
New Mexico
New Mexico Nuevo Mexico | ||
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Region | ||
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Countries | ||
Area | ||
• Total | 315,199 km2 (121,699 sq mi) | |
Population (2018) | ||
• Total | 2,472,605 | |
• Density | Bad rounding here7.8/km2 (Bad rounding here20/sq mi) | |
Demographics | ||
• Ethnic groups |
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• Languages | English, Spanish, German, Southern Athabaskan |
Prior to European exploration and conquest, New Mexico was inhabited by Amerindians including Ancestral Puebloans, Mogollon, Comanche, and Utes for several thousand years. In 1598, it was colonized by Spain and administered as a part of New Spain, an imperial viceroyalty established over the Americas. It became a Mexican territory after Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1824. Initially, New Mexico exercised an appreciable degree of autonomy but its relative independence from Mexico rapidly deteriorated during the Centralist administration, culminating in the Revolt of 1837. Anglo-American settlement increased in the region, leading to growing dependence on Anglo-America and its fellow Mexican territorial neighbors, California and Texas. During the Mexican-American War, as California and Texas both declared their independence from Mexico, the breakaway states, with the assistance of the United States, invaded and occupied New Mexico. Following the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, New Mexico was administered as a joint condominium between California and Texas (now known as Brazoria). The arrangement was temporary and disagreements over the extent of each other's territorial claims over New Mexico led to armed conflict between the two states in 1863. The conflict ended with the Treaty of Rio Grande which partitioned New Mexico into two separately controlled territories, using the Rio Grande in New Mexico to determine the border between the two states.