New Mexico, United States
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State of New Mexico
Flag of New Mexico Seal Nickname(s): Land of Enchantment Motto(s): Crescit eundo
Official language(s)	None
Demonym	New Mexican
Capital	Santa Fe
Largest city	Albuquerque
Largest metro area	Albuquerque Rio Grande Valley
Area	Ranked 5th in the US
- Total	121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)
- Width	342 miles (550 km)
- Length	370 miles (595 km)
- % water	0.2
- Latitude	31° 20′ N to 37° N
- Longitude	103° W to 109° 3′ W
Population	Ranked 36th in the US
- Total	1,969,915 (2007 est.) [1]
- Density	16.2/sq mi  6.27/km² (Ranked 45th in the US)
Elevation
- Highest point	Wheeler Peak[2] 13,161 ft  (4,011 m)
- Mean	5,692 ft  (1,735 m)
- Lowest point	Red Bluff Reservoir[2] 2,842 ft  (866 m)
Admission to Union	January 6, 1912 (47th)
Governor	Bill Richardson (D)
Lieutenant Governor	Diane Denish (D)
U.S. Senators	Pete Domenici (R) Jeff Bingaman (D)
Congressional Delegation	List
Time zone	Mountain: UTC-7/-6
Abbreviations	NM US-NM
Website	www.newmexico.gov

New Mexico portal

New Mexico State Symbols
Living symbols
-Amphibian	New Mexico Spadefoot Toad
-Bird	Greater roadrunner
-Butterfly	Sandia Hairstreak Butterfly
-Fish	Cutthroat trout
-Flower	Yucca
-Grass	Blue grama
-Insect	Tarantula wasp
-Tree	Pinyon pine
Food	Frijoles con Chile (frē∙hōl∙əs cōn chēlə) beans and chile pepper
Fossil	Coelophysis
Gemstone	Turquoise
Song(s)	O Fair New Mexico
Route marker(s)
Quarter	2008
See also

New Mexico (pronounced /nuːˈmɛksɨkoʊ/) is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. It has been inhabited by Native American populations and has been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanic Americans, comprising both recent immigrants and descendants of Spanish colonists.^[3] It also has the third-highest percentage of Native Americans after Alaska and Oklahoma, and the fifth-highest total number of Native Americans after California, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Texas.^[4] The tribes represented in the state consist of mostly Navajo and Pueblo peoples. As a result, the demographics and culture of the state are unique for their strong Spanish, Mexican, and American Indian cultural influences. The climate of the state is highly arid and its territory is mostly covered by mountains and desert. At a population density of 15 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth most sparsely inhabited U.S. State.

Geography

Desert scene not far from Chaco Canyon

Further information: List of New Mexico counties

Digitally colored elevation map of NM

The state's total area is 121,665 square miles (315,110 km²). The eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, and three miles (5 km) west of 103.5° W longitude with Texas. On the southern border, Texas makes up the eastern two-thirds, while the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora make up the western third, with Chihuahua making up about 90% of that. The western border with Arizona runs along the 109° 03' W longitude. The 37° N latitude parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The states New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah come together at the Four Corners in the northwestern corner of New Mexico. New Mexico, although a large state, has little water. Its surface water area is only about 250 square miles (650 km²). New Mexico's average precipitation rate is only 15 inches (380 mm) a year.

The landscape ranges from wide, rose-colored deserts to broken mesas to high, snow-capped peaks. Despite New Mexico's arid image, heavily forested mountain wildernesses cover a significant portion of the state, especially towards the north. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost part of the Rocky Mountains, run roughly north-south along the east side of the Rio Grande (Big River) in the rugged, pastoral north. The most important of New Mexico's rivers are the Rio Grande, Pecos, Canadian, San Juan, and Gila. The Rio Grande is the eighth longest river in the U.S.

Cacti, yuccas, creosote bush, sagebrush, and desert grasses cover the broad, semiarid plains that cover the southern portion of the state.

