Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous

urban agglomeration An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. The region generally contains ten of California's 58 counties:

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

, Kern,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino,

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties. The Colorado Desert and the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

are located on Southern California's eastern border with

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

, and San Bernardino County shares a border with

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

to the northeast. Southern California's southern border with

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

is part of the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border trav ...

Constituent metropolitan areas

Southern California includes the heavily built-up urban area which stretches along the Pacific coast from Ventura through

Greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino ...

down to Greater San Diego (the contiguous urban area in fact continuing into Tijuana, Mexico), and inland to the Inland Empire and

Coachella Valley , map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg , map_caption = Coachella Valley , location = California, United States , coordinates = , width = , boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacin ...

( Palm Springs area). It encompasses eight metropolitan areas (MSAs), three of which together form the Greater Los Angeles

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

(CSA) with over 18 million people, the second-biggest CSA after the New York CSA. These three MSAs are: the Los Angeles metropolitan area (

and Orange counties, with 13.3 million people), the Inland Empire ( Riverside and San Bernardino counties, including the

cities, with 4.3 million people), and the Oxnard–Thousand Oaks–Ventura metropolitan area (0.8 million people). In addition, southern California contains the San Diego metropolitan area with 3.3 million people, Bakersfield metro area with 0.9 million, and the Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and El Centro (Imperial County) metropolitan areas. The Southern California Megaregion (or megalopolis) is larger still, extending northeast into

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

and south across the Mexican border into Tijuana.

Significance

Within Southern California are two major cities,

and

, as well as three of the country's largest metropolitan areas. With a population of approximately 4 million, Los Angeles is the most populous city in California and the second most populous in the United States. South of Los Angeles and with a population of approximately 1.4 million is San Diego, the second most populous city in the state and the eighth most populous in the nation. Three Arch Bay Photo Taken by pilot D Ramey Logan

Three Arch Bay Photo Taken by pilot D Ramey Logan

The counties of

, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino are the five most populous in the state, and are among the top 15 most populous counties in the United States. The

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

and

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, trai ...

are centered in the Los Angeles area in Southern California. Hollywood, a district of Los Angeles, gives its name to the American motion picture industry, which is synonymous with the neighborhood name. Headquartered in Southern California are

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

(which owns ABC), Sony Pictures,

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, MGM,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

and

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

. Universal, Warner Bros. and Sony also run major record companies. Southern California is also home to a large homegrown surf and skateboard culture. Companies such as Vans, Volcom, Quiksilver, No Fear, Stüssy, RVCA and Body Glove are all headquartered here. Skateboarder Tony Hawk; surfers

Rob Machado Robert Edward Machado (born October 16, 1973) is an Australian-born American professional surfer. Early life Machado attended San Dieguito High School. He describes himself in interviews, vlogs and social media as a " soul surfer," or f ...

Timmy Curran Tim Curran (born August 14, 1977) is a musician and retired professional surfer. During his successful surfing career, he was one of the best surfers on the World Championship Tour, and was consistently in contention for the world championship. ...

, Bobby Martinez, Pat O'Connell, Dane Reynolds, and Chris Ward live in Southern California. Some of the most famous surf locations are in Southern California as well, including Trestles, Rincon,

The Wedge A wedge is a triangular-shaped simple machine. Wedge, The Wedge, or Wedges may also refer to: Common meanings * Wedge (footwear), a type of shoe * Wedge (golf), a type of golf club Culture Fictional characters * Wedge (''Transformers''), an ...

, Huntington Beach and Malibu. Some of the world's largest action sports events, including the X Games, Boost Mobile Pro, and the U.S. Open of Surfing, are held in Southern California. The region is also important to the world of

yachting Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called '' yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboat ...

with premier events including the annual Transpacific Yacht Race, or ''Transpac'', from Los Angeles to Hawaii. The San Diego Yacht Club held the America's Cup, the most prestigious prize in yachting, from 1988 to 1995 and hosted three America's Cup races during that time. The first modern-era

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...

was held in San Diego's Mission Bay in 1974. Since then, Southern California, and

in particular, have become a mecca for

and multi-sport racing, products, and culture. Southern California is home to many sports franchises and networks such as

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Ma ...

. Many locals and tourists frequent the Southern California coast for its beaches. Some of southern California's most popular beaches are Malibu, Laguna Beach,

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

, Manhattan Beach, and Hermosa Beach. Southern California is also known for its mountain resort communities, such as Big Bear Lake,

Lake Arrowhead Lake Arrowhead or Arrowhead Lake may refer to: United States Bodies of water * Arrowhead Lake (Idaho) * Lake Arrowhead Reservoir, California * Lake Arrowhead, Georgia * Lake Arrowhead (Maine) Communities * Arrowhead Lake, Cumberland County, New J ...

, and Wrightwood, and their ski resorts, like Bear Mountain, Snow Summit, Snow Valley Mountain Resort, and Mountain High. The inland desert city of Palm Springs is also popular.

