Baja California, one peninsula, two states
The Baja California peninsula, on Mexico’s Pacific coast, was governed as one place, then two districts, then two federal territories. The north became a state in 1952 and the south in 1974, which makes Baja California Sur one of Mexico’s two youngest states.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 9 October 2026Suggest a correction
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Mexico →
Two districts
The peninsula stayed in Spanish hands until 1822, the year after Mexico won independence, and in 1830 La Paz was named the capital of Baja California.[2] Settlement was always sparse.[1]
In 1887 the peninsula was divided into two federal districts; the north’s first capital was Ensenada.[1] In 1931 the two districts became federal territories.[1][2]
The north goes first
The north lies along the border with the United States. Mexicali, its capital, faces Calexico in California, and Tijuana, south of San Diego, is a centre for factories.[1] As a territory, its people depended directly on the federal capital, and the border was a free-trade zone that drew commerce and tourism.[3]
Congress made the northern territory a free and sovereign state on 16 January 1952.[3][1]
The south in 1974
The south stayed a territory for another 22 years. It was sparsely populated, and it got more attention only after the Transpeninsular Highway, finished in 1973, linked Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip.[2]
On 8 October 1974 a decree published in the Diario Oficial made the territories of Baja California Sur and Quintana Roo states of the federation, the two youngest in Mexico.[4] To tell the two halves apart, the northern state was called Baja California Norte, but by 1979 it was officially Baja California again.[1]
Timeline
1822
Out of Spanish hands
The peninsula passes to independent Mexico.[2]
1887
Two districts
The peninsula is split into northern and southern federal districts.[1]
1931
Two territories
The districts become federal territories.[1]
195216 January 1952
Baja California
The north becomes a free and sovereign state.[3]
1973
The highway
The Transpeninsular Highway links Tijuana and Cabo San Lucas.[2]
19748 October 1974
Baja California Sur
The south becomes a state, alongside Quintana Roo.[4]
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Sources
- [1]Baja California (state, Mexico) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- [2]Baja California Sur · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- [3]Efemérides sobre la creación del estado de Baja California Norte (Dip. Jesús Martínez Álvarez) · Gaceta Parlamentaria, Cámara de Diputados de México · 20 January 2005
In Spanish.
- [4]Conmemoran 48 aniversario de la incorporación a la Federación de Quintana Roo y de Baja California Sur (Boletín 2760) · Cámara de Diputados de México · 7 October 2022
In Spanish.
- [5]Baja California (relation 2589601) and Baja California Sur (relation 2589611) · OpenStreetMap contributors
Outlines, clipped to the coastline the site draws.
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.