The Federal government protects millions of acres of New Mexico as national forests including:

• Carson National Forest
• Cibola National Forest (headquartered in Albuquerque)
• Lincoln National Forest
• Santa Fe National Forest (headquartered in Santa Fe)
• Gila National Forest
• Gila Wilderness

Areas managed by the National Park Service include:^[5]

• Aztec Ruins National Monument at Aztec
• Bandelier National Monument in Los Alamos
• Capulin Volcano National Monument near Capulin
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park near Carlsbad
• Chaco Culture National Historical Park at Nageezi
• El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail
• El Malpais National Monument in Grants
• El Morro National Monument in Ramah
• Fort Union National Monument at Watrous
• Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument near Silver City
• Old Spanish National Historic Trail
• Pecos National Historical Park in Pecos
• Petroglyph National Monument near Albuquerque
• Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument at Mountainair
• Santa Fe National Historic Trail
• White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo

Visitors also frequent the surviving native pueblos of New Mexico. Tourists visiting these sites bring significant monies to the state. Other areas of geographical and scenic interest include Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument and the Valles Caldera National Preserve. The Gila Wilderness lies in the southwest of the state.

See also: Delaware Basin

History

Main article: History of New Mexico

Wagon in the mechanics corral of Fort Union National Monument, New Mexico

The first known inhabitants of New Mexico were members of the Clovis culture of Paleo-Indians. Indeed the culture is named for the New Mexico city where the first artifacts of this culture were discovered. Later inhabitants include Native Americans of the Anasazi and the Mogollon cultures. By the time of European contact in the 1500s, the region was settled by the villages of the Pueblo peoples and groups of Navajo, Apache and Ute.

Abandoned house on New Mexico Highway 209 north of Clovis reflects changes in rural America.

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado assembled an enormous expedition at Compostela in 1540–1542 to explore and find the mystical Seven Golden Cities of Cibola as described by Cabeza de Vaca who had just arrived from his eight-year ordeal traveling from Florida to Mexico. Coronado's men found several mud baked pueblos in 1541, but found no rich cities of gold. Further widespread expeditions found no fabulous cities anywhere in the Southwest or Great Plains. A dispirited and now poor Coronado and his men began their journey back to Mexico leaving New Mexico behind.

Over 50 years after Coronado, Juan de Oñate founded the San Juan colony on the Rio Grande in 1598, the first permanent European settlement in the future state of New Mexico. Oñate pioneered the grandly named El Camino Real, "Royal Road," as a 700 mile (1,100 km) trail from the rest of New Spain to his remote colony. Oñate was made the first governor of the new Province of New Mexico. The Native Americans at Acoma revolted against this Spanish encroachment but faced severe suppression.

Pueblo Ruins at Aztec Ruins National Monument.

In 1609, Pedro de Peralta, a later governor of the Province of New Mexico, established the settlement of Santa Fe at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The city, along with most of the settled areas of the state, was abandoned by the Spanish for 12 years (1680-1692) as a result of the successful Pueblo Revolt. After the death of the Pueblo leader Popé, Diego de Vargas restored the area to Spanish rule. While developing Santa Fe as a trade center, the returning settlers founded the old town of Alburquerque in 1706, naming it for the viceroy of New Spain, the Duke of Alburquerque. The name later evolved into its present form of Albuquerque.

Mexican province

As a part of New Spain, the claims for the province of New Mexico passed to independent Mexico following the 1810-1821 Mexican War of Independence. During the brief 26 year period of nominal Mexican control, Mexican authority and investment in New Mexico were weak, as their often conflicted government had little time or interest in a New Mexico that had been poor since the Spanish settlements started. Some Mexican officials, saying they were wary of encroachments by the growing United States, and wanting to reward themselves and their friends, began issuing enormous land grants (usually free) to groups of Mexican families as an incentive to populate the province.

Small trapping parties from the United States had previously reached and stayed in Santa Fe, but the Spanish authorities officially forbade them to trade. Trader 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 early in 1822 with the first party of traders. The Santa Fe Trail trading company, headed by the brothers Charles Bent and William Bent and Ceran St. Vrain, was one of the most successful in the West. They had their first trading post in the area in 1826, and, by 1833, they had built their adobe fort and trading post called Bent's Fort on the Arkansas River. This fort and trading post, located about 200 miles (322 km) east of Taos, New Mexico, was the only place settled by whites along the Santa Fe trail before it hit Taos. The Santa Fe National Historic Trail follows the route of the old trail, with many sites marked or restored.

Route of the Old Spanish Trail

The Spanish Trail from Los Angeles, California to Santa Fe, New Mexico was primarily used by Hispanics, white traders and ex-trappers living part of the year in or near Santa Fe. Started in about 1829, the trail was an arduous 2,400 (3862 km) mile round trip pack train sojourn that extended into Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California and back, allowing only one hard round trip per year. The trade consisted primarily of blankets and some trade goods from Santa Fe being traded for horses in California.