Northern boundary

Southern California is generally considered the area of California south of the latitude 35°45', approximately one-third of the state, formed by the northern boundaries of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino counties, which are not exactly a straight line. Another definition for Southern California uses Point Conception and the Tehachapi Mountains as geographical landmarks for the northern boundary. Wpdms shdrlfi020l tehachapi mountains

Following the acquisition of the territory of California by the United States, several pro-slavery politicians attempted to arrange the division of Alta California at 36 degrees, 30 minutes, the line of the Missouri Compromise. Instead, the passing of the

Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican– ...

enabled California to be admitted to the Union as a free state, preventing the southern half California from becoming its own separate slave state. Subsequently, Californians (dissatisfied with inequitable taxes and land laws) and pro-slavery Southerners in the lightly populated "cow counties" of southern California attempted three times in the 1850s to achieve a separate statehood or territorial status separate from Northern California. The last attempt, the Pico Act of 1859, was passed by the California State Legislature and signed by State Governor

John B. Weller John B. Weller (February 22, 1812August 17, 1875) was the fifth governor of California from January 8, 1858 to January 9, 1860 who earlier had served as a congressman from Ohio and a U.S. senator from California, and minister to Mexico. Lif ...

. It was approved overwhelmingly by nearly 75 percent of voters to form the proposed Territory of Colorado. This territory was to include a portion of the much larger Tulare County and all of San Luis Obispo County. The proposal was sent to Washington, D.C. with a strong advocate in Senator Milton Latham. However, the secession crisis following the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

in 1860 and the subsequent

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

led to the proposal never coming to a vote. In 1900, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' defined Southern California as including "the seven counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura and Santa Barbara." This definition left out San Luis Obispo and Kern counties. Southern California was the name of a proposed new state which failed to get on the 2018 California ballot. The ballot measure proposed splitting the existing state into three parts. In December 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, the state government led by Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fro ...

divided the state into five regions for the purpose of issuing stay-at-home orders. The Southern California region consists of the following counties:

Inyo Inyo may refer to: Places California * Inyo County, California * Inyo National Forest, USA * The Inyo Mountains * The Mono–Inyo Craters Other uses * Japanese for yin and yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophy, Chinese p ...

, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino,

, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. Kern County was grouped with other counties of the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

, California's central agricultural valley.

Urban landscape

Distribution of high income households across LA County

Southern California consists of a heavily developed urban environment, home to some of the largest

urban areas An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...

in the state, along with vast areas that have been left undeveloped. It is the third most populated megalopolis in the United States, after the Great Lakes Megalopolis and the

Northeast Megalopolis The Northeast megalopolis, also known as the Northeast Corridor, Acela Corridor, Boston–Washington corridor, or BosWash, is the world's largest megalopolis in terms of economic output and the second most populous megalopolis in the United St ...

. Much of Southern California is famous for its large, spread-out, suburban communities and use of automobiles and highways. The dominant areas are Los Angeles, Orange County,

, and Riverside- San Bernardino, each of which are the centers of their respective metropolitan areas, composed of numerous smaller cities and communities. The urban area is also host to an international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan region, created by the urban area spilling over into

. Travelling south on

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Calif ...

, the main barrier to continued urbanization is Camp Pendleton. The cities and communities along Interstate 15 and Interstate 215 are so interrelated that Temecula and Murrieta have as much connection with the San Diego metropolitan area as they do with the Inland Empire. To the east, the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy An economy is an area of th ...

considers the San Bernardino and Riverside County areas, Riverside-San Bernardino area as a separate metropolitan area from Los Angeles County. Newly developed

exurbs An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing density, and growth. It ...

formed in the Antelope Valley, north of Los Angeles, the Victor Valley, and the

with the Imperial Valley. Also, population growth was high in the Bakersfield-Kern County, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo areas.

Climate

Most of Southern California has a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

-like climate, with warm and dry summers, mild and wet winters, where cool weather and freezing temperatures are rare. Southern California contains other types of climates, including semi-arid, desert and

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

, with infrequent rain and many sunny days. Summers are hot or warm, and dry, while winters are mild, and rainfall is low to moderate depending on the area. Rain is infrequent, but is often heavy when it does occur, making flash floods an aspect of living in Southern California. This climatic pattern was alluded to in the hit song "

It Never Rains (In Southern California) "It Never Rains (In Southern California)" is a 1990 song recorded by the American R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!. This song peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B Singles chart in 1990 for two weeks, and thirty-four on the Hot 100. Mus ...

". While snow is very rare in lower elevations, mountains above receive plentiful snowfall in the winter. Since the first decade of the 21st century, droughts and wildfires have increased in frequency as a result of

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

Natural landscape

Southern California consists of one of the more varied collections of geologic, topographic, and natural ecosystem landscapes in a diversity outnumbering other major regions in the state and country. The region spans from Pacific Ocean islands, shorelines, beaches, and coastal plains, through the Transverse and Peninsular Ranges with their peaks, and into the large and small interior valleys, to the vast deserts of California. :Introductory categories include: * Beaches of southern California * Mountain ranges of Southern California * Rivers of Southern California * Deserts of California * Parks in Southern California

Geography

Geographic features

* Angeles National Forest (Los Angeles, San Bernardino, & Ventura Counties) * Antelope Hills (Kern County) * Antelope Valley (Los Angeles & Kern Counties) * Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County) * Bacon Hills (Kern County) *

Baldwin Hills Baldwin Hills may refer to: Places * Baldwin Hills (mountain range), Los Angeles County, California, U.S. * Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California, U.S. * Baldwin Village, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in South Lo ...

