New Mexico is located in the southwest of the United States.
New
Mexico borders Colorado to the north,
Oklahoma to the northeast,
Texas to the east and south, the Mexican states of Chihuahua and
a short distance to Sonora. New Mexico borders Arizona to the
west. New Mexico borders Utah only at a single point in the
northwest, where the states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and
Arizona touch.
It is located in the Western region of the
country, Rocky Mountain division. It borders Colorado to the
north, Oklahoma to the northeast, Texas to the east and
southeast, Mexico (Chihuahua) to the southwest, Arizona to the
west, and Utah to the northwest. With 314,915 km² it is the
fifth largest state and with 6.54 inhabitants/km², the sixth
least densely populated. It was admitted as the 47th state of
the Union on January 6, 1912, ahead of Arizona, Alaska and
Hawaii, the last to be admitted. At the beginning of the s. XXI,
was the second largest oil producer in the US and produced more
oil than Mexico.
Inhabited by indigenous people for
thousands of years before European Exploration, it was colonized
starting in 1598 and was a province of New Spain. Later, it was
part of independent Mexico until it became a US territory and,
finally, a state, as a result of the Mexican-American War. It
has the highest percentage of Hispanics, including the
descendants of the Spanish colonizers. It has the second largest
percentage of Native Americans as a proportion of the population
after Alaska and the fourth largest population of Native
Americans after California, Oklahoma and Arizona. The largest
Native American nations are the Navajo, Pueblo and Apache,
ethnically and linguistically linked to indigenous nations of
northern Mexico. The state's demographics and culture are
heavily influenced by these Hispanic and Native American roots,
expressed in the state flag. Its scarlet and yellow colors were
taken from the royal standards of Spain, along with the ancient
Sun symbol of the Zia, a Pueblo tribe.
The province was
named New Mexico in 1563 and again in 1581, when it was
incorrectly believed to contain rich and diverse cultures
related to the Mexica, of the Aztec Empire. The name stuck, even
though the area had no connection to the Mexica Empire or its
culture, other than the remote linguistic relationship with the
Ute peoples. New Mexico was part of New Spain as a province and
was later part of the First Mexican Empire and the Mexican
Federal Republic for twenty-seven years (from 1821 to 1848).
Central
The heartland of the state around the metropolis of
Albuquerque.
Los Lunas
North Central
Large reservoirs in
the west. In the center the Pajarito Plateau with archaeological and
scenic highlights such as the Bandalier NM, the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks
NM and the Rio Grande Gorge. To the east, the southern Sangre de Cristo
Range covered by coniferous forests.
Santa Fe Los Alamos Espanola
Taos
Northeast
The southernmost foothills of the Rocky
Mountains and to the east the prairie country of the High Plains.
Las
Vegas Santa Rosa
Southeast
Desert country in southeastern New
Mexico. It is home to some of the state's top attractions, such as
Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Monument.
Carlsbad Roswell
Alamogordo
southwest
Around the Gila National Forest.
Las
Cruces Silver City Deming Lordsburg
northwest
On the edge of
the large Navajo Nation Reservation.
Farmington · Gallup
Aztec Ruins National Monument covers an area of 318 acres and protects ruins of the Anasazi settlement that was created in the 11th century.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in Eddy County, New Mexico. This nature reserve roughly covers an area of 46,766 acres.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park are some of the largest and most sophisticated structures in the region left by the Anasazi tribe.
Fort Union National Monument in Mora County, New Mexico protects ruins of the former frontier fort constructed by the US Army.
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is a former settlement of the mysterious Anasazi people that disappeared without a trace.
Mogollon Ghost Town is an abandoned settlement in Catron County of New Mexico. It was originally found in 1880's.
White Sands National Monument in New Mexico is World's largest deposit of white gypsum that gives its glistering color.
In addition to English, nearly 30% of New Mexico speak Spanish as their first language. In certain areas of administration and the judiciary, Spanish is actually the second official language.
By plane
The largest and only major airport in New Mexico is the
Albuquerque International Sunport. All of the country's major airlines
fly to it, and Southwest, the budget airline, has a hub here.
For
those heading to southwest or southern New Mexico, or the city of Las
Cruces, consider using El Paso Airport. While this is in Texas, it is
much closer to that region of the state than Albuquerque.
Some
smaller New Mexico cities also have regional airports.
Because of its southern exposure and the fact that it is on the leeward side of the Rocky Mountains, New Mexico's climate is consistently very dry and very hot, especially in summer. In winter, however, it can also be freezing cold due to the altitude, especially in the north, where there is a pronounced winter sports area in the mountains north of Santa Fe.
With 314,915 square kilometers, it is the fifth largest state in the
United States. Its surface is rugged, with the southern foothills of the
Rocky Mountains to the north of the state (Sierra de la Sangre de
Cristo), large plains to the east, and plateaus and more mountains to
the south and west. The Rio Grande with its wide valley divides the
state from north to south. The desert landscapes, strange rock
formations, mountain forests and numerous hot springs are surprising.
The federal government protects millions of hectares of the State as
Forest Parks, among which we find:
Carson National Forest
Cibola
National Forest
Lincoln National Forest
Santa Fe National Forest
Gila National Forest
Areas managed by the National Park Service
include:
Aztec Ruins National Monument, in Aztec
Bandelier
National Monument in Los Alamos
Capulín Volcano National Monument,
near Capulín
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, near Carlsbad
Chaco
Culture National Historical Park in Nageezi,
El Malpaís National
Monument in Grants
El Morro National Monument in Ramah
Fort Union
National Monument in Watrous
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
near Silver City
Old Spanish Trail
Santa Fe Trail
Pecos
National Historical Park in Pecos
Petroglyph National Monument near
Albuquerque
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument in Mountainair
White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo
New Mexico's climate is generally semiarid to arid, although areas of
continental and alpine climates exist, and its territory is mainly
covered by mountains, high plains, and deserts. The Great Plains are in
eastern New Mexico, similar to the Colorado High Plains in eastern
Colorado. The two states share similar terrain, and both have plains,
mountains, basins, plateaus, and desert lands. Average precipitation
across the state of New Mexico is 350 mm annually, with average monthly
amounts peaking in the summer, such as in Albuquerque and Las Cruces in
the south. Average annual temperatures can vary from 18°C in the
southeast to less than 4°C in the northern mountains. During summer,
daytime temperatures can often exceed 38°C at elevations below 1500 m,
the average high temperature in July ranges from 36°C at the lowest
elevations to 26°C at the highest elevations. In the colder months of
November through March, many New Mexico cities can have nighttime
minimum temperatures above freezing or below. The highest temperature
recorded in New Mexico was 50 °C at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
(WIPP) near Loving on June 27, 1994, and the lowest temperature recorded
is -46 °C) at Gavilán on 1 February 1951.
Astronomical
observatories in New Mexico take advantage of unusually clear skies,
including Apache Point Observatory, the Very Large Array, Magdalena
Ridge Observatory and others.
