page_title: Baja California
section_title: Demographics
hierarchical_section_title: Baja California / Demographics
caption_attribution_description: Pioneros
context_page_description: Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California. It has an area of 70,113 km², or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises the northern half of the Baja California Peninsula, north of the 28th parallel, plus oceanic Guadalupe Island. The mainland portion of the state is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Sonora, the U.S. state of Arizona, and the Gulf of California, and on the south by Baja California Sur. Its northern limit is the U.S. state of California.
  The state has an estimated population of 3,315,766, significantly higher than the sparsely populated Baja California Sur to the south, and similar to San Diego County, California on its north. Over 75% of the population lives in the capital city, Mexicali, in Ensenada, or in Tijuana. Other important cities include San Felipe, Rosarito and Tecate.
context_section_description: The majority of the population of Baja California is Mestizo, however the state has one of the larger percentages of White (European) Mexicans (about 40%). There are small indigenous communities as well.
  Historically, the state has had sizable East Asian immigration. Mexicali has a large Chinese community, as well as many Filipinos who arrived to the state during the eras of Spanish and American rule (1898–1946) in much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Tijuana and Ensenada were a major port of entry for East Asians entering the U.S. ever since the first Asian-Americans were present in California.
  Also a significant number of Middle Eastern immigrants such as Lebanese, Syrians and Armenians settle near the U.S. border, and small waves of settlers in the early 20th century, usually members of the Molokan sect of the Russian Orthodox church fled the Russian Revolution of 1917 when the Soviet Union took power, had established a few villages along the Pacific coast south of Ensenada.
  Since 1960, large numbers of migrants from southern Mexican states have arrived to work in agriculture (especially the Mexicali Valley and nearby Imperial Valley, California, US) and manufacturing. The cities of Ensenada, Tijuana and Mexicali grew as a result of migrants, primarily those who sought US citizenship and those temporary residents awaiting their entry into the United States are called Flotillas, which is derived from the Spanish word "flota," meaning "fleet."
  There is also a sizable immigrant community from Central and South America, and from the United States and Canada. An estimated 200,000+ American expatriates live in the state, especially in coastal resort towns such as Ensenada, known for affordable homes purchased by retirees who continue to hold US citizenship. San Felipe, Rosarito and Tijuana also have a large American population (second largest in Mexico next to Mexico City), particularly for its cheaper housing and proximity to San Diego.
  Some 60,000 Oaxacans live in Baja California, the vast majority being indigenous. Some 40% of them lack proper birth certificates.
  According to a Conacyt investigator, a bit under a million people were classified as "poor" in the state, up from 2008 when there were roughly 810,000.  Exactly who these people are, whether locals, interstate or international migrants, was not explained.
caption: Los Pioneros monument in Mexicali dedicated to the pioneers that settled the region.
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