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:''For other uses, see La Paz (disambiguation).''

'La Paz' is the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and an important regional commercial center. The city had a 2005 census population of 189,176 persons. Its surrounding Municipality of La Paz, which is the fourth-largest municipality in Mexico in geographical extent, reported a population of 219,596 persons living on a land area of 20,275 km² (7,828.2 sq mi).
La Paz was first inhabited by neolithic hunter-gatherers at least 10,000 years ago who left traces of their existence in the form of rock paintings near the city and throughout the Baja peninsula. On May 3rd 1535, Hernan Cortez arrived in the bay near La Paz after having conquered the Aztec empire in Central Mexico and named it Villa de la Santa Cruz but abandoned his colonization efforts after several years due to logistical problems. In 1596 Sebastian Vizcaino arrived, giving the area its modern name, La Paz.
La Paz is served by Manuel Márquez de León International Airport. Two ferry services operate from the port of Pichilinque outside the city, connecting the Baja California peninsula to the mainland at Mazatlán and Topolobampo, near Los Mochis.
The city is located between the coastal mountains and the Bay of La Paz, on the Gulf of California. Industries include silver mining, agriculture, fishing and pearls. Tourism is also an important source of employment for this coastal community.
The city features in the John Steinbeck book, ''The Pearl''.
During the summer the cooling Coromuel winds, a weather phenomenon unique to the La Paz area, blow during the night from the Pacific over the Peninsula and into the Bay of La Paz.
La Paz's population has greatly increased from the 2000 census and now stands at approximately a quarter of a million people. This growth is largely due to the fact that this city enjoys the highest standard of living/quality of life in the Mexican Republic with average wages in the range of $27 USD per day, whereas minimum wages in the country stand at closer to $4.25 USD per day. Many of the poorer southern States workers often have to work for half of that. For this reason many migrate to La Paz and Baja California Sur to enjoy a better standard of living and remit portions of their incomes to families in their home States.
La Paz is the State Capital and center of commerce, as well as the home of the three leading Marine Biology Institutes in Latin America (UABCS, CIBNOR & CICIMAR), largely due to the fact that it sits on the Gulf of California which is the most bio-diverse body of water in the world. It also supports several other university level institutes of learning. The combination of those makes La Paz one of the best educated per capita in the nation and thus gives it the largest per capita number of environmental experts/investigators in the country, and likely in one of the highest in the world.
Eco-Tourism is by far its major source of tourists income as people come to enjoy its marine wonders, as well as its diverse and often unique terrestrial species endemic to the region. All of the islands in the Gulf of California are now under UNESCO protection as World Heritage Bio-Reserves and the Espiritu Santos Islands group, which borders the south eastern portion of the Bay of La Paz and are considered the crown jewels of the islands of the Gulf (also referred to at the Sea of Cortez/Mar de Cortes), the primary tourist destination of the area. Its diving, snorkeling, and kayaking are considered second to none.

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References

★ Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005 INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
In addition to John Steinbeck's novel, "The Pearl", La Paz is mentioned extensively and lovingly in another Steinbeck non-fiction work, "The Log from the Sea of Cortez", 1941.
The city is also mentioned in the children's novella ''The Black Pearl'' by Scott C. O'Dell. The book was chosen as a Newbury Honor Book in 1967. Mr. O'Dell is also the author of the Newbury Award winning novel, ''Island of the Blue Dolphins''.

External links

La Paz, Baja Ca, Sur Informational site
Virtual Baja Sur

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