The North Territory of Baja California was a Mexican

federal territory A federal territory is an administrative division under the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of a federation's national government. A federal territory is a part of a federation, but not a part of any federated state. The states constit ...

that existed from 1931 to 1952. Its former area currently comprises the northern part of the

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. The former South Territory of Baja California, now the State of Baja California Sur, comprises the southern half.

History

In December 1930, the

Mexican Congress The Congress of the Union ( es, Congreso de la Unión, ), formally known as the General Congress of the United Mexican States (''Congreso General de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos''), is the legislature of the federal government of Mexico cons ...

amended Article 43 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

, thus splitting the territory of Baja California into two territories: the North Territory of Baja California and South Territory of Baja California. The

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between the two was defined as the 28th parallel north.

Statehood

Beginning in 1939, several political groups that promoted the conversion of the Baja territory into a state of the

Mexican Republic Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

were created. On 15 November 1951,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Miguel Aleman Valdes --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

sent Congress a proposed

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They ...

to Articles 43 and 45 of the constitution to transform the North Territory of Baja California into the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California. The decree was approved on 31 December 1951 and was published in the official journal of the Federation on 16 January 1952. The last territorial governor,

Alfonso García González Alfonso García González (19March 19092December 1961) was a Mexican politician. He was the last governor of the North Territory of Baja California and the first Provisional government, provisional governor of the State of Baja California. Ear ...

, was appointed provisional

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the newly created state.

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/place/Baja-California-state-Mexico {{coord missing, Baja California Territories of Mexico