Santa Fe de Nuevo México

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Santa Fe de Nuevo México (shortened to Nuevo México or Nuevo Méjico, translated as New Mexico) was a province of New Spain that existed from the late 16th century up through the early 19th century. It was centered on the upper valley of the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte), in an area that included most of the present-day U.S. state of New Mexico, with borders extending into the present-day states of Texas, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. For all but the first few years of its existence, its capital was Santa Fe.

The province was founded in 1598 by Juan de Oñate during his expedition northward from New Spain; he established a settlement near Ohkay Oweenge Pueblo. The expedition had been authorized by Phillip II and was motivated in part by a desire to restore the fortunes of the Spanish Empire following the disastrous defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The Spanish believed that cities of gold, such as the ones of the Aztecs they had previously conquered, lay to the north in the unexplored territory. Oñate was unable to find such cities, however. He later became the first governor of the province. Oñate hoped to turn the province in a separate viceroyalty from New Spain, but he was unsuccessful. The Spanish were expelled from the territory for 12 years following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, returning in 1692 upon the "bloodless" reoccupation of Santa Fe by Diego de Vargas. The province remained in Spanish control until Mexico's declaration of independence in 1821; under the 1824 Constitution of Mexico it became a federally administered territory of the United Mexican States.

The area of the former province east of the Rio Grande was claimed by the Republic of Texas after 1836, a claim that was disputed by Mexico. In 1844 the Texians sent an expedition, ostensibly for trade but with hopes of occupying the claimed area, but the expedition was captured by Mexican troops. The area became part of the United States by 1848 with the Texas Annexation and the Mexican Cession. New Mexico did not become a state until January 1912.