Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur, is a state in Mexico. It is the 31st and last state to be admitted, in 1974. It is also the least densely populated Mexican state, the second least populous, and the ninth-largest state by area.
Before becoming a state on 8 October 1974, the area was known as the El Territorio Sur de Baja California. It has an area of, or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico, and occupies the southern half of the Baja California Peninsula, south of the 28th parallel, plus the uninhabited Rocas Alijos in the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered to the north by the state of Baja California, to the west by the Pacific Ocean, and to the east by the Gulf of California. The state has maritime borders with Sonora and Sinaloa to the east, across the Gulf of California.
The state is home to the tourist resorts of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo. Its largest city and capital is La Paz.
Etymology
The first European known to have landed in Baja California was a rebel navigator named Fortún Ximénez, who killed his captain and one of the envoys of Hernán Cortés, in his sleep, while he led a revolt and ruined the entire mission. Ximénez and the accomplice crewmen still in navigation ruined the sail in the peninsula and were hostile with the Indians due to their collecting giant pearls and because explorers wanted to rape the women. This started a brawl with the Indians and Ximénez was murdered. The surviving Spanish navigators withdrew to the coast and sailed erratically for several days until they reached the shores of the present-day Jalisco, where they encountered a subaltern of Nuño de Guzmán, who disliked Cortés. He requisitioned the ship, took them prisoner, and reported mistakenly that the peninsula was an island, starting this initial European misconception. After three attempts by Hernán Cortés to colonize the area for Spain, including one mission he commanded himself, a contemporary writer cited as "Alarcón" started calling the region "California" in mockery of Cortés. The name "California" came to be applied to this peninsula along with the areas in the United States now known as the state of California and part of the state of Arizona.In 1888, to manage mining in the region, the federal government under Porfirio Diaz divided the peninsula into two federal territories. The southern territory was named El Territorio Sur de Baja California. It became the State of Baja California Sur on 8 October 1974.
History
Pre-Columbian era
Japanese archaeologist Harumi Fujita, who has been excavating the Cape Region since 1985, has carbon-dated human remains from the Babisuri Shelter on the Isla Espíritu Santo to 40,000 years ago, placing the earliest habitation in the Archaic period, though the majority of remains indicate continuous human occupation of the area beginning 10,000 to 21,000 years ago.Evidence of human habitation is found in primitive rock and cave paintings dating to 1700 BCE that were created by hunting and gathering societies who lived in rock shelters. The state is one of five areas in the world with important concentrations of cave paintings. These paintings have an identifiable style and tend to be on a monumental scale with some figures as tall as. Most of the animals are painted in silhouette and depicted in movement, often being hunted by people. The best known site is the Great Mural Rock Art, which dates from 1700 BCE, located in the north of the state. Other important sites include Cueva de Palma, San Gregorio, Santa Teresa, Guadalupe, San Francisco, Cabo Pulmo, Santiago and San Borjita. The most important concentrations are in a 12-square-kilometer zone in the north of the state, centered on the Sierra de San Francisco. In sites near Comondú, Las Palmas and Cocheros, arrowheads, utensils and petroglyphs have been found. Las Palmas contains secondary burials of human bones painted with red ochre.
When the Spanish arrived, they referred to four main ethnic groups: the Pericúes in the south between Cabo San Lucas and La Paz, the Guaycuras in the area north of the Pericú to Loreto, the Monquis near Loreto, and the Cochimí in the middle of the peninsula. All were hunter/gatherers who produced pottery but were without agriculture or metalworking. They fished, but the only water transport was the rafts used by the Pericúes.
Colonial era
The first Spaniard in the area is believed to be Fortún Ximénez, arriving in 1533. He and his crew did not remain long because their sacking of the area's pearls and abuse of the women caused a violent confrontation with the natives, who killed Ximénez. The remaining crew returned to Mexico City with the pearls and stories of riches.In 1535, Hernán Cortés navigated into what is now known as the Gulf of California, which he called the Sea of Cortés. He landed in what is now the bay of La Paz, which he named the Santa Cruz Port and Valley. This event is celebrated in La Paz as its founding. However, he did not remain there.
