Baja California
The Mexican state of Baja California (Spanish for Lower California ) is the northernmost of the 31 states of Mexico. After he had originally covered the entire peninsula of the same name Baja California, in 1974 its southern half was separated as a separate state of Baja California Sur, so that it only includes the north.
In the north of Baja California borders the U.S. state of California, on the northeast by the Mexican state of Sonora and on the south by the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. To the west is the Pacific Ocean and east of the Gulf of California. Due to its western location and economic proximity to the U.S. is this the only state in Mexico, which is in the Pacific Time Zone UTC-8.
Baja California covers an area of 69,921 km ² and has an estimated population of 2.6 million people (as of 2000). They live almost exclusively in the far north of the state on the border with the United States. Population centers are the capital of the state and the largest city in Mexicali Baja California Tijuana, both with major border crossings with the U.S.. The actual peninsula is very sparsely.
The state is dominated by the running from north to south Sierra San Pedro Martir, a part of the through of Southern California to the tip of the peninsula Peninsular Ranges. Part of Sierra with the Picacho del Diablo ( 3096 m) the highest peak of Baja California. The mountains take almost a the whole area of the peninsula and are almost uninhabited, even small settlements lie almost exclusively in the narrow coastal strip.
In Baja California, a 100,000 -square-foot area for the then largest film studio in the American West Coast was rebuilt in 1996. Were filmed there at that time, large parts of James Cameron's movie " Titanic."
On the history of the region until the middle of the 19th century, see California ( historical region ).
Cities and municipal districts
The state of Baja California is divided into five municipal districts (Spanish municipios ) and 57 delegaciones. The municipal districts bear the name of its administrative center, which also correspond to the five largest cities of the state, respectively.