s state flower, the yucca. Desert areas feature cactus, creosote bush, gramma grass, mesquite, white and purple sage and soapweed. Wild flowers include alpine larkspur, forget-me-nots, saxifrages, and sedges.

Animal life abounds in all the different habitats available in the state. Larger animals in the mountain regions include black bears, deer, elk, and mountain lions. Other areas are home to coyotes and pronghorn antelope. Smaller animals include badgers, beavers, bobcats, chipmunks, foxes, jack rabbits, minks, otters, and prairie dogs.

A variety of reptiles inhabit the desert areas, including the poisonous coral snake and rattlesnake. Spiders such as the tarantula and black widow can also be found in the desert.

Sandhill cranes and many types of geese winter in New Mexico’s warm climate. The state is permanent home to ducks, grouse, pheasants, quail, wild turkeys, and many other birds. Fish found in New Mexico’s waters include bass, catfish, crappies, perch, suckers, and the cutthroat trout, the official state fish.

Climate: Generally speaking, the climate of New Mexico is dry and moderate. The broad range of temperatures across the state is due mainly to differences in elevation. The south tends to be warmer than the north, but the average temperatures range from about 74 degrees Fahrenheit in summer to about 34 degrees in winter.

Precipitation also varies due to elevation; the state average is about fifteen inches per year, but it may be as much as forty inches of moisture in the mountain areas and less than ten inches in the low-lying southern desert. Most of the precipitation falls between June and September.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE

Major Colleges and Universities

  • Eastern New Mexico University (Portales)
  • New Mexico Highlands University (Las Vegas)
  • New Mexico Tech (Socorro)
  • New Mexico State University (Las Cruces)
  • St. John’s College (Santa Fe)
  • University of New Mexico (Albuquerque)
  • University of the Southwest (Hobbs)
  • Western New Mexico University (Silver City)

Major Museums

  • Albuquerque Museum (Albuquerque)
  • Bradbury Science Museum (Los Alamos)
  • Los Alamos Historical Museum (Los Alamos)
  • New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum (Las Cruces)
  • International UFO Museum and Research Center (Roswell)
  • Museum of New Mexico (Santa Fe)
  • National Museum of Nuclear Science and History (Albuquerque)
  • New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (Albuquerque)
  • New Mexico Museum of Space History (Alamogordo)
  • Roswell Museum and Art Center (Roswell)
  • Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian (Santa Fe)

Major Libraries

  • Center for Southwest Research, University of New Mexico (Albuquerque)
  • David H. Townsend Library, New Mexico State University (Alamogordo)
  • New Mexico State Library (Santa Fe)
  • Santa Fe Public Library (Santa Fe)
  • Southwest Information and Research Center Library (Albuquerque)

Media: New Mexico's most prominent newspapers include the Albuquerque Journal, Las Cruces Sun-News, and the Santa Fe New Mexican. New Mexico is also home to several commercial television stations and many local radio stations.

ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

  • Gross domestic product (in millions $USD): 122,114.8 (ranked 37th) (2022)
  • GDP percent change: 1.1%

Major Industries: Government and government enterprises were the largest industry in the state in 2022, accounting for 21.9 percent of the state's gross domestic product (GDP). Federal government jobs make up a significant percentage of New Mexico's employment. Military bases and government laboratories are among the major federal facilities in New Mexico; Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories are leading facilities in nuclear research. Other major service industry areas are finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing; professional and business services; and mining, quarrying, and extraction.

New Mexico sustains a significant manufacturing sector, which produced $4.26 billion worth of products in 2021. That year, petroleum and coal products comprised the largest manufacturing sector in the state. Computers and electronic equipment were the second largest sector that year, followed by food, beverage, and tobacco products. Other manufactured products include non metallic mineral products, chemicals, and fabricated metal products. Copper and potash, used in making fertilizer, are major non-fuel mined products. New Mexico is a leading producer of molybdenum, used for making steel. Gold and silver, recovered as byproducts in copper processing, coal, and uranium are also important products.

Tourism: Tourism is a key component in New Mexico's economy. The state's mild climate and natural wonders, including places such as Carlsbad Caverns, attract many visitors each year. Mountain ski resorts are also a major draw in the winter months. The state's unique mixed heritage draw tourists from all over the world; many pueblos and other reservations are opened to the public to share American Indian arts and culture.

Energy Production: The majority of New Mexico's electricity is produced by coal- or natural gas-powered plants. A small amount is generated by plants burning other fuels, and hydroelectric power is limited to a few plants. Nonhydroelectric renewable sources, primarily wind power, have grown significantly in the twenty-first century. New Mexico produces more electricity than it uses and sends its surplus to neighboring states, making it a net exporter of electricity.

