List of counties in New Mexico facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Counties of New Mexico |
|
---|---|
Location | State of New Mexico |
Number | 33 |
Populations | 624 (Harding) – 671,586 (Bernalillo) |
Areas | 109 square miles (280 km2) (Los Alamos) – 6,928 square miles (17,940 km2) (Catron) |
Government | County government |
Subdivisions | cities, towns, townships, unincorporated communities, indian reservations, Pueblo, census designated place |
New Mexico is a state in the southwestern United States. Like many other states, it is divided into smaller areas called counties. These counties help organize the state and its local governments. New Mexico has 33 counties in total.
The land that is now New Mexico became a U.S. territory in September 1850. The very first nine counties were created in 1852. These were Bernalillo, Doña Ana, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Santa Ana, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos, and Valencia Counties.
Over the years, more counties were added or changed. For example, after the Gadsden Purchase in 1853–1854, some land was given to the new Colorado Territory. Later, in 1863, the western part became the Arizona Territory. These changes helped set New Mexico's current borders.
More counties like Grant, Colfax, and Lincoln were created in the 1860s. Santa Ana County was later joined with Bernalillo County in 1876. By 1909, New Mexico had 26 counties. New Mexico officially became the 47th state on January 6, 1912. After this, seven more counties were created, with Cibola County being the last in 1981. This brought the total to 33 counties.
New Mexico's Counties: A Full List
New Mexico is a large state. In July 2011, about 2,082,224 people lived there. The state covers about 121,589 square miles (315,194 square kilometers). Below is a list of all 33 counties in New Mexico. You can see their county seat (the main town), when they were created, where their name came from, and how many people live there.
County | County seat |
Est. |
Formed from |
Etymology |
Pop. |
Area |
Map | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bernalillo County | 001 | Albuquerque | 1852 | One of the nine original counties. | The Gonzales-Bernal family, Spanish nobles who settled the territory in the seventeenth century | 671,586 | ( 3,020 km2) |
1,166 sq mi![]() |
Catron County | 003 | Reserve | 1921 | Part of Socorro County. | Thomas Benton Catron (1840-1921), a Santa Fe attorney and New Mexico's first U.S. Senator | 3,825 | ( 17,943 km2) |
6,928 sq mi![]() |
Chaves County | 005 | Roswell | 1889 | Part of Lincoln County. | Jose Francisco Chaves (1833-1904), a U.S. Army colonel in New Mexico during and after the Civil War | 63,561 | ( 15,724 km2) |
6,071 sq mi![]() |
Cibola County | 006 | Grants | 1981 | Parts of Valencia County, Socorro County, McKinley County, and Catron County. | The mythical Seven Cities of Cibola | 26,780 | ( 11,759 km2) |
4,540 sq mi![]() |
Colfax County | 007 | Raton | 1869 | Part of Mora County. | Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885), the seventeenth vice president of the United States | 12,255 | ( 9,731 km2) |
3,757 sq mi![]() |
Curry County | 009 | Clovis | 1909 | Parts of Quay County and Roosevelt County. | George Curry (1861-1947), a governor of New Mexico Territory from 1907 to 1910 | 47,222 | ( 3,642 km2) |
1,406 sq mi![]() |
De Baca County | 011 | Fort Sumner | 1917 | Parts of Chaves County and Guadalupe County. | Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca (1864-1917), the second state governor of New Mexico | 1,657 | ( 6,022 km2) |
2,325 sq mi![]() |
Doña Ana County | 013 | Las Cruces | 1852 | One of the nine original counties. | Doña Ana Robledo, a seventeenth-century Spanish woman known for her charitable giving to the native population | 225,210 | ( 9,860 km2) |
3,807 sq mi![]() |
Eddy County | 015 | Carlsbad | 1887 | Part of Lincoln County. | Charles Eddy (1857 - 1931), a rancher and developer of the area | 60,275 | ( 10,831 km2) |
4,182 sq mi![]() |
Grant County | 017 | Silver City | 1868 | Part of Doña Ana County. | Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822-1885), the Civil War general and eighteenth president of the United States | 27,472 | ( 10,272 km2) |
3,966 sq mi![]() |
Guadalupe County | 019 | Santa Rosa | 1891 | Part of San Miguel County. | Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas | 4,292 | ( 7,850 km2) |
3,031 sq mi![]() |
Harding County | 021 | Mosquero | 1921 | Parts of Mora County and Union County. | Warren Gamaliel Harding (1865-1923), the twenty-ninth president of the United States | 624 | ( 5,506 km2) |
2,126 sq mi![]() |
Hidalgo County | 023 | Lordsburg | 1920 | Part of Grant County. | The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, named after a Mexican town in turn named for Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753 - 1811), the priest who is known as the Father of Mexican Independence | 3,965 | ( 8,925 km2) |
3,446 sq mi![]() |
Lea County | 025 | Lovington | 1917 | Parts of Chaves County and Eddy County. | Joseph Calloway Lea (1841-1904), a captain in the U.S. Army and the founder of the New Mexico Military Academy | 72,101 | ( 11,378 km2) |
4,393 sq mi![]() |
