Eighteen facts about New Mexico

1. New Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth- most sparsely inhabited U.S. state.
2. Santa Fe, the oldest capital city in the United States, was founded in 1610.
3. The state's total area is 121,412 square miles (314,460 km²).
4. The world's first Atomic Bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945 on the White Sands Testing Range near Alamogordo. North of the impact point a small placard marks the area known as Trinity Site. The bomb was designed and manufactured in Los Alamos.
5. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory.
6. New Mexican history has ranged from arrows to atoms and has embraced Indian, Spanish and Anglo cultures. Few states can claim such a distinctive past. 
7. Among U.S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics at 44 percent (2008 estimate), being descendants of Spanish colonists and recent immigrants from Latin America.
8. On the same desert grounds where today's space age missiles are tested, ten-thousand-year-old arrowheads have been found. 
9. Las Cruces makes the world's largest enchilada the first weekend in October at the "Whole Enchilada Fiesta".
10. Hatch is known as the "Green Chile capital of the world".
11. White Sands National Monument is a desert, not of sand, but of gleaming white gypsum crystals.
12. The Navajo, the Nation's largest Native American Group, have a reservation that covers 14 million Acres.
13. The Palace of Governors in Santa Fe is the oldest Government Building in the United States.
14. New Mexico's State Constitution officially states that New Mexico is a bilingual State, and 1 out of 3 families in New Mexico speak Spanish at home.
15. New Mexico has far more sheep and cattle than people. There are only about 12 people per square mile. 
16. New Mexico, although a large state, has little water. Its surface water area is about 250 square miles (650 km²).
17. 1 out of 4 workers in New Mexico work directly for the Federal Government. State and local governments are also major employers.
18. Since New Mexico's climate is so dry 3/4 of the roads are left unpaved. The roads don't wash away.