Agriculture: Over half of the state's land area is classified as farmland; the majority of this is grazing land. Beef cattle ranching is the most important agricultural activity in the state. Other economically significant livestock includes dairy cattle and sheep. Products related to livestock bring in over two-thirds of the state's agricultural income. The state's leading cash crop in 2020 by value of production was hay, including alfalfa, followed by pecans, chili peppers, and corn. Other important crops include wheat, cotton, peanuts, and sorghum.

Airports: There are many regional and municipal airports in New Mexico. The largest is Albuquerque International Airport, which is served by major interstate airlines as well as smaller, local carriers.

GOVERNMENT

  • Governor: Michelle Lujan Grisham (Democrat)
  • Present constitution date: 1911
  • Electoral votes: 5
  • Number of counties: 33
  • Violent crime rate: 778.3 (per 100,000 residents)
  • Death penalty: No (abolished in 2009)

Constitution: New Mexico is governed under its original state constitution adopted in 1911, a year before New Mexico achieved statehood. There have been more than one hundred amendments to the constitution. Amendments, proposed by the legislature, must be approved by a majority of voters. Some sections of the constitution require more than a simple majority for amendment; these sections pertain to education and voting rights of Spanish-speaking residents. According to its constitution, New Mexico is officially a bilingual state.

Branches of GovernmentExecutive: The governor, elected every four years, serves as the chief executive officer of the state. Their responsibilities include the appointment of members of the State Board of Finance as well as most of the heads of state agencies and the approval or veto of bills passed by the legislature. The lieutenant governor performs the duties of governor when the elected governor is out of state or if that official dies or leaves office and also serves as the president of the senate, voting only when necessary to break a tie.

Other elected executive officers are the secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, attorney general, commissioner of public lands, and three corporation commissioners. Executive officers are elected for four-year terms and may serve for any number of terms, but not more than two consecutively. The ten members of the State Board of Education are also elected for terms of six years.

Legislative: The New Mexico legislature is made up of a forty-two-member senate and a seventy-member house of representatives. Senators are elected every four years, while members of the house of representatives are elected every two years.

Judicial: The supreme court is the highest court in the state. It is composed of five justices elected to eight-year staggered terms, so the court always consists of both new and veteran justices. The justices select a chief justice from their ranks every two years. In addition to the supreme court, the state’s judicial system is made up of a court of appeals as well as district, magistrate, metropolitan, and probate courts.

HISTORY

ca. 9000 BCE Prehistoric Clovis and Folsom peoples hunt big game in what will become New Mexico. These hunters migrate away from the region as the climate warms.

ca. 6000 BCE Ancient desert dwellers move to the area and eventually engage in agriculture.

500 BCE–1400 CE Ancestral Puebloan and Mogollon cultures flourish.

ca. 1450 Changes in American Indian settlement result in two major areas of population—the Zuni-Acoma area and the Rio Grande valley, where modern Pueblo cultures develop.

ca. 1500 The Apache and Navajo peoples move into the region.

1536 Spaniard Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his companions Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, Andrés Dorantes, and Estevanico probably pass through the region.

1540 Spaniard Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explores present-day New Mexico and the Southwest in search of gold.

ca. 1581El Camino Real (The Royal Highway) becomes the first road established by Europeans in what is to become the United States. It runs from Santa Fe to Mexico City.

1598Juan de Oñate establishes the first successful Spanish colony in New Mexico; the American Indians of Acoma are defeated after an uprising against the growing Spanish presence.

1609 The king of Spain declares New Mexico a Spanish royal colony. Santa Fe is founded as the new capital the following year.

1610–80 Franciscan missionaries work to convert New Mexico’s native populations to Catholicism.

1676 Apaches revolt against their Spanish oppressors.

1680 Pueblos unite under Popé and attack Spanish settlements and missions. The Spaniards are forced to retreat to Mexico. The Pueblo Revolt becomes the only successful effort by American Indians to force European settlers to abandon a colony.

1692Diego de Vargas recaptures New Mexico and reestablishes Spanish control.

1706 Albuquerque is founded by Spanish provincial governor Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdez. The city is named in honor of the viceroy of New Spain.

1807 Explorer Zebulon Pike is arrested and brought to Santa Fe when he is caught scouting Spanish territory for the United States.

1821 After Mexico gains independence from Spain, New Mexico becomes part of the Mexican Republic; the Santa Fe Trail opens between Missouri and Santa Fe, establishing trade with the United States.

1834 New Mexico’s first newspaper, El Crepusculo da la Libertad, begins publication in Santa Fe.

1837 Citizens of New Mexico, both Mexican and American Indian, stage a revolt against the Mexican colonial government; Governor Albino Pérez is captured and beheaded.