The Republic of Texas claimed the mostly vacant territory north and east of the Rio Grande when it successfully seceded from Mexico in 1836. New Mexico authorities captured a group of Texans who embarked an expedition to assert their claim to the province in 1841.

American territory

Following the Mexican-American War, from 1846-1848 and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Mexico ceded its mostly unsettled northern holdings, today known as the American Southwest and California to the United States of America in exchange for an end to hostilities, the evacuation of Mexico City and many other areas under American control. Mexico also received $15 million cash, plus the assumption of slightly more than $3 million in outstanding Mexican debts.

The Congressional Compromise of 1850 halted a bid for statehood under a proposed antislavery constitution. Texas transferred eastern New Mexico to the federal government, settling a lengthy boundary dispute. Under the compromise, the American government established the Territory of New Mexico on September 9, 1850. The territory, which included most of the future states of Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado, officially established its capital at Santa Fe in 1851.

The United States acquired the southwestern boot heel of the state and southern Arizona below the Gila river in the mostly desert Gadsden Purchase of 1853. This purchase was desired when it was found that a much easier route for a proposed transcontinental railroad was located slightly south of the Gila river. The Southern Pacific built the second transcontinental railroad though this purchased land in 1881.

During the American Civil War, Confederate troops from Texas briefly occupied the Rio Grande valley as far north as Santa Fe. Union troops from the Territory of Colorado re-captured the territory in March 1862 at the Battle of Glorieta Pass. The Territory of Arizona was split off as a separate territory on February 24, 1863.

There were centuries of conflict between the Apache, the Navajo and Spanish-Mexican settlements in the territory. It took the federal government another 25 years after the Civil War to exert control over both the civilian and Native American populations of the territory. This started in 1864 when the Navajo were sent on "The Long Walk" to Bosque Redondo Reservation and then returned to most of their lands in 1868. The Apache were moved to various reservations and Apache wars continued until Geronimo finally surrendered in 1886.

The railway encouraged the great cattle boom of the 1880s and the development of accompanying cow towns. The cattle barons could not keep out sheepherders, and eventually homesteaders and squatters overwhelmed the cattlemen by fencing in and plowing under the "sea of grass" on which the cattle fed. Conflicting land claims led to bitter quarrels among the original Spanish inhabitants, cattle ranchers, and newer homesteaders. Despite destructive overgrazing, ranching survived and remains a mainstay of the New Mexican economy.

Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico, on the middle Rio Grande, was incorporated in 1889.

Statehood

New Mexico state welcome sign

Congress admitted New Mexico as the 47th state in the Union on January 6, 1912. The admission of the neighboring State of Arizona on February 14, 1912 completed the contiguous 48 states.

The struggle to gain voting rights for women came to be known as the "suffrage movement." In spite of efforts by suffrage organizers after 1915, New Mexico's legislature was one of the last to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.

For the first 25 years of statehood, the NM Supreme Court lived in cramped quarters in the Capitol. Not until 1937 as a result of a Public Works Administration Project, did the Supreme Court get its own building. That year, there was a diphtheria epidemic in Santa Fe resulting in 20 deaths before serum was flown in to end it.

The United States government built the Los Alamos Research Center in 1943 amid the Second World War. Top-secret personnel there assembled the atomic bomb, first detonated at Trinity site in the desert on the White Sands Proving Grounds between Socorro and Alamogordo on July 16, 1945.

Albuquerque expanded rapidly after the war. High-altitude experiments near Roswell in 1947 reputedly led to persistent but unproven suspicions that the government captured and concealed extraterrestrial corpses and equipment. The state quickly emerged as a leader in nuclear, solar, and geothermal energy research and development. Sandia National Laboratories, founded in 1949, carried out nuclear research and special weapons development at Kirtland Air Force Base south of Albuquerque and at Livermore, California.

Important Cities & Counties

Albuquerque

Las Cruces

Rio Rancho

Santa Fe

Roswell

Demographics

See also: List of cities in New Mexico  and New Mexico locations by per capita income

Census 2000 data; estimates through 2006

As of 2005, New Mexico has an estimated population of 1,928,384, which is an increase of 25,378, or 1.3%, from the prior year and an increase of 109,338, or 6.0%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 74,397 people (that is 143,617 births minus 69,220 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 37,501 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 27,974 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 9,527 people.

The center of population of New Mexico is located in Torrance County, in the town of Manzano.^[8]

As of 2006, 8.2% of the residents of the state were foreign-born.

