San Felipe is the newest

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

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, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

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

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali, Cale ...

, 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 Ensenada ("inlet") is a city in Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, situated on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Located on Bahía de Todos Santos, the city had a population of 279,765 in 2018, making it the third-largest city in Baja Californ ...

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

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

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 east of the Baja California Peninsula. The island is uninhabited and is part of San Felipe Municipality. Biology Isla Encantada has only one endemic species of reptile Reptiles, as co ...

, 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 body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

formed by the

Sierra de San Pedro Mártir Sierra de San Pedro Mártir ( Kiliwa: ʔxaal haq, ) is a mountain range located within southern Ensenada Municipality and southern Baja California state, of northwestern Mexico. It is a major mountain range in the long Peninsular Ranges System, ...

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 Pen ...

, 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. Thee reserve comprises the El Pinacate y Gran Desierto reserve and the Bahia Adair on the Gulf of Californi ...

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 o ...

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

Wenceslaus Linck Wenceslaus 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 Prague. In New Spain, ...

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 endemic to the Gulf of California in Mexico. It is the largest member of the drum family Sciaenidae and is the only extant species in the genus ''Totoaba''. Originally a ...

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 an engine generator. A diesel compress ...

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 () is the legislative branch of the government of the State of Baja California. The Congress is the governmental deliberative body of Baja California, which is equal to, and independent of, the exec ...

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 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

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 San Felipe International Airport () () is a small international airport located south of San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. It handles the air traffic for San Felipe. Operated by the state-owned ''Patronato para la Administración del Aeropue ...

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