1. New Mexico has 16.68 million acres of forestland. 2. New Mexico is sparsely populated, but did you know that we have only 17 people per square mile? 3. In Red River, it usually snows for 48.2 days a year. That amounts to an average annual snowfall of 159.5 inches per year. 4. Much of New Mexico’s landscape has been shaped by volcanic activity. Our state experienced over 700 eruptions during the last 5 million years. 5. Agriculture began in New Mexico around 2500 years ago, when the Mogollon people started cultivating corn, squash, and beans. 6. Old churches are everywhere. We have a ton of churches, chapels, and cathedrals, we also have the nation's oldest -- the San Miguel Mission, in Santa Fe, built between 1610 and 1626. 7. New Mexico is larger than the countries Poland, the Philippines, and Oman. 8. There are three cities in New Mexico larger than Santa Fe: Albuquerque (32nd largest in the US, at 564,000), Las Cruces, and Rio Rancho. 9. New Mexico even has an official state cookie, the Biscochito. 10. Animals native to New Mexico include the kangaroo rat, coyotes, porcupines, foxes, rodents, rabbits, bobcats, and badgers. At higher elevations, animals such as mountain lions, bobcats, minks, foxes, black bears, muskrats, mule deer, and bighorn sheep are found. 11. In terms of agriculture, New Mexico grows onions, potatoes, beans, corn, lettuce, cabbage, pumpkins, and watermelons. 12. 85% of the nation’s fresh onions are supplied by New Mexico during June. 13. New Mexico remains the largest producer of chile peppers in the US, and it is the state’s most famous export. 14. The first wine grapes ever planted in the US were along the Rio Grande in New Mexico. Today, the state has nearly 50 wineries dotting its landscape. 15. Breaking Bad, the wildly popular and critically acclaimed TV series, was filmed mainly in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Many people now tour various filming locations in town.
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