Ensenada Ensenada GSO Category="Cities in Baja California"[image] Ensenada is a city in the state of Baja California, Mexico. It is located 116 km (about 70 miles) south of Tijuana, at 31°47′ N 116°36′ W. The city has an estimated population of 314,281. Ensenada is also the municipal seat of Ensenada Municipality, one of the five into which the state is divided. At 3.7 million square kilometers, it is the largest municipality in the world.

The Ensenada slogan is La Bella Cenicienta Del Pacifico, The Cinderella Of The Pacific.

Located in the Bahía de Todos Santos - an inlet of the Pacific Ocean - Ensenada is an important commercial and fishing port as well as a cruise ship stop. There is also a navy base and military airfield.

The city is backed up by small mountain ranges. Due to its location on the Pacific Ocean and Mediterranean latitude, the weather tends to be mild year-round. Although the winter rain season is short and the area is prone to prolonged droughts, Ensenada sits in the heart of a wine country that is widely regarded as the best in Mexico. It is said that the first Vitis vinifera made it to the peninsula (specifically to the San Ignacio Mission) in 1703, when Jesuit Padre Juan Ugarte planted the first vineyards there.

Economy

The economy of Ensenada is driven by Commerce (mainly via the port of Ensenada), commercial fishing, Tourism, Agriculture, Mining and, to a lesser degree, Maquiladora industry.

Commerce

Ensenada is the only deep water port in Baja California and is part of standard shipping routes that directly link it with the Mexican cities of La Paz, Manzanillo, Mazatlán, Acapulco and Lázaro Cardenas, as well as the United States cities of San Diego, Long Beach and Los Angeles, the guatemalan city of Puerto Quetzal, the chilean city of Valparaiso, the japanese city of Yokohama and the chinese city of Hong Kong. Ensenada is not part of any rail transport grid, although there are plans to build a rail line to the United States border in the short to mid-term future.

Commercial Fishing

More than 90 species are commercially fished in Ensenada, the most important of which are tuna, shrimp, lobster, abalone, sea urchin, sardine, mackarel and seaweed. A large percentage of all catches are exported to the Far East. A tuna embargo imposed on Mexico during the 1990's caused most of the fishing fleet to relocate to the southern mexican ports of Guaymas and Mazatlán. In order to survive, Ensenada's tuna industry has shifted its' focus to tuna farming, exporting the highly valued meat exclusively to Japan.

Tourism

Ensenada is strategically located 120 kilometers south of the border with the United States via a four lane toll road and a two lane free road, which makes it a natural destination for tourists on short vacations by car. Ensenada's proximity to California also makes it a destination for short cruise ship trips from the Los Angeles area, and there are four ships that make weekly trips to Ensenada as of 2005. Ensenada receives 30% of all cruise ship tourists in Mexico.

There are many features which make Ensenada an attractive tourist destination, stated below.

A few minutes south of town is the largest of three known major marine geysers in the world, this one known as "La Bufadora" ("The Blowhole").

The near vicinity of Ensenada has several celebrated Surfing spots, such as San Miguel Beach and Todos Santos Island. Further south in the municipality are spots famous for their excellent Windsurfing.

The world-renowned Baja 1000 off-road race is held in Ensenada every year in late November, while the Baja 500 race is held in early June. Off-road enthusiasts use Ensenada year-round as a starting point to explore Baja.

The grey whale's annual migration from Alaska to the lagoons of Baja California Sur between the months of December and March, and back in the months of April and May, can be seen from the coast of Ensenada. Sightseeing tours are available every day during migration season.

The nearby town of Guadalupe, Baja California was founded by immigrant Russian molokans in the late nineteenth century. Most of the molokan community re-migrated towards California's Central Valley in the mid-twentieth century, and there exists a Russian Museum commemorating their legacy in the region. The traditional economic activities in Guadalupe, Baja California are olive and wine production. Currently, about 90% of wine production in Mexico originates in the valleys of Guadalupe and adjacent Calafia. Many local wine producers offer tours and tastings.

Every year during the month of August, the beginning of wine harvest season is celebrated in the Guadalupe Valley and in the city of Ensenada with a two week long series of cultural and culinary events, all under the title banner of Fiestas de la Vendimia (Wine Harvest Festival), which attracts people from all over the world.

The Ensenada Carnival is one of the largest in Mexico, as thousands of people gather in the streets for six days and nights.

The San Pedro Mártir mountain range and National Park is located in the municipality of Ensenada, about 240 km SW of the town of Ensenada. The astronomical Observatory complex of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) is located on a plateau atop the second highest peak in the park.

Agriculture

The municipality of Ensenada has three main agricultural zones: the Guadalupe-Calafia valleys to the north, the Ojos Negros valley to the east and the San Quintin valley to the south. The main crops are grapes, olives, tomato, wheat, alfalfa, asparragus, green onion and broccoli.

Mining

One of the earliest activities in the Ensenada region was gold and silver mining, and some of these mines are still in limited operation. In recent years, very large amounts of gravel have been extracted from creekbeds in rural areas and exported for infrastructure works in the nearby state of California in the United States. However, this has been a controversial activity, as environmentalists have argued that depleting the creekbeds will decrease the amount of water that is absorved by the soil during the brief rain season, thereby negatively impacting the agricultural industry. As of November of 2005, the extraction of gravel remains unchecked.

Maquiladora Industry

Ensenada has six major industrial parks, compared to 26 in Mexicali and 51 in Tijuana.

Education

The following higher education institutions are based in Ensenada.

With UNAM's research headquarters, the Marine Sciences Department of the UABC and the thriving CICESE scientific institute in town, Ensenada boasts the highest concentration of scientists and science students in all of Latin America, chiefly in the fields of Astronomy, Physics, Geology and Oceanography. Fittingly, Ensenada has been coined The City Of Science.

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