(Los Angeles County) *

Ballona Wetlands Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve (pronunciation: "Bah-yo-nuh" or "Buy-yo-nah" ) is a protected area that once served as the natural estuary for neighboring Ballona Creek. The site is located in Los Angeles County, California, just south of ...

(Los Angeles County) * Big Bear Lake (San Bernardino County) * Bissell Hills (Kern County) * Black Hills (Kern County) * Bolsa Chica Estuary (Orange County) * Buena Vista Hills (Kern County) * Buena Vista Lake (Kern County) * Cajon Pass (San Bernardino County) * Calico Mountains (San Bernardino County) *

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey ...

(Santa Barbara, Ventura & Los Angeles Counties) * Castaic Lake (Los Angeles County) *

Chino Hills The Chino Hills are a mountain range on the border of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties, California, with a small portion in Riverside County. The Chino Hills State Park preserves open space and habitat in them. Geography The C ...

(Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside & San Bernardino Counties) *

(Riverside County) * Colorado Desert (San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial, & San Diego Counties) *

(San Bernardino, Riverside & Imperial Counties, Baja California & Sonora) * Conejo Valley (Los Angeles & Ventura Counties) * Cucamonga Valley (San Bernardino & Riverside Counties) * Cuyamaca Mountains (San Diego County) *

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North Am ...

(San Bernardino & Inyo Counties) * Diablo Range (Kern County) * Elk Hills (Kern County) * Elkhorn Hills (San Luis Obispo County) * El Mirage Lake (San Bernardino County) * El Paso Mountains (Kern County) * Greenhorn Mountains (Kern County) * High Desert (Los Angeles, Kern, Inyo, & San Bernardino Counties) *

Horned Toad Hills The Horned Toad Hills (also known as Tehachapi Mountains) are a low mountain range in the Mojave Desert, in southeastern Kern County, California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of ...

(Kern County) * Imperial Valley (Imperial County) *

Irish Hills Irish Hills is an area of land located roughly in southeastern Jackson County and northwest Lenawee County in Southeast Michigan. It was named after the numerous Irish immigrants who settled there from 1830 until 1850. Today it is known ...

(San Luis Obispo County) * In-Ko-Pah Mountains (San Diego County) * Inland Empire (Riverside & San Bernardino Counties) *

Jacumba Mountains The Jacumba Mountains are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges system, located in eastern San Diego County, Southern California, near the U.S. border with Mexico. The mountain range lies in a northwest-southeasterly direction, east of the In- ...

(San Diego County) * Jawbone Canyon (Kern County) *

Kern River The Kern River, previously Rio de San Felipe, later La Porciuncula, is an #Endangered River Status, Endangered, National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an are ...

(Kern County) *

La Jolla Cove La Jolla Cove is a small cove with a beach that is surrounded by cliffs in La Jolla, San Diego, California. Point La Jolla forms the south side of the cove. The area is protected as part of a marine reserve and is popular with snorkelers, swi ...

(San Diego County) * Laguna Mountains (San Diego County) *

(San Bernardino County) * Lake Casitas (Ventura County) * Lake Elsinore (Riverside County) * Lake Isabella (Kern County) * Lake Perris (Riverside County) * Lake Piru (Ventura County) *

Lakeview Mountains The Lakeview Mountains are a range of low mountains encompassing approximately of land in western Riverside County, Southern California, at the northern end of the Peninsular Ranges System. Geography The Lakeview Mountains are bordered: *on the ...

(Riverside County) * Lake Webb (Kern County) * Little San Bernardino Mountains (Riverside & San Bernardino Counties) *

Little Signal Hills The Little Signal Hills are a low mountain range in the Transverse Ranges, in southeastern Kern County, California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Co ...

(Kern County) * Los Angeles Basin (Los Angeles & Orange Counties) * Los Angeles River (Los Angeles County) * Los Padres National Forest (Kern, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, & Ventura Counties) * Lost Hills (Kern County) * Low Desert (Imperial, San Diego, Riverside & San Bernardino Counties) * Mojave Desert (Los Angeles, Kern & San Bernardino Counties) * Mojave River (San Bernardino County) * Mount San Antonio (Los Angeles County) * New River (Imperial County, Mexicali Municipality) * Nine Sisters (San Luis Obispo County) * Ojai Valley (Ventura County) *

Orange Coast The Orange Coast is the string of cities and neighborhoods fronting the Pacific Coast in Orange County, California. From northwest to southeast, these cities are Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and San Clem ...

(Orange County) * Oxnard Plain (Ventura County) * Palomar Mountain (San Diego County) * Palo Verde Valley (Riverside & Imperial Counties) * Palos Verdes Peninsula (Los Angeles County) * Panamint Range (Inyo County) * Peninsular Ranges (San Diego, Riverside, & Orange Counties) *

Pleito Hills The Pleito Hills are a low mountain range of the Transverse Ranges System, located in southwestern Kern County, California. The range is between the San Emigdio Mountains and the San Joaquin Valley, west of the Interstate 5—Highway 99 junction a ...

