In 1601, it was mandated by the Spanish viceroy in Mexico City that safe ports be found, one of which would be San Diego Bay, for ships of the Manila galleon.

[11] Since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, San Diego–Tijuana has become a dominant commercial center in the United States and Mexico.

[15] The boundaries of the Kumeyaay lands once extended from the Pacific Ocean, south to Ensenada, Baja California, east into the Imperial Valley and north to Warner Springs.

An area of 116 census tracts in the North County region of the conurbation has a population of 615,092 and a per capita income of $44,131 which is about 50 percent more than that of California and the entire United States.

A part of this region are the communities of Rancho Santa Fe, Carmel Valley and La Jolla which have consistently been among the ranks of some of the richest neighborhoods in the United States.

Tijuana's suburban landscape is made up densely packed low-density mixed land uses, with patches of street grids east of the city and more organic growth influenced by topography.

In the water, the Intertidal, estuary and kelp forest biomes dominate the aquatic world; home to an equally diverse set of flora and fauna.

[44][45] These mountain ranges constitute part of the Salinian Block, a largely granitic terrane dating back to the Mesozoic era and thus explaining the abundance of such stone throughout the region.

Once part of the North American Plate, the Salinian block broke off due to the formation of the San Andreas Fault and rift resulting in the Gulf of California and its extension of the Salton Trough.

This location draws many Latin Americans,[47] including Argentines, Cubans, Guatemalans, and Andean nationalities, as well as Chinese, Korean, and Japanese people; Italian, French, Spanish and Lebanese also reside in the region.

These boroughs offer administrative services such as urban planning, civil registry, inspection, verification, public works and community development, served by a delegate.

As Tijuana ranks higher in the Mexican urban hierarchy than San Diego does in the American urban hierarchy, Tijuana contains many foreign consulates including those of China, Korea, Finland, the United States, Germany, Spain, Honduras, France, Austria, Gambia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Israel, Canada, and the Czech Republic.

[57] The greater San Diego area has a knowledge-based economy that is only growing; Tijuana's sub-metropolitan region is reliant on a diversified manufacturing sector.

[13] Leading private employers to the metropolitan region are Qualcomm, SAIC, Sempra Energy, Sony, Kyocera, Pfizer Global Research & Development, Callaway Golf, Sharp HealthCare, Scripps Health, Sanyo, Hitachi, Panasonic Corporation, Samsung, Hyundai, Mattel, Honeywell, Pioneer Corporation, Maxell, Douglas Furniture, and International Rectifier.

The economy of the urban area is influenced by the Port of San Diego which gives the region a strong maritime sector; the conurbation is the location of the only major submarine and shipbuilding yards on the West Coast and of the largest naval fleet in the world.

The cruise ship industry, which is the second largest in the California-Baja California region, generates an estimated $2 million annually from the purchase of food, fuel, supplies, and maintenance services.

[63] Engineers and entrepreneurs in the entirety of the border region are fueling the growth of this economic industry in which a symbiotic relationship exists between think-tanks in the north and manufacturing heads in the south that creates a healthy environment for startup companies.

[68] The San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, Avenida Revolución, Rosarito, the area's beaches, and the Farmers Insurance Open are just some of the major tourist destinations in the conurbation.

Mexico's drinking age of 18 and legal and regulated prostitution make Tijuana a common weekend destination for many young Southern Californians and sex tourists.

[69] Popular attractions in the region include: Many large luxury hotels line San Diego Bay and the coast of Playas de Tijuana.

Today businesses such as auto detailing, medical services, dentistry and plastic surgery are heavily marketed and located near Tijuana's border with San Diego.

[74][75] This influx of companies is drawing skilled people from the United States with technical trades and college degrees to Tijuana transforming the city economy into a knowledge-based one.

[81] Many highways have a terminus in South Bay and run north and west towards other agglomerations such as the Inland Empire and Los Angeles metropolitan area.

[96] Tijuana is home to high ranked national colleges and universities and San Diego is ninth most educated city in the United States.

In 2007, a bill in the U.S. Congress called the DTV Border Fix Act was introduced, which would have allowed all stations in San Diego, and all television stations within 80 kilometers (50 mi) of the Mexican border, to keep their analog signals active for another five years, delaying the television transition that the rest of the United States would be going through; while the bill passed the Senate, it did not pass the House.

On November 20, 2017, the FCC eliminated the "Eight-Voices Test" requirement, allowing media companies to form duopolies regardless of the number of full-powered stations licensed to each market.

[100] The decision allowed Nexstar Media Group, owner of Fox affiliate KSWB-TV, to purchase independent station KUSI-TV from McKinnon Broadcasting on May 8, 2023;[101] the transaction was completed on August 31, creating the first legal duopoly in San Diego.

[109][110] In the Baja California subregions, unleaded gasoline has also replaced leaded fuel as means for transportation, helping regional air quality.

[111] On April 19, 2011, it was reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune that San Diego Gas & Electric signed a twenty-year deal with Sempra Generation to obtain power generated by the Energia Sierra Juarez Project, a wind farm of 450 wind turbines, taking up an area predominantly in the Tecate region of Baja California larger than Anza Borrego Desert State Park.

[113] A growing number of artists and musicians have begun challenging the sometimes negative stereotype of Tijuana through exhibitions displaying the city as a place of contingency and creativity.