30 Interesting Facts About Albuquerque

Facts About Albuquerque

  • Albuquerque was named for the Duke of Albuquerque, Viceroy of New Spain.
  • Albuquerque enjoys blue skies and sunshine 310 days out of the year, making the city an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise and a magnificent place to enjoy outdoor sporting events, concerts, festivals and more.
  • Albuquerque was founded in 1706 and is one of the nation’s oldest inland communities.
  • Albuquerque is geographically divided into four quadrants that are officially part of mailing addresses.
  • The city spans 187 square miles at elevations ranging from 4,500to 6,500 feet above sea level.
  • Albuquerque is nicknamed, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its 1706 founding by Nuevo México governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdés as La Villa de Alburquerque.
  • The city of Albuquerque encompasses 188 square miles and is the 33rd largest city in the United States.
  • Albuquerque lies within the centre of the Albuquerque Basin ecoregion, centred on the Rio Grande with its Bosque gallery forest, flanked easterly by the Sandia–the Manzano Mountains and westerly by the West Mesa.
  • The breakfast burrito is said to have originated at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta® in the 1970s.
  • Albuquerque is the only word in the English language that repeats the letter sequence “que” twice.
  • The Sandia Mountains on the city’s east side rise to more than 10,600 feet in elevation and turn a watermelon pink colour at sunset.
  • Kirtland Air Force Base, the 6th largest Air Force Installation in the U.S., is located in Albuquerque.
  • Albuquerque was founded in 1706 when Spain established a military presidio as the Spanish colonial outpost of Ranchos de Albuquerque.
  • Albuquerque has one of the highest elevations of any major city in the United States, though the effects of this are greatly tempered by its southwesterly continental position. The elevation of the city ranges from 4,900 feet (1,490 m) above sea level near the Rio Grande (in the Valley) to over 6,700 feet (1,950 m) in the foothill areas of Sandia Heights and Glenwood Hills.
  • Albuquerque is the Hot Air Balloon Capital of the world and hosts an annual international competition.
  • The biscochito, a small anise-flavoured cookie, is the official New Mexico state cookie.
  • At 351 feet tall, the Bank of Albuquerque tower is the tallest building in Albuquerque. It has 22 floors and is located in the Downtown area of the city.
  • The 2020 census-estimated population of the city is 562,540.
  • The economy of Albuquerque centres on science, medicine, technology, commerce, education, entertainment, and culture outlets.
  • The Rio Grande River flows through Albuquerque, north to south, bisecting the city just west of “Old Town.”
  • The first-ever Bitcoin machine debuted in a cigar shop called Imbibe in Albuquerque.
  • The median income for a household in the city was $38,272, and the median income for a family was $46,979.
  • Petroglyphs carved into basalt in the western part of the city bear testimony to an early Native American presence in the area, now preserved in the Petroglyph National Monument.
  • Albuquerque celebrated its 310th birthday in 2016.
  • Albuquerque has a total area of 189.5 square miles, of which 187.7 square miles is land and 1.8 square miles, or 0.96%, is water.
  • An Aerial Tramway situated five miles northeast of Albuquerque is the longest tram in North America and has the third-longest span in the world.
  • Albuquerque is home to the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History.
  • Albuquerque is twinned with Alburquerque, Spain; Ashgabat, Turkmenistan; Chihuahua, Mexico; Guadalajara, Mexico; Helmstedt, Germany; Hualien, Taiwan; Lanzhou, China; Lusaka, Zambia; Rehovot, Israel & Sasebo, Japan.
  • Albuquerque averages 8.2 inches of rainfall annually. Adding this to low humidity and plenty of sunshine, we have year-round pleasant weather.
  • The nuclear capital of the United States is Albuquerque, and much of the nations nuclear research is conducted or supervised here.

 

Facts About Albuquerque
Facts About Albuquerque

More Reading

Post navigation

back to top