San José del Cabo (Spanish pronunciation: [saŋ xoˈse ðel ˈkaβo], Saint Joseph of the Cape) is a coastal city located on the Gulf of California coast, near the southern tip of Baja California Sur (state), México. San José del Cabo is situated on the edge of a shallow bay, some 32 kilometres (20 mi) northeast of Cabo San Lucas, a city with which it shares the title of Los Cabos.

San José del Cabo
Top: San José del Cabo coastline; Middle: Los Cabos Town Hall, San José del Cabo main plaza; San José Estuary, Misión Estero de las Palmas de San José del Cabo Añuití
San José del Cabo is located in Baja California Sur
San José del Cabo
San José del Cabo
Coordinates: 23°03′41″N 109°42′29″W / 23.06139°N 109.70806°W / 23.06139; -109.70806
CountryMexico
StateBaja California Sur
MunicipalityLos Cabos
Area
 • Total176.5 km2 (68.16 sq mi)
Elevation
45 m (148 ft)
Population
 (2020)[1][2]
 • Total136,285
 • Density770/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−7 (MST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−6 (MDT)

San José del Cabo is the seat of the Los Cabos Municipality. The city had a population of 136,285 at the 2020 census.[5]

The two cities are served by Los Cabos International Airport.

People and history edit

The 2020 census found that, at the time, 136,285 people lived in the city. [5] Together with neighboring Cabo San Lucas, it forms a major tourist hub, with over 900,000 hotel guests in 2011.[6]

The Misión Estero de las Palmas de San José del Cabo Añuití was founded in 1730 on the west bank of the nearby Río San José, which flows into the largest body of freshwater in Baja California Sur, an estuary, after flowing largely subterraneanly for 39.1 kilometres (24.3 mi) from its origin in the Sierra de la Laguna (Laguna Mountains). For centuries, the river has provided a source of freshwater for the locals and animals of this coastal desert we know today as San José del Cabo; it was once used as a source of freshwater for Spanish galleons traveling back from the Philippines.[7] The river once flowed above-ground until the beginning of the 20th century, due to anthropogenic causes.[8] A one-kilometer long sandbar separates the estuary from what early Spanish explorers, including Sebastián Vizcaíno, called the Bahía de San Bernabé (Bay of Saint Burnaby), now known as Bahía de San José del Cabo.[9]

San José del Cabo is one of two places where the critically endangered rice rat (Oryzomys peninsulae) has survived.[10]

Geography edit

Climate edit

San José del Cabo, like almost all of the Baja California peninsula, has a tropical desert climate (Köppen BWh). The area, however, does receive slightly more rainfall than most areas further north, mainly due to tropical cyclones occasionally approaching from the south. These storms can bring very heavy precipitation events, such as the roughly 340 millimetres (13.4 in) on 1 September 1998, or the 316 millimetres (12.4 in) on 3 November 1993. Overall, rainfall events here are some of the most spontaneous anywhere in the world due to the cyclone influence, and many years can pass without significant rain, at all.

The sea experiences lows of 72–73 °F (22–23 °C) in winter, and highs of 77–84 °F (25–29 °C) during the summer months.[11]

Average Sea Temperature
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
73 °F

