Baja California

Baja California is the northernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California. The state is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Sonora, the U.S. State of Arizona, and the Sea of Cortez or Gulf of California, and on the south by Baja California Sur. Its northern limit is the U.S.-Mexico border, adjacent to the U.S. state of California.

The state has a population of 2,844,469 (2005 census), much more than the sparsely populated Baja California Sur to the south. Over 75% of the population lives in the capital city, Mexicali, or in Tijuana. Both these cities are close to the U.S. border. The population of the state is composed of Mestizos, mostly immigrants from other parts of Mexico, and as with most northern Mexican states have a large population of Mexican’s of European ancestry, also a large minority group of East Asian, Middle Eastern and Indigenous descent. Additionally, there are large immigrant populations from the United States and Central America due to its proximity to San Diego, cheaper cost of living compared to San Diego, and the number of higher paying jobs in comparison to the rest of Mexico and Latin America.

Much of northern Baja California has a climate similar to Southern California. Along the Pacific coast the summers are warm with cool night, while the winter is cool with chilly nights. The Sea of Cortez has hot summers days and humid nights, while the winter is cooler with strong cold winds. Most of the rain falls along the Pacific coast in the winter, with an average of 10 inches of rainfall a year. Occupying the southern half of the Baja (or Lower) California peninsula, Baja California Sur is Mexico’s most isolated and least populous state. It borders the state of Baja California to the north, the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south. The state capital is La Paz, on the gulf coast.

While fishing and agriculture are still major industries in Baja, not surprisingly, the economy is becoming more and more dependent upon tourism. Both Baja California and Baja California Sur have higher per-capita income than any of the other Mexican states with the exception of the Distrito Federal (the state that Mexico City is in). Both states register the lowest unemployment in the country and have the highest percentage of new jobs created.

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