(Kern County) * Point Loma (San Diego County) * Point Mugu (Ventura County) *

Point of Rocks Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Points ...

(Kern County) * Pomona Valley (Los Angeles & San Bernardino Counties) * Providence Mountains (San Bernardino County) * Puente Hills (Los Angeles County) * Pyramid Lake (Los Angeles County) *

Rand Mountains The Rand Mountains are located in the Mojave Desert northeast of California City and southwest of the town of Randsburg. History The mountains were the location of the Rand Mining District, with the mining towns of Randsburg, Red Mountain, and J ...

(Kern County) * Rio Hondo (Los Angeles County) * Rosamond Hills (Kern County) * Saddleback Valley (Orange County) *

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial counties at the southern end of the U.S. state of California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough that stretches to the Gu ...

(Imperial & Riverside Counties) *

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is right-lateral strike-slip (horizontal) ...

(All Counties) * San Bernardino Mountains (San Bernardino County) *

San Bernardino National Forest The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States National Forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Berna ...

(Riverside & San Bernardino Counties) * San Bernardino Valley (San Bernardino County) * San Diego Bay (San Diego County) * San Diego River (San Diego County) * San Emigdio Mountains (Los Angeles, Ventura, & Kern Counties) * San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles County) * San Gabriel Mountains (Los Angeles & San Bernardino Counties) * San Gabriel River (Los Angeles County) * San Gabriel Valley (Los Angeles County) * San Jacinto Mountains (Riverside County) * San Jacinto River (Riverside County) *

(Kern County) * San Luis Rey River (San Diego County) * San Pedro Bay (Los Angeles County) * San Rafael Mountains (Santa Barbara County) * Santa Ana Mountains (Orange & Riverside Counties) * Santa Ana River (San Bernardino, Riverside & Orange Counties) *

Santa Ana Valley The Santa Ana Valley is located in Orange County, California and is bisected by the Santa Ana River. The valley is home to most of Orange County's central business districts. The cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Irvine, Oran ...

(Orange County) * Santa Catalina Island (Los Angeles County) * Santa Clara River (Ventura County) * Santa Clara River Valley (Ventura County) * Santa Clarita Valley (Los Angeles County) * Santa Margarita River (Riverside, Orange & San Diego Counties) * Santa Monica Bay (Los Angeles County) * Santa Monica Mountains (Los Angeles & Ventura Counties) * Santa Rosa Mountains (Riverside, Imperial & San Diego Counties) * Santa Susana Mountains (Los Angeles & Ventura Counties) * Santa Ynez Mountains (Santa Barbara & Ventura Counties) * Santa Ynez Valley (Santa Barbara County) *

Scodie Mountains The Scodie Mountains are a sub-mountain range of the Southern Sierra Nevada rising from the Mojave Desert, and located in Kern County, California. Geography The range lies in an east–west direction directly west of the desert town of Ridgecres ...

(Kern County) * Sequoia National Forest (Kern County) * Shale Hills (Kern County) * Sierra Nevada (Kern County) * Sierra Pelona Mountains (Los Angeles & Kern Counties) * Simi Hills (Los Angeles & Ventura Counties) * Simi Valley (Ventura County) * Sweetwater River (San Diego County) * Tehachapi Mountains (Kern & Los Angeles Counties) *

Tejon Hills The Tejon Hills are a low mountain range in the Transverse Ranges, in southern Kern County, California. The highest point of the hills is Comanche Mountain, at in elevation. They are completely within property owned by the Tejon Ranch corpo ...

(Kern County) *

Temescal Mountains Temescal Mountains, also known as the Sierra Temescal ( Spanish for "sweat lodge range"), are one of the northernmost mountain ranges of the Peninsular Ranges in western Riverside County, in Southern California in the United States. They exte ...

(Riverside County) *

Telephone Hills The Telephone Hills are a low mountain range in the interior California Coast Ranges, in western Kern County, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents ...

(Kern County) * Temblor Range (Kern & San Luis Obispo Counties) * Tijuana River (San Diego County) * Topatopa Mountains (Ventura County) * Turtle Mountains (San Bernardino County) * Ventura River (Ventura County) * Verdugo Mountains (Los Angeles County) * Victor Valley (San Bernardino County)

Geology

List of major fault zones

Note: Plate boundary faults are indicated with a (#) symbol. * Brawley Seismic Zone * Chino Fault * Elsinore Fault Zone * Elysian Park Fault * Garlock Fault * Hosgri Fault * Imperial Fault Zone * Laguna Salada Fault * Newport–Inglewood Fault * Peninsular Ranges * Puente Hills Fault *

Raymond Fault The Raymond Fault is a fault across central Los Angeles County and western Ventura County in Southern California. San Gabriel Valley area The eastern end of the Raymond Fault branches from the San Andreas Fault in the San Gabriel Mountains ...