23 °C

72 °F

22 °C

72 °F

22 °C

72 °F

22 °C

73 °F

23 °C

77 °F

25 °C

81 °F

27 °C

84 °F

29 °C

84 °F

29 °C

84 °F

29 °C

81 °F

27 °C

77 °F

25 °C

Climate data for San José del Cabo
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 37.0
(98.6)
38.0
(100.4)
39.0
(102.2)
39.0
(102.2)
40.0
(104.0)
38.0
(100.4)
39.0
(102.2)
42.0
(107.6)
42.0
(107.6)
41.0
(105.8)
40.0
(104.0)
39.0
(102.2)
42.0
(107.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 25.8
(78.4)
26.4
(79.5)
27.4
(81.3)
29.1
(84.4)
30.9
(87.6)
32.6
(90.7)
33.8
(92.8)
33.9
(93.0)
33.4
(92.1)
32.3
(90.1)
30.1
(86.2)
26.9
(80.4)
30.2
(86.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) 18.9
(66.0)
19.2
(66.6)
20.1
(68.2)
21.9
(71.4)
24.0
(75.2)
26.5
(79.7)
28.5
(83.3)
28.9
(84.0)
28.2
(82.8)
26.2
(79.2)
23.2
(73.8)
20.2
(68.4)
23.8
(74.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 12.0
(53.6)
12.0
(53.6)
12.8
(55.0)
14.8
(58.6)
17.1
(62.8)
20.5
(68.9)
23.3
(73.9)
23.8
(74.8)
23.0
(73.4)
20.1
(68.2)
16.3
(61.3)
13.4
(56.1)
17.4
(63.3)
Record low °C (°F) 1.5
(34.7)
2.0
(35.6)
5.0
(41.0)
6.0
(42.8)
9.0
(48.2)
11.0
(51.8)
11.5
(52.7)
11.0
(51.8)
11.0
(51.8)
11.0
(51.8)
9.2
(48.6)
3.0
(37.4)
1.5
(34.7)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 13.1
(0.52)
5.3
(0.21)
1.3
(0.05)
1.0
(0.04)
0.3
(0.01)
0.9
(0.04)
20.5
(0.81)
53.6
(2.11)
112.5
(4.43)
42.9
(1.69)
25.2
(0.99)
11.4
(0.45)
288.0
(11.34)
Average rainy days 1.4 0.6 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.1 1.4 3.0 3.9 2.0 0.8 1.1 14.6
Source: Servicio Meteorológico National[12]

Demographics edit

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1990 13,302—    
1995 21,737+63.4%
2000 31,102+43.1%
2010 69,788+124.4%
2015 93,069+33.4%
2020 136,285+46.4%
[13]

Many people from around the world live here, mostly from the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, China, Korea, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and other Latin American countries, among others. Some 80% of the population, however, are originally from other parts of Latin America (Mexico, Central and South America) thus enabling one to hear and experience several dialects of Spanish being spoken.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "San Jose del Cabo". Censo de Población y Vivienda 2010 (in Spanish). INEGI. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  2. ^ 2020 Census of Mexico.
  3. ^ "Los Cabos". Enciclopedia de los Municipios y Delegaciones de México. Mexico: INAFED. 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  4. ^ John Howells and Don Merwin (2007). Choose Mexico for retirement. Guilford, CT: The Globe Pequot Press. p. 182. ISBN 9780762743926.
  5. ^ a b "CENSO Los Cabos 2020" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Ranking of World Tourism" (PDF) (in Spanish). Consejo de Promoción Turística de México. 2011. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 24, 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  7. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, Second edition, 1778, Edinburgh, page 1580. Scan of page can be found at http://www.hyzercreek.com/britannica.htm
  8. ^ José Luis León de la Luz; Raymundo Domínguez Cadena; Miguel Domínguez León; José Juan Pérez Navarro (September 1997). "Floristic Composition of the San José del Cabo Oasis, Baja California Sur, México". SIDA, Contributions to Botany. 17 (3): 599–614. JSTOR 41967252.
  9. ^ Peter Masten Dunne. University of California Press. pp. 4–. GGKEY:FK94TH92Q55.
  10. ^ Carleton, M.D. and Arroyo-Cabrales, J. 2009. Review of the Oryzomys couesi complex (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) in Western Mexico. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 331:94–127.
  11. ^ "December Climate History for San Jose Del Cabo | Local | Mexico". Myweather2.com. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  12. ^ "Normales climatológicas 1951-2010. Estado: Baja California Sur. Estacion: San Jose del Cabo" (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
  13. ^ "Tabulados básicos - descarga". Archived from the original on 2014-09-15. Retrieved 2014-09-15.

External links edit