The type of flora of the state is Nearctic and Neotropical, in the highest areas there are species that survive snowfall, rain and drought such as blue spruce, stiff cone pine and shrubs; in the Hudsonian zone of mountain ranges and gorges there are spruce, quaking, and ponderosa pine. Going down in height we can find oaks, junipers, firs, Douglas firs, poplars, Canadian poplars, columbine, pennyroyal and horse grass, maple and wildflowers due to the humidity that descends from the snowy mountains, having a great color during the fall. In much more arid areas, the following stand out: grasslands or zacatales; the stone pine; the oak; the Alamo; the olive; the cedar; the huizache; the chollas or biznagas; the nopales or prickly pears; the cardones; the magueyes or agaves; and a great variety of cacti.
The fauna of the state is very diverse. It houses high mountain
species that predominate in Canada or species that predominate in
subtropical regions of Mexico. Among mammals, we have the American black
bear, symbol of this state. Other mammals include mountain lions,
bighorn sheep, mountain goats, deer, marmots or smaller rodents such as
the kangaroo rat and endangered species such as the Mexican wolf,
American bison and pronghorn.
Among the birds we have the
colorful wild turkey, the roadrunner, wild ducks, quail, centzontles,
woodpeckers, etc. Among the reptiles, rattlesnakes and coral snakes
stand out, among others. Among insects there is great diversity, such as
butterflies, spiders, scorpions and centipedes.
In January 2016, New Mexico sued the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency for negligence following the 2015 Gold King mine wastewater
spill. The spill had caused heavy metals such as cadmium and lead and
toxins such as arsenic flowed into the Animas River, contaminating
watersheds in several states. Since then, the state has implemented or
considered stricter regulations and tougher penalties for discharges
associated with resource extraction.
New Mexico is a major
producer of greenhouse gases. A Colorado State University study showed
that the state's oil and gas industry generated 60 million metric tons
of greenhouse gases in 2018, more than four times more than previously
estimated. The fossil fuel sector accounted for more than half of the
state's total emissions, which amounted to 113.6 million metric tons,
about 1.8% of the country's total and more than double of the national
per capita average. The New Mexico government has responded with
efforts to regulate industrial emissions, promote renewable energy, and
incentivize the use of electric vehicles.
The geology of New Mexico includes bedrock exposures from four
physiographic provinces, ranging in age from nearly 1.8 billion years
(Ma) to nearly the present day. The provinces of the Great Plains, the
southern Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Plateau, and the Basin and Range
converge here, giving the state great geological diversity.
The
geological history of the State began with its formation during the
Yavapai and Mazatzal orogenies between 1750 and 1650 million years ago
(Mya). This was followed by 200 million years of tectonic quiescence
that ended in the Picuris orogeny. This event transformed the New Mexico
crust into mature continental crust. More than a billion years of
tectonic inactivity followed, ending with the rise of the Ancestral
Rocky Mountains in the Pennsylvanian, 300 Mya.
The Permian and
most of the Mesozoic were another interval of relative tectonic
inactivity, in which gradual subsidence deposited formations that
preserve an impressive stratigraphic record throughout the State. This
ended the Laramide orogeny, beginning around 70 Mya, which uplifted most
of the mountain ranges of modern New Mexico and was accompanied by
violent volcanic activity. The opening of the Rio Grande rift began
around 30 Mya, and was followed by late Cenozoic volcanism along the
Jemez Lineament, particularly in the Jemez volcanic field.
Most
of New Mexico has a semiarid to arid climate, and groundwater in
aquifers is an important geologic resource for farmers and municipal
areas. In 2019, oil and gas production generated $3.1 billion in taxes
and revenue for the state. Mining has also been historically important.
Geological hazards are rare in New Mexico, but potential hazards
include erosion or flash flooding in streams; arsenic or other
contamination of groundwater or soil; sinkholes or other subsidence;
earthquakes; massive weathering (such as landslides); mine hazards; oil
field hazards; accumulation of radon in homes; or volcanic eruptions.
New Mexico received its name long before the current Mexican nation
gained independence from Spain and adopted that name in 1821. The name
"Mexico" derives from Nahuatl and originally referred to the heartland
of the Mexicas, the rulers of the Aztec Empire, in the Mexico's valley.
The classical Nahuatl term Yancuic Mexihco, “a new Mexico,” was used to
describe a mystical empire that rivaled in scale its own Aztec Empire.
These myths were based on the commercial network of the towns. Over
time, these stories evolved into the folklore of the Seven Cities of
Gold.
After the conquest of the Aztecs in the early 16th century,
the Spanish began to explore what is now the southwestern United States,
calling it New Mexico, a Spanish translation of the Nahuatl term Yancuic
Mexihco. In 1581, Chamuscado and Rodríguez's expedition named the region
north of the Rio Grande San Felipe del Nuevo México. The Spanish hoped
to find rich indigenous cultures similar to the Mexica. However, the
indigenous cultures of New Mexico turned out to be unrelated to the
Mexica and lacking in wealth, but the name persisted.
Before
becoming a state in 1912, the name "New Mexico" was loosely applied to
various configurations of territories in the same general area, which
evolved throughout the Spanish, Mexican, and American periods, but
typically encompassed most of the present-day New Mexico along with
sections of neighboring states.
The first inhabitants were Amerindians of the Anasazi culture. In the 16th century, when the first contacts with Europeans occurred, there were a series of tribes in the region that shared this territory in a relatively peaceful way. On the one hand there were the Pueblos, descendants of the most primitive Anasazi, and on the other the Navajos and the Apaches, descendants of the Athabascans, who had come down from what is now Canada. They also found the Hopi, descendants of the Mogollon and related to the Pueblo, in what is now Arizona. There are ruins of primitive settlements throughout the state. The Indians lived in permanent settlements, "pueblos" built primarily of mud that reminded the Spanish of their own adobe towns. Hence the name they were given.
The first expedition Francisco Vázquez de Coronado assembled a large
expedition in Compostela (or perhaps in modern Tepic, seat of ancient
Compostela) between 1540-1542 to explore and find the mythical Seven
Cities of Gold of Cíbola described by Cabeza de Vaca, which He had just
arrived from his painful journeys of eight years traveling from Florida
to Mexico. Coronado's men found several towns with clay houses in 1541.
Later, other expeditions through the South-West or the Great Plains also
failed to find the fabulous cities. After waging the Tiguex War against
the Pueblo Indians, a discouraged and now poor Coronado, along with his
men, began their journey back to Mexico, leaving New Mexico behind.
More than fifty years after Coronado, Juan de Oñate, on an
expedition from Zacatecas, founded the colony of San Juan on Río Grande
in 1598, the first permanent European settlement in the future state of
New Mexico. Oñate extended the so-called Camino Real, by more than 966
km. Oñate was named the first governor of the new Province of New
Mexico. The Acoma Indians rebelled against this Spanish invasion, but
suffered severe punishment.
