municipalities of Baja California

{{short description|Counties of Baja California}}

File:Baja California in Mexico.svg

File:Municipios_Baja_California.png since 2022.]]

Baja California is a state in Northwest Mexico that is divided into seven municipalities. According to the 2020 Mexican census, Baja California is the 13th most populous state with {{nts|3769020}} inhabitants and the 12th largest by land area spanning {{convert|73290.08|km2|sqmi}}.

Municipalities in Baja California are administratively autonomous of the state according to the 115th article of the 1917 Constitution of Mexico.{{cite act |title=Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos |type= |number= |language=Spanish |date=1917 |article=115 |article-type=Article |page= |url=https://www.juridicas.unam.mx/legislacion/ordenamiento/constitucion-politica-de-los-estados-unidos-mexicanos#10668 |access-date=September 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926165033/https://www.juridicas.unam.mx/legislacion/ordenamiento/constitucion-politica-de-los-estados-unidos-mexicanos#10668#10668 |archive-date=2017-09-26 }} Their legal framework derives from Title VI of the state Constitution{{cite act |url=http://www.congresobc.gob.mx/Parlamentarias/TomosPDF/Leyes/TOMO_I/Constbc_19ENE2018.pdf |title=Constitución Política del Estado Libre y Sobrerano de Baja California |language=es |article=VI |article-type=Title |date=January 19, 2018 |access-date=February 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226032702/http://www.congresobc.gob.mx/Parlamentarias/TomosPDF/Leyes/TOMO_I/Constbc_19ENE2018.pdf |archive-date=2018-02-26 }} and the state's 2001 Law of the Municipal Regime.{{cite web |url=http://www.congresobc.gob.mx/Parlamentarias/TomosPDF/Leyes/TOMO_I/Leyregimenmpal_10NOV2017.pdf |title=Ley del Régimen Municipal para el Estado de Baja California |language=es |publisher=Baja California State Congress |date=November 10, 2017 |access-date=February 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226032812/http://www.congresobc.gob.mx/Parlamentarias/TomosPDF/Leyes/TOMO_I/Leyregimenmpal_10NOV2017.pdf |archive-date=February 26, 2018 |url-status=dead }} Every three years, citizens elect a municipal president (Spanish: presidente municipal) by a plurality voting system who heads a concurrently elected municipal council (ayuntamiento) responsible for providing public services for their constituents. The municipal council consists of a variable number of trustees and councillors (regidores y síndicos) who govern from the municipal seat.{{cite book |author=OECD |author-link=OECD |date=November 12, 2004 |title=New Forms of Governance for Economic Development |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBC7MYzs_woC&pg=PA121 |publisher=OECD Publishing |page=121 |isbn=978-9-2640-1532-6 |access-date=2017-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042137/https://books.google.ca/books?id=tBC7MYzs_woC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121 |archive-date=2017-12-01 |url-status=live }} Municipalities are responsible for public services (such as water and sewerage), street lighting, public safety, traffic, and the maintenance of public parks, gardens and cemeteries.{{cite book |publisher=International Business Publications |date=2009 |title=Mexico Company Laws and Regulations Handbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENsRpYrGTOQC |page=42 |isbn=978-1-4330-7030-3 |access-date=2017-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729050906/https://books.google.ca/books?id=ENsRpYrGTOQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0 |archive-date=2017-07-29 |url-status=live }} They may also assist the state and federal governments in education, emergency fire and medical services, environmental protection and maintenance of monuments and historical landmarks. Since 1984, they have had the power to collect property taxes and user fees, although more funds are obtained from the state and federal governments than from their own income. Municipalities may establish functional and geographical subdivisions called delegaciones and subdelegaciones{{cite book |last=Polo Martínez |first=Humberto |date=November 2012 |title=Administración pública comunitaria y gobierno local en México: Las autoridades auxiliares municipales |language=es |publisher=National Institute of Public Administration |url=http://www.inap.mx/portal/images/pdf/book/67282.pdf |page=114 |isbn=978-607-9026-26-4 |access-date=2018-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102073150/http://www.inap.mx/portal/images/pdf/book/67282.pdf |archive-date=2018-01-02 |url-status=live }} in accordance with Article 29 of the Law of the Municipal Regime.

The largest municipality by population in Baja California and in Mexico is Tijuana with 1,922,523 residents, representing around half ({{percentage|1922523|3769020|1}}) of the population of the state. The smallest municipality by population is San Felipe: the areas which now make up San Felipe recorded a population of 18,369 inhabitants in the 2010 Mexican Census.{{cite web |url=https://www.congresobc.gob.mx/Documentos/ProcesoParlamentario/Dictamenes/20210519_94_GOBERNACION.pdf |title=Dictamen No. 94 |language=es |publisher=Congress of Baja California |date=19 May 2021 |accessdate=7 January 2022}} San Quintín, which spans {{convert|32883.93|km2|sqmi|adj=ri2|2|abbr=on}}, is the largest municipality by area in the state and in the country. Playas de Rosarito is the smallest municipality by area spanning {{convert|500.667|km2|sqmi|adj=ri2|2|abbr=on}}. The first municipality to incorporate was Ensenada on {{dts|May 15, 1882}} and the newest municipality is San Felipe which was formed from Ensenada and Mexicali on {{dts|January 1, 2022}}.