Flag of the Province of Baja California
Flag of the Province of Baja California
Tijuana, and the surrounding area were destroyed in the nuclear attacks of 1985, along with the bulk of the inhabitants of the old Mexican State of Baja California. Many of the survivors joined the great invasions and migrations to the north, south, and east over the next few years. By 2000, the bulk of the surviving population lived in small fishing villages along the coast or were nomadic. The southern port city of La Paz was the only substantial community, if a town of 350 souls can be so called.
In the period 2002-2004, a Fijian pirate band occupied La Paz, using the town as a base for raiding the coast of North America. Other bands briefly occupied La Paz in 2006, 2007, 2011, and 2017.
In 2020, a small UKA Royal Navy detachment landed at La Paz and claimed the area for the UKA crown, primarily for use as a coaling station and to deny it to the pirates. The locals enthusiastically welcome the UKA, happy for the protection. The province has had a peaceful existence since that date, the locals mainly taking care of their own affairs.
The government of Baja California is minimal, with an elected governor and a elected Governor's Council of 12 members as a legislature. The only government services provided are provincial constables in the various communities, and a provincial jail in La Paz.
The province's population was 8,888 in 2045. It is about eighty percent descended from the area's pre-1985 population, ten percent descended from intermarried Fijian-Mexican couples, and ten percent recent immigrants, mainly ofColombian birth. The population does not include UKA military personnel assigned to the Royal Navy's La Paz Naval Base.
Baja California is a peninsula, in northwestern Mexico, bounded north by the Province of Southern California, east by the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) and the Sonora waste, and south and west by the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula is approximately 760 miles (1,220 km) long and 25 to 150 miles (40 to 240 km) wide, with a total area of 55,366 square miles (143,396 square km).
Baja California has 2,038 miles of coastline, with many islands on both sides. The climate is predominantly dry and very warm. Rain is scarse in most parts, especially at the coast of the Gulf of California. Baja's mountains form a largely unbroken barrier running the entire length. The mountains are actually a series of ranges each with their own name. The mountains average between 2,000 and 3,000 feet. The tallest mountains on the peninsula are the twin peaks of Picacho del Diablo, or Devil's Peak, which rise to 10,154 feet.
There are four main desert areas on the peninsula. These are the San Felipe Desert, the Central Coast Desert, the Vizcaíno Desert and the Magdalena Plain Desert.
Being a peninsula, two of Baja three sides are water. The Pacific coast is characterized by ocean swells and the occasionally heavy surf. Due to upwelling of deep ocean water, the water temperature is cool though it warms as the water mover south.
The Sea of Cortez is over 600 miles long and in places, the depth reaches more than 14,000 feet. With its location along the San Andreas Fault, the Cortez is very seismically active. Earthquakes in the 1800's destroyed the towns of San Ignacio and Loreto.
Due to its long narrow shape, the Cortez produces one of the largest tidal ranges in the world. Near the Colorado River Delta the tides can fluctuate up to 31 feet between high and low tides. Water temperature can also vary by large extremes. Depending on the season and the location, the temperature can vary from a high of 91°F to a low of 47°F.
Climate
Much of northern Baja California has a climate similar to Southern California. Along the Pacific coast the summers are warm with cool night, while the winter is cool with chilly nights. The Sea of Cortez has hot summers days and humid nights, while the winter is cooler with strong cold winds. Most of the rain falls along the Pacific coast in the winter, with an average of 10 inches of rainfall a year.
The southern half of Baja is more sub-tropical. Summers are hot and humid, while winter evenings can be cool. Rain is rare and mostly in the summer in the form of violent storms.
The capital city is La Paz.
The official language of Baja California is Spanish.
La Paz RMCP Barracks
Ft. Keaton
La Paz Naval Base
Note: AftermathTM is a roleplaying game by FGU, long out of print but highly recommended. This website is my own creation, not the work of FGU's authors, and is entirely fictional and solely for the entertainment of my readers. Any characters named after any individuals, living or dead, societies, cultures, nations, or religions are fictional, set in an alternate universe, and make no pretense to the truth, even as I see it!