According to the Census Bureau, 1.5% of the population is Multiracial/Mixed-Race, a population larger than both the Asian and NHPI population groups. New Mexico has the highest percentage of people of Hispanic ancestry of any state, some recent immigrants and others descendants of Spanish colonists. The state also has a large Native American population, second behind Alaska. Hispanics of colonial ancestry, along with recent Mexican immigrants, are present in most of the state, especially northern, central, and northeastern New Mexico. Mexican immigrants, legal or illegal, are prominent in southern parts of the state. Descendants of white American settlers, mostly of Irish English, and Spanish descent, from other parts of United States live in west, southwest, and southeast areas and main cities of the state. The northwestern corner of the state is primarily occupied by Native Americans, of which Navajos and Pueblos are the largest tribes. As a result, the demographics and culture of the state are unique for their strong American, Colonial Spanish, Mexican, and Native American cultural influences.

2007 population estimates

New Mexico's July 1, 2007 population was estimated at 1,969,915 by the United States Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program.^[9]

New Mexico Population Density Map

Ancestry groups

According to the U.S. Census, the largest ancestry groups in New Mexico are:

Some are mixtures of all of these groups and others.

7.2% of New Mexico's population was reported as under 5 years of age, 28% under 18, and 11.7% were 65 or older. Females make up approximately 50.8% of the population.

Languages

According the 2000 U.S. Census, 28.76% of the population aged 5 and over speak Spanish at home, while 4.07% speak Navajo.^[11]

New Mexico is commonly thought to have Spanish as an official language alongside English, due to the widespread usage of Spanish in the state. Although the original state constitution of 1912 provided for a temporarily bilingual government, New Mexico has no official language. Nevertheless, the state government publishes a driver's manual as well as ballots in both languages, although they are required to publish ballots in Spanish by federal law.

The constitution provided that, for the following twenty years, all laws passed by the legislature be published in both Spanish and English, and thereafter as the legislature should provide.

Prior to 1967, notices of statewide and county elections were required to be printed in English and "may be printed in Spanish." Additionally, many legal notices today are required to be published in both English and Spanish.^[12]

In 1995, New Mexico adopted a "State Bilingual Song," titled "New Mexico - Mi Lindo Nuevo México."

Religion

Religious affiliations

According to a 2008 survey by the Pew Research Center, the most common self-reported religious affiliation of New Mexico residents are: ^[13]:100

• Roman Catholic – 26%
• Evangelical Christian – 25%
• Unaffiliated – 21%
• Mainline Protestant – 15%
• Other affiliations – 12%
• No answer – 1%

Catholic Church hierarchy

Within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, New Mexico belongs to the Ecclesiastical Province of Santa Fe. New Mexico has three dioceses, one of which is an archdiocese:

• Archdiocese of Santa Fe
• Diocese of Gallup
• Diocese of Las Cruces

Economy

State income

New Mexico State Quarter

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that New Mexico's total state product in 2003 was $57 billion. Per capita personal income in 2003 was $24,995, 48^th in the nation.^[14]

Major industries/products

Agricultural and mining

Cattle and dairy products top the list of major animal products of New Mexico. Cattle, sheep, and other livestock graze most of the arable land of the state throughout the year.

Limited, scientifically controlled dryland farming prospers alongside cattle ranching. Major crops include hay, nursery stock, pecans, and chile peppers. Hay and sorghum top the list of major dryland crops. Farmers also produce onions, potatoes, and dairy products. New Mexico specialty crops include piñon nuts, pinto beans, and chiles.

The Carlsbad and Fort Sumner reclamation projects on the Pecos River and the nearby Tucumcari project provide adequate water for limited irrigation in those areas of the desert and semiarid portions of the state where scant rainfall evaporates rapidly, generally leaving insufficient water supplies for large-scale irrigation. Located upstream of Las Cruces, the Elephant Butte Reservoir provides a major irrigation source for the extensive farming along the Rio Grande. Other irrigation projects use the Colorado River basin and the San Juan River.

Lumber mills in Albuquerque process pinewood, the chief commercial wood of the rich timber economy of northern New Mexico.

Mineral extraction: New Mexicans derive much of their income from mineral extraction. Even before European exploration, Native Americans mined turquoise for making jewelry.^[15] After the Spanish introduced refined silver alloys they were incorporated into the Indian jewelry designs. New Mexico produces uranium ore (see Uranium mining in New Mexico), manganese ore, potash, salt, perlite, copper ore, beryllium, and tin concentrates.

