1. New Mexico has the highest
percentage of Hispanics of any US state and the second highest percentage of
Native Americans after Alaska
2. Oddly enough, New Mexico has had its
name longer than Mexico has. Early explorers first called the area New Mexico
because they believed the population to be like the people of the Aztec empire
(also called the Mexica empire). The nation of Mexico wasn't called that until
the 1800s. The city of Santa Fe was established around 1608, but there appear to have been human communities in the state for the past 11,000 years
3. The state has very little surface
water; the landscape includes mesas, deserts, and snowy mountains. The climate
is mostly arid or semi-arid, with only 13.9 inches of precipitation per year. A
major oil discovery in 1928 made Lea County (and by extension, much of the
state) more prosperous
4. The state bird is the greater roadrunner, but the state mammal is not the coyote. It's the black bear
5. Both Confederate and Union forces
claimed ownership and territorial rights over New Mexico. The Battle of Glorieta Pass, fought southwest of Santa Fe, decisively broke Confederate power
in 1862
6. In 2015, over 51% of the population
was born in New Mexico. Almost 29% speak Spanish at home, while about 4% speak
Navajo. In 2008, the state officially adopted a Navajo textbook for use in
public schools. The state flag reflects the heritage of the state's people,
with the gold and scarlet colors of the flag reflecting the royal standards of
Spain, and the sun symbol of one of the ancient peoples of the area, the Zia (a
tribe related to the Pueblo)
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