19th century

In the mid-19th century, a geologist working for the Southern Pacific Railroad came to the delta area, discovering what the native Yumans had known for centuries: that the thick river sediment deposits made the area prime farming land. These sediments extended far to the west of the river itself, accumulating in a shallow basin below the Sierra de Cucapá.^[2] However, from this time period until the 1880s, the area was almost completely unpopulated, mostly due to its harsh climate. In 1888, the federal government granted a large part of northern Baja California state, including Mexicali, to Guillermo Andrade, with the purpose of colonizing the area on the recently created border with the United States. However, around 1900, the only area with any real population, aside from the Cocopah, were concentrated in Los Algodones, to the east of Mexicali.^[4]

20th century

Downtown Mexicali in the 1940s

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe began construction in 1918.

In 1900, the U.S.-based California Development Company received permission from the government of Díaz to cut a canal through the delta's Arroyo Alamo, to link the dry basin with the Colorado River. To attract farmers to the area, the developers named it the "Imperial Valley". In 1903, the first 500 farmers arrived; by late 1904, 405 km² (100,000 acres) of valley were irrigated, with 10,000 people settled on the land harvesting cotton, fruits, and vegetables. The concentration of small housing units that straddled the border was called Calexico on the U.S. side and Mexicali on the Mexican side.^[2] Led by Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler, one company controlled 800,000 hectares of land in northern Baja California by 1905, and began to build the irrigation system for the Valley. However, instead of using Mexican labor to dig the ditches, Chandler brought in thousands of Chinese laborers.^[2] Mexicali became culturally Chinese influenced.

The Mexican side was named Mexicali (a portmanteau composed of "Mexico" and "California") by Coronel Agustín Sanguinéz. Initially the area belonged to the municipality of Ensenada.^[4] The town of Mexicali was officially created on 14 March 1903 when Manuel Vizcarra was named as the town's first authority and Assistant Judge (juez auxiliar).^[2] On January 29, 1911, Mexicali was briefly "liberated" by the Liberal Party of Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. Mayor Baltazar Aviléz declared the municipality of Mexicali on November 4, 1914, and called for elections to creation of the first ayuntamiento or municipality, which was then headed by Francisco L. Montejano.^[4]

In the 20th century, the Colorado Riverland Company, a U.S.-based company, was dedicated to renting Mexican land to farmers; however, these farmers were almost always foreigners, such as Chinese, East Indians and Japanese. Mexicans were employed only as seasonal laborers. This situation led to the agrarian conflict known as the "Asalto a las Tierras" (Assault on the Lands) in 1937.^[4] in which Mexican land was taken by Mexicans.

Cuauhtémoc School in the 1950s

Agricultural production continued to increase during the 20th century. Cotton became the most important crop and helped develop the textile industry. In the early 1950s, the Mexicali Valley became the biggest cotton-producing zone in the country and in the 1960s, production reached more than half a million parcels a year.

The first factories appeared in the 1960s with the end of the Bracero program. A 1988 study found 100 factories in the city, including 10 electronics manufacturers, 25 auto parts manufacturers, 27 textile plants and nine plastics companies. Most maquiladoras are run by US companies, followed by Mexican, South Korean, and Japanese companies.^[5]

21st century

Today Mexicali is an important center for maquiladora (assembly plant) production in the automotive, aerospace, telecommunications, metallurgical, and health items as well as manufacturing and exporting products to various countries.^[6]

The 2010 Baja California earthquake occurred on Easter Sunday about 60 km south-southeast of Mexicali.^[7] This very large magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurred at 15:40:40 local time (UTC−8) according to the U.S. Geological Survey. With a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), it was felt in northern Baja California near the United States–Mexico border, and was also felt in western cities such as Tijuana, San Diego, Los Angeles and parts of Arizona.

Ecology

Despite its arid desert location, Mexicali is watered through a system of aquifers in the valley. Under a 1944 water treaty, the city is "guaranteed an annual quantity of 1,500,000 acre-feet (1.9 km³) [of water] to be delivered" from the Colorado River.^[11] However, a proposed concrete lining in the United States on the All-American Canal would cut off billions of leaked gallons of water, which is used to irrigate onions, alfalfa, asparagus, squash and other crops in Mexicali.^[12]

The nearby Cerro Prieto volcano^[13] is adjacent to the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station,^[14] which creates high volumes of pollutants including mercury. As of 2014, the government are creating a zone of exclusion, due to the alarming amount of pollutants and contamination that has permeated throughout miles around the geothermal plant of Cerro Prieto.^[15]

