Albuquerque is a city and the seat of Bernalillo County in central New Mexico, in the United States of America.
Located on the Río Grande, the city’s sunny weather and low humidity have made it a vacation spot, and its Native American and Spanish colonial heritage give it a unique character.
The largest city in New Mexico, Albuquerque is a transportation, trade, and high-technology manufacturing center. A principal employer is Sandia National Laboratories, a government center for nuclear energy, environmental research and development. Kirtland Air Force Base, site of the National Atomic Museum, is located nearby and is important to the economy.
Many state and federal agencies have offices in the city, and it is the headquarters for Cibola National Forest.
Air transportation is provided through Albuquerque International Sunport.
The old quarter of Albuquerque has broad plazas, flat-roofed adobe houses, and Spanish colonial buildings. The new quarter has lofty office buildings, modern hotels, and fashionable stores.
Albuquerque is the seat of the University of New Mexico (1889), Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (1970), the College of Santa Fe at Albuquerque (1985), and a technical college.
Among the city’s many museums are the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, featuring paleontologic and geologic displays; the Albuquerque Museum, with extensive art, history, and science exhibits; and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, with displays on Pueblo history and contemporary arts. The historic Old Town district contains the Church of San Felipe de Neri (1793).
Annual events include the International Balloon Fiesta and the state fair. Other attractions near Albuquerque are Petroglyph National Monument, which features hundreds of Native American rock inscriptions drawn before ad 1600, as well as the Sandia Mountains, which have extensive winter-sports facilities and a long scenic tramway.
The region around Albuquerque has long been settled by Native American peoples, who built large, multi-storied towns, called pueblos, some of which still exist today. Spanish settlement began in the early 1600s, although the Spanish abandoned the area after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 when Native Americans revolted against Spanish rule.
Present-day Albuquerque was founded in 1706, and the city was named for the duke of Alburquerque (the first r was later dropped), then viceroy of New Spain. It grew rapidly as a station on the El Camino Real from Santa Fe to Mexico City.
After the Mexican War (1846-1848), Albuquerque formally became part of the United States, and was an important U.S. military post from 1846 to 1870. Confederate troops briefly held Albuquerque in 1862, during the American Civil War.
In 1880, a new settlement developed around the recently constructed railroad; as the new settlement quickly grew, the original settlement became known as Old Town.
Incorporated as a city in 1891, Albuquerque grew as a farming hub and health center, gradually enveloping and in 1949 annexing Old Town.
Rapid growth in the 1950s was propelled by federal spending on nuclear research. In the 1970s Albuquerque underwent an extensive urban renewal program, and in the late 1980s the city completed expansion of the convention center and airport.