San Ignacio is a town in

Mulegé Municipality Mulegé is the northernmost municipalities of Mexico, municipality of the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Baja California Sur. It is the largest municipality by area in Mexico, with an area of 33,092.20 km2 (12,777 sq mi). In th ...

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur, is a state in Mexico. It is the 31st and last state to be admitted, in 1974. It is also the second least populated Mexican state and the ninth-largest state by ...

. The town had a 2020 census population of 521.2020 Comondú Census
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History

San Ignacio grew at the site of the

Cochimí The Cochimí were the Indigenous inhabitants of the central part of the Baja California peninsula, from El Rosario in the north to San Javier in the south. Information on Cochimí customs and beliefs has been preserved in the brief observati ...

settlement of Kadakaamán. The

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán was founded in 1728 by Fr. Juan Bautista Luyando.

Geography

It is located on

Mexican Federal Highway 1 Federal Highway 1 (, Fed. 1) is a toll-free (libre) part of the federal highway corridors () of Mexico, and the highway follows the length of the Baja California Peninsula from Tijuana, Baja California, in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Ba ...

between

Guerrero Negro Guerrero Negro (English: Black Warrior) is the largest town located in the municipality of Mulegé in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur (BCS). It had a population of 13,596 in the 2020 census. The town is served by Guerrero Negro Airport. ...

and Santa Rosalía. One can travel on Mexican Federal Highway 1 by vehicle from Ensenada to arrive in San Ignacio. Highway 1 is a well-maintained, four-lane, toll highway from Tijuana to Ensenada. South of Ensenada, Highway 1 becomes a narrow (but relatively well-maintained) two-lane highway. Slow but steady progress is being made to support the tourism industry and Pemex gas stations are now located in every major town through which Highway 1 travels on the way to San Ignacio, both from the North and from the South. Driving only during daylight hours is recommended, due to livestock that frequently cross the road at night, and decreased visibility of the narrow and winding roads through the mountain sides. The nearest airports are located to the north at Guerrero Negro Airport in

, or to the south at

Loreto International Airport Loreto International Airport (Spanish: ''Aeropuerto Internacional de Loreto'') is an international airport located in Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Serving as the principal gateway for both domestic and international air travel to Loreto ...

in Loreto.

Geology

The locale has certain

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

ic soils, providing clues as to the volcanic history of this region. There are a variety of desert flora and fauna in the vicinity of San Ignacio, notably including the elephant tree, (''

Bursera microphylla ''Bursera microphylla'', known by the common name elephant tree in English or 'torote' in Spanish, is a tree in the genus '' Bursera''. It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is foun ...

'').C. Michael Hogan. 2009 At San Ignacio, Baja California's arid Central Desert terrain gives way to a large grove of lush green date palms. A large spring-fed pond and small river on the outskirts of town feeds into the central plaza and village next to the eighteenth-century Jesuit mission. San Ignacio serves as the gateway to

San Ignacio Lagoon San Ignacio Lagoon () is a lagoon located in Mulegé Municipality of the Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California Sur, 59 kilometers (37 mi) from San Ignacio, Baja California Sur, San Ignacio, Mexico, and Mexican Federal Highway 1, Highway 1. It is ...

, the winter time sanctuary of the Pacific

gray whale The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of , a weight of up to and lives between ...

References

Bibliography

* C. Michael Hogan. 2009
''Elephant Tree: Bursera microphylla'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
* Sigismundo Taraval. 1967. ''Indian Uprising in Lower California 1734-1737'', page 31

External links

www.AllAboutBaja.com
Learn all about San Ignacio and the magnificent Baja peninsula. *

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...

{{Authority control Populated places in Baja California Sur Mulegé Municipality Oases