Climate

Because of its low annual precipitation, Mexicali has an arid climate (BWh), featuring long, extremely hot summers and mild to warm winters. Under the criteria for the Köppen climate classification, Mexicali maintains desert weather temperatures every year, receiving only 70.9 millimetres (2.79 in) of precipitation annually over 16 precipitation days on average. On December 12, 1932, the city experienced snowfall. Rainfall usually occurs in the winter months of December, January and February. Summer rainfall in the city is infrequent, although in some years thunderstorms and the remnants of tropical storms and hurricanes passing over Baja California from the Pacific can sometimes drop heavy rainfall (most likely in August and September). A notable example was Hurricane Kathleen in 1976, which dropped several inches of rain in the area. During winter time, Mexicali is affected by the snow storms that pass by the town of La Rumorosa located in the Sierra de Juárez, about 45 minutes west of the city, causing a decrease in temperature that lasts from two days to one week. July is the hottest month with a mean at 33.9 °C (93.0 °F) and an average high at 42.3 °C (108.1 °F), while January is the coolest month with a mean at 13.1 °C (55.6 °F) and an average low at 5.8 °C (42.4 °F).

On 28 July 1995, the Mexicali area recorded a temperature of 52.0 °C (125.6 °F), which is the highest temperature to have ever been recorded in Mexico.^[16][17]

Silicon Border

Development in Punta Este

Silicon Border is an empty 40-square-kilometer (9,900-acre) development supposedly tailored to the specific needs of high-technology manufacturing and is situated in the outskirts of Mexicali, along the western border of the U.S. and Mexico.^[23] The aim of the empty manufacturing park, which began in 2004, was to transform Mexicali into the world's next semiconductor manufacturing center, if the world economy was fine. The Mexican federal and Baja California state governments have given away $2 million of public money to private hands, without a referendum for the design of the project and the laying of a few streets and lamp posts that can be seen on the premises as the only work done. Neither authorities nor the private frontmen of the project have given the public any account on what the public money was spent on. Former president Vicente Fox offered ten years of a tax rate as low as 3% to foreign-owned factories.^[24]

The premises sit empty as of October 2022.^[25]

Tourism

Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, seat of the Catholic Diocese of Mexicali

Mexicali also relies on tourism as a medium to generate revenue, and visitors cross by foot or by car from Calexico, United States, every day. Tourists are mainly attracted to local taco stands, restaurants, pharmacies, bars and dance clubs. Near the border, in walking distance, there are many shops and stalls selling Mexican curios and souvenirs. Arizona and Nevada residents look for medical and dental services in Mexicali, since they tend to be less expensive than in the United States. Pharmacies sell some drugs without a prescription and at much lower cost than in the US, but some medications still require a doctor's prescription, although several accessible doctor offices are located near the border as well.

Mexico's drinking age is 18 years old (vs. 21 in the United States) which makes it a common weekend destination for many high school and college students from Southern California.

Mexicali hosts Baja Prog, one of the world's most important events in progressive rock.

Resort hotel in Mexicali

Mexicali hosts four main shopping malls, the most visited being Plaza La Cachanilla, located a mile away from the US border. The mall hosts a variety of shops, which sell a wide array of items, ranging from cheap Mexican curios to expensive imports. The Plaza La Cachanilla also represents a common place for people to socialize, especially during summer days when the weather reaches high temperatures, many families come and spend the day inside the air-conditioned mall.

For recreation, Mexicali has bath halls, bowling alleys, traditional cantinas, car clubs, strip clubs, movie theaters, museums, a zoo, a convention center, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants for every choice of food.

Galerias del Valle, holds a WalMart Supercenter, a twelve-screen Cinepolis movie theater, two casinos, a food court, and a large array of stores that sell many items needed for daily living. It is located on Boulevard Lázaro Cárdenas at Calle 11.

La Chinesca

The city claimed to have the largest per capita concentration of residents of Chinese origin in Mexico, around 5,000 until 2012 when the Tijuana La Mesa District surpassed that number at 15,000 Chinese immigrants. The Chinese immigrants came to the area as laborers for the Colorado River Land Company, an American enterprise which designed and built an extensive irrigation system in the Valley of Mexicali. Some immigrants came from the United States, often fleeing anti-Chinese policies there, while others sailed directly from China. Thousands of Chinese were lured to the area by the promise of high wages, but that never materialized.^[29]

Since 2000, new migrants from China to Mexicali come from many of the same areas as before 1960, with perhaps 90% from Guangdong or Hong Kong.^[30]

Airport

Mexicali International Airport

The city is linked to other Mexican cities by Mexicali International Airport, which serves the city and the surrounding towns.

Public transit

There are over 40 bus routes across the city and its urban area, where companies like Atusa Plus, Getusmex, among others, offer this service.

Sister cities

Language dept. at the Autonomous University of Baja California

Mexicali has the following sister cities. They are:

• San Bernardino, United States^[35]
• Nanjing, China
• Gumi, North Gyeongsang, South Korea
• Sacramento, California, United States
• Calexico, California, United States