In 1609, Pedro de Peralta, later
governor of the Province, founded Santa Fe del Yunque at the foot of the
Sangre de Cristo mountain range. This occurred ten years before the
first English settlers arrived on the shores of New England aboard the
Mayflower, making Santa Fe the oldest state capital in the United
States. The city, along with most of the colonized areas of the state,
was abandoned by the Iberians for twelve years (1680-1692) as a result
of the successful Pueblo Rebellion. The Pueblo Indians managed to expel
the Spanish to El Paso.
After the death of the Pueblo leader
Popé, Diego de Vargas restored Spanish rule in the area in 1692,
bringing in new settlers and developing Santa Fe as a commercial center.
Returning settlers founded the ancient city of Albuquerque in 1706,
naming it after the viceroy of New Spain, the Duke of Albuquerque. This
time new agreements were established with the Indians, who needed help
against the plundering of other nomadic Indians, the Utes, Apaches and
Comanches, who began to arrive from the north.
The consolidation
and expansion of the Spanish colony into what is now southern Colorado
and eastern Arizona continued over the next two centuries. In 1786, when
Spain had sovereignty over the immense Spanish Louisiana, the French
Spanish subject Pedro Vial inaugurated the very important Santa Fe Trail
that connected the Novomexican capital city of Santa Fe with the capital
of Upper Louisiana: San Luis de Illinues ( present-day St. Louis,
Missouri). Like the rest of former New Spain, the territory became
independent from Spain in 1824, the last governor being the Spanish
Facundo Melgares.
Upon the consummation of Mexico's independence from Spain in
1810-1821, the province of New Mexico, as its name indicates, was part
of the independent United Mexican States and remained under the
government of Facundo Melgares. The population had strong ties with the
country's capital, since the "Camino Real de Tierra Adentro" connected
Santa Fe and many other towns with Mexico City since the time of the
Viceroyalty. However, most of the trade was with El Paso del Norte and
the city of Chihuahua.
Small groups of trappers from the United
States had arrived and been in Santa Fe, but the Spanish authorities
officially prohibited them from trading. Merchant William Becknell
returned to the United States in November 1821 with news that
independent Mexico now welcomed trade through Santa Fe.
William
Becknell left Independence, Missouri, for Santa Fe in early 1822 with
the first group of traders. The Santa Fe Trail trading company, headed
by brothers Charles and William Bent and Ceran Saint Vrain, was one of
the most prosperous in the West.
They established their first
trading post in the area in 1826 and by 1833 had built an adobe fort and
trading post called Bent's Fort along the Arkansas River. This fort and
trading post, located approximately 200 miles northeast of Taos, was the
only place populated by Americans along the Santa Fe Trail before
reaching Taos. The Santa Fe National Historic Trail follows the route of
the old trail, with many sites marked or restored.
The Spanish
Trail from Los Angeles to Santa Fe was used primarily by Hispanics,
Anglo-Saxon merchants, and former trappers who lived part of the year in
or near Santa Fe. Beginning in approximately 1829, the trail consisted
of a cavalry train that carried out the arduous 3,800 km round trip
passing through Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California, allowing only one
round trip per year. The trade consisted mainly of blankets and some
goods from Santa Fe that were exchanged for horses in California.
Manuel Payno, in his novel Los Bandidos de Río Frío, describes the
San Juan de los Lagos fair in Jalisco. In this description, he includes
the part that New Mexico commerce took in this fair:
From New Mexico
came numerous herds of those sheep with fine, thick white fleece, all
with black heads, which have never been seen again in the interior.
The Republic of Texas claimed the virtually uninhabited territory
north and east of the Rio Grande River when it rebelled against Mexico
in 1836. Local authorities captured a group of Texan invaders who
embarked on an expedition to assert their claim to the province in 1841.
After the American invasion of 1846-1848 and the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo in 1848, Mexico was forced to cede its territory north of the
Rio Grande and California, today known as the American Southwest, to the
United States of America by treaty. with Manuel de la Peña y Peña, in
exchange for the evacuation of Mexico City and many other areas occupied
by the US army.
In exchange for half of its territory, Mexico
received the amount of fifteen million dollars, plus the forgiveness of
three million dollars of debts that the Americans claimed. With Mexico's
defeat, Santa Anna would become one of the least popular men in Mexican
history.
The Congressional Compromise of 1850 halted a request to
become a state under a proposed antislavery constitution. Texas
transferred the east to the federal government, resolving a long-running
territorial dispute. Following a compromise, the U.S. government
established the Territory of New Mexico on September 9, 1850. The
territory, which included most of Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of
Colorado, officially established its capital in Santa Fe in 1851.
The United States acquired the boot heel of the state's southwest
and southern Arizona—largely desert territory—in the La Mesilla Purchase
of 1853. This purchase was desired when this territory was seen as a
much easier route to lay a transcontinental railroad. towards San Diego
and Los Angeles south of the Gila River. The Southern Pacific Company
built the second transcontinental railroad on this land purchased in
1881.
The territory of Colorado, established in 1861, at the
expense of a larger New Mexican territory and despite the US
government's lack of respect for the civil and property rights
guaranteed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, was settled by Hispanics
from the Taos Valley. In 1851, San Luis (Colorado) was founded, the
oldest town in that state. In the 1880s, this expansion was curtailed by
competition with Anglo-American immigrants and massive land loss in the
American legal system. During the controversial deliberations of the
U.S. Court of Private Land Claims between 1891 and 1904, nearly
thirty-three million acres were lost to Santa Fe Ring lawyers and a
Federal Government still acting under the powerful influence of the myth
of Manifest Destiny. But many towns managed to survive despite losing
their communal lands.
During the American Civil War, Confederate
troops from Texas briefly occupied the south of the state. Union troops
recaptured the territory in early 1862. When the Confederate Territory
of Arizona was proclaimed in 1861, U.S. legislators allowed the western
half of the territory of New Mexico to secede, further reducing its
original borders. Arizona was finally separated as an independent
territory in 1863, and the boundaries of both territories remained that
way until their proclamation as states in 1912.
There were
centuries of conflicts between the Apaches, the Navajos and
Spanish-Mexican settlements in the territory. It took the federal
government another twenty-five years after the Civil War to exert
control over both the civilian and indigenous populations of the
territory.
This began in 1864 when the Navajos were sent on the
"Long Walk" to the Bosque de Redondo Reservation and then returned to
their lands in 1868. The Apaches were moved to various reservations and
the Apache Wars continued until Gerónimo finally surrendered in 1886. .
The railroad encouraged the great cattle rush of the 1880s and the
development of accompanying cow towns. The cattle barons could not let
past herders, and eventually planters and squatters overwhelmed the
ranchers by fencing and plowing under the sea of grass on which the
cattle fed. Competing land claims led to bitter fights between the
original Spanish inhabitants, cattle ranchers, and newer planters.
Despite the destructive overgrazing, the calf survived and remains a
pillar of the New Mexico economy.