* Rose Canyon Fault * Salton Trough * Salinian Block *

# * San Cayetano Fault * San Felipe Fault Zone * San Gabriel Fault * San Jacinto Fault Zone * Santa Maria River Fault * Santa Ynez Fault * Shoreline Fault *

Ventura Fault Ventura Fault also Ventura-Pitas Point Fault is an offshore and onshore fault system of Southern California, beginning around Santa Barbara coming onshore in Ventura with an eastward heading, its extension is unknown but presumed to head for Sa ...

* White Wolf Fault * Whittier Fault * Yorba Linda Fault Shake Map Northridge 1994

Earthquakes

Each year, Southern California has about 10,000 earthquakes. Nearly all of them are so small that they are not felt. Only several hundred have been greater than magnitude 3.0, and only about 15–20 have been greater than magnitude 4.0. The magnitude 6.7 1994 Northridge earthquake was particularly destructive, causing a substantial number of deaths, injuries, and structural collapses as well as the most property damage of any earthquake in U.S. history at an estimated $20 billion. Many faults are able to produce a magnitude greater than 6.7 earthquake, such as the

, which can produce a magnitude 8.0 event. Other faults include the

San Jacinto Fault The San Jacinto Fault Zone (SJFZ) is a major strike-slip fault zone that runs through San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial Counties in Southern California. The SJFZ is a component of the larger San Andreas transform system and is ...

, the Puente Hills Fault, and the Elsinore Fault Zone. The

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

(USGS) has released a California earthquake forecast, which models earthquake occurrence in California.

=List of earthquakes

= This is a partial list of earthquakes in Southern California. For a full list, see

List of earthquakes in California The earliest known California earthquake was documented in 1769 by the Spanish explorers and Catholic missionaries of the Portolá expedition as they traveled northward from San Diego along the Santa Ana River near the present site of Los Angeles ...

. Note: Earthquakes with epicenters in the Los Angeles Metro Area are marked with the (#) symbol. Other earthquakes mentioned means shaking was felt. * 1812 San Juan Capistrano earthquake *

1812 Ventura earthquake The 1812 Ventura earthquake (also known as the Santa Barbara earthquake) occurred on the morning of December 21 at 11:00 Pacific Standard Time (PST). The 7.1–7.5 magnitude earthquake, with a Modified Mercalli intensity scale rating of X (''Ext ...

* 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake *

1892 Laguna Salada earthquake The 1892 Laguna Salada earthquake occurred at . It had an estimated moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.1–7.2 and a maximum perceived intensity of VIII (''Severe''). The shock was centered near the Mexico–United States border and tak ...

1899 San Jacinto earthquake The 1899 San Jacinto earthquake occurred on Christmas morning (December 25) at 04:25 local time in Southern California. The estimated moment magnitude 6.7 earthquake had an epicenter located 10 miles southeast of San Jacinto. The earthquake had ...

1918 San Jacinto earthquake The 1918 San Jacinto earthquake occurred in extreme eastern San Diego County in Southern California on April 21 at . The shock had a moment magnitude of 6.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). Several injuries and one death occu ...

* 1933 Long Beach earthquake # *

1940 El Centro earthquake The 1940 El Centro earthquake (or 1940 Imperial Valley earthquake) occurred at 21:35 Pacific Standard Time on May 18 (05:35 UTC on May 19) in the Imperial Valley in southeastern Southern California near the international border of the Unite ...

1948 Desert Hot Springs earthquake The 1948 Desert Hot Springs earthquake occurred on December 4 at 3:43 p.m. Pacific Standard Time with a moment magnitude of 6.4 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (''Very strong''). The shock was felt from the central coast of Californi ...

* 1971 San Fernando earthquake # *

1979 Imperial Valley earthquake The 1979 Imperial Valley earthquake occurred at 16:16 Pacific Daylight Time (23:16 UTC) on 15 October just south of the Mexico–United States border. It affected Imperial Valley in Southern California and Mexicali Valley in northern Baja Calif ...

1968 Borrego Mountain earthquake The 1968 Borrego Mountain earthquake occurred on April 8, at 18:28 PST, near the unincorporated community of Ocotillo Wells in San Diego County. The moment magnitude () 6.6 strike-slip earthquake struck with a focal depth of . Damage was rela ...

1986 North Palm Springs earthquake The 1986 North Palm Springs earthquake occurred on July 8 at with a moment magnitude of 6.0 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of VII (''Very strong''). The shock occurred in a complex setting along the San Andreas Fault Zone where it bisects ...

* 1987 Superstition Hills earthquakes * 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake # * 1991 Sierra Madre earthquake # *

1992 Big Bear earthquake The 1992 Big Bear earthquake occurred at on June 28 in Big Bear Lake, California, with a moment magnitude of 6.5 and a maximum perceived intensity of VIII (''Severe'') on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake occurred at a relatively sh ...

