BERNALILLO

county, central New Mexico, U.S. It lies in the Basin and Range Province, with the Sandia Mountains rising to more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in the northeast and the Manzano Mountains in the southeast. Most of the county is an arid region, with desert vegetation marking the varicoloured landscape and with mesas and vivid rock formations adding variety to the rolling terrain. The Cibola National Forest covers a portion of the eastern part of the county. The Rio Puerco and the Rio Grande both flow southward through the county. Included within the county are the Isleta (Pueblo), Laguna (Pueblo), and Canoncito (Navajo) Indian reservations. The Isleta pueblo dates to the early 13th century. Tigua (Tiwa) Pueblo Indians carved thousands of images of people, animals, and features of daily life into the rocks at Petroglyph National Monument between the 14th and 17th centuries. A group of Spanish soldiers sent by explorer Francisco Coronado in 1540 were the first Europeans in the Rio Grande valley. By the next century Spanish ranchers had settled there, but their properties were destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo Rebellion. Bernalillo county was established in Mexico in 1844; in 1852, after the territory became part of the United States, the county was reestablished. Irrigation along the Rio Grande has aided agriculture (fruit, vegetables, livestock, dairy products); manufacturing (electronic equipment, aircraft, lumber), health care, and retail trade are other leading elements in the economy. The University of New Mexico (founded 1889) is located at Albuquerque, the county seat. Nearly a third of the state's residents live in Bernalillo county. Area 1,166 square miles (3,020 square km). Pop. (1990) 480,577.