State of Mexico
Baja California
Baja California is a state of Mexico. It covers about 72,900 km² (28,100 mi²), the 10th largest of the 32 states in Natural Earth’s file for Mexico, and about the same size as Sierra Leone. About 3.3 million people live there (Wikidata, 2015).
100 km
- Baja California
- Sierra Leone
Facts
| Area, measured | 72,900 km²28,100 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 71,500 km²Wikidata · 2.0% below our measure |
| Share of Mexico | 3.7%of the area of the 32 states |
| Rank by area | 10th of 32states of Mexico |
| Population | 3.3 millionWikidata, 2015 |
| Density | 45 people per km² |
| Capital | Mexicali |
| Latitude range | 28°N to 33°N |
| Type | StateMX-BCN |
What the numbers say about Baja California
- Baja California covers 3.7% of the area of Mexico and ranks 14th of 32 by population, against 10th by area.
- It would take 26.9 states the size of Baja California to cover Mexico.
- The largest, Chihuahua, is 3.40× the size of Baja California; the smallest, Mexico City, is 1.9% of it.
- Closest in size within Mexico: Chiapas (73,400 km², 1.01×) and Baja California Sur (72,100 km², 1.01×).
- Counted as a country, Baja California would be larger than 121 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 119th by area, between Panama (74,500 km²) and Sierra Leone (71,600 km²).
- With 3.3 million people it would rank 136th of 238 by population.
- Baja California has 45 people per km², about the density of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has 45 per km².
- That makes Baja California the 20th most densely populated of the 32 states, 74% of the average for Mexico (61 per km²).
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 31°N is drawn about 1.3× too large in area, so Baja California looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, Baja California stretches about 524 km north to south and 566 km east to west.
- Our measured 72,900 km² is 2.0% above Wikidata's official figure of 71,500 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.
About the same size as
Beside the regions of other countries
The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.
- ChinaAreaChongqing89% · 82,400 km²PeopleTibet0.91× · 3.6 million (2020)
- United StatesAreaSouth Carolina0.91× · 80,200 km²PeopleUtah1.01× · 3.3 million (2020)
- IndiaAreaJharkhand0.94× · 77,900 km²PeopleTripura0.90× · 3.7 million (2011)
- GermanyAreaBavaria1.04× · 70,000 km²PeopleSchleswig-Holstein1.12× · 3.0 million (2022)
- FranceAreaOccitania0.99× · 73,500 km²PeopleNormandy0.99× · 3.3 million (2022)
- ItalyAreanone within 2×PeopleTuscany89% · 3.7 million (2019)
- SpainAreaCastilla–La Mancha0.92× · 79,400 km²PeopleGalicia1.23× · 2.7 million (2024)
- JapanAreaHokkaido (Japan)0.93× · 78,800 km²PeopleShizuoka0.92× · 3.6 million (2021)
- BrazilAreaParaíba1.29× · 56,500 km²PeopleRio Grande do Norte1.00× · 3.3 million (2022)
- CanadaAreaNew Brunswick1.00× · 72,800 km²PeopleAlberta78% · 4.3 million (2021)
- AustraliaAreaTasmania (Australia)1.07× · 68,100 km²PeopleWestern Australia1.10× · 3.0 million (2024)
- ThailandAreanone within 2×PeopleNakhon Ratchasima1.26× · 2.6 million (2020)
Where Baja California sits in Mexico
All 32 drawn on one equal-area map, so sizes are comparable. Select another to open it.
Ranked within Mexico
Compare Baja California
- Piauí vs Baja California
- Utah vs Baja California
- Baja California vs Sierra Leone
- Panama vs Baja California
- Baja California vs Ireland
- Austria vs Baja California
- Mongolia vs Baja California
- Uruguay vs Baja California
- Baja California vs Tasmania (Australia)
- Baja California vs New Brunswick
- Chongqing vs Baja California
- Baja California vs Paraíba
- South Carolina vs Baja California
- Jharkhand vs Baja California
- Castilla–La Mancha vs Baja California
- Occitania vs Baja California
- Hokkaido (Japan) vs Baja California
- Baja California vs Bavaria
- Baja California vs Rio Grande do Norte
- Baja California vs Normandy
Share this outline
Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
- Population
- Wikidata, 2015. Mexico’s units share the 2015 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
- Matching
- Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
- Data built
- 2026-11-12