Despite various explorations, the remoteness of the region deterred colonization until the 17th century. In 1697, Jesuit missionary Juan María de Salvatierra established the Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó Mission, the first permanent mission of its kind in Baja California Sur. From there, the order spread through most of the territory, with a total of 16 missions working among the Pericú, Guaycura, and Cochimí peoples.
During the 18th century, more colonists arrived, bringing diseases that caused a significant decrease in the indigenous population.
In 1768, the Jesuits were expelled from New Spain and the Franciscans took over the missions, continuing the expansion north. In 1773 they were replaced by the Dominicans. Some of these mission churches have survived, including the Loreto Mission, the La Paz Cathedral, the San José del Cabo Mission, and the San Javier Mission.
19th century
By the start of the 19th century, the missions' influence had waned and most had closed. Many of the mission facilities had become the centers for ranching operations and some agriculture, but in the absence of the monks' protection and governmental control, the indigenous peoples were abused by the ranchers.In the early 19th century, Baja California was divided into four municipalities: Loreto, San José del Cabo, San Pedro Mártir, and Santa Gertrudis.
The southern peninsula's isolation kept it out of the fighting during the Mexican War of Independence and allowed the Spanish to maintain control of it for a short period after the war ended in 1821. However, in 1822 Guadalupe Victoria and governor José María Echendía divided the peninsula into four municipalities.
Loreto was designated the capital of the peninsula until heavy rains destroyed the town in 1828, forcing the government to relocate to San Antonio, the birthplace of local deputy Antonio Cota. He planned to relocate the capital's functions to what was then the Port of La Paz, a transfer that was completed by 1830, and La Paz has remained the capital since then.
The United States invaded the peninsula during the Mexican–American War and sought to retain it as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, but the Mexican government succeeded in keeping control of the territory. In 1853, William Walker and 45 other Americans captured La Paz but, lacking official U.S. support, they were soon driven out by Mexican forces.
During the Reform War, Liberal forces under General Manuel Marquez de Leon and others captured La Paz. French forces then invaded the country to support the Conservative cause, and Governor Felix Gilbert recognized the authority of Emperor Maximilian. However, Mexican forces under Benito Juarez forced the French out, with Coronel Clodomiro Cota recapturing the peninsula from the French.
The division of the peninsula into north and south occurred in 1888 by the federal government under Porfirio Diaz.
20th century to present
During the regime of Porfirio Diaz, the Mexican government invited foreign enterprises to help develop the country. In Baja California, these included a major French mine called El Boleo near Santa Rosalia and the establishment of maritime routes. Diaz also divided the peninsula into two parts, each with its own government, but the northern half was designated a state and the southern half a territory, "El Territorio Sur de Baja California".The territory was not involved in the Mexican Revolution until after the assassination of Francisco I. Madero, when local troops were organized in opposition to Victoriano Huerta, his successor under Félix Ortega. In 1914 these troops defeated federal troops and took over La Paz.
From the end of the Mexican Revolution to 1974, the territory had 10 governors appointed by the federal government. The division of the peninsula was further formalized in 1931, when a highway was extended its length. Infrastructure development remained a priority for the area, with the establishment of schools, including the first teachers' college in 1942, and projects to provide water and electricity.
The southern territory became a state on 8 October 1974, with three municipalities: La Paz, Comondú, and Mulegé. Two others have been carved out since then, Los Cabos and Loreto.
Geography
The state is located on the southern part of the narrow Baja California Peninsula, which is in the northwest of Mexico and is part of the larger The Californias region of North America. The peninsula was formed about two million years ago when tectonic activity caused the land to break away from the mainland.The state is about long, averages about wide, and encompasses.
