Municipalities of Baja California

Map of Mexico with Baja California highlighted
Map of Mexico with Baja California highlighted
Map of the Municipalities of Baja California
Municipalities of Baja California since 2022.

Baja California is a state in Northwest Mexico that is divided into seven municipalities.[1] According to the 2020 Mexican census, Baja California is the 13th most populous state with 3,769,020 inhabitants and the 12th largest by land area spanning 73,290.08 square kilometres (28,297.46 sq mi).[1][2]

Municipalities in Baja California are administratively autonomous of the state according to the 115th article of the 1917 Constitution of Mexico.[3] Their legal framework derives from Title VI of the state Constitution[4] and the state's 2001 Law of the Municipal Regime.[5] Every three years, citizens elect a municipal president (Spanish: presidente municipal) by a plurality voting system who heads a concurrently elected municipal council (ayuntamiento) responsible for providing public services for their constituents.[4] The municipal council consists of a variable number of trustees and councillors (regidores y síndicos) who govern from the municipal seat.[6] Municipalities are responsible for public services (such as water and sewerage), street lighting, public safety, traffic, and the maintenance of public parks, gardens and cemeteries.[7] They may also assist the state and federal governments in education, emergency fire and medical services, environmental protection and maintenance of monuments and historical landmarks. Since 1984, they have had the power to collect property taxes and user fees, although more funds are obtained from the state and federal governments than from their own income.[7] Municipalities may establish functional and geographical subdivisions called delegaciones and subdelegaciones[8] in accordance with Article 29 of the Law of the Municipal Regime.[5]

The largest municipality by population in Baja California and in Mexico is Tijuana with 1,922,523 residents, representing around half (51%) of the population of the state. The smallest municipality by population is San Felipe: the areas which now make up San Felipe recorded a population of 18,369 inhabitants in the 2010 Mexican Census.[9] San Quintín, which spans 32,883.93 km2 (12,696.56 sq mi), is the largest municipality by area in the state and in the country. Playas de Rosarito is the smallest municipality by area spanning 500.67 km2 (193.31 sq mi).[2] The first municipality to incorporate was Ensenada on May 15, 1882[10] and the newest municipality is San Felipe which was formed from Ensenada and Mexicali on January 1, 2022.[11]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference inegi20bcn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Landarea was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (Article 115) (in Spanish). 1917. Archived from the original on 2017-09-26. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Constitución Política del Estado Libre y Sobrerano de Baja California (PDF) (Title VI) (in Spanish). January 19, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-02-26. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Ley del Régimen Municipal para el Estado de Baja California" (PDF) (in Spanish). Baja California State Congress. November 10, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  6. ^ OECD (November 12, 2004). New Forms of Governance for Economic Development. OECD Publishing. p. 121. ISBN 978-9-2640-1532-6. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  7. ^ a b Mexico Company Laws and Regulations Handbook. International Business Publications. 2009. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-4330-7030-3. Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
  8. ^ Polo Martínez, Humberto (November 2012). Administración pública comunitaria y gobierno local en México: Las autoridades auxiliares municipales (PDF) (in Spanish). National Institute of Public Administration. p. 114. ISBN 978-607-9026-26-4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-01-02. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
  9. ^ "Dictamen No. 94" (PDF) (in Spanish). Congress of Baja California. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Incorporationdate was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference SanFelipe was invoked but never defined (see the help page).