Baja California Peninsula

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the peninsula in North America. For other uses, see Baja C
alifornia (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 2800'N 11330'W
Baja California Peninsula Baja peninsula (mexico) 250m.jpg
Satellite image of the Baja California Peninsula
Geography
Location
North America
Adjacent bodies of water
Pacific Ocean
Gulf of California
Area
143,390 km2 (55,360 sq mi)
Country
Mexico
The Baja California Peninsula (English: Lower California Peninsula, Spanish: Penn
sula de Baja California) is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass se
parates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The peninsula extends 1,2
47 kilometres (775 mi) from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San L
ucas, Baja California Sur in the south. It ranges for 40 kilometres (25 mi) at i
ts narrowest to 320 kilometres (200 mi) at its widest point and has approximatel
y 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) of coastline and approximately 65 islands. The tot
al area of the Baja California Peninsula is 143,390 square kilometres (55,360 sq
mi).
The peninsula is separated from mainland Mexico by the Gulf of California and th
e Colorado River. There are four main desert areas on the peninsula: the San Fel
ipe Desert, the Central Coast Desert, the Vizcano Desert and the Magdalena Plain
Desert.
Contents
1 History
1.1 Timeline
2 Political divisions
2.1 Baja California
2.2 Baja California Sur
3 Geology
4 Geography
5 Ecoregions
6 Tourism
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
History
See also: Origin of the name California
The land of California existed as a myth among European explorers before it was
discovered. The earliest known mention of the idea of California was in the 1510
romance novel Las Sergas de Esplandin by Spanish author Garci Rodrguez de Montalv
o. The book described the Island of California as being west of the Indies, "ver
y close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise; and it is peopled by black wome
n, without any man among them, for they live in the manner of Amazons."[citation
needed]
Following Hernn Corts' conquest of Mexico, the lure of an earthly paradise as well

as the search for the fabled Strait of Anin, helped motivate him to send several
expeditions to the west coast of New Spain in the 1530s and early 1540s. Its fi
rst expedition reached the Gulf of California and California, and proved the Isl
and of California was in fact a peninsula.[citation needed] Nevertheless, the id
ea of the island persisted for well over a century and was included in many maps
. The Spaniards gave the name Las Californias to the peninsula and lands to the
north, including both Baja California and Alta California, the region that becam
e parts of the present-day U.S. states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and
parts of Colorado and Wyoming.[citation needed]
Timeline
1532: Hernn Corts sends three ships north along the coast of Mexico in search
of the Island of California. The three ships disappear without a trace.
1533: Corts sends a follow-up mission to search for the lost ships. Pilot For
tn Ximnez leads a mutiny and founds a settlement in the Bay of La Paz before being
killed.
1539: Francisco de Ulloa explores both coasts.
1690s first decade of the 18th century: Spanish settlement and colonization i
n lower Las Californias (Baja peninsula), the first Spanish missions in Baja Cal
ifornia are established by Jesuit missionaries.
1701: The first report and a map showing California as a peninsula rather th
an an island is sent to Europe.
1767: Jesuits expelled; Franciscans take over the Baja missions.
1769: Franciscans go with the Portola expedition to establish new missions i
n Alta California. Control of the existing Baja missions passes to the Dominican
Order.
1773: Palou's line officially demarcates Franciscan and Dominican areas of m
ission control.
1804: Las Californias divided into Alta ("Upper") and Baja ("Lower") Califor
nia.
1810 1821: Mexican War of Independence
1821: First Mexican Empire, Baja California Territory established, covering
Baja California Peninsula.
1847: The Battle of La Paz and the Siege of La Paz occurs, as well as severa
l other engagements.
1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo cedes Alta California to the United States
. As a U.S. territory it receives the California Gold Rush, causing increased ma
ritime traffic along the peninsula.
1850: California admitted to U.S. statehood.
1853: William Walker, with 45 men, captures the capital city of La Paz and d
eclares himself President of the Republic of Lower California. Mexico forces him
to retreat a few months later.
1930 31: The Territory of Baja California is further divided into Northern and
Southern territories (North Territory of Baja California & South Territory of B
aja California).
1952: The North Territory of Baja California becomes the 29th State of Mexic
o, Baja California. The southern portion, below 28N, remains a federally administ
ered territory.
1973: The 1,700 km (1,100 mi) long Trans-Peninsular Highway (Mexican Federal
Highway 1), is finished. It is the first paved road that spans the entire penin
sula. The highway was built by the Mexican government to improve Baja California
's economy and increase tourism.[1]
1974: The South Territory of Baja California becomes the 31st state, Baja Ca
lifornia Sur.
Political divisions
Mexico in 1854, with Baja California Territory in gray (left)
The province of The Californias was united until 1804, in the Spanish colonial V
iceroyalty of New Spain, when it was divided into Alta (upper) and Baja (lower)