Albuquerque, the largest city
in New Mexico, on the upper Rio Grande, was incorporated in 1889.
On January 6, 1912, Congress admitted it as the 47th state of the
Union. The admission of Arizona on February 14, 1912 completed the 48
contiguous states.
The United States government built the Los
Alamos Research Center in 1943 during World War II. Confidential staff
there developed the atomic bomb, the first detonated at the Trinity
site, in the desert at the White Sands Proving Grounds between Socorro
and Alamogordo on July 16, 1945.
Albuquerque expanded rapidly
after the war. It is the largest city in the state.
The state
quickly emerged as a leader in nuclear, solar and geothermal energy
research and development. Sandia National Laboratories, founded in 1949,
conducted nuclear research and special weapons development at Kirtland
Air Force Base, south of Albuquerque, and in Livermore, California.
Located in the remote Chihuahuan Desert, the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant (WIPP) is located southeast, 26 miles (41.8 km) from Carlsbad.
There nuclear waste is buried deep in the 2,150-foot underground
movement extracted from salt formation disposal rooms forged in a
2,000-foot-thick salt formation that has been stable for more than 200
million years. The WIPP began operations on March 26, 1999.
Oil and gas production, tourism, and federal government spending are important drivers of the state economy. The state government has an elaborate system of tax credits and technical assistance to promote job growth and business investment, especially in new technologies.
In 2010, New Mexico's gross domestic product was $80 billion, and an estimated $85 billion for 2013. In 2007, per capita personal income was $31,474 (rank 43rd in the nation) . In 2005, the percentage of people below the poverty level was 18.4%. The New Mexico Department of Tourism estimates that in fiscal year 2006, the travel industry in New Mexico generated expenses of $6.5 billion. As of April 2012, the state's unemployment rate was 7.2%. During the recession of the late 2000s, New Mexico's unemployment rate peaked at 8% for the June-October 2010 period.
New Mexico is the third largest producer of crude oil and ninth in the United States. The Permian and San Juan basins, located partly in New Mexico, represent some of these natural resources. In 2000, the value of oil and gas produced was $8.2 billion, and in 2006, New Mexico accounted for 3.4% of crude oil, 8.5% of dry natural gas, and 10.2% of natural gas liquids produced. in the country. USA. However, the hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling boom that began in the mid-2010s led to a large increase in crude oil production from the Permian Basin and other U.S. sources; These developments allowed the United States to become the world's largest producer of crude oil again, in 2018. New Mexico oil and gas operations contribute to the state's above-average release of the greenhouse gas methane, including from a national methane hot spot in the Four Corners area.
Federal government spending is a major driver of New Mexico's
economy. In 2005, the federal government spent $2.03 in New Mexico for
every dollar of tax revenue collected from the state. This rate of
return is higher than any other state in the Union.
Many of the
federal jobs are related to the military; the state is home to three air
force bases (Kirtland Air Force Base, Holloman Air Force Base, and
Cannon Air Force Base); a test range (White Sands Missile Range); and an
Army Proving Ground and Maneuver Range (Fort Bliss – McGregor Range). A
May 2005 estimate from New Mexico State University is that 11.65% of the
state's total employment arises directly or indirectly from military
spending. Other federal facilities include the technology laboratories
at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories.
New Mexico offers a number of economic incentives to businesses
operating in the state, including various types of tax credits and tax
exemptions. Most incentives are based on job creation.
New Mexico
law allows governments to provide land, buildings and infrastructure to
businesses to promote job creation. Several municipalities have imposed
an Economic Development Gross Revenue Tax (a form of Municipal
Infrastructure GRT) which is used to pay for these infrastructure
improvements and to market their areas.
The state provides
financial incentives for film production. The New Mexico Film Office
estimated in late 2007 that the incentive program had brought more than
85 film projects to the state since 2003 and had added $1.2 billion to
the economy.
Since 2008, personal income tax rates for New Mexico have ranged from
1.7% to 4.9%, within four income brackets. As of 2007, active duty
military salaries are exempt from state income tax. New Mexico is one of
the largest tax havens in the United States, offering numerous economic
incentives and tax breaks on personal and corporate income. It has no
estate tax, estate tax or sales tax.
New Mexico imposes a Gross
Receipts Tax (GRT) on many transactions, which may even include some
government receipts. This is similar to a sales tax, but unlike sales
taxes in many states, it applies to both services and tangible goods.
Normally, the supplier or seller passes the tax on to the buyer,
however, the legal incidence and burden is applied to the company, like
an excise tax. The GRT is imposed by the state and there may be an
additional locality component to produce a total tax rate. As of July 1,
2013, the combined tax rate ranged from 5.125% to 8.6875%.
The
state, counties, and school districts impose property taxes on real
estate. Generally, personal property for personal use is not subject to
estate taxes. On the other hand, the property tax applies to most
personal property for commercial use. The taxable value of the property
is 1/3 of the assessed value. A tax rate of approximately 30 factories
is applied to the taxable value, resulting in an effective tax rate of
approximately 1%. In fiscal year 2005, the average mileage was
approximately 26.47 for residential properties and 29.80 for
non-residential properties. The assessed values of residences cannot be
increased by more than 3% per year unless the residence is remodeled or
sold. Property tax deductions are available for military veterans and
heads of households.
New Mexico is one of the poorest states in the US and has long
struggled with poverty. Its poverty rate, at approximately 18%, is one
of the highest in the country, surpassed only by Louisiana and
Mississippi . Nearly 30% of New Mexico children lived in poverty, 40%
more than the national average. The vast majority of births (72%) were
funded by Medicaid, a federal health care program for the poor. the
highest of all the states. As of May 2021, about 44% of residents were
enrolled in Medicaid.
New Mexico is one of eight states without a
billionaire, ranking 39th in the proportion of households with more than
$1 million in wealth (5%), and among fourteen states without a Fortune
500 company. The state has a relatively high level of income disparity,
with a Gini coefficient of 0.4769, although below the national average
of 0.486. Household income is just under $47,000, the fourth lowest in
the U.S. The unemployment rate for June 2021 is 7.9%, tied with
Connecticut as the highest in the country, and close to the peak of 8
.0% for June-October 2010, after the financial crisis of 2007-2008.
The New Mexico government has enacted several policies to address
chronic poverty, including passing a minimum wage increase in January
2021 and requiring paid sick leave. The state's minimum wage, at $10.50,
is higher than the federal government and 34 other states; It is
scheduled to increase to $11.50 on January 1, 2022, and to $12.00 on
January 1, 2023. Additionally, counties and municipalities have set
their own minimum wages; Santa Fe County enacted a “Living Wage
Ordinance” on March 1, 2021, requiring $12.32.
The New Mexico
Legislature is considering implementing a statewide guaranteed basic
income program aimed at the poorest residents; If enacted, it would be
only the second US state after California with such a policy. In August
2021, Santa Fe announced a year-long pilot program that would provide a
"stability stipend" of $400 per month to 100 parents under the age of 30
who attend Santa Fe Community College; the results of the program will
determine whether the state government follows suit with its own basic
income proposals. Las Cruces, the state's second-largest city, is
officially debating enacting a similar program.