Lincoln County | 027 | Carrizozo | 1869 | Part of Socorro County. | Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), the sixteenth president of the United States | 20,029 | ( 12,512 km2) |
4,831 sq mi![]() |
Los Alamos County | 028 | Los Alamos | 1949 | Parts of Sandoval County and Santa Fe County. | Named for its county seat of Los Alamos, New Mexico, which itself is the Spanish name for the cottonwood tree | 19,444 | ( 282 km2) |
109 sq mi![]() |
Luna County | 029 | Deming | 1901 | Parts of Doña Ana County and Grant County. | Solomon Luna (1858 - 1912), the largest land owner in the county at the time of its creation; itself Spanish for moon | 25,316 | ( 7,679 km2) |
2,965 sq mi![]() |
McKinley County | 031 | Gallup | 1899 | Part of Bernalillo County. | William McKinley (1843-1901), the twenty-fifth president of the United States | 68,797 | ( 14,113 km2) |
5,449 sq mi![]() |
Mora County | 033 | Mora | 1860 | Part of Taos County. | Named for its county seat of Mora, New Mexico, which is itself named after lo de mora, the Spanish term for blackberry | 4,123 | ( 5,001 km2) |
1,931 sq mi![]() |
Otero County | 035 | Alamogordo | 1899 | Parts of Doña Ana County and Lincoln County. | Miguel A. Otero (1829-1882), territorial delegate to U. S. Congress or Miguel Antonio Otero (II) (1859-1944), 16th Governor of New Mexico Territory from 1897 to 1906 | 68,835 | ( 17,164 km2) |
6,627 sq mi![]() |
Quay County | 037 | Tucumcari | 1903 | Part of Guadalupe County. | Matthew Stanley Quay (1833-1904), a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania who supported New Mexico's statehood | 8,510 | ( 7,394 km2) |
2,855 sq mi![]() |
Rio Arriba County | 039 | Tierra Amarilla | 1852 | One of the nine original counties. | Named for its location on the upper Rio Grande (Río Arriba means "upstream" or "up the river" in Spanish) | 39,876 | ( 15,172 km2) |
5,858 sq mi![]() |
Roosevelt County | 041 | Portales | 1903 | Parts of Chaves County and Guadalupe County. | Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the twenty-sixth president of the United States | 18,787 | ( 6,343 km2) |
2,449 sq mi![]() |
Sandoval County | 043 | Bernalillo | 1903 | Part of Bernalillo County. | Named for the Sandoval family, prominent seventeenth-century Spanish landowners | 155,936 | ( 9,609 km2) |
3,710 sq mi![]() |
San Juan County | 045 | Aztec | 1887 | Part of Rio Arriba County. | San Juan River, itself named after the Catholic saint | 120,675 | ( 14,281 km2) |
5,514 sq mi![]() |
San Miguel County | 047 | Las Vegas | 1852 | One of the nine original counties. | San Miguel de Bado Catholic Church, the first in the area | 26,668 | ( 12,217 km2) |
4,717 sq mi![]() |
Santa Fe County | 049 | Santa Fe | 1852 | One of the nine original counties. | Named after the city of Santa Fe whose full Spanish name is “La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Assisi” or “The royal city of the holy faith of St. Francis of Assisi” | 155,956 | ( 4,944 km2) |
1,909 sq mi![]() |
Sierra County | 051 | Truth or Consequences | 1884 | Parts of Doña Ana County and Socorro County. | Possibly named for the Black Range. (Sierra is mountain range in Spanish.) | 11,488 | ( 10,826 km2) |
4,180 sq mi![]() |
Socorro County | 053 | Socorro | 1852 | One of the nine original counties. | Spanish term meaning "aid," which refers to the help Native Americans gave to starving travelers | 15,963 | ( 17,216 km2) |
6,647 sq mi![]() |
Taos County | 055 | Taos | 1852 | One of the nine original counties. | Named for its county seat of Taos, New Mexico, which in turn was named for the nearby Taos Pueblo, an ancient Native American village. Taos is red willow in the Tiwa language | 34,405 | ( 5,706 km2) |
2,203 sq mi![]() |
Torrance County | 057 | Estancia | 1903 | Parts of Bernalillo County, Valencia County, and Socorro County. | Francis J. Torrance (1859 - 1919), the developer of the New Mexico Central Railroad | 15,633 | ( 8,664 km2) |
3,345 sq mi![]() |
Union County | 059 | Clayton | 1893 | Parts of Colfax County, Mora County and San Miguel County. | Named for the "union" of the three counties which donated land to form the new county | 3,964 | ( 9,920 km2) |
3,830 sq mi![]() |
Valencia County | 061 | Los Lunas | 1852 | One of the nine original counties. | Named for the town of Valencia, New Mexico, which is itself named for Valencia, Spain | 79,141 | ( 2,766 km2) |
1,068 sq mi![]() |
Counties That No Longer Exist
Over time, some counties in New Mexico were changed or absorbed into others. Here are a few examples of counties that were once part of the New Mexico Territory but are no longer separate counties today:
- Arizona County: This county was mentioned in the 1860 U.S. Census.
- Mesilla County: This county appeared on maps from the 1860s. It covered parts of what are now Doña Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, and Sierra counties.
- Santa Ana County: This county existed from 1844 to 1876. It was later absorbed by Bernalillo County. Parts of it are now in McKinley County.
- Santa Fe County, Texas: This was a large area that Texas claimed before 1850. It was never fully organized as a county. It included parts of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, and Wyoming.
See also
In Spanish: Anexo:Condados de Nuevo México para niños