New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States. New Mexico’s history has contributed to its unique demographic and cultural character. One of only six majority-minority states, it has the nation’s highest percentage of Hispanic and Latino Americans and the second-highest percentage of Native Americans
New Mexico is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region of the western U.S. with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, and bordering Texas to the east and southeast, Oklahoma to the northeast, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to the south.
The state capital is Santa Fe, which is the oldest capital in the United States of America, founded in 1610 as the government seat of Nuevo México in New Spain and the largest city is Albuquerque.
New Mexico has a total area of 121,590 square miles, making New Mexico the fifth-largest state, after Alaska, Texas, California, and Montana.
New Mexico’s economy is highly diversified, with major sectors including oil drilling, mineral extraction, dryland farming, cattle ranching, acequia and landrace agriculture, lumber, retail, scientific research laboratories, technological development, and the arts, especially textiles and visual arts.
New Mexico received its name long before the present-day nation of Mexico won independence from Spain and adopted that name in 1821. The name “Mexico” derives from Nahuatl and originally referred to the heartland of the Mexica, Aztec Empire in the Valley of Mexico, far from the area of New Mexico.
New Mexico Stats and Facts
| Overview of New Mexico | |
| Nickname | Land of Enchantment |
| Population | 2.116 million (2021) |
| Capital | Santa Fe |
| Area | 121,593 SQ. MI. |
New Mexico Brief Historical Timeline
| 1540 | Spanish conquistador Francisco Vazquez de Coronado arrives and claims the land for Spain. |
| 1598 | New Mexico becomes an official colony of Spain. |
| 1680 | The Pueblo people revolt against the Spanish. |
| 1821 | New Mexico becomes a province of Mexico after Mexico declares independence from Spain. |
| 1848 | The U.S. gains control of New Mexico as a result of winning the Mexican-American War. |
| 1850 | The New Mexico Territory is established by the United States. |
| 1945 | The first atomic bomb is detonated in New Mexico. |
| 1998 | New Mexico celebrates its Cuarto Centenario, the 400th anniversary commemorating its 1598 founding by Juan de Onate. |
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New Mexico is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region of the western U.S
Neighbouring States & Countries
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