New Mexico has long been an important corridor for trade and
migration. The builders of the ruins at Chaco Canyon also created a
radiating network of paths from the mysterious settlement. Chaco
Canyon's commercial function moved to Casas Grandes in the present-day
Mexican state of Chihuahua, however, north-south trade continued.
Pre-Columbian trade with Mesoamerican cultures included exotic birds to
the north, seashells, and copper. Turquoise, pottery, and salt were some
of the goods transported south along the Rio Grande. New Mexico's
current pre-Columbian trade is especially notable for being conducted on
foot. The north-south trade route later became a route for horse-riding
settlers arriving from New Spain, as well as for trade and
communication. The route was called El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.
The Santa Fe Trail was the vital commercial and military highway
link of the 19th century American territory with the eastern United
States. All ending in northern New Mexico, the Camino Real, the Santa Fe
Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail are recognized as National Historic
Trails. New Mexico's latitude and low passes made it an attractive
east-west transportation corridor. As a territory, the Gadsden Purchase
increased New Mexico's land area for the purpose of construction of a
southern transcontinental railroad, the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Another transcontinental railroad was completed by the Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe Railroad. The railroads essentially replaced previous
trails, but caused a population boom. The first transcontinental
automobile routes later crossed the state and brought more immigrants.
Railways were later supplemented or replaced by a system of highways and
airports. Today, New Mexico's interstate highways approximate the former
overland routes of the Camino Real, the Santa Fe Trail, and the
transcontinental railroads.
New Mexico only has three interstate highways. In Albuquerque, I-25
and I-40 meet at a stack interchange called The Big I.
Interstate
10 travels in the southwestern part of New Mexico from the Arizona state
line near Lordsburg to the Texas state line south past Las Cruces, near
El Paso, Texas.
Interstate 25 is a major north-south interstate
highway that begins in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to the Colorado state
line near Raton.
Interstate 40 is a major east-west interstate
highway that begins from the Arizona state line west of Gallup to the
Texas state line east from Tucumcari.
New Mexico currently has 15 US highways. This includes US 54, US 56,
US 60, US 62, US 64, US 70, US 82, US 84, US 87, US 160, US 180, US 285,
US 380, US 491, and US 550.
US 66, The Mother Road, was replaced
by I-40 in 1985. US 85 is currently unsigned by NMDOT, but is still
recognized by AASHTO. It runs on the same route with I-10 and I-25. US
666, The Devils Highway, was replaced by US 491 in 2003 because the
number "666" is the "Number of the Beast."
New Mexico has had a problem with drunk driving, but that has
decreased. According to the Los Angeles Times, for years, the state had
the highest rates of alcohol-related crashes in the United States, but
ranked 25th in rates of alcohol-related fatal crashes, as of July 2009.
.
The automobile changed the character of New Mexico, ushering in
large-scale immigration to the state from elsewhere in the United
States. Settlers moving west during the Great Depression and post-World
War II American culture immortalized the National Old Trails Highway,
later U.S. Route 66. Today, New Mexico relies heavily on the automobile
for transportation.
New Mexico had 59,927 miles (96,440 km) of
highway route as of 2000, of which 7,037 mi (11,320 km) receive federal
aid. In that same year there were 1,614 km of highways, of which 1,000
belonged to interstate highways 10, 25 and 40. The previous number
increased with the improvement of the roads near Pojoaque, Santa Fe and
Las Cruces to highways. The highway traffic fatality rate was 1.9 deaths
per million miles driven in 2000, the 13th highest rate among U.S.
states. Notable bridges include the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge near Taos.
As of 2001, 703 highway bridges, or one percent, were declared
"structurally deficient" or "structurally obsolete."
Americanos
USA, LLC, Greyhound Lines and several government operators provide
public rural and interurban highway transportation.
The New Mexico Rail Runner Express is a commuter rail system serving the Albuquerque, New Mexico metropolitan area. It began service on July 14, 2006. The system extends from Belén to downtown Santa Fe. Larger cities in New Mexico typically have some form of public road transportation; ABQ RIDE is the largest system of its kind in the state.
There were 2,354 miles (3,790 km) of railroad routes in 2000; this
number increased with the opening of the Rail Runner extension to Santa
Fe. In addition to local railroads and other tourist lines, the state
jointly owns and operates a narrow heritage steam railroad, the Cumbres
and Toltec Scenic Railroad, with the state of Colorado. Narrow gauge
railroads once connected many communities in the northern part of the
state, from Farmington to Santa Fe. 110 No fewer than 100 railroads of
various names and lineages have operated in the jurisdiction at some
point. 8 New Mexico's rail transportation system reached its height in
terms of length after admission as a state; In 1914 eleven railroads
operated 3,124 route miles.
Railroad surveyors arrived in New
Mexico in the 1850s. The first railroads incorporated in 1869. 9 The
first operational railroad, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad
(ATSF), entered the territory through the lucrative and disputed Raton
Pass in 1878. He finally reached El Paso, Texas in 1881 and with the
Southern Pacific Railroad created the nation's second transcontinental
railroad with a junction at Deming. The Southern Pacific Railroad
entered the territory from the Territory of Arizona in 1880.(9, 18,
58-59) The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, which would generally use
narrow gauge equipment in New Mexico, entered the territory from
Colorado and began service to Española on December 31, 1880.(95–96)
These first railroads were built as long-distance corridors, later
railroad construction also had as its objective the extraction of mining
resources.
New Mexico is served by two Class I railroads, the BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad. Combined, they operate 2,200 miles (3,540 km) of rail route in the state.
A commuter rail operation, the New Mexico Rail Runner Express,
connects the state capital, its largest city, and other communities. The
privately owned state railroad began operation in July 2006. The entire
BNSF railroad line from Belen to Raton, New Mexico, was sold to the
state, in part for construction of Phase II of this operation, which
opened in December 2008. Rail Runner Phase II extended the line north to
Santa Fe from the Sandoval County Station, the northernmost station
under Phase I service. Service now connects the counties of Santa Fe,
Sandoval, Bernalillo and Valencia. The trains connect the Albuquerque
population base and central business district to downtown Santa Fe with
up to eight round trips in a day. The section of the line running south
to Bethlehem is served less frequently. Rail Runner operates scheduled
service seven days a week.
With the rise of rail transport, many
settlements grew or were founded and the territory became a tourist
destination. As early as 1878, the ATSF promoted tourism in the region
with an emphasis on Native American imagery.:64 Named trains often
reflected the territory they traveled: Super Chief, the streamlined
successor to the Chief; Navajo, one of the first transcontinental
tourist trains; and Cavern, a via-car operation connecting Clovis and
Carlsbad (in the early 1950s as train 23-24), :49-50:51 were some of the
ATSF's named passenger trains that connoted New Mexico .
