11-11-08

Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque where the modern city skyline is set against a backdrop of the ancient Sandia Mountains and an endless, timeless blue sky. Here the sun shines 310 days a year and the high desert air is scented with sage and piñon. Rich in culture and heritage, it is rooted in centuries of history. Albuquerque is the true Southwest!

Albuquerque Fun Facts
Three hundred year old Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico, is situated in the central part of the state. The city ranks as the 34th largest city in the U.S., with a population of 518,000. It is home to the University of New Mexico and Kirtland Air Force Base as well as the Sandia National Laboratories and Petroglyph National Monument. The Sandia Mountains run along the eastern side of Albuquerque and the Rio Grande flows through the city, north to south.
By the beginning of the 17th century, the area that would one day become Albuquerque was called 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 Alburquerque, after Viceroy Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva, the Duke of Alburquerque. Later the spelling was changed because some influential person couldn't pronounce the "R" in Alburquerque. The city is still nicknamed “Duke City.”