City (pop., 2000: 1,148,681), northwestern Baja California , Mexico.
It lies on the Tecate River near the Pacific Ocean, 12 mi (19 km) south of San Diego , Calif., U.S. It originated as a ranch settlement on a land grant in 1862 and developed as a border resort with gambling casinos. In the 20th century it became the main entry point to Mexico for U.S. tourists. It has many U.S.-owned assembly plants as well as food-processing plants and breweries.