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This article is currently in the process of being translated from its Spanish counterpart, . Please feel free to help out with the translation.
Baja California Sur is one of the 31 States of Mexico, occupying the part of the Baja California peninsula south of the 28th parallel. It is bordered to the north by the state of Baja California, to the west by the Pacific Ocean, and to the east by the Gulf of California.
The Origin of the Name
The name California already existed prior to the European discovery and exploration of the area. The first appearance of the name was in the Song of Roland, an epic novel from Northern France from the 8th century that refers to the defeat suffered in the retreat of Charlemagne's army at the hands of the Basques in the Pyrenees mountains. At one point in the poem the word Califerne is used, without indicating its meaning.
Hor est mis nies ki tant soleis cunquere
Encuentre mei revelerunt li Saisne
Et Hungre et Bugre et tante gent averse,
Romain, Pullain et tuit cil de Palerne
E cil d'Afrique e cil de Califerne.
Dead is my niece who conquered many lande
And now the Saxons rebel against me,
And the Hungarians and the Bulgarians and many others,
The Romans, those from Pulla and those from Palermo,
And those from Africa and those from Califerne.
- Song of Roland, 11th c.
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