New Mexico

New Mexico (Spanish: Nuevo México pronounced [ˈnweβo ˈmexiko], Navajo: Yootó Hahoodzo pronounced [jòːtxó xɑ̀xʷòːtsò]) is a state in the Southwestern Region of the United States of America. With a population of approximately two million, New Mexico is the 36th most populous state. With a total area of 121,590 sq mi (314,900 km2), it is the fifth largest and fifth least densely populated of the fifty states. It is one of the Mountain States and shares the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. Its capital and cultural center is Santa Fe, while its largest city is Albuquerque. Due to its geographic location, Northern and Eastern New Mexico exhibits a colder, alpine climate while Western and Southern New Mexico exhibits a warmer, arid climate.

The economy of New Mexico is dependent on oil drilling, mineral extraction, dryland farming, cattle ranching, lumber milling, and retail trade. As of 2016-17, its total gross domestic product (GDP) was $95 billion with a GDP per capital of $45,465. A tax haven, New Mexico collects low to moderate personal income taxes on residents and military personnel,[7] and gives tax credits and exemptions to favorable industries. Because of this, its film industry has grown and contributed $1.23 billion to its overall economy. Due to its large area and economic climate, New Mexico has a large U.S. military presence marked notably with the White Sands Missile Range. Various U.S. national security agencies base their research and testing arms in New Mexico such as the Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories.

Its history has given New Mexico the highest percentage of Hispanic and Latino Americans, and the second-highest percentage of Native Americans as a population proportion (after Alaska).[8] Three federally-protected Native American tribes–the Navajo, Pueblo, and Apache peoples–inhabit New Mexico; historically the Ancestral Puebloans, Mogollon, and the modern extant Comanche inhabited the state. The largest Hispanic and Latino groups represented include the Hispanos of New Mexico (of Iberian, Mediterranean, or Mestizo descent), Chicanos, and Mexican Americans. The flag of New Mexico emphatically features the state’s Spanish and Native American origins with the same scarlet and gold coloration as Spain's Cross of Burgundy, along with the ancient sun symbol of the Zia, a Pueblo-related tribe.[9]