With a population of 500,000, Albuquerque is the largest city in the US state of New Mexico. In the Old Town there are still many historic buildings. Numerous bars, clubs and cafes can be found downtown along and south of Central Avenue, Historic Route 66, which traverses the city from east to west. On Friday and Saturday evenings, the street is closed to traffic and populated by mostly young people going out. Albuquerque was settled by the Anasazi, a North American Indian tribe, as early as the 1100s and 1300s.
In 1540, the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado traversed the area in search of the legendary seven golden cities of Cibola. A few kilometers north of present-day Albuquerque, he and his men wintered with Pueblo Indians. The town was named after Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, the eighth Duke of Albuquerque and Viceroy of New Spain. In 1706, Spanish settlers founded what is now Albuquerque's Old Town. In 1880 it was connected to the railway. Albuquerque is home to several computer and high technology companies, as well as important museums of Native American art and history. The city was the original headquarters of Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Every year in October, the world-famous international balloon festival ("Balloon Fiesta") takes place here.