ABQ - The 3 letter airport code assigned by the IATA (International Air Transport Association), an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. -- ABQ, due to its unique nature, has become a common term for the 'Duke City,' Albuquerque. -- Albuquerque was founded in 1706 by a group of colonists who were granted permission from King Philip of Spain to establish a city on the banks of the Rio Grande. By choosing a place by the river, it provided good irrigation for crops and for a source of wood from the bosque (willows, cottonwoods and olive trees) and from mountains that were nearby. Albuquerque is New Mexico's largest city and it was named to honour a Spanish Duke, the 10th Duke of Albuquerque. The name was selected by the Colonial Governor Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdez, but over many centuries the first "r" that is originally in the Duke's name had been dropped and the name of the city is now spelled with just one "r." The current Duke of Alburquerque of Spain occasionally visits his namesake city. -- Artwork by Zeke Sena, New Mexico, USA.