San Felipe is the newest

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 ...

in the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

state of

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 ...

. Inaugurated on 1 January 2022, it is located approximately south of

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000, ...

, the state capital.

Geography

Devils-Peak Sierra-SanPedroMartir BajaCalifornia Mexico

Mountains01-Sierra SanPedroMartir-BajaCalifornia-Mexico

San-Felipe Sierra-SanPedroMartir BajaCalifornia Mexico

The municipality of San Felipe lies on the northeastern side of the Baja California Peninsula. It borders the municipalities of

to the north, Ensenada to the northwest, San Quintín to the west and south, and the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja Ca ...

to the east. The municipality also comprises various islands and islets in the Gulf, such as Roca Consag and the Islas Encantadas, e.g., Isla Coloradito, Isla El Muerto,

Isla Encantada Isla Encantada is an island in the Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marg ...

, Isla Lobos, and

Isla San Luis Isla San Luis is an island in the Gulf of California east of the Baja California Peninsula. The island is uninhabited and is part of the San Felipe Municipality. Biology Isla San Luis has three species of reptiles: ''Callisaurus draconoides' ...

. The municipality covers an area of . The municipality is situated in the San Felipe Desert, which is located in the

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carrie ...

formed by the

Sierra de San Pedro Mártir Sierra de San Pedro Mártir ( Kiliwa: ʔxaal haq, en, mountains of Saint Peter the Martyr) is a mountain range located within southern Ensenada Municipality and southern Baja California state, of northwestern Mexico. It is a major mountain ran ...

to its west, and is the most arid region of North America.

Picacho del Diablo ('Devil's Peak') is the highest peak on the Baja California peninsula, measuring . It is alternately called , meaning 'Hill of the Enchanted' or 'Hill of the Bewitched'. The peak is located in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, a part of the Peni ...

, the highest point in Baja California at , lies within the municipality. Average annual precipitation rarely exceeds . The southern part of the municipality extends into the

Valle de los Cirios Valle de los Cirios ("Valley of the Candles") is a wildlife protection area in the southern portion of the municipality of Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico. At in area, it is the second-largest wildlife protection area behind El Vizcaíno Bio ...

wildlife protection area, and the coastline of the northern part of the municipality is protected as part of the

Alto Golfo de California Biosphere Reserve Alto Golfo de California Biosphere Reserve is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve located in the state of Sonora in extreme northwestern Mexico. The reserve comprises the El Pinacate y Gran Desierto reserve and the Bahia Adair on the Gulf of California ...

History

The

Kiliwa people The Kiliwa ( Kiliwa: Ko’leeu) are an indigenous people of Mexico living in northern Baja California. Historically they occupied a territory lying between the Cochimí on the south and the Paipai on the north, and extending from San Felipe on ...

are the indigenous inhabitants of the area. Historically, they lived in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir and made annual excursions to San Felipe Bay, where fresh water was available, to supplement their diet with seafood. At San Felipe Bay they gathered clams and mussels, and caught fish using a stone weir built across the entrance to the bay, as well as with hook and line. San Felipe Bay was named in 1721 by the expedition of the Jesuit missionary Pedro de Ugarte, brother of

Juan de Ugarte Juan de Ugarte, S.J., (1662–1730) was a Jesuit missionary and explorer in Baja California Sur, New Spain, and the successor to Juan María de Salvatierra as head of the peninsula's missions. Ugarte was born in Tegucigalpa, then in the Ki ...

. Fernando Consag made the first description of the bay in 1746, and

Wenceslaus Linck Wenceslaus Linck (german: Wenzel Linck) (29 March 1736 – 8 February 1797) was the last of the outstanding Jesuit missionary-explorers in Baja California. Born in Neudek, Bohemia, he entered the Jesuit order at age 18 and studied at Brno and ...

became the first European to reach San Felipe by land in 1766. Permanent settlement of San Felipe Bay began sometime around 1910–1915 with the establishment of fisheries for

totoaba The totoaba or totuava (''Totoaba macdonaldi'') is a species of marine fish, a very large member of the drum family Sciaenidae that is endemic to the Gulf of California in Mexico. It is the only species in the genus ''Totoaba''. Formerly abundan ...

and later shrimp. A highway connecting San Felipe to Mexicali was built in 1950.

Diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel Genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of engine generator. A diesel compression- ...

s were installed in the village in 1958, and pipelines for drinking water in 1967. After citizens demanded the creation of a new municipality for many years, the

Congress of Baja California The Congress of the State of Baja California ( es, Congreso del Estado de Baja California) is the legislative branch of the government of the State of Baja California. The Congress is the governmental deliberative body of Baja California, which ...

approved the creation of the municipality of San Felipe from territories previously part of the ''delegacíon'' of San Felipe in the municipality of Mexicali, and the ''delegacíon'' of

Puertecitos The town of Puertecitos is located 90 kilometers south of San Felipe, in the Mexican state of Baja California. Puertecitos is a tourist spot for both vacationers and expatriates from the United States. The Puertecitos bay, which was permanently ...

in the municipality of Ensenada. The new municipality came into force on 1 January 2022.

Administration

San Felipe will conduct its first municipal elections in 2024. A transitional administration was appointed by the state in August 2021. Led by its president José Luis Dagnino López, it began operations on 1 January 2022.

Demographics

San Felipe is the least populous municipality in Baja California. The areas which now make up the municipality recorded a population of 18,369 inhabitants in the 2010 Mexican Census. Most of the population lives in the municipal seat of San Felipe which recorded 16,702 inhabitants in 2010, and 17,143 inhabitants in 2020. There are also 130 inhabited rural localities in the municipality.

Economy and infrastructure

Important economic activities in San Felipe include commerce, tourism, real estate, and fishing. San Felipe receives approximately 250,000 visitors per year, including a significant number of American and Canadian retirees. The municipality is served by Federal Highway 3, which connects it to Ensenada in the northwest, and Federal Highway 5, which connects it to Mexicali in the north and Federal Highway 1 in the south. The port of San Felipe is located just south of the municipal seat and serves both commercial and recreational boats. San Felipe International Airport is located in the municipality, but currently has no commercial service.

References

{{Baja California, state=collapsed Municipalities of Baja California 2022 establishments in Mexico States and territories established in 2022