Baja California Sur

Baja California Sur (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbaxa kaliˈfoɾnja ˈsuɾ] (About this soundlisten); English: “South Lower California”), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the second-smallest Mexican state by population and the 31st admitted state of the 32 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is also the ninth-largest Mexican state in terms of area.

Before becoming a state on October 8, 1974, the area was known as the El Territorio Sur de Baja California (“South Territory of Lower California”). 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. It is bordered to the north by the state of Baja California, to the west by the Pacific Ocean, and to the east by the Gulf of California. The state has maritime borders with Sonora and Sinaloa to the east, across the Gulf of California.

The state is home to the tourist resorts of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo. Its largest city and capital is La Paz.