The territory is primarily mountains and coastal plains. The mountain ranges, which run parallel to the coastline, are of volcanic rock. The local name for the main mountain range is the Sierra de la Giganta; its highest peak is the Sierra de la Laguna, above sea level. The coastal plains are significantly wider on the Pacific side, averaging about, with much wider plains such as those of Santa Clara, Berrendo, and Magdalena y Hiray. These areas are dominated by sedimentary rock, especially limestone of marine origin.
The state is divided into five regions: Central Desert, La Serranía, the Vizcaíno Desert, the Magdalena Plains, and Los Cabos. Vegetation on the Central Desert emerges during brief, irregular rains. The La Serranía is composed of high mountain areas with significant tree cover, some species of which are commercially valuable. The Vizcaíno Desert runs along the Pacific coast around the Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio lagoons; it contains lower mountain ranges such as the San Francisco, San Alberto, Las Tinajas de Murillo, and El Serrucho, along with the El Azufre and Las Vírgenes volcanos. The Magdalena Plains is a large, flat area near the Pacific coast, and the Los Cabos region is distinguished by microclimates that are determined by the local geologic variations and rainfall patterns.
The climate of the state is dry, with an average annual temperature of and average annual rainfall of less than. Baja California's rainfall is also amongst the most variable on Earth from year to year, and the rain that does fall occurs in extremely rare but large deluges. The lower elevations are the driest and hottest, with summer daytime temperatures above ; wintertime temperatures may fall below freezing. The exception to desert conditions is the Los Cabos region, classified as semi-moist because of the affects of Pacific hurricane activity. In the spring, prevailing winds are from the west and in the summer from the south and southwest. In the fall, they are from the northwest, and in the winter from the north and northwest.
Most of the surface water is in the form of fast-flowing seasonal streams that form during stormy weather. Most of these drain into the Pacific Ocean, but some flow south into the Bahía de Ballenas.
The state's most significant geological feature of the state is its coastline, which constitutes 22% of Mexico's total coastline. It also includes the most islands of any state, with three in the Pacific: Natividad, Magdalena, and Santa Margarita, which is the largest. The islands in the Gulf of California include San Marcos, Coronados, Carmen, Montserrat, Santa Catalina, Santa Cruz, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Partida, Espiritu Santo, and Cerralvo. The major bays include Sebastian Vizcaino, Magdalena, La Paz, Asunción, Ballenas, Concepcion and San Carlos. Estuaries and lagoons include those at Puerto Escondido, Nopoló, Balandra as well as the San José estuary at Cabo Colorado, the San Ignacio Lagoon, and the Ojo de Liebre.
Because of the relatively recent formation of the peninsula, its ecological system is considered to have evolved relatively recently, but it includes some endemic species. Vegetation at the lower elevations is dominated by arid-tolerant plants, including the world's largest species of cactus, the cardón cactus, which can reach a height of 15m. Other plant species include mesquite, chironola, lechuguilla, nopal and barrel cactus, choyas, paloadan, and pitahaya. The higher elevations have forests of pine and holm oak with some deciduous forests generally no taller than in which leaves fall in the dry season. Wildlife in the desert areas is limited to birds, reptiles, and small-to-medium mammals such as rabbits and coyotes. Wild sheep, raccoons, deer, foxes, pumas and other wild cats can survive at upper elevations with more vegetation. Marine species include whales, seals, dolphins, gray whales, manta rays, and sea turtles.
Baja California Sur has the largest protected portion of any state in Mexico, 38.3% of the state in 10 officially protected areas: Bahía de Loreto National Park, Cabo Pulmo National Park, Espíritu Santo Archipelago National Park, El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, Ojo de Liebre Lagoon Bioshere Reserve, Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve, Balandra Protection Area of Flora and Fauna and Cabo San Lucas Protection Area of Flora and Fauna. Also, the islands located along the Baja California Sur coastline are protected either as part of the Pacific Islands of the Baja California Peninsula Biosphere Reserve or the Islands of the Gulf of California Protection Area of Flora and Fauna, which it shares with the states of Sinaloa and Sonora as well as the state of Baja California.