California.
The two Californias division was kept after Mexican independence in 1821. The Sp
anish Baja California Province became Mexican Baja California Territory, and rem
ained a separate territory until 1836. In 1836, the Siete Leyes constitutional r
eforms reunited both Californias in the Departamento de las Californias. After 1
848, the Baja California Peninsula again became a Mexican territory when Alta Ca
lifornia was ceded to the United States (see 1854 map).
In 1931 Baja California Territory was divided into northern and southern territo
ries. In 1952, the "North Territory of Baja California" became the 29th State of
Mexico as Baja California. In 1974, the "South Territory of Baja California" be
came the 31st state as Baja California Sur.
Baja California
Isla Partida, which is part of the San Lorenzo Marine Archipelago National Park
The northern part is the state of Baja California.[2] The citizens of Baja Calif
ornia are named bajacalifornianos (Lower-Californian in English). Mexicali is th
e capital.
Baja California Sur
Port of Cabo San Lucas
The southern part, below 28 north, is the state of Baja California Sur. The citiz
ens of Baja California Sur are named sudcalifornianos ( "South-Californian" in E
nglish ). La Paz is its capital.
Geology
See also: Peninsular Ranges
The Baja California Peninsula was once a part of the North American Plate, the t
ectonic plate of which mainland Mexico remains a part. About 12 to 15 million ye
ars ago the East Pacific Rise began cutting into the margin of the North America
n Plate, initiating the separation of the peninsula from it. Spreading within th
e Gulf of California consists of short oblique rifts or ridge segments connected
by long northwest trending transform faults,[3] which together comprise the Gul
f of California Rift Zone. The north end of the rift zone is located in the Braw
ley seismic zone in the Salton Sea basin between the Cerro Prieto Fault and the
San Andreas Fault.[3] The Baja California Peninsula is now part of the Pacific P
late and is moving with it away from the East Pacific Rise in a north northwestw
ard direction.
Along the coast north of Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur is a prominent volca
nic activity area.
Volcanoes of the peninsula and adjacent islands include:[4]
Volcanoes of east-central Baja California
and
Cerro Prieto
The San Quintn Volcanic Field
Isla San Luis
Jaraguay Volcanic Field
Coronado
Guadalupe
San Borja Volcanic Field
El Aguajito
Tres Vrgenes
Isla Tortuga
Comond-La Pursima

