Location - Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, is located in Santa Fe County and is also the county seat. It lies about 65 miles northeast of Albuquerque between Los Alamos and Las Vegas, along U.S. Highway 285. The city is also near the Rio Grande River, Cochiti Lake and the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

International air travel to Santa Fe is serviced by Albuquerque International Sunport, about a one-hour drive away. There is also a smaller airport, Santa Fe Municipal Airport, located in the city of Santa Fe, for commuter hops and smaller airplanes.

History and Population - The area was home to the Tewa Native Americans when Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado appeared in 1540. Colonization commenced in 1598, and in 1610 Santa Fe was established as New Mexico's Spanish capital. In 1821 the Santa Fe Trail opened for adventure and commerce, connecting people of all different backgrounds-Native American, Spanish, Mexican, and Western. Today, with a population of 62,203, Santa Fe is a sunny tourist destination famous for its Native American arts and crafts and festivals.

Special Attractions - The arts are everywhere in the Santa Fe area-you can find over 250 art galleries, twelve museums, and sixteen performing arts groups, along with festivals and specialty markets throughout the year. Highlights include the Museum of Fine Arts, featuring more than 20,000 works of art from the Southwest; the Museum of New Mexico, which runs four museums within Santa Fe, along with five monuments throughout the region; and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, dedicated to her own art, as well as other American Modernist artists. Performing arts of all types are offered throughout the year from such groups as the Santa Fe Opera and the New Mexico Ballet, and by Jazz musicians worldwide at the annual Santa Fe Jazz Festival.

For outdoor adventures, Santa Fe is only a short distance away from multiple National Parks, including Bandelier National Monument, with its ancestral Pueblo dwellings, and Carlsbad Caverns, with its magnificent underground caves. If you are a golfer, hiker, fisher, camper, skier, you will find exceptional locales nearby for all these activities, and more.

Education - Santa Fe maintains an excellent public education system with 20 elementary schools feeding into four middle schools or junior highs, and three high schools. There are also twenty-eight private schools throughout the Santa Fe area, ranging from pre-school through 12th grade.

Higher education offerings include both two-year and four-year institutions, with offerings that range from two-year associate degrees at the Institute of American Indian Arts, to four-year degrees at the University of New Mexico at Santa Fe, to specialty healthcare degrees at the University of Natural Medicine.

Healthcare - St. Vincent's Hospital, located in Santa Fe, is a full-service hospital and clinic, and also one of the areas top employers, with 1,250 people on staff. There is also much alternative healthcare in the Santa Fe area, including chiropractic services, acupuncture, and traditional Native American medicines.