The city of Albuquerque, New Mexico is the largest city within the state and is located within the central part. It serves as the county seat of Bernalillo County and straddles the Rio Grande. Based on the 2010 Census, the population was roughly 545,800, ranking it the 32nd biggest city within the US. The city was the 6th fastest growing in America as of June the year 2007. The metropolitan population in the year 2011 reached roughly 907,800 making it the 57th biggest US metropolitan area. The city of Rio Rancho is included within the Albuquerque MSA population.
Situated within the city of Albuquerque is the University of New Mexico or likewise called UNM and several other well-known institutions like the Petroglyph National Monument, the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute and the Kirtland Air Force Base. Sandia National Laboratories are likewise based in the city of Albuquerque too. The Rio Grande River flows through Albuquerque from north to south and the Sandia Mountains exist along the eastern part of the city.
The city was established in 1706 as a Spanish colonial outpost and was known as Ranchos de Albuquerque. During that first year, there were 18 families living in the region. There is an abundance of the historical Spanish cultural custom in the city of Albuquerque nowadays.
Originally, the region was a farming community along the Camino Real. As time went by, it also became home to a strategically located military outpost. Albuquerque City was also the sheep-herding capital of the West. During the year 1706, Spain established a military garrison or a "presidio" in the community. Mexico also had a military garrison situated there after 1821. The town was first constructed in the traditional pattern of a Spanish community: government buildings, a church and houses all surrounded a central plaza.
At present, Albuquerque is situated at the middle of the New Mexico Technology Corridor. This is a group of high-tech private companies and government institutions which run along the Rio Grande. There are several big businesses who contribute to the population with their numerous workers like for example Kirtland Air Force Base and Sandia National Laboratories.
The somewhat isolated Corridor is able to bring in many highly skilled personnel by the attendant contracting businesses. Like for instance, within suburban Rio Rancho, Intel operates a large semi-conductor factory, also known as a "fab," and its attendant big capital investment is found within nearby Sandoval County. Tempur-Pedic is situated nearby I-40 on the West Mesa and Northrop Grumman is located in northeast Albuquerque along I-25.
Steve Baer, an architectural design innovator and solar energy guru of Zomeworks, located his business within the area during the late 1960s. The Los Alamos National Laboratory as well as the Sandia Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory cooperate here in an endeavor that began with the Manhattan Project.
Tempur-Pedic opened up an 800,000 square foot mattress factory in the month of January 2007. This factory is situated within northwest Albuquerque. During the year 2008, Schott Solar Inc. announced they will open up a 200,000 square foot facility that specializes in making receivers for CSPs or also referred to as concentrated solar thermal power plants, along with 64MW of photovoltaic or also known as PV modules.
The University of New Mexico calls Albuquerque home. This is the largest public flagship university within the entire state of New Mexico. UNM has a School of Medicine which placed in the top 50 primary care oriented medical schools in the USA. The University of St. Francis College of Nursing, Trinity Southwest University and the National American University as well as Allied Health Department of Physician Assistant Studies are all situated here also.