New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States. It 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 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 U.S., founded in 1610 as the government seat of Nuevo México in New Spain; the largest city is Albuquerque.
New Mexico’s economy is highly diversified, with major sectors including oil and mineral extraction, cattle ranching, agriculture, lumber, scientific and technological research, tourism, and the arts, especially textiles and visual arts. In prehistoric times, New Mexico was home to Ancestral Puebloans, Mogollon, and the modern Comanche and Utes. Navajos and Apaches entered the state towards the end of the 15th century.
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 after Alaska. The confluence of indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, Hispanic, and American influences is also evident in New Mexico’s unique cuisine, music genre, and architectural style.
Capital: Sante Fe, NM
Population: 2,120,220 (2020)
Official Website: https://www.newmexico.gov/
Tourism website: https://www.newmexico.org/
Tourist Attractions for New Mexico:
Home to one of the most incredibly scenic and diverse landscapes in North America, New Mexico offers endless opportunities for exploration and adventure. With strong influences of both Native American and Hispanic culture, the state offers tourists a multitude of unique attractions both in large cities like Santa Fe and Albuquerque, as well as the smaller hubs of UFO-focused Roswell and the artists’ colony of Taos.
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park
- White Sands National Monument
- Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
- Bandelier National Monument
- Petroglyph National Monument
- Taos Pueblo
- Cumbres-Toltec Scenic Railway
- Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
- Taos Ski Valley
- Pecos National Historical Park
- The Very Large Array
- Chaco Culture National Historical Park
- Billy the Kid Museum
- Wheeler Peak Wilderness
- International UFO Museum and Research Center