Passenger rail service once connected nine of New Mexico's current ten
most populous cities (the exception is Rio Rancho), while today
passenger rail service connects two: Albuquerque and Santa Fe. With the
decline of the majority of intercity rail service in the United States
in the late 1960s, New Mexico was left with minimal services. No less
than six daily round-trip long-distance trains supplemented by many line
trains and local trains served New Mexico in the early 1960s. Declining
passenger revenues, but not necessarily ridership , led many railroads
to hand over their passenger services in truncated form to Amtrak, a
state-owned company. Amtrak, also known as the National Passenger
Railroad Corporation, began operating the two existing long-distance
routes in May 1971. Resurrection of passenger rail service from Denver
to El Paso, a route once used in part by El Pasoan ATSF, : 37 has been
proposed over the years. Back in the 1980s, former Governor Toney Anaya
proposed building a high-speed rail line connecting the two cities to
major cities in New Mexico. Front Range Commuter Rail is a project to
connect Wyoming and New Mexico with high-speed rail.
Amtrak's
Southwest Chief runs daily through Gallup, Albuquerque, Lamy, Las Vegas
and Raton stations, offering connections to Los Angeles, Chicago and
points in between. The Southwest Chief is an Amtrak long-distance
express train, and is allowed a maximum speed of 90 mph (140 km/h) at
various locations on BNSF railroad tracks. It also operates on the New
Mexico Rail Runner Express track. The Southwest Chief is the successor
to the Super Chief and El Capitan. : 115 The streamlined Super Chief, a
favorite of early Hollywood stars, was one of the most famous trains in
the United States and one of the most appreciated for its luxury and
exoticism—the train cars were named for native tribes regional Americana
and equipped with the artwork of many local artists—but also for its
speed: just 39 hours and 45 minutes to the west.
Sunset Limited
makes stops three times a week in both directions in Lordsburg and
Deming, and serves Los Angeles, New Orleans and points in between.
Sunset Limited is the successor to the Southern Pacific Railroad's train
of the same name and operates exclusively on the Union Pacific track in
New Mexico.
The Albuquerque International Sunport is the state's primary port of
entry for air travel.
Upham, near Truth or Consequences, is the
location of the world's first purpose-built and operational commercial
spaceport, Spaceport America. Rocket launches began in April 2007. It is
undeveloped and has one tenant, UP Aerospace, which launches small
payloads. Virgin Galactic, a space tourism company, plans to make this
its main operating base.
The Constitution of the State of New Mexico is the highest state
legal document that governs the political and legal structure of the
State. It was approved by a Constituent Convention on November 21, 1910
and ratified by popular vote on November 5, 1911. It came into force
after being admitted to the union on January 6, 1912. Its article 2
contains a bill of rights . The Constitution of 1912, as amended,
dictates the form of government in the state.
Michelle Lujan
Grisham won the election on November 6, 2018, becoming the first
Democratic woman elected governor of New Mexico. Her term will expire in
January 2023. Governors serve a four-year term and can seek re-election.
Other constitutional officers, all whose terms also expired in
January 2011, include Minister of State Mary Herrera, Minister of
Justice Gary King, State Auditor Hector Balderos, Commissioner of Lands
Pat Lyons, and State Treasurer, James B. Lewis. Herrera, King, Balderos
and Lewis are Democrats, Lyons is a Republican.
The State
Legislature consists of a 70-seat House of Representatives and a 42-seat
Senate.
The Democratic Party generally dominates state politics,
and as of 2004 50% of voters registered as Democrats, 33% Republicans,
and 17% did not affiliate with either major party.
Sent Democrat
Jeff Bingaman to the United States Senate until January 2013 and
Republican Pete V. Domenici until January 2009. Republicans Steve Pearce
and Heather Wilson and Democrat Tom Udall represent the state in the
United States House of Representatives. Joined.
In national politics, it has electorally supported all those who have
become president since its constitution as a state, with two exceptions.
In these exceptions, New Mexicans supported Republican President Gerald
Ford over Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter in 1976, and Democratic Vice
President Al Gore over Texas Governor George W. Bush in 2000. No
presidential candidate has won with an absolute majority. since George
H. W. Bush in 1988, and no Democrat has done so since Lyndon B. Johnson
in 1964.
It supported the Democrats in 1992, 1996, and 2000. It
was one of two states that only supported Al Gore in 2000 and George
Bush in 2004 (the other state was Iowa). In 2004, George W. Bush won the
state election by a margin of just 0.8 percentage points with 49.8
percent of the vote. Democrat John Kerry won in Albuquerque, Las Cruces,
two northwestern counties, and by larger margins in six northern
counties (Santa Fe, Río Arriba, Taos, Mora, San Miguel, and Guadalupe).
The main political parties are the Democrats and the Republicans;
among the least influential are the New Mexico Greens, the
Constitutional Party and the Libertarian Party.
Due to its relatively low population and numerous federally funded
research centers, New Mexico had the highest concentration of Ph.D.s of
any state in 2000. Los Alamos County, home to the national laboratory of
the same name, is the state with the most higher education graduates,
with 38.7% of residents, that is, 4,899 out of 17,950. However, in
studies that measure the quality of primary and secondary education, the
state usually occupies the last positions: It ranks 34th in public
spending on education, but by some indicators it is last in performance
and overall quality, with some of the highest dropout rates and the
lowest results in mathematics and reading.
By national standards,
New Mexico has one of the highest concentrations of people who have not
completed high school or have any college education, although by a small
margin: Just over 14% of residents did not have a high school degree, in
compared to the national rate of 11.4%, the fifth lowest of the 52 US
states and territories. Nearly a quarter of those over 25 (23.9%) did
not finish college, compared to 21% nationally. New Mexico is in the
bottom ten states for the proportion of residents with a bachelor's
degree or higher (27.7%), but ranks 21st for Ph.D.s (12. 2%); The
national average is 33.1% and 12.8%, respectively. In 2020, the number
of doctors was 300, placing the state in 34th place in the United
States.
In 2018, a state judge issued a landmark ruling that "New
Mexico is violating the constitutional rights of at-risk students by
failing to provide them with a sufficient education," particularly those
from low-income, non-English-speaking, and indigenous backgrounds. The
court ordered the governor and legislature to provide an adequate system
by April 2019; In response, New Mexico raised teacher salaries, funded
an extended school year, expanded early childhood education programs,
and developed a budget formula to provide more funding to schools
serving low-income and at-risk students. However, many activists and
public officials argue that these efforts remain insufficient,
particularly with respect to indigenous schools and students.
The New Mexico Public Department of Education oversees the operation
of elementary and secondary schools.
There are important efforts
to recover the Spanish language in the state of New Mexico; bilingual
education is essential for the population due to its linguistic
diversity. Not only Spanish is recovering, but also the state's native
languages such as Navajo, Zuni, Comanche, among others.