# * 1992 Landers earthquake * 1994 Northridge earthquake # * 2008 Chino Hills earthquake # * 2010 Baja California earthquake * 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes

Population

As of the 2020 United States Census, Southern California has a population of 23,762,904. Despite a reputation for high growth rates, Southern California's population has grown slower than the state average since the 2000s. This is due to California's growth becoming concentrated in the northern part of the state as result of a stronger, tech-oriented economy in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

and an emerging Greater Sacramento region. Southern California consists of one

, eight

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

s, one international metropolitan area, and multiple metropolitan divisions. The region is home to two extended metropolitan areas that exceed five million in population. These are the

Greater Los Angeles Area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino ...

at 17,786,419, and San Diego–Tijuana at 5,105,768. Of these metropolitan areas, the

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area, and

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura metropolitan area Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...

form Greater Los Angeles; while the El Centro metropolitan area and

San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos metropolitan area San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

form the

Southern Border Region The Southern Border Region is one of nine such geopolitical designations in the State of California, United States, used for economic analysis. The region is defined to include San Diego County and Imperial County, each of which borders Mexico. ...

. North of Greater Los Angeles are the Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Bakersfield metropolitan areas.

Cities

Los Angeles (with a population of approximately 3.9 million people) and San Diego (at nearly 1.4 million people) are the two largest cities in all of California and are among the top eight largest cities in the United States. In Southern California, there are also 14 cities with more than 200,000 residents and 48 cities over 100,000 residents. Many of Southern California's most developed cities lie along or in close proximity to the coast, with the exception of San Bernardino and Riverside.

Counties

* Kern *

* Orange * Riverside * San Bernardino *

* San Luis Obispo * Santa Barbara * Ventura

Literature

Southern California is home to most popular and famous literature in the region. These books include California by Kevin Starr, Malibu Farm Cookbook by Helene Henderson, L.A. Noir by John Buntin, The Mountains of California by John Muir, The New California Wine by Jon Bonné, and My Hollywood by Mona Simpson. Most of them are well received and nominated for rewards.

Economy

Industries

Southern California has a diverse economy and is one of the largest economies in the United States. It is dominated by and heavily dependent upon the abundance of petroleum, as opposed to other regions where automobiles are not nearly as dominant, due to the vast majority of transport that runs on this fuel. Southern California is famous for tourism and the

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have dev ...

. Other industries include software, automotive, ports, finance, biomedical, and regional logistics. The region was a leader in the housing bubble from 2001 to 2007 and has been heavily impacted by the housing crash. Since the 1920s, motion pictures, petroleum, and aircraft manufacturing have been major industries. In one of the richest agricultural regions in the U.S., cattle and citrus were major industries until farmlands were turned into suburbs. Although military spending cutbacks have had an impact, aerospace continues to be a major factor.

Major central business districts

Southern California is home to many major business districts. Central business districts (CBD) include Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown Riverside, Downtown San Bernardino, Downtown San Diego, and the

South Coast Metro The South Coast Metro is a district in Orange County, California within the cities of Santa Ana and Costa Mesa. The area is a dense mix of residential, office, and retail developments that spreads out from the South Coast Plaza mall. It forms pa ...

. Within the Los Angeles Area are the major business districts of

Downtown Pasadena Downtown Pasadena California is the central business district of Pasadena, California. It is centered on Fair Oaks Avenue and Colorado Boulevard and is divided into three distinct neighborhoods: Old Pasadena, the Civic Center, and Monk Hill. Downt ...

, Downtown Burbank, Downtown Santa Monica, Downtown Glendale and

Downtown Long Beach Downtown Long Beach is the heart of Long Beach, California, United States, and is the location for most of the city's major tourist attractions and municipal services. It is also the location for numerous businesses. There are many hotels and rest ...

. Los Angeles itself has many business districts, such as Downtown Los Angeles and those lining Wilshire Boulevard including Mid-Wilshire, the Miracle Mile, Downtown Beverly Hills and Westwood; others include Century City and Warner Center in the San Fernando Valley. The area of Santa Monica and Venice (and perhaps some of Culver City) is informally referred to as "Silicon Beach" because of the concentration of financial and marketing technology-centric firms located in the region. The

San Bernardino-Riverside Area The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities o ...

maintains the business districts of Downtown San Bernardino, Hospitality Business/Financial Centre,

University District University District can refer to a location in the United States: *University District, Detroit, Michigan * University District, Columbus, Ohio *University District, San Bernardino, California *University District, Seattle The University District ...

which are in the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside. In Orange County, has highly developed suburban business centers (also known as edge cities) including the Anaheim–Santa Ana edge city along I-5; and another, the South Coast Plaza–John Wayne Airport edge city that stretches from the

to the Irvine Business Complex; Newport Center; and Irvine Spectrum. Downtown Santa Ana is an important government, arts and entertainment, and retail district. Downtown San Diego is the CBD of San Diego, though the city is filled with business districts. These include Carmel Valley, Del Mar Heights, Mission Valley, Rancho Bernardo,

Sorrento Mesa Sorrento Mesa is a neighborhood in northwestern San Diego, California. It lies on a mesa with many ridges, north of Carrol Canyon Road, east of Interstate 805, west of Camino Santa Fe, and south of a canyon locally known as Lopez Canyon. The San Die ...

, and University City. Most of these districts are located in Northern San Diego and some within North County regions.

Theme parks and waterparks

Los Angeles *

Dry Town Water Park Dry Town Water Park is a waterpark located in Palmdale, California that opens each year from the Memorial Day weekend in May through Labor Day in September. The park features a 35-foot tower structure that holds three waterslides with a three fo ...

