Our focus on the area of Baja California was not the result of a protracted investigation. It came to light, to use a scriptural phrase, in an “instant, suddenly,” after pondering the Lord’s statements to the Book of Mormon people that they occupied choice lands prepared by Him (1 Nephi 2:20; 2 Nephi 1:5; Jacob 5:43; Ether 1:38, 42). For example, the Jaredites were told that they would be led into a land which is “choice above all other lands of the earth.” Likewise, the Lord told the Nephites that they would be “led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.” The Lord also said that the Nephites would be planted in a “good spot of ground; yea, even that which was choice unto me above all other parts of the land of my vineyard.” Understandably, the Jaredites and the Nephites would need to be led to the same general geographical area if both were to occupy the “most choice” area. And, indeed, they did settle in the same limited geographic area but at different times, with a short overlap of space and with a short overlap of time.

With our geographical background we asked the questions: What makes a region or land choice? And where are the “most choice” regions? The climate of a region is the most important physical factor influencing soil fertility, agriculture potential, the kinds of native plants and animals, the extent and wealth of minerals and other resources, and ultimately its population carrying capacity. Climate is based on the average and variations of weather in a part of the earth’s surface over long periods of time. The climate of a location is greatly affected by its latitude, terrain, as well as nearby oceans and their currents and winds. Climates can be classified, using primarily temperature and rainfall, into some 20 or more climate types. For example, some areas are hot and wet, others are hot and dry, some are cool and wet, and still others are warm and dry.

Middle latitude temperate climates have historically been most favored for human habitation. Northern and southern hemisphere cold climates and equatorial hot climates present greater challenges to human occupancy. During the last hundred years much research and analysis has been carried out by geographers who specialize in climatology to categorize and locate the world’s climates and especially to identify the causal factors that differentiate these climates.