Los Alamos
Los Alamos, New Mexico, a community in Los Alamos County, about 24 miles (39 km) northwest of Santa Fe. It is on a mesa in the Jemez Mountains at an altitude of 7,500 feet (2,286 m). The 69,000-acre (279-km2) site was obtained by the United States government in 1942 for the construction of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Here, scientists have conducted much of the nation's secret nuclear research.
The first atomic test bomb, exploded near White Sands National Monument in July, 1945, and the bombs dropped on Japan were built at Los Alamos.
Population: 11,909.