* Pacific Park * Raging Waters San Dimas * Six Flags Hurricane Harbor * Six Flags Magic Mountain * Universal Studios Hollywood Orange County * Disney California Adventure * Disneyland Park * Knott's Berry Farm * Knott's Soak City * Wild Rivers (water park) Riverside & San Bernardino * Castle Park * Wet'n'Wild Palm Springs San Diego *

Sesame Place San Diego Sesame Place San Diego is a children's theme park and water park, located in Chula Vista, California. It opened on March 26, 2022 on the former site of Aquatica San Diego. It is the first theme park in the world to open up as a certified autism ...

* Belmont Park *

Legoland California Legoland California Resort is a theme park, miniature park, and aquarium located in Carlsbad, California, based on the Lego toy brand. Opening on March 20, 1999, it was the third Legoland park to open and the first outside of Europe. The park i ...

* Legoland Waterpark * San Diego Zoo * San Diego Zoo Safari Park * SeaWorld San Diego

Vineyard-Winery American Viticultural Area (AVA) districts

: California wine AVA- American Viticultural Areas in southern California: * South Coast AVA ** Cucamonga Valley AVA **

Malibu-Newton Canyon AVA The Malibu-Newton Canyon Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California. The boundaries of the AVA include Newton Canyon, located about from the Pacific Ocean within the city limits ...

Ramona Valley AVA The Ramona Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located northeast of the city of San Diego in San Diego County, California, centered on the community of Ramona. It was designated the 162nd American Viticultural Area in January, 2006 by t ...

Saddle Rock-Malibu AVA The Saddle Rock-Malibu AVA is an American Viticultural Area in the Santa Monica Mountains, within western Los Angeles County, California. The region was once part of the Saddle Rock Ranch, created from a 19th-century Spanish and Mexican land ...

** Temecula Valley AVA *

Leona Valley AVA Leona Valley AVA is an American Viticulture Area (AVA) in northeastern Los Angeles County, California. It is located in Leona Valley within the Sierra Pelona Mountains of Southern California. The Leona Valley American Viticulture Area was est ...

* Central Coast AVA **

Arroyo Grande Valley AVA The Arroyo Grande Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in San Luis Obispo County, California. It is part of the larger Central Coast AVA with the area composrd of sedimentary and volcanic soils over a layer of bedrock known as the F ...

** Edna Valley AVA **

San Pasqual Valley AVA The San Pasqual Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in northern San Diego County, California. It is located in the San Pasqual Valley of the Peninsular Ranges, in Southern California. San Pasqual Valley was the fourth wine region to be ...

** Santa Maria Valley AVA ** Santa Ynez Valley AVA ** Sta. Rita Hills AVA ** York Mountain AVA

Shopping malls

* South Coast Plaza * Westfield Century City * Citadel Outlets * Fashion Valley * Westfield Topanga & The Village * Ontario Mills * Glendale Galleria * FIGat7th

Transportation

:''See: Transportation in Southern California'' Southern California is home to

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

, the second-busiest airport in the United States by passenger volume (see

World's busiest airports by passenger traffic The world's busiest airports by passenger traffic are measured by total passengers (data from Airports Council International), defined as passengers enplaned plus passengers deplaned plus direct-transit passengers. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta I ...

) and the third-busiest by international passenger volume (see Busiest airports in the United States by international passenger traffic); San Diego International Airport, the busiest single-runway airport in the world; Van Nuys Airport, the world's busiest

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation service ...

airport; major commercial airports at San Bernardino, Orange County, Bakersfield,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

and Long Beach; and numerous smaller commercial and general aviation airports. Six of the seven lines of the

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are co ...

system, Metrolink, run out of Downtown Los Angeles, connecting Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego counties with the other line connecting San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties directly. Southern California is also home to the Port of Los Angeles, the country's busiest commercial port; the adjacent Port of Long Beach, the country's second busiest container port; and the Port of San Diego.

Airports

The following table shows all airports listed by the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) as a hub airport:

Freeways and highways

Sections of the Southern California freeway system are often referred to by names rather than by the official numbers.

Public transportation

:''See: Public transportation in Southern California'' * Antelope Valley Transit Authority * Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica) *

Gold Coast Transit Gold Coast Transit District, formerly known as South Coast Area Transit (SCAT), is a local bus operator in western Ventura County, California, serving Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Ojai, and the adjoining areas of unincorporated Ventura County. ...

(Ventura County) * Golden Empire Transit (Bakersfield) * Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority * Metrolink * North County Transit District (northern San Diego County) * Omnitrans (southwestern San Bernardino County) * Orange County Transportation Authority * Riverside Transit Agency (western Riverside County) *

San Diego Coaster Coaster (stylized as COASTER) is a commuter rail service in the central and northern coastal regions of San Diego County, California, United States, operated by the North County Transit District (NCTD). The commuter rail line features eight ...

(Oceanside to San Diego) * San Diego Metropolitan Transit System * San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority * Santa Barbara MTD

Communication

Telephone area codes

213 Year 213 ( CCXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Calvinus (or, less frequently, year 966 ''Ab urbe cond ...

