Roswell is a city in Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, USA. The population was 45,293 at the 2000 census. It is a center for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also the home of New Mexico Military Institute, founded in 1891. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located a few miles northeast of the city on the Pecos River.

In the 1930s Roswell was a site for much of Robert Goddard's early rocketry work. It is also the birthplace of actress Demi Moore, musician John Denver and Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith. A Golf Hall of Famer, Nancy Lopez, was raised in Roswell (though born in California). A Hall of Famer astronaut, sixth man on the moon Edgar Mitchell, went to school in Roswell. Roger Staubach (later of the Dallas Cowboys) played football at NMMI, and Lewis Lloyd (later of the Houston Rockets) played basketball there.

Roswell is most popularly known for having its name attached to what is now called the 1947 Roswell UFO incident, even though the actual crash site was about 75 miles from Roswell. However, the investigation and debris recovery was handled by the local Roswell Army Air Field.