Albuquerque is the most populated city in the state of New Mexico. The Sandia Mountains run along the eastern side of Albuquerque, and the Rio Grande flows through the city, north to south. Albuquerque was listed as the sixth fastest growing city in America by CNN and the US Census Bureau in June 2007.

History
Albuquerque was a farming village and strategically located military outpost along the Camino Real. The town of Alburquerque was built in the traditional Spanish village blueprint: 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.

The town was named by the provincial governor Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdes in honour of Don Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, viceroy of New Spain from 1653 to 1660. One of de la Cueva's aristocratic titles was Duke of Alburquerque, referring to the Spanish town of Alburquerque.

Skyline

John Gaw Meem, recognized as developing and popularizing the Pueblo Revival style, was based in Santa Fe but received an important Albuquerque commission in 1933 as the architect of the University of New Mexico. He continue to serve in this commission for the next quarter-century and developed the University's distinctive Southwest style. Due to the nature of the soil in the Rio Grande Valley, the skyline is lower than might be expected in a city of commensurate size elsewhere.

Albuquerque has a unique nighttime cityscape. Many building exteriors are illuminated in vibrant colors. For example, the Wells Fargo Building is illuminated green. The DoubleTree Hotel and the Compass Bank building are illuminated blue. The rotunda of the county courthouse is illuminated yellow, while the tops of the Bank of Albuquerque and the Bank of the West are illuminated reddish-yellow.