Guerrero Negro
Encyclopedia
Guerrero Negro is the largest town located in the municipality
of Mulegé in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur
(BCS). It had a population of 13,054 in the 2010 census. Guerrero Negro is served by Guerrero Negro Airport
.
to calve in the lagoon
s of BCS. This festival occurs during the first half of February. Another town in BCS, the port of San Blas, has a similar festival on February 24 and 25.
in the western United States
. The salt mine was established around the Ojo de Liebre
coastal lagoon taking advantage of the heavy salinity of the place, without realizing that eventually this company, called Exportadora de Sal, S.A., of C.V.
("Salt Exporters, Inc."), would become the greatest salt mine in the world, with a production of seven million tons of salt per annum, exported to the main centers of consumption in the Pacific basin, especially Japan
, Korea
, the United States, Canada
, Taiwan
and New Zealand
. In 1973, Daniel Ludwig sold the company to the Mexican government and the corporation
Mitsubishi
, 51% and 49% respectively, giving rise to a historic business success which continues to the present. The company is distinguished not only by its growth and its yield, but also by the progress which has reached more than a thousand employees, their community and its ecological surroundings: The salt works, located in a site of extraordinary beauty, within a reserve of the biosphere, has been pivotal in the development of the region, where each winter whales gather, many species of resident and migratory birds stay, visiting birds originating mainly in the United States and Europe.
discovered a prolific gray whale
breeding lagoon which became a choice hunting ground for American and European whalers. Although locally known as Laguna "Ojo de Liebre" (eye of the jackrabbit), this lagoon is better known to boaters from around the world as Scammon's. Now, instead of whaling, a whale-watching industry has developed around the whales in the lagoon. The whales in the lagoon are particularly known for their willingness to approach the whale-watching boats and sometimes (especially the newborns) allow themselves to be petted.
The town is on Federal Highway 1
.
Municipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...
of Mulegé in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur , is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state on October 8, 1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It has an area of , or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises...
(BCS). It had a population of 13,054 in the 2010 census. Guerrero Negro is served by Guerrero Negro Airport
Guerrero Negro Airport
Guerrero Negro Airport is an airport located 6 km North of Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico. It handles air traffic for the city of Guerrero Negro.-Airlines:-Accidents and incidents:...
.
Whale Festival
The town has a celebration each year to hail the annual arrival of the gray whaleGray Whale
The gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of about , a weight of , and lives 50–70 years. The common name of the whale comes from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. Gray whales were...
to calve in the lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s of BCS. This festival occurs during the first half of February. Another town in BCS, the port of San Blas, has a similar festival on February 24 and 25.
Saltworks operation
Guerrero Negro was born in 1957 when an American by the name of Daniel Ludwig--who also constructed the hotel Acapulco Princess in the port of Acapulco, Guerrero--decided to install a salt works there to supply the demand of saltSodium chloride
Sodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt or halite, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...
in the western United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The salt mine was established around the Ojo de Liebre
Ojo de Liebre
Ojo de Liebre may refer to:*Laguna Ojo de Liebre, lagoon in northwestern Mexico*Another name for the Tempranillo variety of grape...
coastal lagoon taking advantage of the heavy salinity of the place, without realizing that eventually this company, called Exportadora de Sal, S.A., of C.V.
Exportadora de Sal, S.A., of C.V.
The company is located in Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico, the settlement of which began in 1957 when a U.S. American by the name of Daniel Ludwig--who also constructed the hotel Acapulco Princess in the port of Acapulco, Guerrero--installed a salt works there to supply the demand of...
("Salt Exporters, Inc."), would become the greatest salt mine in the world, with a production of seven million tons of salt per annum, exported to the main centers of consumption in the Pacific basin, especially Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, the United States, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. In 1973, Daniel Ludwig sold the company to the Mexican government and the corporation
Zaibatsu
is a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed for control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period until the end of World War II.-Terminology:...
Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
, 51% and 49% respectively, giving rise to a historic business success which continues to the present. The company is distinguished not only by its growth and its yield, but also by the progress which has reached more than a thousand employees, their community and its ecological surroundings: The salt works, located in a site of extraordinary beauty, within a reserve of the biosphere, has been pivotal in the development of the region, where each winter whales gather, many species of resident and migratory birds stay, visiting birds originating mainly in the United States and Europe.
Community
Guerrero Negro is the Spanish translation of the name "Black Warrior", a U.S. American whaling ship from Duxbury, Massachusetts near Boston that grounded near the coast in the 1850s. It was during this era that Captain Charles Melville ScammonCharles Melville Scammon
Charles Melville Scammon was a 19th-century whaleman, naturalist, and author. He was the first to hunt the gray whales of both Laguna Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio Lagoon, the former once being called "Scammon's Lagoon" after him. In 1874 he wrote the book The Marine Mammals of the North-western...
discovered a prolific gray whale
Gray Whale
The gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of about , a weight of , and lives 50–70 years. The common name of the whale comes from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. Gray whales were...
breeding lagoon which became a choice hunting ground for American and European whalers. Although locally known as Laguna "Ojo de Liebre" (eye of the jackrabbit), this lagoon is better known to boaters from around the world as Scammon's. Now, instead of whaling, a whale-watching industry has developed around the whales in the lagoon. The whales in the lagoon are particularly known for their willingness to approach the whale-watching boats and sometimes (especially the newborns) allow themselves to be petted.
The town is on Federal Highway 1
Mexican Federal Highway 1
Mexican Federal Highway No. 1 follows the length of the Baja California Peninsula from Cabo San Lucas , at the southern end to Tijuana in the north...
.
External links
- www.AllAboutBaja.com Learn all about Guerrero Negro and the magnificent Baja peninsula.