Guerrero Negro is the largest town located in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Mulegé Mulegé is a city in Mulegé Municipality, Baja California Sur, situated on the Gulf of California. Located on the Gulf of California, the population was 3,821 according to the Mexican census of 2010. History Indigenous peoples had lived in t ...

in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur (BCS). It had a population of 14,316 in the 2015 census. The town is served by Guerrero Negro Airport.

Whale Festival

The town has a celebration each year to hail the annual arrival of the gray whales that calve in the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...

s of Baja California Sur (BCS). This festival occurs during the first half of February. The port of San Blas, also in BCS, has a similar festival on February 24 and 25.

Saltworks operation

Guerrero Negro was founded in 1957 when Daniel Ludwig built a salt works there to supply the demand of

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

in the western

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The salt mine was established around the Ojo de Liebre coastal lagoon to take advantage of its strong salinity. This company, called Exportadora de Sal, S.A., of C.V. ("Salt Exporters, Inc."), eventually became the greatest salt mine in the world, with a production of seven million tons of salt per year, exported to the main centers of consumption in the Pacific basin, especially Japan,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, the United States,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Ludwig also constructed the hotel Acapulco Princess in the port of

Acapulco, Guerrero Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

. In 1973, he sold the salt company to the Mexican government and the

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

Mitsubishi, 51% and 49% respectively. The company is distinguished not only by its growth and its yield, but also by the progress which has reached more than a thousand employees, their community and its ecological surroundings: The salt works, located in a site of extraordinary beauty, within a biosphere reserve, has been pivotal in the development of the region. Its economic success has contributed to environmental conservation, where each winter whales gather, many species of resident and migratory birds stay, visiting birds originating mainly in the United States and Europe.

Community

El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve Landsat picture annotated

The town was named Guerrero Negro when founded in 1957 after the ''Black Warrior'', a U.S. American whaling ship from

Duxbury, Massachusetts Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a historic seaside town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 at the 20 ...

(near Boston). That ship, captained by Robert Brown, wrecked in what was then called Frenchman's Lagoon on December 20, 1858. The bay was later renamed after the ship. Contrary to a few sources, it was not named after the leader of the rebellion and early president of independent Mexico,

Vicente Guerrero Vicente Ramón Guerrero (; baptized August 10, 1782 – February 14, 1831) was one of the leading revolutionary generals of the Mexican War of Independence. He fought against Spain for independence in the early 19th century, and later served as ...

, the national hero who was of Mestizo and African ancestry, and sometimes called ''El Guerrero Negro.'' There is a town named Vicente Guerrero over 400 km (248 miles) north in Baja. It was during this era that Captain Charles Melville Scammon discovered a prolific gray whale breeding

; it became a choice hunting ground for American and European whalers. Although locally known as "'' Laguna Ojo de Liebre"'' ("eye of the

jackrabbit Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The gen ...

"), this lagoon became known to English-speaking whale watchers and boaters from around the world as "Scammon's Lagoon." Since the 20th century, a

whale-watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 20 ...

industry has developed around the whales in the lagoon. Due to familiarity with humans, the whales that come to this lagoon are particularly known for their willingness to approach the whale-watching boats; sometimes the whales (especially the newborns) allow themselves to be petted by observers. The town is on Federal Highway 1.

Demographics

Notable residents

Julio César González Julio César González Ibarra (July 30, 1976 – March 10, 2012) was a Mexican professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2011, and held the WBO and lineal light heavyweight titles from 2003 to 2004. Amateur career Gonzalez was a member ...

(1976-2012), professional boxer

References

2010 census tables: INEGI
Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografia e Informática

External links

The World’s Largest Salt Works Is in Guerrero Negro

Guerrero Negro SiteExportadora de SalGuerrero Negro - What's In A Name?
{{Coord, 27, 57, 32, N, 114, 03, 22, W, scale:25000, display=title Populated places in Baja California Sur