Mexicali

Mexicali (māhēkä`lē), city (1990 pop. 438,377), capital of Baja California state, NW Mexico, across the border from Calexico, Calif. Once noted chiefly as the center of a cotton- and cereal-raising area, it has experienced extensive construction of foreign-owned assembly plants called maquiladoras; the items produced in such plants include consumer electronics.

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Mexicali

City (pop., 2000 est.: 550,000), capital of Baja California (Norte) state, northwestern Mexico. It lies in the Mexicali Valley, an extension of the Imperial Valley of the U.S., in northeastern Baja California. It extends across the Mexico-U.S. border to Calexico, Calif. Its name, formed from the first two syllables of Mexico and California, was chosen as a gesture of international friendship. Its economy is chiefly based on tourism and the processing and distribution of cotton, fruits, vegetables, and cereals. It is the seat of the Autonomous University of Baja California.