New Mexico

I

Introduction

New Mexico, one of the south-western states of the United States, bordered on the north by Colorado; on the east by Oklahoma and Texas; on the south by Texas and the Mexican state of Chihuahua; and on the west by Arizona.

New Mexico entered the Union on January 6, 1912, as the 47th state. By the 1990s, services (including tourism) and government dominated the economy, although mining, ranching, and manufacturing were also important. Visitors were attracted not only by the scenic beauty of New Mexico’s deserts and mountains but also by the rich Native American and Spanish cultural heritage that distinguishes the state. The region north of Mexico was named Nuevo Mexico by a Spanish explorer in the 1560s. The name was translated and applied to the US territory organized in 1850 and later to the state. New Mexico is known as the “Land of Enchantment”.

II

Land and Resources

With an area of 314,937 sq km (121,598 sq mi), New Mexico is the fifth-largest state in the United States. The state is roughly square in shape, and its extreme dimensions are 629 km (391 mi) from north to south and 565 km (351 mi) from east to west.

A

Physical Geography

New Mexico has great diversity of topographical relief, from desert basins to lofty snowcapped peaks. The eastern third of the state is part of the Great Plains. The portion of this region lying south of the Canadian River is known as the High Plains, or Llano Estacado. The north-central part of the state is occupied by an extension of the Rocky Mountains. The gorge of the Rio Grande extends from north to south, dividing this rugged region in half: to the east lie the Sangre de Cristo Mountains; to the west are the Nacimiento Mountains.

The central and south-western parts of the state are occupied by the Basin and Range Region. The north-western quadrant of New Mexico is part of the Colorado Plateau. The San Juan Basin in the extreme north-east of this region is an area of relatively low relief.

The state’s major river is the Rio Grande. Other rivers include the Pecos, a tributary of the Rio Grande, the Canadian, and Gila. New Mexico has few sizeable natural lakes, and most of these are found in the mountain ranges of the north-central part of the state.

B

Climate

New Mexico has a mild, semi-arid to arid continental climate. The average annual temperature ranges from about 4.4° C (40° F) in the mountains of the north central region to about 17.8° C (64° F) in the south. The recorded temperature has ranged from -45.6° C (-50° F) in 1951 to 46.7° C (116° F) in 1934.