Energy

New Mexico is rich in fossil fuel and renewable energy resources. Major petroleum and natural gas deposits are located in the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico and in the San Juan Basin in the northwest. The San Juan Basin Gas Area is the largest field of proved natural gas reserves in the United States. According to the Energy Information Administration, State crude oil output is typically just over 3 percent of the annual U.S. total, and natural gas output is nearly 10 percent of the U.S. total. New Mexico also contains major coal deposits in the northwest corner of the State. Nine tenths of electricity production in the State is from coal-fired plants. Much of New Mexico’s geologically active Rocky Mountain region holds geothermal power potential, and pockets of the State are suitable for wind power development. New Mexico’s southern deserts offer the State's most concentrated solar power potential.^[16]

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is located 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Carlsbad, in the Chihuahuan Desert. Here nuclear wastes are buried deep in carved out salt formation disposal rooms mined 2,150 feet (655 m) underground in a 2,000-foot (610 m) thick salt formation that has been stable for more than 200 million years. WIPP began operations on March 26, 1999.

Manufacturing

Industrial output, centered around Albuquerque, includes electric equipment; petroleum and coal products; food processing; printing and publishing; and stone, glass, and clay products. Defense-related industries include ordnance. Important high-technology industries include lasers, data processing, and solar energy.

Government and military

Federal government spending is a major driver of the New Mexico economy. The federal government spends $2 on 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.[1] The federal government is also a major employer in New Mexico providing more than a quarter of the state's jobs. Many of the federal jobs relate to the military; the state hosts three air force bases (Kirtland Air Force Base, Holloman Air Force Base, and Cannon Air Force Base); a testing range (White Sands Missile Range); an army proving ground and maneuver range (Fort Bliss Military Reservation - McGregor Range);national observatories; and the technology labs of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). SNL conducts electronic and industrial research on Kirtland AFB, on the southeast side of Albuquerque. These installations also include the missile and spacecraft proving grounds at White Sands. In addition to the military employers, other federal agencies such as the National Park Service, the United States Forest Service, and the United States Bureau of Land Management are a big part of the states rural employment base.

Tourism and retirement

Virgin Galactic, the first space tourism company to develop commercial flights into space, has decided to put its world headquarters and mission control at Spaceport America in Upham, New Mexico (25 miles (40 km) south of Truth or Consequences); Virgin Galactic will have its inaugural launch of the VSS Enterprise spaceship in 2008, and will begin launching ordinary citizens in early 2009.^[17][18][19]

Tourism provides many service jobs. For top attractions see: Tourism.

The private service economy in urban New Mexico, especially in Albuquerque, has boomed in recent decades. Since the end of World War II, the city has gained an ever-growing number of retirees, especially among armed forces veterans and government workers. It is also increasingly gaining notice as a health conscious community, and contains many hospitals and a high per capita number of massage and alternative therapists. The warm, semiarid climate has contributed to the exploding population of Albuquerque, attracting new industries to New Mexico. By contrast, many heavily Native American and Hispanic rural communities remain economically underdeveloped.

Movie and TV

Feature films have used New Mexico as a location since The Indian School in 1898. Financial incentives and construction of facilities (such as The Albuquerque Studios)^[20] have created opportunities for locally based crew members with production reaching an all time high in 2007. As of the end of August 2007, 30 major projects have been filmed in the state, more than in any other calendar year in history.^[21]

Garson Studios The most established Movie production facility is on the campus of the College of Santa Fe. Garson Studios has helped turned out many feature length films with its soundstage and high tech equipment. url = http://www.garsonstudios.com/ • 14,000 Square Foot Soundstage • Dimensions: 127' l x 110' w x 33' h • Hard Cyclorama 77' l x 55' w x 24' h • 1600 amp./ 3-phase

• Production offices • Wardrobe facilities • Ample phone/fax lines • High-speed Internet • Storage lockups • Ample fenced parking • Trailer hook-ups • Student interns • Short and long-term rentals

New Mexico Filmmaker’s Intensive url = http://www.filmmakersintensive.com/ Funded in part by a $1 million grant from the state of New Mexico, the New Mexico Filmmakers Intensive builds on the national reputation of the Moving Image Arts Department at the College of Santa Fe. With state-of-the-art equipment, world-class facilities and an extraordinary faculty of film industry professionals, the goal of the New Mexico Filmmakers Intensive is to support and cultivate emerging voices in American cinema right here in New Mexico.

