Baja California Peninsula

Lower California (Spanish Baja California) is a narrow peninsula in western Mexico 1200 kilometers long and 80 to 220 kilometers wide. It lies parallel to the Mexican west coast and merges with the Mexican mainland at its northern end. On it lie the Mexican states of Baja California Sur (Southern California) and Baja California (Lower California), which extends northward across the Mexican mainland to the U.S. state of California. It is as large as the Apennine Peninsula of Italy and about twice as long as the U.S. state of Florida. Most of its area is occupied by the Sonora Desert and the Peninsular Ranges mountain range. The origin of the name "California" is unclear, probably taken from the chivalric novel Las Sergas de Esplandián by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo or derived from the term calida forna - "hot oven". The region around the peninsula is tectonically active, the caldera Aguajito was formed during a volcanic eruption about 760,000 years ago.

The peninsula is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Gulf of California to the east. The two coasts are very different. In the cold currents coming from the north and from the depths of the Pacific coast, whales are observed migrating to and from their more southern breeding grounds.

The Gulf, on the other hand, with its warmer waters, is more comparable to the Mediterranean. In the north, the Colorado River flows into the gulf. In the northern Gulf, strong currents prevail in the shallow water due to the high tidal range at low and high tide. Further south, the gulf is partly very calm. In some places, interesting bioluminescence phenomena can be seen there at night, and seals or dolphins can be seen hunting for fish. There are important fishing grounds off the Pacific coast.

The peninsula has a unique fauna and flora. Notable among these are the handwheels, side-spotted iguanas, fringed-toed iguanas, sidewinder rattlesnakes, the kit fox, the Hoskins sparrow owl, and the Cardón cactus, ocotillos, the boojum, and the saguaro cactus. There are also breeding Craveri's and Lummen's Auklets on islands off Lower California. Both of these alcids are endangered bird species. In addition, there are breeding colonies of the Aleutian auk, which is one of the somewhat more common alcove birds.

On the Pacific coast, the sky is often cloudy. Directly on the Pacific Ocean, the fog often lingers beyond the middle of the day, even in summer.

Since 1976, a continuous road, the Transpeninsular, has connected the north with the south. It stretches from the U.S. border to the southernmost point of the peninsula in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico's fourth largest beach resort.

For the history of the region before its division into Upper and Lower California, see California (historical landscape).

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