– Central Los Angeles * 310 –

West Los Angeles West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria * Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewo ...

, Santa Monica, South Bay and Catalina Island *

323 Year 323 (Roman numerals, CCCXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 10 ...

– Overlay with 213 *

424 Year 424 ( CDXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Castinus and Victor (or, less frequently, year 1177 ''Ab urbe condit ...

– Overlay with 310 * 442 – Overlay with 760 *

562 __NOTOC__ Year 562 ( DLXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 562 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

– Long Beach, Gateway Cities, and parts of northern Orange County * 619 – most of San Diego County including

* 626 – most of San Gabriel Valley including Pasadena * 657 – Overlay with 714 * 661 – Bakersfield, Santa Clarita, and Antelope Valley * 714 – Northern Orange County (including

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-mos ...

, Santa Ana, and Huntington Beach) * 760 – Northern San Diego County (including Oceanside and Escondido), Imperial County,

, Blythe,

Twentynine Palms Twentynine Palms (also known as 29 Palms) is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Twentynine Palms serves as one of the entry points to Joshua Tree National Park. History Twentynine Palms was named for the palm trees found there in ...

, Victor Valley, Barstow, and Ridgecrest * 805 – Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties * 818 – Eastern Conejo Valley, Crescenta Valley, San Fernando Valley including Glendale and

* 820 – Overlay with 805 * 840 – Overlay with 909 * 858 – Overlay with 619 * 909 – Southwestern San Bernardino County, eastern Los Angeles County, and portions of northwestern Riverside County * 949 – Southern Orange County (including Irvine,

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws v ...

, Laguna Niguel, and San Clemente) * 951 – Western Riverside County including Riverside and Temecula

Colleges and universities

The Tech Coast is a moniker that has gained use as a descriptor for the region's diversified technology and industrial base as well as its multitude of prestigious and world-renowned research universities and other public and private institutions. Amongst these include five

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Fran ...

campuses ( Irvine,

, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and

), 12 California State University campuses ( Bakersfield,

, Dominguez Hills, Fullerton,

, Long Beach, Northridge,

Pomona Pomona may refer to: Places Argentina * Pomona, Río Negro Australia * Pomona, Queensland, Australia, a town in the Shire of Noosa * Pomona, New South Wales, Australia Belize * Pomona, Belize, a municipality in Stann Creek District Mexico ...

, San Bernardino,

, San Marcos, and San Luis Obispo); and private institutions such as the California Institute of Technology, Azusa Pacific University, Chapman University, the Claremont Colleges ( Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute), Loma Linda University, Loyola Marymount University, Occidental College, Pepperdine University, University of Redlands, University of San Diego and the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

Parks and recreation areas

Numerous parks provide recreation opportunities and open space. Locations include: *

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government within the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of ...

** Cabrillo National Monument ** Carrizo Plain National Monument **

Castle Mountains National Monument Castle Mountains National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the eastern Mojave Desert and northeastern San Bernardino County, in the state of California.Cesar E. Chavez National Monument Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * C ...

** Channel Islands National Park ** Death Valley National Park ** Joshua Tree National Park ** Mojave National Preserve ** Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area *Major State Parks – ''including:'' ** Anza-Borrego Desert State Park ** Crystal Cove State Park ** Cuyamaca Rancho State Park ** Chino Hills State Park **

Fort Tejon State Historic Park Fort Tejon in California is a former United States Army outpost which was intermittently active from June 24, 1854, until September 11, 1864. It is located in the Grapevine Canyon (''La Cañada de las Uvas'') between the San Emigdio Mountains and ...

** Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area ** Mount San Jacinto State Park ** Malibu Creek State Park ** Red Rock Canyon State Park (California) ** Topanga State Park *Major State Historic Parks – ''including:'' **

California Citrus State Historic Park California Citrus State Historic Park is an open-air museum in the state park system of California, United States, interpreting the historic cultural landscape of the citrus industry. The park’s museum exhibits and interpretive features share ...

** El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park ** La Purísima Mission State Historic Park ** Los Encinos State Historic Park ** Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa ** Old Town San Diego State Historic Park ** Rancho Los Encinos ** Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park **Tule Elk State Natural Reserve ** Watts Towers ** Will Rogers State Historic Park

Sports

Major professional sports teams in Southern California include: *

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

(American football)

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

, Los Angeles Chargers * NBA (Basketball) Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers * MLB (Baseball)

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

, Los Angeles Angels, San Diego Padres *

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(Ice hockey) Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks * MLS (Soccer) LA Galaxy, Los Angeles FC * NWSL(Soccer) Angel City FC, San Diego Wave FC * WNBA(Basketball) Los Angeles Sparks Southern California also is home to a number of popular NCAA sports programs such as the UCLA Bruins, the USC Trojans, and the San Diego State Aztecs. The Bruins and the Trojans both field football teams in NCAA Division I in the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

, and there is a longtime rivalry between the schools.

References

External links

California Historical Society Collection, 1860–1960
– USC Libraries Digital Collections
Historical Society of Southern California
{{coord, 34, 00, N, 117, 00, W, region:US-CA_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Megapolitan areas of California Regions of California