The Californias in the context of "Baja California Sur"

San Jose, officially the City of San José (/ˌsæn hoʊˈzeɪ, -ˈseɪ/ SAN hoh-ZAY, -⁠SAY; Spanish: [saŋ xoˈse]), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is the most populous city in both the Bay Area and Northern California and the 12th-most populous in the United States. Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay, San Jose covers an area of 179.97 sq mi (466.1 km) and is the county seat of Santa Clara County.

Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area around San Jose was long inhabited by the Tamien nation of the Ohlone people. San Jose was founded on November 29, 1777, as the Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, the first city founded in the Californias. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 after the Mexican War of Independence. Following the U.S. Conquest of California during the Mexican–American War, the territory was ceded to the United States in 1848. After California achieved statehood two years later, San Jose served as the state's first capital. San Jose experienced an economic boom after World War II, with a rapid population growth and aggressive annexation of nearby communities in the 1950s and 1960s. The rapid growth of the technology industry in Silicon Valley further accelerated the city's transition from an agricultural center to an urbanized metropolitan area, prompting Mayor Tom McEnery to adopt San Jose's current motto, "Capital of Silicon Valley", in 1988. Results of the 1990 U.S. census indicated that San Jose had surpassed San Francisco in population. By the early 2000s, San Jose was California's fastest-growing economy.

Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most populous city in northern Mexico. It is just south of California and is close to the Mexico–United States border which is part of the San Diego–Tijuana metro area.

Tijuana is the 27th largest city in the Americas and is the westernmost city in Mexico. As of 2024, the population of Tijuana has increased to 2,297,000, reflecting a growth of 1.63% since 2023. The city was second-largest nationally with 1,810,645 inhabitants. The international metropolitan region was estimated at 5,158,459 in 2016, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in The Californias, 19th-largest metropolitan area in the Americas, and the largest bi-national conurbation that is shared between US and Mexico. The city is one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country and rated as a "High Sufficiency" global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

During the Age of Discovery, the Spanish Empire undertook several expeditions to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Spanish claims to the region date to the papal bull of 1493, and the Treaty of Tordesillas signed in 1494. In 1513, this claim was reinforced by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean, when he claimed all lands adjoining this ocean for the Spanish Crown. Spain only started to colonize the claimed territory north of present-day Mexico in the 18th century, when it settled the northern coast of Las Californias.

Starting in the mid-18th century, Spain's claims in the Pacific Northwest began to be contested by the British and Russians, who established fur trading posts and other settlements in the region. King Charles III of Spain and his successors sent several expeditions from New Spain to present-day Canada and Alaska between 1774 and 1793 to strengthen the Spanish claims. These efforts would eventually come to naught when Spanish claims in the region were ceded to the American government in the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty.

Mexicali (English: /ˌmɛksɪˈkæli/; Spanish: [mexiˈkali] ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which abuts the Mexico–United States border and the U.S. city of Calexico, California, is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality. It has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to combined 1,000,000. Mexicali is a regional economic and cultural hub for the border region of The Californias.

Mexicali was founded at the turn of the 20th century, when the region's agricultural economy experienced a period of boom. The city rapidly expanded throughout the 20th century, owing to the proliferation of maquiladoras in the city, making the Mexicali economy more interconnected with businesses from across the border. Today, Mexicali is a major manufacturing center and an emerging tourist destination.

Mission San Juan Capistrano (Spanish: Misión San Juan Capistrano) is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial Las Californias by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan Order, it was named for Saint John of Capistrano. The Spanish Colonial Baroque style church was located in the Alta California province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Mission was founded less than 60 yards from the village of Acjacheme. The Mission was secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, and returned to the Roman Catholic Church by the United States government in 1865. The Mission was damaged over the years by a number of natural disasters, but restoration and renovation efforts date from around 1910. It functions today as a museum.

Monterey (/ˌmɒntəˈreɪ/ MON-tə-RAY; Spanish: Monterrey) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of 8.645 sq mi (22.39 km) and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census.

Monterey was founded by the Spanish in 1774, when Gaspar de Portolá and Junípero Serra established the Presidio of Monterey and the Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo. Monterey was elevated to capital of the Province of the Californias in 1777, servings as the administrative and military headquarters of both Alta California and Baja California, as well as its only official port of entry. Following the Mexican War of Independence, Monterey continued as the capital of the Mexican Department of the Californias.

Below is a list of the governors of early California (1769–1850), before its admission as the 31st U.S. state. First explored by Gaspar de Portolá, with colonies established at San Diego and Monterey, Las Californias was a remote, sparsely settled Spanish province of the viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1822, following Mexican independence, California became part of Mexico.

In 1836, a coup led by Californios Juan Bautista Alvarado and José Castro eventually resulted in Alvarado becoming governor. That conflict ended in 1838, when the central government of Mexico recognized Alvarado as California Governor. The territorial diputación (legislature) approved the appointment.

Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá (Spanish: Misión San Diego de Alcalá, lit. The Mission of Saint Didacus of Acalá) was the second Franciscan-founded mission in the Californias (after San Fernando de Velicata), a province of New Spain. Located in present-day San Diego, California, it was founded on July 16, 1769, by Spanish friar Junípero Serra, in an area long inhabited by the Kumeyaay people. The current church, built in the early 19th century, is the fifth to stand on this location. The mission site is a National Historic Landmark.

The mission and the surrounding area were named for the Catholic saint Didacus of Alcalá, a Spaniard more commonly known as San Diego. The mission was the site of the first Christian burial in Alta California. The original mission burned in 1775 during an uprising by local natives. San Diego is also generally regarded as the site of the region's first public execution, in 1778. Father Luis Jayme, California's first Christian martyr who was among those killed during the 1775 uprising against the mission, lies entombed beneath the chancel floor.