It has a population of 2,095,428 people. The United States census
consults the population by its affiliation to ethnic groups (Hispanic or
non-Hispanic) and a racial classification. In New Mexico:
49.1%
are Hispanic or Latino (among whom descendants of colonizers predominate
Spanish and Mexican).
The non-Hispanic population is broken down
as follows:
37.1% are white (descendants of other Europeans,
excluding Spaniards).
10.9% are Amerindian (Native Americans).
2.6% are African American.
1.8% are Asian.
The rest are made up of
people of other races.
49% of the population is of Hispanic
American origin. Most of the Spanish American inhabitants are
descendants of the Spanish who, coming from Mexico, arrived in the 16th
and 17th centuries. There are also immigrants who arrived from Mexico
more recently. It is a migratory current that still continues. Another
10.9% of the inhabitants are Native Americans, descendants of the native
settlers of these lands. This is the state with the largest indigenous
population in the United States.
The Indians of New Mexico belong
to one of the following peoples: Navajo, Pueblo Indians, spread across
21 independent towns, and Apache. A large portion of the Indians live on
reservations scattered throughout the state. The Pueblo Indians are the
ones who became most Hispanized and mixed with the descendants of the
Spanish. Most of the rest of the state's inhabitants are
Anglo-Americans, descendants of those who arrived after 1848, the year
it became a territory of the United States.
The population of
Hispanic American origin is the fastest growing. It is the state with
the highest percentage of Hispanic people in the entire United States.
Santa Fe is the state capital and is located in the north, although
Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico. Las Cruces is in the
south of the state, very close to the border with Texas and Mexico.
Clovis is located in the east of the state, on the border with Texas,
300 kilometers from Albuquerque and 150 kilometers from Roswell. The
closest airport is in Lubbock, Texas, 150 kilometers from Clovis.
The most populated cities in the state are Albuquerque (530,000
inhabitants), Las Cruces (86,000 inhabitants) and Santa Fe (72,000
inhabitants). These figures refer only to the urban area, without
including the rest of the inhabitants of each county.
In the state there is still the practice of ancient religions
belonging to the Native Americans, the old deities of the indigenous
people are respected and venerated in many native communities of the
state. The Zuñis, the Navajos and the Apaches have known how to
jealously guard their sacred places and their cult enclosures.
The Christianity of the Catholic Church is the most important religious
structure due to its high number of believers of Spanish, Mexican,
Irish, French and indigenous origin; The second most important Christian
structure is historical Protestantism brought by American settlers of
English, Dutch and German origin; Some indigenous people adopted
Protestantism.
The Mormon faith is another religious group of
great importance within the state due to its proximity to the state of
Utah, as well as other religious groups with a great historical
tradition in the United States such as Pentecostals, Presbyterians or
Baptists.
The first Jews were Sephardim, during the colonial
period of New Spain, and they were persecuted by the Holy Office of the
Catholic Church in Mexico City; Due to the distance from the capital of
the viceroyalty, the Sephardim settled in Santa Fe and some ranches in
the region, maintaining their beliefs discreetly.
In addition to English, Spanish is also widely spoken. The original
Constitution of 1912 provided for a bilingual government temporarily and
mentions the two most spoken languages (English and Spanish) in order to
protect them and promote their use. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
recognizes that the official languages of this state are English and
Spanish. The state government publishes the highway code manual in
Spanish, as well as voting ballots in both languages. Federal law
requires ballots to be printed in Spanish. Before 1967, state and county
election advertisements were required to be published in English and
“may be printed in Spanish.” In 1995, New Mexico adopted a bilingual
state anthem, titled My Cute New Mexico. Virtually all the inhabitants
speak English. Only part of the recently arrived immigrant population
from Mexico or Central America, and some elderly native Hispanic New
Mexicans, speak only Spanish. Some indigenous groups still speak their
own languages. You can also find very old people who only speak one of
the Indian languages of the state. According to 2000 Census data, 28.76%
of the population over the age of 5 spoke Spanish at home, while 4.07%
spoke Navajo.
Although the New Mexico Constitution of 1912
reflects the intention to protect the languages and cultures of its
inhabitants, the use of Spanish as a medium of instruction in public
schools, as well as its social use, declined dramatically over almost
all the rest of the 20th century. There were some institutional efforts
by the Senate to have the Spanish language taught in all public schools
in the early 1940s. However, it was in 1968 when the first statement in
support of bilingual education was produced by the State Board of
Education. That declaration materialized with the signing of the
Bilingual Multicultural Act in 1973.
Neo-Mexican Spanish is a
unique variety within the Hispanic linguistic panorama due to its
isolation since the early days of the colony and for this reason it has
been able to preserve features of medieval Spanish, in addition to
making use of a large number of indigenisms (from Nahuatl first and from
local languages later) and anglicisms (after the American annexation in
1848).
The poem A Nuevo México, written by Luis Tafoya in 1911,
was declared the official poem of the state of New Mexico in 1991.
It is an art mecca for Americans, in this state you can enjoy
history, performing and visual arts. The Native Americans expressed
themselves in petroglyphs on the rocks, the Spanish and Mexican settlers
created their own Hispanic style. Santa Fe and Taos have schools and
exhibition halls of important artists recognized worldwide, such as the
paintings of painter Georgia O'Keeffe.
Santa Fe is the cultural
and administrative capital. It has a wide range of museums, the
expression of dance, theater and opera, important galleries and
exhibitions of great painters, Spanish rustic art furniture stores,
jewelry stores, bookstores and exhibitions of music, film and theater
festivals.
Like other states in the southwestern United States,
New Mexico reflects the legacy of the "Old West" period of American
expansion in the region, characterized by ranching, cowboys, pioneers,
the Santa Fe Trail, and conflicts. between settlers and Native
Americans. The state's vast and diverse geography, sparse population,
and abundance of ghost towns have contributed to its enduring frontier
image and atmosphere. Many works of Western genre fiction are set or
produced in New Mexico.
New Mexico's Spanish and Mexican heritage
remains more visible and enduring than that of other Western states,
because it was the oldest, most populous, and most important province on
the northern outskirts of New Spain. However, persistent prejudices and
ideas Mistakes by Americans about Spain's colonial history have
contributed to marginalizing its cultural contributions.
New
Mexico is an important center of Native American culture; Nearly 200,000
residents, or about one-tenth of the population, are of indigenous
ancestry, ranking fourth in the U.S. in absolute terms, and second
proportionally. Both Navajos and Apaches share Athabaskan origin, and
Apaches and some Utes live on federal reservations in the state.
Spanning 6.5 million hectares (16 million acres), most in neighboring
Arizona, the Navajo Nation is the largest reservation in the United
States. One-third of its members live in New Mexico. The Pueblo Indians
live in localities scattered throughout the state, which together occupy
more than 800,000 hectares. Many New Mexican indigenous people have
moved to urban centers throughout the state, and some cities such as
Gallup are important centers of indigenous culture.
