New Mexico Details

New Mexico is a US state located in the southwest region. It is bordered by Oklahoma on the northeast, Texas on the east and south and Mexico on the south. The name New Mexico is also called the Land of the Enchantment.

Researches claim that New Mexico was discovered by a Spanish explorer named Francisco Vasquez de Coronado who traveled in search for gold sometime in1540-1542. This discovery was later followed by the first Spanish settlement sometime in 1598 when Spaniards established their first themselves in Rio Grande River. Its capital is Santa Fe which was founded in 1610.

New Mexico was acquired by the US from Spain in 1848 as a result of the Mexican war and the remainder of the Gadsden Purchase.

New Mexico is a leader in energy research and development with extensive experiments conducted at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and Sandia Laboratories in the nuclear, solar and geothermal areas. The state is popular for its vast deposits of minerals such as uranium and potassium salts. Other minerals that contribute to its economy include petroleum, natural gas, copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead and molybdenum.

New Mexico manufactures food products, chemicals, transportation equipment, lumber, electrical machinery and stone-clay-glass products. It also boasts of massive plantations of cotton, pecans and sorghum as well as corn, peanuts, beans, onions, chilies and lettuce.

New Mexico means a “place of Mexitli”, an Aztec god or leader. Its major tourist destinations include Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Inscription Rock at El Morro National Monument, the ruins at Fort Union, Billy the Kid mementos at Lincoln, the White Sands and Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monuments, Bandelier National Monument, and the Chaco Culture National Historical Park.