The Baja California peninsula is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. It separates the Gulf of California from the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California, in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, in the south.
The Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortés or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea, is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from the Mexican mainland. It is bordered by the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa with a coastline of approximately 4,000 km (2,500 mi). Rivers that flow into the Gulf of California include the Colorado, Fuerte, Mayo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and the Yaqui. The surface of the gulf is about 160,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi). Maximum depths exceed 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) because of the complex geology, linked to plate tectonics.
Baja California Sur, officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur, is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal entities which comprise the 31 States of Mexico. It is also the ninth-largest Mexican state in terms of area.
Bahía de los Ángeles is a coastal bay on the Gulf of California, located along the eastern shore of the Baja California Peninsula in the state of Baja California, Mexico. The town of the same name is located at the east end of Federal Highway 12 about 42 miles (68 km) from the Parador Punta Prieta junction on Federal Highway 1. The area is part of the San Quintín Municipality.
Loreto is a city and municipal seat of Loreto Municipality, Baja California Sur, on the West Coast of Mexico. Located on the Gulf of California, the city had a population of 16,311 inhabitants in 2020. Loreto is a regional economic and cultural center, as well as a major tourist destination on the Baja California Peninsula.
Misión San Francisco Javier de Viggé-Biaundó was a Spanish mission in San Javier, Baja California Sur, on the Baja California peninsula. It was built during the colonial era of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The site is in present-day Loreto Municipality of Baja California Sur state. The mission was located at 25°51′38″N111°32′37″W. San Francisco Javier mission was founded by Jesuits of the Roman Catholic church in 1699 and closed in 1817.
Cedros Island is an island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the state of Baja California, Mexico. The dry and rocky island had a population of 1,350 in 2005 and has an area of 348 square kilometres (134 sq mi) which includes the area of several small nearby islands. Cedros Island is mountainous, reaching a maximum elevation of 1,205 metres (3,953 ft). The economy is based on commercial fishing and salt production. Cedros has a distinctive flora and the traces of some of the earliest human beings in the New World. The ocean around the island is popular with sport fishermen.
Mulegé is the northernmost municipality of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is the largest municipality by area in Mexico, with an area of 33,092.20 km2. In the 2020 Census, it had a population of 64,022 inhabitants. Isla Natividad is part of the municipality.
The El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, created in 1988, is located in Mulegé Municipality in northern Baja California Sur, at the center of the Baja California Peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. With an area of over 24,930 km2 (9,630 sq mi)), it is the largest wildlife refuge in Mexico and borders the northern edge of the Valle de los Cirios Protected Area of Flora and Fauna.
Isla Espíritu Santo is an uninhabited island in the Gulf of California, off the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is separated from Isla Partida by a narrow canal.
Isla San Marcos Airstrip is a private-use dirt airstrip located on the South coast of Isla San Marcos, Baja California Sur, Mexico, an island located in the Gulf of California.
The Gulf of California xeric scrub is a xeric shrubland ecoregion of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula.
The San Lucan xeric scrub is a xeric shrubland ecoregion of the southernmost Baja California Peninsula, in Los Cabos Municipality and eastern La Paz Municipality of southern Baja California Sur state, Mexico.
Puerto Escondido is a large natural harbor in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is located in the Loreto Municipality 28 km south of Loreto, on Federal Highway 1 on the western shore of the Gulf of California.
The Pacific Naval Force is the Mexican Navy's presence in the Pacific Ocean. Its headquarters is in Manzanillo, Colima. The Pacific Naval Force was created in the same date as its Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea counterpart on February 11, 1972. The Surface ships are the main components of The Naval Force and is the means to secure and to operate sea control in strategic areas. Main objectives of the Naval force is to Defend the sovereignty and integrity of Mexico from sea, protect vital naval installations, protect human life and maintain marine traffic and maintain the rule of law in national waters.
Isla Santa Catalina, officially known as Isla Catalana, is an island in the Gulf of California east of the Baja California Peninsula. The island is uninhabited and is part of the Loreto Municipality.
Bahía de Loreto National Park is a national park on the east coast of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico, about 203 kilometres (126 mi) north of the city of La Paz in the state of Baja California Sur. The park protects 2,065.81 square kilometres (797.61 sq mi) of relatively pristine marine ecosystem in the central Sea of Cortez, including five large uninhabited islands and many smaller islets in Loreto Bay. It is known for its great variety of coastal environments, such as sandy beaches, sea cliffs, submarine canyons, and marine terraces, and is home to an exceptionally high biological diversity, especially of marine mammals.
San Felipe is the newest municipality in the Mexican state of Baja California. Inaugurated on 1 January 2022, it is located approximately 190 kilometres (120 mi) south of Mexicali, the state capital.
