City Information

• Emergency 911
• AAA Emergency Road Service 505-291-6600
• Albuquerque Animal Emergency Clinic 505-884-3433
• Poison Control 505-272-2222
• Police Non-Emergency Dispatch 505-242-2677
• State Police, Albuquerque 505-841-9256
• Albuquerque Regional Medical Center 505-727-8000
• Carrie Tingley Hospital for Children 505-272-5200
• Lovelace Medical Center 505-262-7000
• Presbyterian Hospital 505-841-1234
• University of NM Hospital 505-272-2111
• Veterans Affairs Medical Center 505-265-1711

The city was founded in 1706 as the Spanish colonial outpost of Alburquerque; present-day Albuquerque retains much of the Spanish cultural and historical heritage. Alburquerque was a farming community and strategically located military outpost along the Camino Real.

The Sandia Mountains are the predominant geographic feature visible in Albuquerque. "Sandia" is Spanish for "watermelon", and is popularly believed to be a reference to the brilliant coloration of the mountains at sunset: bright pink (melon meat) and green (melon rind). The pink is due to large exposures of granodiorite cliffs, and the green is due to large swaths of conifer forests.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Albuquerque has a total area of 181.3 square miles (469.6 km²). 180.6 square miles (467.8 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) of it (0.35%) is water. The metro area has over 1,000 square miles developed. Albuquerque lies within the northern, upper edges of the Chihuahuan Desert ecoregion, based on long-term patterns of climate, associations of plants and wildlife, and landforms, including drainage patterns.

Albuquerque lies at the center of the New Mexico Technology Corridor, a band of high-tech private companies and government institutions along the Rio Grande. Larger institutions whose employees contribute to the population are numerous and include Sandia National Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base, and the attendant contracting companies which bring highly educated workers to a somewhat isolated region.

Albuquerque's climate is usually sunny and dry, with low relative humidity. Brilliant sunshine defines the region, averaging more than 300 days a year; periods of variably mid and high-level cloudiness temper the sun at other times. Extended cloudiness is rare. The city has four distinct seasons, but the heat and cold are mild compared to the extremes that occur more commonly in other parts of the country.

Since its start in the 1940s, Albuquerque has expanded greatly in area. During those years of expansion, the planning of the newer areas has considered that people don't walk, they drive. The pre-1940s parts of Albuquerque are quite different in style and scale from the post 1940s areas. These older areas include the North Valley, the South Valley, various neighborhoods near downtown, and Corrales. The newer areas generally feature 4- to 6-lane roads in a 1 mile (1.61 km) grid.