Capital city of New Mexico, United States
About Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-most populous city in the state with a population of 87,505 as of the 2020 census, while the Santa Fe metropolitan area has an estimated 158,000 people. The greater Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Los Alamos combined statistical area includes eight counties in north-central New Mexico with 1.16 million residents. The county seat of Santa Fe County, Santa Fe is situated at the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at the highest altitude of any U.S. state capital, with an elevation of 6,998 feet.
History
Before European colonization of the Americas, between AD 900 and the 1500s, the area around present-day Santa Fe was known to the Tewa peoples as Kháˀ Pʼoegeh (pronounced [xɑ́ʔ pʼòːɡè], 'white shell water place', one of a number of places named for their water access) and by the Navajo people as Yootó ("bead" + "water place"). In 1598, Juan de Oñate established the area as Santa Fe de Nuevo México, a province of New Spain. Formal Spanish settlements were developed leading the colonial governor Pedro de Peralta to rename the area La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís ("the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi"). …
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, Santa Fe has a total area of 52.4 square miles (135.6 square kilometers), of which 52.2 sq mi (135.3 km2) are land and 0.12 sq mi (0.3 km2), or 0.21%, is covered by water; much of the liquid surface consists of the Santa Fe River and the arroyos of Santa Fe, which drain the region to the Rio Grande at Cochiti Dam. Located at 7,199 feet (2,194 m) above sea level, Santa Fe is the highest state capital in the United States. Santa Fe's climate is characterized by cool, dry winters, hot summers, and relatively low precipitation. According to the Köppen climate classification, the city has a cold semi-arid climate (BSk), common at 35°N. The 24-hour average temperature in the city ranges from 30.3 °F (−0.9 °C) in December to 70.1 °F (21.2 °C) in July. …
Arts and culture
Santa Fe is well known as a center for arts and for its multiculturalism; since 2005, it has been designated as a UNESCO Creative City in Crafts and Folk Art. The Spanish laid out the city according to the "Laws of the Indies", town planning rules and ordinances which had been established in 1573 by King Philip II. The fundamental principle was that the town be laid out around a central plaza. On its north side was the Palace of the Governors, while on the east was the church that later became the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. An important style implemented in planning the city was the radiating grid of streets centered on the central Plaza. Many were narrow and included small alleyways, but each gradually merged into the more casual byways of the agricultural perimeter areas. …
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