Albuquerque ( , Spanish IPA2: alβuˈkeɾke; known as Bee'eldííldahsinil in Navajo) is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 518,271 as of July 1, 2007 U.S. census estimates and ranks as the 34th-largest city in the U.S. As of June 2007, the city was the 6th fastest growing in America.[http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/27/real_estate/fastest_growing_cities/ The fastest growing U.S. cities - Jun. 28, 2007 ] With a metropolitan population of 835,120 as of July 1, 2007, Albuquerque is the 60th-largest United States metropolitan area. The Albuquerque MSA population includes the city of Rio Rancho, one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, and a hub for many master-planned communities that are expected to draw future businesses and residents to the area.

Albuquerque is home to the University of New Mexico (UNM) and Kirtland Air Force Base as well as the Sandia National Laboratories and Petroglyph National Monument. The Sandia Mountains run along the eastern side of Albuquerque, and the Rio Grande flows through the city, north to south.

Early settlers

The city was founded in 1706 as the Spanish colonial outpost of Ranchos de Alburquerque; present-day Albuquerque retains much of the Spanish cultural and historical heritage.

Albuquerque was a farming community and strategically located military outpost along the Camino Real. The town of Alburquerque was built in the traditional Spanish village pattern: a central plaza surrounded by government buildings, homes, and a church. This central plaza area has been preserved and is open to the public as a museum, cultural area, and center of commerce. It is referred to as "Old Town Albuquerque" or simply "Old Town." "Old Town" was sometimes referred to as "La Placita" ("little plaza" in Spanish).

The village was named by the provincial governor Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdes in honour of Don Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, Duke of Alburquerque, viceroy of New Spain from 1653 to 1660. The first "r" in "Alburquerque" was dropped at some point in the 19th century, supposedly by an Anglo-American railroad station-master unable to pronounce the city's name correctly. Some New Mexicans still prefer the spelling Alburquerque; see for example the book by that name by Rudolfo Anaya. In the 1990s, the Central Avenue Trolley Buses were emblazoned with the name Alburquerque (with two "r"s) in honor of the city's historic name. fact: date = August 2008

The Alburquerque family name dates from pre-12th century Iberia (Spain and Portugal) and is habitational in nature (de Alburquerque = from Alburquerque). The Spanish village of Alburquerque is within the Badajoz province of Spain, and located just fifteen miles (24 km) from the Portuguese border. Cork trees dominate the landscape and Alburquerque is a center of the Spanish cork industry. Over the years, this region has been alternately under both Spanish and Portuguese rule. (It is interesting to note that the Portuguese spelling has only one 'r'). Historically, the land around Alburquerque was invaded and settled by the Moors (711 AD) and the Romans (218 BC) before them. Thus, the word Alburquerque may be rooted in the Arabic (Moorish) 'Abu al-Qurq', which means "father of the cork oak", or "land of the cork oak" (the land as father - fatherland). Alternately, it may be Latin (Roman) in origin and from 'albus quercus' or "white oak" (the wood of the cork oak is white after the bark has been removed). The seal of the Spanish village of Alburquerque is a white oak tree, framed by a shield, topped by a crown.