Film and television post-production is also growing with companies such as Sony Imageworks establishing a permanent home in the state.^[22]

Taxes

Personal income tax rates for New Mexico range from 1.7% to 5.3%, within four income brackets.

New Mexico does not have a sales tax. Instead, it has a 5% gross receipts tax. In almost every case, the business passes along the tax to the consumer, so that the gross receipts tax resembles a sales tax. The combined gross receipts tax rate varies throughout the state from 5.125% to 7.8125%. The total rate is a combination of all rates imposed by the state, counties and municipalities. Beginning January 1, 2005, New Mexicans no longer pay taxes on most food purchases; however, there are exceptions to this program. Also beginning January 1, 2005, the state eliminated the tax on certain medical services.

In general, taxes are not assessed on personal property. Personal household effects, licensed vehicles, registered aircraft, certain personal property warehoused in the state and business personal property that is not depreciated for federal income tax purposes are exempt from the property tax.

Property tax rates vary substantially and depend on the type of property and its location. The state does not assess tax on intangible personal property. There is no inheritance tax, but an inheritance may be reflected in a taxpayer's modified gross income and taxed that way.

Economic incentives

New Mexico provides a number of economic incentives to businesses operating in the state, including various types of tax credits and tax exemptions. Most of the incentives are based on job creation.^[23]

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 Receipts Tax (a form of Municipal Infrastructure GRT) that is used to pay for these infrastructure improvements and for marketing their areas.^[24]

The state provides financial incentives for film production.^[25][26] The New Mexico Film Office estimated at the end of 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.^[27]

Largest employers

(Not ranked by size)

• Northern
  • College of Santa Fe
  • Boy Scouts of America
  • U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
  • Mesa Air Group
  • Navajo Nation
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Wal-Mart
  • New Mexico State Government
  • New Mexico Department of Transportation
  • Northern New Mexico College
• Central
  • PNM Resources and PNM Electric & Gas Services
  • Presbyterian Health Plan
  • Sandia National Laboratories
  • Intel
  • University of New Mexico
  • New Mexico State Government
  • Kirtland Air Force Base
• Eastern
  • Albertson's Supermarket
  • Kmart Corporation
  • U.S. Postal Service
  • Wal-Mart
  • Navajo Refining Company
  • U.S. National Park Service (NPS)
  • Allsup's Convenience Stores
• Southwestern
  • Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
  • Lockheed Engineering and Sciences
  • New Mexico State University
  • Lovelace Healthcare
  • Pepsi Bottling
  • New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
  • U.S. Army (Fort Bliss)

_{Source: Economic Research & Analysis Bureau New Mexico Department of Labor^[28]}

Transportation

Passenger trains

The New Mexico Rail Runner Express is a commuter rail system serving the metropolitan area of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It began operation on July 14, 2006. The system is in Phase I of planned development, operating on an existing old ATSF, now BNSF right of way from Belen to Bernalillo. However, the entire line from Belen to Raton was recently sold to the state of New Mexico for the construction of phase II, which is currently underway and scheduled to open by late 2010. It will extend the line northward to Santa Fe.

Amtrak's Southwest Chief passes through daily at stations in Gallup, Albuquerque, Lamy, Las Vegas, and Raton, offering connections to Los Angeles, Flagstaff, Kansas City, and Chicago. The Sunset Limited makes stops three times a week in Lordsburg, and Deming.

Gallup, New Mexico along old U.S. Route 66.

New Mexico highways

Roadways

Interstate Freeways

• Interstate 10
• Interstate 25
• Interstate 40

U.S. Routes: East–West Routes

• U.S. Route 550
• U.S. Route 54
• U.S. Route 56
• U.S. Route 60
• U.S. Route 62
• U.S. Route 64
• Old Highway 66 (Historic Route 66)
• U.S. Route 70
• U.S. Route 80
• U.S. Route 180
• U.S. Route 380
• U.S. Route 82
• U.S. Route 84

U.S. Routes: North–South Routes

• U.S. Route 285
• U.S. Route 491

See also: List of New Mexico highways

Law and government

The Constitution of 1912, as amended, dictates the form of government in the state.

Governor Bill Richardson and Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, both Democrats, won re-election in 2006. Their terms expire in January 2011. Governors serve a term of four years and may seek reelection. For a list of past governors, see List of New Mexico Governors.

Other constitutional officers, all of whose terms also expire in January 2011, include Secretary of State