The Tijuana metropolitan area, and in Spanish the Zona Metropolitana de Tijuana, is located on the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. According to the 2005 census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, the Tijuana metropolitan area was the sixth-largest in Mexico

Metropolitan areas of Mexico

Metropolitan areas in Mexico have been traditionally defined as the group of municipalities that heavily interact with each other, usually around a core city...

, with a population of 1,483,992. The 2010 Census placed the Tijuana metropolitan area at 5th largest in the country with 1,751,302 persons. The census bureau defined metropolitan area comprises two municipalities: Tijuana and Rosarito Beach. Yet sources commonly include Tecate Municipality in the metropolitan area as the urban area between Tijuana

Tijuana

Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...

 and Tecate

Tecate

Tecate is a small city in Baja California, Mexico and the municipal seat of Tecate Municipality. It is located on the border with Tecate, California, United States in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. There is a small port of entry betwixt the sister cities that serves as a calmer...

 grows, the commuting populace increases - ultimately further developing the southern areas of San Diego–Tijuana, and the three municipalities maintain strong relationships and cooperation.