Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, California
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Orange County is located in the
Los Angeles 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 ...
in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous 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 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and more populous than 19 American states and
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Although largely suburban, it is the second-most-densely-populated county in the state behind
San Francisco County San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. The county's three most-populous cities are
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-most p ...
, Santa Ana, and
Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...
, each of which has a population exceeding 300,000. Santa Ana is also the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
. Six cities in Orange County are on the
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
coast:
Seal Beach Seal Beach is a coastal city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,242, up from 24,168 at the 2010 census. Seal Beach is located in the westernmost corner of Orange County. To the northwest ...
,
Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
,
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, Newport ...
,
Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...
,
Dana Point Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast, and with ready access via State Route 1, it is a po ...
, and
San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...
. Orange County is included in the
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 world' ...
-
Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...
-
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-most p ...
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 ...
. The county has 34 incorporated cities. Older cities like Old Town Tustin, Santa Ana, Anaheim,
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
, and Fullerton have traditional downtowns dating back to the 19th century, while newer commercial development or "
edge cities ''Edge city'' is a term that originated in the United States for a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban residential or ru ...
" stretch along I-5 between Disneyland and Santa Ana and between South Coast Plaza and the Irvine Business Complex, and cluster at
Irvine Spectrum Irvine Spectrum is a district in southeastern Irvine, Orange County, California, centered on the Irvine Spectrum Center shopping and lifestyle center. It is also an edge city, a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a tr ...
. Although single-family homes make up the dominant landscape for most of the county, Northern and Central Orange County is relatively more urbanized and dense as compared to those areas south of Irvine, which are less dense, though still contiguous and primarily suburban rather than
exurban 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 sh ...
. The county is a tourist center, with attractions like
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
,
Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...
,
Mission San Juan Capistrano Mission San Juan Capistrano ( es, Misión San Juan Capistrano) is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''Las Californias'' by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan O ...
,
Modjeska House Modjeska House, also known as Arden, is a house designed by Stanford White in Modjeska Canyon, California. It is significant for being the only surviving home of Helena Modjeska, a Shakespearean actress and Polish patriot. The property is locat ...
,
Segerstrom Center for the Arts Segerstrom may refer to *Segerström (surname) * C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, a real estate company in Orange County, California, U.S. *Segerstrom Center for the Arts Segerstrom may refer to *Segerström (surname) *C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, a real estate ...
,
Yost Theater The Yost Theater is a concert and events venue in Santa Ana, California. It is a National Register of Historic Places-listed building located in Santa Ana's Downtown Historic District. Under the ownership of the Olivos Family it became a movie ...
,
Bowers Museum The Bowers Museum is an art museum located in Santa Ana, California. The museum's permanent collection includes more than 100,000 objects, and features notable strengths in the areas of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, Native American art, the art of A ...
,
Balboa Island Balboa Island is a harborside community in Newport Beach, California, accessible to the public via bridge, ferry and several public docks. The community is surrounded by a paved concrete boardwalk open to pedestrian traffic, designated as a pu ...
,
Angel Stadium Angel Stadium of Anaheim is a baseball stadium located in Anaheim, California. Since its opening in 1966, it has served as the home ballpark of the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), and was also the home stadium to the Los Ange ...
,
Downtown Santa Ana Downtown Santa Ana (DTSA), also called Downtown Orange County, is the historic city center of Santa Ana and the county seat of Orange County, California. It is the institutional center for the city of Santa Ana as well as Orange County, a reta ...
,
Crystal Cove Historic District The Crystal Cove Historic District is a part of the Crystal Cove State Park located in Newport Beach, California. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places encompassing along the Southern California coast. It was listed on the N ...
, the Honda Center, the Old Orange County Courthouse, the
Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks The Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks (also known collectively as Irvine Ranch Open Space) are a collection of protected areas in Orange County, California in and around Irvine. They encompass almost of land which was once a part of the Irvine Ran ...
, and several popular beaches along its more than of coastline. It is also home to a major research university, the
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
(UCI), along with a number of other notable colleges and universities such as
Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
and
Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...
.


