Albuquerque lies in the Chihuahuan Desert at the crossroads of central New Mexico, where Interstate 40 intersects Interstate 25. This, the largest city in New Mexico, lies on a plain along the banks of the Rio Grande River at the base of the Sandia Mountains to the east.

Albuquerque represents a synergy of Native American, Hispanic and Anglo cultures where traditional and modern cultures coexist. The Univeristy of New Mexico is centered in Albuquerque and Sandia National Labarotory brings science and technology to the city of the Old West. A number of Indian Reservations and Pueblos exist in or near the city.

Albuquerque has pleasant climate with low humidity and warm temperatures. This helps to make Albuquerque an enjoyable destination during any season.

Southwestern informality prevails in Albuquerque’s hospitality.

Evidence of habitation near Albuquerque dates back 12,000 years. The Anasazi Indians settled in the area and lived here for 2 centuries, from 1100 to 1300, establishing several communities throughout northwestern New Mexico connected by sophisticated transportation and communication networks.

In 1540, explorer-conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado came north from Mexico in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Cibola. He and his troops, cooks, priests, and beasts reportedly spent the winter of that year in an Indian pueblo on the west bank of the Rio Grande 20 miles north of Albuquerque. The site is now a state monument just northwest of the town of Bernalillo.

Coronado left, but wealthy Spanish settlers began arriving in greater numbers, but the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680 discouraged further settlement until Spanish General Don Diego de Vargas arrived in1692. By the 17th century it was sufficiently populated to have acquired a name: Bosque Grande de San Francisco Xavier. In 1706, the ambitious provisional governor of the territory, Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdez, petitioned the Spanish government for permission to establish the bosque as a formal villa and call it Albequerque, after Viceroy Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva, the Duke of Alburquerque. Apparently the “r” fell out of use over time.

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