Roswell is a city in, and the chair of, Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Chaves County forms the entirety of the Roswell micropolitan area. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 48,422, making it the fifth-largest city in New Mexico. It is house of the New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI), founded in 1891. The city is with the location of an Eastern New Mexico University campus. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located a few miles northeast of the city upon the Pecos River. Bottomless Lakes State Park is located 12 miles (19 km) east of Roswell on US 380.

The Roswell incident was named after the town, though the crash site of the alleged UFO was some 75 miles (121 km) from Roswell and closer to Corona. The study and debris recovery was handled by the local Roswell Army Air Field. On the 50th anniversary of the Roswell UFO incident the UFO Festival was started.

In the 1930s, Roswell was a site for much of Robert H. Goddard’s prematurely rocketry work. The Roswell Museum and Art Center maintains an exhibit that includes a recreation of Goddard’s rocket engine further workshop. One of the town high schools, Goddard High School, is named after Robert H. Goddard.

Roswell’s tourism industry is based on aerospace engineering and ufology museums and businesses, as with ease as alien-themed and spacecraft-themed iconography. The city afterward relies on New Mexico and Americana aligned tourism. New Mexican cuisine restaurants, such as Martin’s Capitol Café, are located close downtown on Main Street, near the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Local American folk and New Mexico music performances occur close Pioneer Plaza and in parks in the region of the city. It is a middle for acequia-like irrigated farming, dairying, and ranching; it is as well as the location of several manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum linked facilities. This regional egotism has resulted in Roswell receiving the All-America City Award combination times, in 1978–79 and 2002.