Almost half
of New Mexicans claim to be of Hispanic origin; Many are descendants of
settlers called Hispanics or New Mexicans, who settled mainly in the
north of the state between the 16th and 18th centuries; On the contrary,
the majority of Mexican immigrants reside in the south. Some Hispanics
claim Jewish ancestry as descendants of converts or crypto-Jews from the
early Spanish settlers. Many New Mexicans speak a unique dialect known
as New Mexican Spanish. Due to New Mexico's historical isolation from
other speakers of the Spanish language, a small portion of its
vocabulary is unknown to other Spanish speakers. New Mexican Spanish
uses numerous Native American words to designate local features and
includes anglicized words that express American concepts and modern
inventions.
Albuquerque is home to the New Mexico Museum of
Natural History and Science, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, and
the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, as well as hosting
the famous Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta each fall.
The earliest New Mexico artists whose works survive today are the
Mimbres Indians, whose black and white pottery could be mistaken for
modern art, except for the fact that it was produced before 1130 CE.
Many examples of this work can be seen at the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum
and the Western New Mexico University Museum.
A large arts
community thrives in Santa Fe, which has included the likes of Bruce
Nauman, Richard Tuttle, John Connell and Steina Vasulka. The capital has
several art museums, such as the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Museum of
Spanish Colonial Art, the Museum of International Folk Art, the Museum
of Indian Art and Culture, the Museum of Contemporary Native Art, SITE
Santa Fe and others. Artist and writer colonies thrive, and the small
town brims with art galleries. In August, the city hosts the Santa Fe
Indian Market, the largest and oldest juried show of Native American art
in the world. The performing arts include the renowned Santa Fe Opera,
which presents five operas in repertoire between July and August, the
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, held each summer, and the restored
Lensic Theatre, home to many types of shows. Santa Fe is also home to
Frogville Records, an independent record label. The weekend after Labor
Day, the burning of Zozobra, a 15 m puppet, is celebrated during the
Santa Fe Festival.
Art is also a frequent topic in Albuquerque,
New Mexico's largest city. The National Center for Hispanic Culture has
held hundreds of performing arts events, art exhibitions and other
events related to Spanish culture in New Mexico and around the world at
the Roy E Disney Center for the Performing Arts or at other locations in
the 53-acre facility. New Mexico residents and visitors can enjoy
performing arts from around the world at Popejoy Hall on the University
of New Mexico campus. Popejoy Hall hosts singers, dancers, Broadway
shows, other types of acts and Shakespeare. Albuquerque also has the
unique and memorable KiMo Theater, built in 1927 with Pueblo Revival
style architecture. The KiMo presents live theater and concerts, as well
as simulcast films and operas. In addition to other general interest
theaters, Albuquerque also features the African American Performing Arts
Center and Exhibit Hall that showcases the achievements of people of
African descent and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center which highlights
the cultural heritage of the First Nations people of New Mexico.
New Mexico holds tightly to its Spanish heritage. Old Spanish
traditions, such as zarzuelas and flamenco, are popular; the University
of New Mexico is the only institute of higher education in the world
with a program dedicated to flamenco. Flamenco dancer and New Mexico
native María Benítez founded the María Benítez Institute of Spanish Arts
"to present the highest quality programs from Spain's rich artistic
heritage, expressed through music, dance, visual arts and other art
forms." Every year the Albuquerque International Flamenco Festival is
held at the University of New Mexico, in which Spanish and New Mexican
flamenco dancers perform.
By the mid-twentieth century, there was
a flourishing Hispanic school of literature and scholarship in English
and Spanish. Among the most notable authors were: Angélico Chávez, Nina
Otero-Warren, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca, Aurelio Espinosa, Cleofas
Jaramillo, Juan Bautista Rael and Aurora Lucero-White Lea. Additionally,
the writer D. H. Lawrence lived near Taos in the 1920s, on the D. H.
Lawrence Ranch, where there is a shrine said to contain his ashes.
The strong Spanish, Native American, and frontier motifs of New
Mexico's Wild West have provided material for many state authors,
including the internationally renowned Rudolfo Anaya and Tony Hillerman.
Silver City, originally a mining town, is now a major exhibition
center for a large number of artists, visual and otherwise. Another
former mining town turned art haven is Madrid, New Mexico, which rose to
national fame as a filming location for the film Wild Hogs (2007). Las
Cruces, in southern New Mexico, has a system of museums affiliated with
the Smithsonian Institution's Affiliates Program, and is home to a wide
variety of cultural and artistic opportunities for residents and
visitors.
Due to a combination of financial incentives, low cost,
and geographic diversity, New Mexico has long been a popular setting or
filming location for several films and television series. In addition to
Wild Hogs, other films filmed in New Mexico include Sunshine Cleaning
and Vampires. Several seasons of the A&E/Netflix series Longmire were
filmed in various locations in New Mexico, including Las Vegas, Santa
Fe, Eagle Nest and Red River. The acclaimed television series Breaking
Bad and its spin-off Better Call Saul were set and they filmed in and
around Albuquerque.
The rodeo is par excellence the favorite sport of New Mexicans. Its
colonial origin has made it a tradition that it shares with other
neighboring states and in the same way with the Mexicans. Riding and
roping are essential elements among the participants.
You can
practice snow skiing and it also has an excellent infrastructure that
allows the practice of this sport almost most of the year where national
tourists and Mexican tourists come due to the proximity to the alpine
ski areas.
Ice hockey is another sport practiced in this state,
along with mountain biking, fishing, hiking, baseball, basketball and
American football.
No major league professional sports team is
based in New Mexico, but the Albuquerque Isotopes are the Pacific Coast
League baseball affiliate of MLB's Colorado Rockies. The state is home
to several Pecos League baseball teams: the Roswell Invaders, Ruidoso
Osos, Santa Fe Fuego and White Sands Pupfish. The Duke City Gladiators
of the Indoor Football League (IFL) play their home game at Tingley
Coliseum in Albuquerque. The city is also home to two soccer teams: New
Mexico United, which began playing in the second-tier USL Championship
in 2019, and Albuquerque Sol FC, which plays in the fourth-tier USL
League Two.
Collegiate athletics are the center of spectator
sports in New Mexico, specifically the rivalry between several teams of
the University of New Mexico Lobos and the New Mexico State Aggies. The
intense competition between the two teams is often referred to as the "
Rio Grande Rivalry" or the "Battle of I-25" in recognition of the fact
that both campuses are located along that highway. NMSU also maintains a
rivalry with the University of Texas at El Paso called the "Battle of
I-10." The winner of the NMSU-UTEP football game receives the Silver
Spade Trophy.
Olympic gold medalist Tom Jager, a supporter of
controversial high-altitude swimming training, has held training camps
in Albuquerque, at 1,619 m (5,312 ft), and in Los Alamos, at 2,231 m
(7,320 ft).
New Mexico is a major center for various shooting
sports, primarily concentrated at the NRA Whittington Center in Raton,
which is the largest and most comprehensive competitive shooting range
and training center in the US.