History


Indigenous

The northern areas of what is now Orange County were primarily inhabited by the
Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...
, while the southern areas of the county, below Aliso Creek, were primarily inhabited by the
Acjachemen The Acjachemen (, alternate spelling: Acagchemem) are an Indigenous people of California. They historically lived south of what is known as Aliso Creek and north of the Las Pulgas Canyon in what are now the southern areas of Orange County and t ...
. Both groups lived in villages throughout the area. Large villages were sometimes
multiethnic A multinational state or a multinational union is a sovereign entity that comprises two or more nations or states. This contrasts with a nation state, where a single nation accounts for the bulk of the population. Depending on the definition of " ...
and
multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
, such as Genga, located in what is now
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, Newport ...
. The village was shared by the Tongva and Acjachemen and was believed to be over 9,500 years old. The village of
Puhú Puhú (''Payómkawichum'': “its arrow place”) was a major residential village in the Santa Ana Mountains shared by the Tongva, Acjachemen, Payómkawichum, and Serrano near Santiago Peak. The village resided approximately 600m above sea leve ...
was located in what is now
Black Star Canyon Black Star Canyon is a remote mountain canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains, located in eastern Orange County, California. It is a watershed of the Santa Ana River. Black Star Canyon is a popular destination for mountain bikers as well as hikers du ...
and was shared by multiple groups, including the Tongva, Acjachemen, Serrano and Payómkawichum. The mother village of the
Acjachemen The Acjachemen (, alternate spelling: Acagchemem) are an Indigenous people of California. They historically lived south of what is known as Aliso Creek and north of the Las Pulgas Canyon in what are now the southern areas of Orange County and t ...
was
Putiidhem Putuidem (''Acjachemen'': "belly" or "the navel"), alternative spelling Putiidhem or Putuidhem, was a large native village of the Acjachemen people, also known as ''Juaneño'' since their relocation to Mission San Juan Capistrano. The site was a ...
and is now located in
San Juan Capistrano San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for "St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St. ...
underneath Junipero Serra Catholic High School. For the
Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...
, north Orange County was at the southern extent of their village sites. In coastal villages like
Lupukngna Lupukngna was a coastal Tongva village that was at least 3,000 years old located on the bluffs along the Santa Ana River in Huntington Beach near the Newland House Museum. Other nearby coastal villages included Genga, located in West Newport Be ...
, at least 3,000 years old located in what is now
Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
, villagers likely used te'aats or plank boats to navigate the coastline, with fish and shellfish being more central to the diet. In inland villages such as
Hutuknga Hutuknga (alternative spellings: Hotuuknga or Hutuukuga) was a large Tongva village located in the foothills along the present channel of the Santa Ana River in what is now Yorba Linda, California. People from the village were recorded in mission ...
, rabbit and
mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...
were more central, in addition to acorns from
oak trees An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
and seeds from grasses and sage bushes common everywhere.


