Baja California

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Alternative use: Baja California Peninsula

Baja California

Location

Municipalities

Statistics
Capital	Mexicali
Largest City	Tijuana
Area	69,921 km² Ranked 12th
Population (2005 census)	2,844,469 Ranked 14th
HDI (2004)	0.8233 - high Ranked 7th
Governor (2001-2007)	Eugenio Elorduy Walther (PAN)
Federal Deputies	PAN:8
Federal Senators	Alejandro González (PAN) Rafael Díaz (PAN) Fernando Castro (PRI)
ISO 3166-2 Postal abbr.	MX-BC B.C.

Baja California (literally "lower California" in Spanish) is the northernmost state of Mexico. It is considered a portion of Northern America. It is sometimes informally referred to as Baja California Norte^[1], to distinguish it from both the Baja California peninsula, of which it forms the northern half, and Baja California Sur, the adjacent state that covers the southern half of the peninsula. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California. It has an area of 71,576 km² (about 27,600 mi², or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico). 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 the most populous city in the state, Tijuana. Both these cities are close to the U.S. border. Other important cities include Ensenada, San Felipe, and Playas de Rosarito and Tecate. Baja California is not entirely Mestizo (Spanish and American Indian). The population includes small numbers of other European, East Asian, Middle Eastern and African descent.

The state's inhabitants are known as "Cachanillas," after the wild cachanilla plant which has a fresh aroma and was used by the original inhabitants to make huts. The first Mestizo colonies used these materials with dried mud. Originally, the term "Cachanillas" was applied only to the inhabitants of the Mexicali Valley, although there are tales of the term being used for inhabitants of Santa Rosalía in Baja California Sur. Composer Antonio Valdéz Herrera's work "Puro Cachanilla" (Pure Cachanilla) has made use of the term more common.

Notes:

^ Baja California Norte, while it is a well-established term for the northern half of the Baja California peninsula, is incorrect when used in a political sense. Baja California Norte has never existed as a political designation for a state, territory, district or region.

1 First inhabitants
2 Early History
3 Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
4 Demographics
5 Municipalities
6 Education
7 Economics
8 Fictional References
9 See also
10 External links

[edit] First inhabitants

The first humans came to the peninsula at least 11,000 years ago, probably following the Pacific coast down from Alaska. At the time of European contact, two main native groups were present on the peninsula. In the south were the Cochimí. In the north were several groups belonging to the Yuman linguistic family, including the Kiliwa, Paipai, Kumeyaay, Cocopa, and Quechan. These peoples were diverse in their adaptations to the region. The Cochimí of the peninsula's Central Desert were generalized hunter-gatherers who moved frequently; however, the Cochimí on Cedros Island off the west coast had developed a strongly maritime economy. The Kiliwa, Paipai, and Kumeyaay in the better-watered northwest were also hunter-gatherers, but that region supported denser populations and more sedentary lifeways. The Cocopa and Quechan of northeastern Baja California practiced agriculture in the floodplain of the lower Colorado River.

[edit] Early History

Europeans reached the present state of Baja California in 1539, when Francisco de Ulloa reconnoitered its east coast on the Gulf of California and explored the peninsula's west coast at least as far north as Cedros Island. Hernando de Alarcón returned to the east coast and ascended the lower Colorado River in 1540, and Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo completed the reconnaissance of the west coast in 1542. Sebastián Vizcaíno again surveyed the west coast in 1602, but outside visitors during the following century were few.

The Jesuits founded a permanent mission colony on the peninsula at Loreto in 1697. During the following decades, they gradually extended their sway throughout the present state of Baja California Sur. In 1751-1753, the Croatian Jesuit mission-explorer Ferdinand Konščak made overland explorations northward into the state of Baja California. Jesuit missions were subsequently established among the Cochimí at Santa Gertrudis (1752), San Borja (1762), and Santa María (1767).

After the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1768, the short-lived Franciscan administration (1768-1773) resulted in one new mission at San Fernando Velicatá. More importantly, the 1769 expedition to settle Alta California under Gaspar de Portolà and Junípero Serra resulted in the first overland exploration of the northwestern portion of the state.

The Dominicans took over management of the Baja California missions from the Franciscans in 1773. They established a chain of new missions among the northern Cochimí and western Yumans, first on the coast and subsequently inland, extending from El Rosario (1774) to Descanso (1817), just south of Tijuana.

[edit] Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

1804: The Spanish colony of California is divided into Alta ("upper") and Baja ("lower") California at the line separating the Franciscan missions in the north from the Dominican missions in the south.
1850: Alta California is annexed by the United States.
1853: Soldier of fortune William Walker captures La Paz, declaring himself President of the Republic of Lower California. The Mexican government forces his retreat after several months.
1905: The Magonista revolutionary movement begins.
1911: Mexicali and Tijuana are captured by the Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM), but soon surrender to Federal forces.
1930: Baja California is further divided into Northern and Southern territories.
1952: The northern territory becomes the 29th state of Mexico, Baja California. The southern portion, below 28°N, remains a federally administered territory.
1974: The southern territory becomes the 31st state, Baja California Sur.
1989: Ernesto Ruffo Appel of the PAN becomes the first non-PRI governor of Baja California and the first opposition governor of any state since the Revolution.

[edit] Demographics

The racial make-up of the state is; 75% Mestizo (Mixed Amerindian and European), 15% White/European, 5% Asian (Most of them Chinese) the remaining 5% is composed by Amerindians, Black africans and North-Americans.