New Mexico became a territory of the United States following the Mexican War in 1848, with the last piece of the puzzle coming with the 1853 Gadsden Purchase. Since 1945, New Mexico has been 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 of New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics and the second highest percentage of Native Americans (after Alaska). The tribes in the state consist of mostly Navajo and Pueblo peoples. The flag of New Mexico is represented by the red and gold colors, which represent Spain, as well as the Zia symbol, an ancient symbol for the sun of that Pueblo-related tribe.
The current Governor of New Mexico is Susana Martinez, a rising star in the Republican Party and the first Hispanic female governor of a state. Both Senators for New Mexico are Democrats, Jeff Bingaman, and Tom Udall. Senator Bingaman is retiring from the Senate and will be replaced by Congressman Martin Heinrich (D). The New Mexico Congressional delegation has three members, two Democrats and one Republican.
- 1st District - Michele Lujan Grisham (D) (Representative-elect)
- 2nd District - Steve Pearce (R)
- 3rd District - Ben Ray Lujan (D)
- State Capital - Santa Fe
- Largest city - Albuquerque
- Date of Admission - January 6, 1912
- Area - 121,589 sq mi (5th)
- Population (2011 est.) - 2,082,224 (36th)
- State Motto - "Crescit eundo" "It grows as it goes"
- State Nickname - Land of Enchantment
- State animal - black bear
- State bird - roadrunner
- State cookie - bizcochito
- State flower - yucca
- State insect - tarantula hawk wasp
- State gem - turquoise
- State tree - pinon
- State University - The University of New Mexico
- New Mexico State Archives are part of the New Mexico Commission of Public Records
- Historical Society of New Mexico
- newmexico.gov - the Official Website of the State of New Mexico
- The New Mexico Tourism site - newmexico.org
- Wikipedia
- 50states.com entry for New Mexico
- InfoPlease entry for New Mexico
- New Mexico State Guide from the Library of Congress
- USDA Fact Sheet for New Mexico
- Actress Kathy Baker (born in Texas, raised in New Mexico)
- Golfer Notah Begay III
- Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon
- Artist Ernest Blumenschein
- William "Billy the Kid" Bonney
- Nobel Prize winner and diplomat Ralph Bunche (born in Michigan)
- Actor Bruce Cabot
- Kit Carson
- Former Senator Dennis Chavez
- Apache leader Mangas Coloradas
- Physicist (Manhattan Project) Edward Condon
- John Denver (or as he will always be known in the Brave Astronaut's family, John Colorado)
- Lawman Patrick Garrett
- Astronaut Sid Gutierrez
- Animator William Hanna
- Actor Neil Patrick Harris
- Senator Carl Hatch and the author of the Hatch Act (if you work for the federal government, you understand)
- Conrad Hilton
- Artist Peter Hurd
- Gary Johnson, former Governor and 2012 Libertarian Presidential candidate
- Baseball player and broadcaster Ralph Kiner
- Pueblo potter Maria MartÃnez of San Ildefonso
- Actress Demi Moore
- Political cartoonist Bill Mauldin
- Georgia O'Keeffe
- Dorothy Page, "mother" of the Iditarod
- Actress Kim Stanley
- Actor Slim Summerville
- Astronomer and discoverer of the planet Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh
- The racing family, the Unsers
- NPR journalist Linda Wertheimer
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