Spanish mission period

After the 1769 expedition of
Gaspar de Portolà Gaspar is a given and/or surname of French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish origin, cognate to Casper (given name) or Casper (surname). It is a name of biblical origin, per Saint Gaspar, one of the wise men mentioned in the Bible. Notable peo ...
, a Spanish expedition led by Junipero Serra named the area Valle de Santa Ana (Valley of
Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...
). On November 1, 1776,
Mission San Juan Capistrano Mission San Juan Capistrano ( es, Misión San Juan Capistrano) is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''Las Californias'' by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan O ...
became the area's first permanent European settlement. Among those who came with Portolá were José Manuel Nieto and
José Antonio Yorba José Antonio Yorba (July 20, 1743 – January 16, 1825), also known as Don José Antonio Yorba I, was a Spanish soldier and early settler of Spanish California. Spanish soldier Born in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia (San Saturnino) in Catalonia, Spain ...
. Both these men were given land grants—
Rancho Los Nietos Rancho Los Nietos was one of the first, and the largest, Spanish land concession in Alta California. Located in present-day Los Angeles County and Orange County, California. Rancho Los Nietos was awarded to Manuel Nieto in 1784. The rancho rem ...
and
Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana was a Spanish land concession in present-day Orange County, California, given by Spanish Alta California Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga in 1810 to Jose Antonio Yorba and his nephew Pablo Peralta. The grant exten ...
, respectively. The Nieto heirs were granted land in 1834. The Nieto ranches were known as
Rancho Los Alamitos Rancho Los Alamitos takes its name from an 1834 Mexican partition of the 1784 Rancho Los Nietos, a Spanish concession, covering an area in present-day California's southwestern Los Angeles County and northwestern Orange County. Los Alamitos me ...
,
Rancho Las Bolsas Rancho Las Bolsas was a 1834 Mexican land grant resulting from the partition of Rancho Los Nietos, located from the coast on inland within present day northwestern Orange County, California. The Spanish name '' "las bolsas" '' means "the pocke ...
, and
Rancho Los Coyotes Rancho Los Coyotes was a 1834 Mexican land grant resulting from the partition of the Rancho Los Nietos grant, in present-day southeastern Los Angeles County and northwestern Orange County, California. The rancho lands include the present-day c ...
. Yorba heirs
Bernardo Yorba Bernardo Yorba (August 20, 1800 – November 28, 1858), was a prominent Californio landowner, public figure, and one of the wealthiest men in early 19th-century California. Yorba also served as alcalde (mayor) of Santa Ana. The city of Yorba ...
and Teodosio Yorba were also granted
Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana was a land grant in present-day Orange County, California given by Mexican governor José Figueroa in 1834 to Bernardo Yorba. The name means "Canyon of Santa Ana". The grant included present-day Yorba Linda. Histor ...
(Santa Ana Canyon Ranch) and
Rancho Lomas de Santiago Rancho Lomas de Santiago was a Mexican land grant given by Mexican Governor Pío Pico to Teodosio Yorba in 1846. The name means "Hills of St. James". The rancho included parts of present-day Irvine and Tustin in what is now eastern Orange County ...
, respectively. Other ranchos in Orange County were granted by the Mexican government during the Mexican period in
Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...
.
Saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
Junípero Serra Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size ...
y Ferrer and the early components of the
Portolá Expedition thumbnail, 250px, Point of San Francisco Bay Discovery The Portolá expedition ( es, Expedición de Portolá) was a Spanish voyage of exploration in 1769–1770 that was the first recorded European land entry and exploration of the interior of t ...
arrived in modern-day
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 List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
, south of the present-day Orange County, in mid-late 1769. During these early
Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
years, however, the early immigrants continued to rely on imports of both Mexican-grown and Spanish-grown wines; Serra repeatedly complained of the process of repeated, labored import. The first grape crop production was produced in 1782 at
San Juan Capistrano San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for "St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St. ...
, with vines potentially brought through supply ships in 1778.


19th century

Viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
became an increasingly important crop in
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 world' ...
and Orange Counties through the subsequent decades. By the 1850s, the regions supported more than 100
vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...
s. In 1857,
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-most p ...
was founded by 50
German-Americans German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial Germans, German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by ...
(with lineage extending back to
Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...
) in search of a suitable grape-growing region. This group purchased a 1,165 acres (4.71 km2) parcel from Juan Pacifico Ontiveros's Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana for $2 per acre and later formed the Anaheim Vineyard Company. With surveyor George Hansen, two of the wine colony's founders, John Frohling and Charles Kohler, planted 400,000
grapevines ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...
along the
Santa Ana River The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, before cutting through ...
; by 1875, "there were as many as 50
wineries A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, b ...
in Anaheim, and the city’s wine production topped 1 million gallons annually." Despite later afflictions of both
Phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belong to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs ...
and
Pierce's Disease ''Xylella fastidiosa'' is an aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium of the genus ''Xylella''. It is a plant pathogen, that grows in the water transport tissues of plants ( xylem vessels) and is transmitted exclusively by xylem sap-feeding insects such ...
, wine growing is still practiced. A severe drought in the 1860s devastated the prevailing industry,
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
ranching A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...
, and much land came into the possession of Richard O'Neill Sr. James Irvine and other
land baron A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the te ...
s. In 1887,
silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
was discovered in the
Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside co ...
, attracting settlers via the Santa Fe and
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
s. High rates of Anglo migration gradually moved Mexicans into ''colonias'', or segregated
ethnic enclaves In sociology, an ethnic enclave is a geographic area with high ethnic concentration, characteristic cultural identity, and economic activity. The term is usually used to refer to either a residential area or a workspace with a high concentration ...
.


