It has an area of 73,909 km2 (28,536 sq mi), or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico, and occupies the southern half of the Baja California Peninsula, south of the 28th parallel, plus the uninhabited Rocas Alijos in the Pacific Ocean.

The first European known to have landed in Baja California was a rebel navigator named Fortún Ximénez, who killed his captain and one of envoys of Hernán Cortés, Diego de Becerra [es] in his sleep, while he led a revolt and ruined entire mission.

Ximénez and the accomplice crewmen still in navigation ruined the sail in the peninsula and were hostile with the Indians due their collected giant pearls and because explorers wanted rape the women.

The survivor Spanish navigators withdrew the coast and sailed erratically for several days until they reached the shores of the present-day Jalisco, where they encountered a subaltern of Nuño de Guzmán, who personally did not like Cortés, and requisitioned the ship and took them prisoner reporting mistakenly that peninsula are an island and starting its initial European misconception as an island.

Japanese archaeologist Harumi Fujita, who has been excavating the Cape Region since 1985, has carbon-dated remains from the Babisuri Shelter on the Isla Espíritu Santo to 40,000 years ago, placing the earliest habitation date in the Archaic period, though the majority of remains indicate indigenous people have constantly occupied the area from between 10,000 and 21,000 years ago.

[9][14] The most important concentrations are in twelve square kilometer zone in the north of the state, centered on the Sierra de San Francisco.

He and his crew did not remain long because they sacked the area's pearls and abused the women, prompting a violent confrontation with the natives, who killed Ximénez.

[9][14] Loreto was the original capital of the peninsula but destruction of the town by heavy rains in 1828 forced the government's relocation first to San Antonio, birthplace of local deputy Antonio Cota, near the then Port of La Paz, where him proposed translate functions, relocating definitively here months later which has been the capital since, finishing works until 1830.

[16] The United States invaded the peninsula during the Mexican–American War and wanted it as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, but the Mexican government succeeded in keeping control of the territory.

[9][14] During the Reform War, Liberal forces under General Manuel Marquez de Leon and others captured La Paz.

French forces then invaded the country to support the Conservative cause, and Governor Felix Gilbert recognized Emperor Maximilian.

[14] During the regime of Porfirio Diaz (1876 to 1910), the Mexican government invited foreign enterprises to enter the country to develop it.

[9] The south of the peninsula was not involved in the Mexican Revolution until after the assassination of Francisco I. Madero, when troops were organized in opposition to Victoriano Huerta, his successor under Félix Ortega.

Infrastructure development remained a priority for the area, with the establishment of schools including the first teachers' college in 1942, and projects to provide water and electricity.

The La Serranía is the high mountain areas with significant tree cover, some species of which are commercially valuable.

Major bays include Sebastian Vizcaino, Magdalena, La Paz, Asunción, Ballenas, Concepcion and San Carlos.

[14] Other plant species include mesquite, chironola, lechuguilla, nopal and barrel cactus, choyas, paloadan and pitahaya.

The municipality borders that of La Paz to the north, with the rest defined by the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California.

[28] Commercial species include tuna, sardines, anchovies, clams, snails, oysters, shark, lobsters, abalone, shrimp, and crabs, which are sold both nationally and internationally.

[14] Major crops include garbanzo beans, sorghum, tomatoes, alfalfa, wheat, corn and green chili peppers.

[27] Traditional handcrafts can be found throughout the state and include articles made with seashells, palo chino, choya and cardon cactus.

Another important craft is leatherwork, especially the making of gear for horseback riding such as saddles, holsters and chaps along with belts and carrying bags.

[17][14] Tourist attractions are divided into three regions: north (Guerrero Negro to Ciudad Constitución), center (La Paz to Todos Santos), and south (Los Barriles to Cabo San Lucas).

[14] Other attractions include deep sea fishing, golf, tennis, motorcycling, scuba diving and snorkeling, with windsurfing at Medano Beach and surfing at Todos Santos, Pescadero East Cape and Scorpion Bay.

Mexican Federal Highway 19 provides an alternate route between Cabo San Lucas and La Paz.

[17][15][14] Traditional dress for women includes a semicircular red skirt decorated with local flora, along with a flowered blouse.

[17] Because of the long coastline, much of the state's cuisine is based on seafood, including species not normally eaten in other parts of Mexico such as manta rays.

In a fishing village that was the subject of Siegelman, Haenn, and Basurto’s ethnographic research, jokes/lies, called mentiras (meaning jokes, lies, teases, etc.

based on context), were used as a social tool to build group solidarity, distinguish between insiders and outsiders, and encourage exclusivity in resource extraction.

Profit-oriented deceptions during fish sales involve tipping scales toward extra profit when fisheries weigh their catch and understating the amount of gasoline or bait used to deflate the debt to their patrons in an effort to pad their earnings.