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 ("South Territory of Lower 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
thumb|[[Hernán Cortés' navigator subordinate Fortún Ximénez, having led a revolt in which his captain was killed, went on to misreport the peninsula as an island and thereby helped to perpetuate a long-standing Western misconception, reflected in this anonymous Italian map of the region, circa 1650.]]
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. 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.
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 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.
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. 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.
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.
|1895 | 34570
|1900 | 40041
|1910 | 42512
|1921 | 39294
|1930 | 47089
|1940 | 51471
|1950 | 60864
|1960 | 81594
|1970 | 128019
|1980 | 215139
|1990 | 317764
|1995 | 375494
|2000 | 424041
|2005 | 512170
|2010 | 637026
|2015 | 763929
|2020 | 798447
59% of the state population is mestizos, 40% whites, and 1% indigenous.
Largest cities
Those over age 15 have had 9.6 years of schooling on average, compared to the national average of 8.9. The state's illiteracy rate is 3%, compared to the national rate of 6.1%.
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Government and politics
Political divisions
The state is divided into five municipalities. Comondú is located in the center of the state with its seat at Ciudad Constitución. It borders the municipalities of Mulegé, Loreto and La Paz with the Pacific Ocean to the west. Mulegé is in the north of the state with its capital in Santa Rosalía, with two other important population centers at Guerrero Negro and Mulegé. It borders the municipalities of Comondú and Loreto with Baja California to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Gulf of California to the east. It accounts for almost 45% of the state's territory. The municipality of La Paz is in the south of the state. It is the second largest municipality, accounting for just over 27% of the territory of the state. It borders the municipalities of Comondú and Los Cabos and extends from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of California. The municipality of Los Cabos is at the southern tip of the state, with its seat at San José del Cabo, and its most populous city is Cabo San Lucas. The municipality is one of the most important tourist destinations in Mexico. The municipality borders that of La Paz to the north, with the rest defined by the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. The municipality of Loreto is in the center of the state, with the city of Loreto as its seat. It borders the municipalities of Mulegé and Comondú with the Gulf of California to the east.
Foreign relations
Baja California Sur is a member of the Commission of the Californias, a tri-lateral forum for cooperation between the U.S. state of California and the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur.
Economy
thumb|Port of Cabo San Lucas
The state's economy has been based mostly on tourism, sport fishing, salt production, and mining. In 2012 the state's GDP accounted for only 0.73% of the national GDP, but it had grown 3.13% since the prior year and increased 7.8% in 2013. Unemployment was 5.1% in 2013, when the economy showed a shift to mining and industry (up 19.9%) and commerce (up 4.9%)
Commerce and services account for 69.5% of the GDP.
Media
Newspapers of Baja California Sur include: El Peninsular, El Periódico, El Sudcaliforniano , and Tribuna de los Cabos.
Culture
thumb|Local religious pottery, [[Todos Santos, Baja California Sur|Todos Santos]]
Three of the indigenous cultures remain, the Cochimí, the Guaycura and the Pericú. Traditional music is usually played by trios playing an accordion and two guitars in bands called "cochi", in styles such as corridos, waltzes, polkas and mazurkas along with norteño.