Las Cruces

is a city in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,267. The population was 82,671 as of the 2005 census estimate, making it the second largest city in the state. Las Cruces is the center of an agricultural region irrigated by the Rio Grande, which flows just west of the city. The city of Las Cruces bisects the fertile Mesilla Valley, the flood plain of the Rio Grande river which extends from Hatch, New Mexico to the west side of El Paso, Texas.