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New Mexico (Spanish: Nuevo México) is a southwestern state in the United States of America. Over its relatively long history it has also been occupied by Native American populations and has been part of the Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, a province of Mexico and a U.S. territory. New Mexico has simultaneously the highest percentage of Hispanic Americans of any state, some recent immigrants and others descendants of Spanish colonists, and the highest percentage of Native Americans, mostly Navajo and Pueblo peoples, of any continental United State. As a result, the demographics and culture of the state are unique for their strong Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. Amerindian cultural influences.
The eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W with Oklahoma, and 3 miles (5 km) west of 103° W with Texas. Texas also lies south of most of New Mexico, although the southwestern boot-heel borders the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora. The western border with Arizona runs along 109° W. The 37° N parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The states of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah come together at the Four Corners in the northwestern corner of New Mexico.
New Mexico's natural landscapes, architecture and sunsets, provide the perfect background for the history and proud heritage that exist in the "Land of Enchantment". The unique blend of Native American, Mexican, Spanish and Western cultural influences helped New Mexico to develop a colorful and distinctive spirit.
There is no other state with so many national parks dedicated to Native Indian civilizations. From Bandelier in Los Alamos to the ancestral Pueblo Indian ruins in Aztec to Chaco Culture National Historical Park , the whole state has places where you can learn about this important cultural heritage.
Albuquerque and Santa Fe are the main urban areas in New Mexico. Both are attractive towns with excellent tourist infrastructure. They are good starting points for exploring the north central portion of the state, where one can find many colonial villages, verdant forests, and high mountain country.
Northwest New Mexico is often called "Indian Country" due to the large populations of various Indian Nations in the area; Grants, Gallup, and Farmington are good bases for exploring this diverse and interesting region. Here you'll find the oldest continuously inhabited city in the US, the venerable Pueblo of Acoma, and the world heritage site of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
Southern New Mexico is dominated by Las Cruces, a fast growing city that has warm winters favored by retirees and others fleeing the snow belt. The rugged terrain of the Gila region in the southwest of the state is home to Silver City and many small mountain towns.
For hiking and other outdoor activities, El Malpais National Monument and White Sands are spectacular national parks, where anyone with a love for the outdoor can spend whole weeks.
Culture
Symbols of the Southwest — a string of chile peppers and a blanched white cow's skull hang in a market near Santa FeWith a Native American population of 134,000 in 1990, New Mexico still ranks as an important center of American Indian culture. Both the Navajo and Apache share Athabaskan origin. The Apache and some Ute live on federal reservations within the state. With 16 million acres (65,000 km²), mostly in neighboring Arizona, the reservation of the Navajo Nation ranks as the largest in the United States. The prehistorically agricultural Pueblo Indians live in pueblos scattered throughout the state, many older than any European settlement.
More than one-third of New Mexicans claim Hispanic origin, the vast majority of whom descend from the original Spanish colonists in the northern portion of the state. Most of the considerably fewer recent Mexican immigrants reside in the southern part of the state.
There are many New Mexicans who also speak a unique dialect of Spanish. New Mexican Spanish has vocabulary often unknown to other Spanish speakers. Because of the historical isolation of New Mexico from other speakers of the Spanish language, the local dialect preserves some late medieval Castillian vocabulary considered archaic elsewhere, adopts numerous Native American words for local features, and contains much Anglicized vocabulary for American concepts and modern inventions.
The presence of various indigenous Native American communities, the long-established Spanish and Mexican influence, and the diversity of Anglo-American settlement in the region, ranging from pioneer farmers and ranchers in the territorial period to military families in later decades, make New Mexico a particularly heterogeneous state.
There are natural history and atomic museums in Albuquerque, which also hosts the famed Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
A large artistic community thrives in Santa Fe. The capital city has museums of Spanish colonial, international folk, Navajo ceremonial, modern Native American, and other modern art. Another museum honors resident Georgia O'Keeffe. Colonies for artists and writers thrive, and the small city teems with art galleries.
Performing arts include the renowned Santa Fe Opera which presents five operas in repertory each July to August, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival held each summer, and the restored Lensic Theater a principal venue for many kinds of performances. The weekend after Labor Day boasts the burning of Zozobra, a sixty-foot marionette, and Fiesta de Santa Fe.
