Hispanos of New Mexico

The Hispanos of New Mexico, also known as New Mexican Hispanics or Nuevomexicanos, are a Hispanic ethnic group originating in the historical region of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, today the US state of New Mexico (Nuevo México), southern Colorado, and other parts of the Southwestern United States including Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Utah. They are descended from Oasisamerica groups and the settlers of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the First Mexican Empire and Republic, the Centralist Republic of Mexico, and the New Mexico Territory.

The descendants of these New Mexican settlers make up an ethnic community of approximately 340,000 in New Mexico, with others throughout the historical Spanish territorial claim of Nuevo México. Alongside Californios and Tejanos, they are part of the larger Hispanic community of the United States, who have lived in the American Southwest since the 16th century. These groups are differentiated by time period from the population of Mexican Americans that arrived after the Mexican–American War and later Mexican Revolution. They also differ genetically in their Indigenous heritage, as Mexican Americans tend to be more related to Mesoamerican groups, whereas New Mexicans are more often related the Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest.

New Mexican Hispanos speak New Mexican English, New Mexican Spanish, or both bilingually. Culturally they identify with the culture of New Mexico and displaying patriotism in regional Americana through pride for cities and towns such as Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Further cultural expression includes New Mexican cuisine and the New Mexico music genre, as well as Ranchero and US Route 66 cruising lifestyles.

Term

In New Mexico, the predominant term for this ethnic group is hispano in Spanish and Hispanic in English, analogous to californio and tejano.