The 47th State: New Mexico Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1912

The United States Congress admitted New Mexico as the 47th state in the Union on January 6, 1912.

New Mexico became a state about a month before Arizona.

New Mexico is the 5th largest state in area, covering 121,666 square miles (315,115 sq km).

Answer: Albuquerque

Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico with a population of 471,856 (2003 U.S. Census estimate) and a land area of 181 square miles (2000 Census).

Founded in 1706, Albuquerque just celebrated its 300th birthday in 2006, and is nicknamed the "Duke City" after the Duke of Alburquerque (Spain).

Answer: Santa Fe

Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico.

Santa Fe is the 4th largest city in New Mexico. The 2005 census estimate the population was 70,631.

The elevation of Santa Fe is nearly 7,000 feet (2,132 meters) above sea level. This makes Santa Fe, the highest state capital in terms of elevation in the U.S.

Answer: Isotopes

After losing its longtime AAA Baseball team (Albuquerque Dukes) to Portland, Oregon, the city of Albuquerque attracted a new AAA team to play in Albuquerque. A "name the team" contest was held and the name was to be chosen by fans. By coincidence, an episode of The Simpsons ("Hungry Hungry Homer") was aired, in which Homer Simpson discovers that the his local baseball team, the Springfield Isotopes, are secretly planning to move to Albuquerque. This led fans to add the "Isotopes" name to the contest, where it won by a large margin.

"Lobos" is the nickname for the University of New Mexico. The "66er's" is a reference to the fact that old Route 66 goes through the heart of Albuquerque and is called Central Ave.

The "Isotopes" moniker is also appropriate because Albuquerque is home to Sandia National Labs, where a majority of the United States nuclear weapons are created.

Answer: True

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in the southeastern corner of New Mexico. Visitors can hike into the interior rooms on their own via the natural entrance, or take an elevator 750 ft. directly down into the center of the public cave area.

Answer: Roswell

Roswell is most popularly known for having its name attached to what is now called the '1947 Roswell UFO Incident', even though the actual crash site was about 75 miles from Roswell. However, the investigation and debris recovery was handled by the U.S. Army (Roswell Army Air Field.)

Answer: Alamogordo

"Trinity Site" was the location of the first test of a nuclear weapon. Conducted by the United States on July 16, 1945, on what is now White Sands Missile Range, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. It was a test of the same type of bomb as was later dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. The detonation was equivalent to the explosion of around 20 kilotons of TNT. This test is considered as the beginning of the Atomic Age.

Answer: True

Located in Albuquerque, the Sandia Peak Tramway, with a total diagonal distance of 14,657 ft., is the world's longest passenger aerial tramway. It stretches from the Northeast edge of the city to the crestline of the Sandia Mountains, and the Sandia Ski Area. (10,378 ft.)

Answer: False

NASA has used a landing area on White Sands Missile Range also known as "White Sands Space Harbor". However, the Space Shuttle landed there only once.

In 1982, the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-3) was ending a 7 day flight in space and was due to land in California. However, Edwards AFB in California, was too wet for a safe landing.

The Columbia landed on March 30, 1982, at White Sands, New Mexico. Columbia was the only shuttle mission to land at White Sands Missile Range.

Answer: YELLOW background and RED letters & numbers

The main license plates were yellow with red letters and numbers. The colors have been changed to teal (light blue) and red.