Writer D.H. Lawrence lived near Taos in the 1920s at the D.H. Lawrence Ranch where there is a shrine said to contain his ashes.
The eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W with Oklahoma, and 3 miles (5 km) west of 103° W with Texas. Texas also lies south of most of New Mexico, although the southwestern boot-heel borders the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora. The western border with Arizona runs along 109° W. The 37° N parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The states of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah come together at the Four Corners in the northwestern corner of New Mexico.
New Mexico's natural landscapes, architecture and sunsets, provide the perfect background for the history and proud heritage that exist in the "Land of Enchantment". The unique blend of Native American, Mexican, Spanish and Western cultural influences helped New Mexico to develop a colorful and distinctive spirit.
There is no other state with so many national parks dedicated to Native Indian civilizations. From Bandelier in Los Alamos to the ancestral Pueblo Indian ruins in Aztec to Chaco Culture National Historical Park , the whole state has places where you can learn about this important cultural heritage.
Albuquerque and Santa Fe are the main urban areas in New Mexico. Both are attractive towns with excellent tourist infrastructure. They are good starting points for exploring the north central portion of the state, where one can find many colonial villages, verdant forests, and high mountain country.
Northwest New Mexico is often called "Indian Country" due to the large populations of various Indian Nations in the area; Grants, Gallup, and Farmington are good bases for exploring this diverse and interesting region. Here you'll find the oldest continuously inhabited city in the US, the venerable Pueblo of Acoma, and the world heritage site of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
Southern New Mexico is dominated by Las Cruces, a fast growing city that has warm winters favored by retirees and others fleeing the snow belt. The rugged terrain of the Gila region in the southwest of the state is home to Silver City and many small mountain towns.
For hiking and other outdoor activities, El Malpais National Monument and White Sands are spectacular national parks, where anyone with a love for the outdoor can spend whole weeks.
Culture
Symbols of the Southwest — a string of chile peppers and a blanched white cow's skull hang in a market near Santa FeWith a Native American population of 134,000 in 1990, New Mexico still ranks as an important center of American Indian culture. Both the Navajo and Apache share Athabaskan origin. The Apache and some Ute live on federal reservations within the state. With 16 million acres (65,000 km²), mostly in neighboring Arizona, the reservation of the Navajo Nation ranks as the largest in the United States. The prehistorically agricultural Pueblo Indians live in pueblos scattered throughout the state, many older than any European settlement.
More than one-third of New Mexicans claim Hispanic origin, the vast majority of whom descend from the original Spanish colonists in the northern portion of the state. Most of the considerably fewer recent Mexican immigrants reside in the southern part of the state.
There are many New Mexicans who also speak a unique dialect of Spanish. New Mexican Spanish has vocabulary often unknown to other Spanish speakers. Because of the historical isolation of New Mexico from other speakers of the Spanish language, the local dialect preserves some late medieval Castillian vocabulary considered archaic elsewhere, adopts numerous Native American words for local features, and contains much Anglicized vocabulary for American concepts and modern inventions.
The presence of various indigenous Native American communities, the long-established Spanish and Mexican influence, and the diversity of Anglo-American settlement in the region, ranging from pioneer farmers and ranchers in the territorial period to military families in later decades, make New Mexico a particularly heterogeneous state.
There are natural history and atomic museums in Albuquerque, which also hosts the famed Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
A large artistic community thrives in Santa Fe. The capital city has museums of Spanish colonial, international folk, Navajo ceremonial, modern Native American, and other modern art. Another museum honors resident Georgia O'Keeffe. Colonies for artists and writers thrive, and the small city teems with art galleries.
Performing arts include the renowned Santa Fe Opera which presents five operas in repertory each July to August, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival held each summer, and the restored Lensic Theater a principal venue for many kinds of performances. The weekend after Labor Day boasts the burning of Zozobra, a sixty-foot marionette, and Fiesta de Santa Fe.
Writer D.H. Lawrence lived near Taos in the 1920s at the D.H. Lawrence Ranch where there is a shrine said to contain his ashes.