Geography
See also: Category:Natural history of Baja California Sur and Category: Geograph
y of Baja California
Baja California as seen in April 1984, from the bay of a Space Shuttle (STS 41)
The Peninsular Ranges form the backbone of the peninsula. They are an uplifted a
nd eroded Jurassic to Cretaceous batholith, part of the same original batholith
chain which formed much of the Sierra Nevada mountains in U.S. California. This
chain was formed primarily as a result of the subduction of the Farallon Plate m
illions of years ago all along the margin of North America.
The Sierra Jurez is the northernmost range in Mexico.
The Sierra San Pedro Mrtir runs south of the Sierra Juarez and includes the p
eninsula's highest peak, the Picacho del Diablo.
The Sierra de San Borja runs south of the Sierra San Pedro Martir.
The volcanic complex of Tres Virgenes lies in Baja California Sur, near the
border with the state of Baja California, forming the ranges south of the Sierra
de San Borja.
The Sierra de la Giganta runs along the shore of the Gulf of California sout
h of the Tres Virgenes complex.
At the south end of Baja California Sur, the Sierra de la Laguna forms an is
olated mountain range rising to 2406 m.
Another isolated range, the Sierra Vizcaino, juts out into the Pacific betwe
en Punta Eugenia and Punta Abreojos.
The two most prominent capes along the Pacific coastline of the peninsula are Pu
nta Eugenia, located about halfway up the coast, and Cabo San Lazaro, located ab
out a quarter of the way north from Cabo San Lucas.
The Bahia Sebastian Vizcaino, the largest bay in Baja, lies along the Pacific co
ast halfway up the peninsula. The large island of Isla Cedros is situated betwee
n the bay and the Pacific, just north of Punta Eugenia. Onshore southeast of the
bay is the Desierto de Vizcaino, an extensive desert lying between the Sierra V
izcaino to the west, and the Tres Virgenes range which runs along the Gulf of Ca
lifornia to the east.
The largest bays along the coastline of the Gulf are Bahia de La Paz where the c
ity of La Paz is located, and Bahia Concepcion. The Baha de los ngeles is a small
bay located west of the Canal de las Ballenas which separates the Baja peninsula
from the large island of Angel de la Guarda in the Gulf of California.
Ecoregions
See also: Category: Flora of Baja California and Category: Flora of Baja Cal
ifornia Sur
The peninsula is home to several distinct ecoregions. Most of the peninsula is d
eserts and xeric shrublands, although pine-oak forests are found in the mountain
s at the northern and southern ends of the peninsula. The southern tip of the pe
ninsula, which was formerly an island, has many species with affinities to tropi
cal Mexico.
California chaparral and woodlands, which covers the Mediterranean climate n
orthwestern corner of the peninsula, as well as Cedros and Guadalupe islands.
Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir pine-oak forests in the upper reaches of
the Sierra Jurez and Sierra San Pedro Mrtir ranges in the northern peninsula.
The Sonoran Desert extends into the northeastern portion of the state, east
of the Sierra Jurez and Sierra San Pedro Mrtir ranges.
The Baja California Desert extends east of the Peninsular Ranges along the P
acific side of the peninsula for most of its length, and includes the El Vizcano

Desert and El Vizcano Biosphere Reserve.

The Gulf of California xeric scrub extends along the Gulf of California side
of the peninsula for most of its length.
San Lucan xeric scrub lies in the lowlands of the peninsula's southern tip.
Sierra de la Laguna dry forests are found on the lower slopes of the Sierra
de la Laguna.
Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests are found at higher elevations in the S
ierra de la Laguna.
The Baha de los ngeles Biosphere Reserve
Tourism
The peninsula is known colloquially as Baja by American and Canadian tourists, a
nd is renowned for its natural beauty and pristine environment. It draws ecotour
ists who go whale watching for migrating California Gray Whales as well as touri
sts that arrive to the Baja California Gold Coast and resorts on the southern ti
p of the Peninsula. Its location between the North Pacific and Gulf of Californi
a give it a reputation for good sports fishing.
See also
Gulf of California Rift Zone
Spanish missions in Baja California
The Californias
References
Notes
Barkenbus, Jack, The Trans-Peninsular Highway: A New Era for Baja California, Jo
urnal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Vol. 16, No. 3. (Aug., 1974),
pp. 259 273.
Baja California, it is sometimes informally referred to as Baja California Norte
, to distinguish it from both the Baja California Peninsula, of which it covers
the northern half, and the adjacent state Baja California Sur that covers the so
uthern half of the peninsula. While it is a well-established term for the northe
rn half of the Baja California Peninsula, however, its usage would not be correc
t, because Baja California Norte has never existed as a political designation fo
r a state, territory, district or region.
http://fire.biol.wwu.edu/trent/alles/GeologySaltonTrough.pdf Alles, David L., Ge
ology of the Salton Trough,
http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/region.cfm?rnum=1401 Volcanoes of Mxico and C
entral America
Sources
Baja California State Government: History
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baja California Peninsula.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Baja California.
Wikisource-logo.svg J. W. Hawes (1879). "California, Lower". The American Cy
clopdia.
"California, Lower". Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
Categories:
Peninsulas of MexicoGeography of Baja CaliforniaLandforms of Baja California
SurNorthwestern MexicoRegions of Northern MexicoNatural history of Baja Califor

niaNatural history of Baja California SurGulf of CaliforniaColonial MexicoMexica

n CaliforniaBaja California Peninsula
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