The Past

Twenty million years ago, the Baja California, peninsula was a land of palm jungles choked with ferns and lush primeval vegetation. It was, home to the 23-ton, 50-foot-long (15 m) duckbill hadrosaur and other creatures that stalked through a steamy setting of erupting volcanoes and torrential rains. Huge upliftings and occasional collapses of the ocean floor gradually separated a landmass from the continent. Even today, the Baja peninsula creeps northwestward, along with a portion of California by the San Andreas Fault, at an approximate rate of one inch per year.

The earliest evidence of human habitation is of the San Dieguito Indian culture dating back 9,000 years.

In pre-Hispanic times, nomadic Yumano Indian tribes lived along the Pacific coast of Baja, making their livelihoods by fishing and clamming. In 1535, the Spanish arrived under Hernan Cortes after reports of fabulous pearls to be found. They attempted to form a colony near La Paz but were eventually driven out due to few supplies and many hostile natives. In 1657, the first California mission, Nuestra Sefiora de Loreto, was founded in Loreto. This was the start of the Jesuit missionary period, which lasted until 1767 and produced 20 missions.

From 1774 to 1834 eight more missions were established by the Dominican Order. In the early 1800's, Spanish land grants were given, and small farms and ranches were established. By mid century, the native Indian population had been decimated by European diseases and the Baja missions abandoned for points north.

In 1848, the Mexican-American war ended with a treaty, which divided California between the countries.  At the turn of the century Baja California enjoyed a boom when gold, silver, gypsum and copper were found, and Santa Rosalia became the largest copper mining and smelting operation in Mexico.

In 1952, northern Baja's population exceeded the 80,000 needed for statehood, and Baja California Norte was declared Mexico's 29th state. Before 1973, when the Transpeninsular Highway (Highway 1) was completed, the drive from Tijuana to La Paz took up to 10 days via rough dirt roads. The highway has greatly contributed to the modernization of one of Mexico's last frontiers. In less than a year following the completion of the highway, the population of southern Baja leaped past 80,000 and the territory became Mexico's 30th state, Baja California Sur.

The Present

You can easily throw away the key to the clock and forget the calendar in this land of little hurry or worry. The people are very friendly and simplicity is a way of life. This harsh land has produced a tough and adaptable people.

Today, Highway 1 winds serpentinely for 1,000 miles (1,613 km) from the U.S. border to Cabo San Lucas. It skirts by the cool waters of the Pacific Ocean on its western side; other stretches cut across arroyos, up mountains to an elevation of 3,200 feet (970 m) before plunging to desert jungles. Its mid-section overlooks the warm waters of the Sea of Cortez; south of La Paz it sweeps southeast past the Tropic of Cancer to Cabo San Lucas (Land's End), where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean.

The population of the entire peninsula is approximately 2.85 million, over 85 percent of which lives above the 28th parallel in Baja California Norte. Between the few major cities, small villages dot the peninsula.

Farming, fishing and tourism are Baja's main revenue earners. Fishing boats work both coasts, but the Sea of Cortez produces the largest catch. La Paz is the main fishing center. Tourism is concentrated in Tijuana, Ensenada, Mulege, Loreto, La Paz, East Cape and Cabo San Lucas.

Useful Information

Climate.  The peninsula's isolated ecosystems range in climate from Mediterranean, to desert, to tropical. Two-thirds of Baja can be classified as pure desert, but even the driest areas receive-some rain. In the interior of the Cape region's Sierra La Laguna, annual rainfall may reach 40 inches (103 cm). Along the Sea of Cortez, summer temperatures range from 90-110°F (32-43°C), with hot and sometimes