1841 A band of Texans, asserting claims to part of New Mexico, are defeated by Mexican troops.

1846 After the failure of negotiations with the United States for the purchase of New Mexico, war is declared. The Army of the West under General Stephen W. Kearny takes possession of New Mexico for the United States without opposition.

1847Charles Bent, acting governor, and several other officials are killed in Taos by Mexican loyalists. The Revolt of 1847, or Taos Rebellion, involves armed conflict at Santa Cruz and massacres at both Mora and Taos. United States troops put down the insurrection, and over twenty New Mexicans are hanged for murder and treason. The Santa Fe Republican, New Mexico’s first English-language newspaper, begins publication.

1848 In accordance with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, New Mexico is ceded to the United States.

1850 Congress creates the territory of New Mexico. James S. Calhoun becomes the first territorial governor.

1853 The Gadsden Purchase gains more land from Mexico, establishing New Mexico’s southern border.

1858 The Butterfield Trail from California through southern New Mexico opens.

1862 Occupying Confederate troops from Texas are defeated at Glorieta Pass by Union forces, forcing the Confederacy to abort plans for controlling New Mexico.

1863 New Mexico’s present-day boundaries are established when Arizona becomes a separate territory.

1864 Navajo peoples are forced on the "Long Walk," a three-hundred-mile march to a reservation in eastern New Mexico led by Colonel Kit Carson. The relocation is a failure, and in 1868 the Navajo return to the Four Corners area.

1878–81 Cattle ranchers fight over range. The conflict becomes known as the Lincoln County war, in which outlaw Billy the Kid figures prominently.

1879 The Santa Fe Railroad opens.

1881 Billy the Kid is killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett near Fort Sumner.

1886 Apache chief Geronimo surrenders, ending warring between Apaches and White settlers. Geronimo is exiled, and all non-Pueblo American Indians are placed on reservations.

1889 The University of New Mexico is created by an act of the territorial legislature.

1912 New Mexico attains statehood on January 6, becoming the forty-seventh state.

1916 Elephant Butte Dam is completed on the Rio Grande, providing water for irrigation. Pancho Villa leads a band of Mexican revolutionaries in a raid on the border town of Columbus, in which sixteen people are killed.

1922 Oil is discovered in New Mexico.

1924 The Pueblo Lands Act is passed, calling for the eviction and relocation of squatters on American Indian lands. Gila National Forest is established as the first United States wilderness area.

1930 Carlsbad Caverns National Park is established.

1943Los Alamos is constructed by the federal government as a center for atomic research. The secret Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb begins there.

1945 The first atom bomb in the world is detonated in July at the White Sands Proving Grounds near Alamogordo.

1947 Reports of an unidentified flying object (UFO) crash in the desert near Roswell fuel speculation that extraterrestrials have visited the area. Despite the efforts of the US Air Force to debunk the event, Roswell is still considered a mecca for UFO enthusiasts and conspiracy theorists.

1948 New Mexico’s American Indians obtain the right to vote when a court rules the constitutional provision denying such rights invalid.

1950 Uranium is discovered in New Mexico.

1967 Alianza Federal de Mercedes (the Federal Alliance of Land Grants), a militant Spanish-American group led by Reies Lopez Tijerina, seeks enforcement of old Spanish land-grant claims and the title to more than two thousand square miles of land.

1970Taos Pueblo gains possession of its sacred Blue Lake through an act of Congress, which stipulates that Blue Lake and part of Carson National Forest shall be for the sole use of the Taos.

1972 An FBI report cites Albuquerque as having one of the highest crime rates in the United States, with nearly 6,000 serious crimes per 100,000 people each year.

1975 The largest solar-heated and cooled building in the world is constructed at New Mexico State University.

1980 A riot at the New Mexico Penitentiary, near Santa Fe, results in the deaths of thirty-three inmates and $14 million worth of damage.

1982 A US Supreme Court ruling allows American Indian tribes to levy taxes on oil, natural gas, and other resources mined on tribal lands.

1986 New Mexico is declared a refuge for Central American refugees by Governor Toney Anaya.

1998 New Mexico celebrates its cuarto centenario, commemorating the four hundredth anniversary of the 1598 colonization led by Juan de Onate.

1999Harvard University’s Peabody Museum returns around two thousand skeletons to Pueblos in the Pecos Valley, complying with the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. It is the largest single repatriation of Native American remains to date.

2000 Security lapses at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a center for research involving nuclear energy and national security, result in espionage charges against weapons scientist Wen Ho Lee. Accused of selling classified information to China, Lee was eventually exonerated after spending nearly a year in jail. The lack of evidence in the case lead to charges of racial discrimination in the government’s attempted prosecution of Lee.

2002 A series of wildfires cause significant damage in southern New Mexico.

2005 The state government announces its intention to collaborate with the British aerospace company Virgin Galactic to build a spaceport in New Mexico.

2006 The New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail system begins operation, transporting passengers between Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and the surrounding areas.

2009 Construction of Spaceport America begins in Sierra County.

2010 Susana Martinez is elected governor of New Mexico, becoming the first female Hispanic governor in the United States.

2012 Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumps from a balloon in the stratosphere above New Mexico, breaking the sound barrier before landing safely.

2020 Like other states, New Mexico announces a statewide stay-at-home order amid the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

2021 President Joe Biden nominated Representative Deb Haaland (1960–), a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, as US Secretary of the Interior. Upon her confirmation in March, she became the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary.

FAMOUS PEOPLE

Rudolfo Anaya, 1937–2020 (Pastura) , Writer.

Jeff Bezos, 1964– (Albuquerque) , Entrepreneur; CEO of Amazon.com.

Nacio Herb Brown, 1896–1964 (Deming), Composer of "Singin’ in the Rain."

Dennis Chavez, 1888–1962 (Los Chavez) , Lawyer and US senator.

Mangus Coloradas, ca. 1790–1863 (Janos district of New Spain) , Mimbreno Apache leader.

Edward Condon, 1902–74 (Alamogordo) , Physicist involved in atomic bomb project; professor.

John Denver, 1943–97 (Roswell) , Singer, songwriter.

Henry Chee Dodge, 1857–1947 (Fort Defiance) , First official Navajo interpreter, first chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council.

Pete Domenici, 1932–2017 (Albuquerque) , US senator.

William Hanna, 1910–2001 (Melrose) , Animator, cartoonist.

Dolores Huerta, 1930– (Dawson) , Civil rights activist.

Conrad Hilton, 1887–1979 (San Antonio) , Hotel executive.

Ralph Kiner, 1922–2014 (Santa Rita) , Professional baseball player, sports commentator.

Demi Lovato, 1992– (Albuquerque) , Singer and actor.

William Henry "Bill" Mauldin, 1921–2003 (Mountain Park ) , Political cartoonist.

Demi Moore, 1962– (Roswell) , Actress.

Ouray, ca. 1833–80 (Taos) , Uncompahgre Ute leader.

Kim Stanley, 1925–2001 (Tularosa) , Actor.

Al Unser, 1939–2021 (Albuquerque) , Auto racer.

Linda Wertheimer, 1943– (Carlsbad ) , Radio news correspondent.

TRIVIA

  • Albuquerque plays host to the world's largest international hot air balloon festival every October.
  • Santa Fe's Palace of Governors, constructed in 1610, is one of the oldest public buildings in America.
  • A version of sixteenth-century Spanish is still spoken in Truchas, Chimayo, Coyote, and other isolated villages in northern New Mexico by some descendants of Spanish conquistadores. This is the only place in the world where the dialect still exists.
  • The city of Truth or Consequences is named after a radio game show. Until 1950 it was known as Hot Springs.
  • Taos Pueblo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the United States. Some of its 900-year-old buildings are still occupied.
  • Navajo from New Mexico were among the Native Americans who used their native languages for military communications during World War II. The Japanese were never able to decipher the messages of these "code talkers."

Bibliography

"Economic Profile for New Mexico." BearFacts, Bureau of Economic Analysis, 31 Mar. 2023, apps.bea.gov/regional/bearfacts/action.cfm. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

"Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer." Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2022, crime-data-explorer.app.cloud.gov/pages/home. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

"New Mexico." Quick Facts, US Census Bureau, 1 July 2022, www.census.gov/quickfacts/NM. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

"New Mexico: State Profile and Energy Estimates." US Energy Information Administration, 17 Nov. 2022, www.eia.gov/state/?sid=NM. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

"New Mexico: 2020 Census." United States Census Bureau, 25 Aug. 2021, www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/new-mexico-population-change-between-census-decade.html. Accessed 3 Oct. 2022.

Price, V. B. The Orphaned Land: New Mexico’s Environment Since the Manhattan Project. U of New Mexico P, 2011.

Prince, L. Bradford. New Mexico’s Struggle for Statehood. Sunstone, 2010.

Stanley, F. The Civil War in New Mexico. Sunstone, 2011.

"2022 State Agricultural Overview: New Mexico." National Agriculture Statistics Service, US Dept. of Agriculture, 11 Sept. 2023, www.nass.usda.gov/Quick‗Stats/Ag‗Overview/stateOverview.php?state=new%20mexico. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

"2022 New Mexico Manufacturing Facts." National Association of Manufacturers, 2022, www.nam.org/state-manufacturing-data/2021-new-mexico-manufacturing-facts/. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

Melissa Sherman