County establishment

After several failed attempts in previous sessions, the
California legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...
passed a bill authorizing the portion of
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
south of Coyote Creek to hold a referendum on whether to remain part of Los Angeles County or to secede and form a new county to be named “Orange” as directed by the legislature. Such referendum required a 2/3 vote for secession to take place, and subsequently on June 4, 1889, the residents south of Coyote Creek voted 2,509 to 500 in favor of secession. After such referendum, Los Angeles County filed three lawsuits in the courts to stall and stop the secession from occurring, but such attempts were futile. On July 17, 1889, a second referendum was held south of the Coyote Creek to determine if the county seat of the to-be county to be in either Anaheim or Santa Ana, along with an election for every county officer. In the end, Santa Ana defeated Anaheim in such referendum. With the referendum having taken place, the County of Orange was officially incorporated on August 1, 1889, as prescribed by state law. Since the date of the incorporation of the county, the only geographical changes to have occurred which affected Orange County was when the County and Los Angeles County agreed to trade land around Coyote Creek to adjust the border of the two counties to conform with city blocks. The county is said to have been named for the
citrus fruit ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to So ...
in an attempt to promote immigration by suggesting a semi-tropical paradise – a place where anything could grow.


20th century

Other
citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...
crops,
avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for i ...
s, and
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
extraction were also important to the early economy. Orange County benefited from the July 4, 1904, completion of the
Pacific Electric Railway The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...
, a trolley connecting
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 world' ...
with Santa Ana and
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, Newport ...
. The link made Orange County an accessible weekend retreat for celebrities of early
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
. It was deemed so significant that Pacific City changed its name to
Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
in honor of
Henry E. Huntington Henry Edwards Huntington (February 27, 1850 – May 23, 1927) was an American railroad magnate and collector of art and rare books. Huntington settled in Los Angeles, where he owned the Pacific Electric Railway as well as substantial real estate ...
, president of the Pacific Electric and nephew of
Collis Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested i ...
. Transportation further improved with the completion of the State Route and
U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
(now mostly
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 Califor ...
) in the 1920s. In the 1910s, agriculture in Orange County was largely centered on grains, hay, and potatoes by small farmers, accounting for 60% of the county's exports. However, by 1920, fruit and nut exports exploded, which led to the increase of industrialized farming and the decline of family farms. For example, by 1917, William Chapman came to own 350,000 acres in northeastern Orange County from the
Valencia orange The Valencia orange is a sweet orange cultivar named after the famed oranges in València, Spain. It was first hybridized by pioneer American agronomist and land developer William Wolfskill in the mid-19th century on his farm in Santa Ana, s ...
. Around the 1910s and 1920s, most of the ''barrios'' of Orange County, such as in Santa Ana, further developed as
company towns A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...
of Mexican laborers, who worked in the industrial orange groves. Poor working conditions resulted in the Citrus Strike of 1936, in which more than half of the orange industry's workforce, largely Mexican, demanded better working conditions. The strike was heavily repressed, with forced evictions and state-sanctioned violence being used as tactics of suppression. Carey McWilliams referred to the suppression as "the toughest violation of civil rights in the nation." The
Los Angeles flood of 1938 The Los Angeles flood of 1938 was one of the largest floods in the history of Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties in southern California. The flood was caused by two Pacific storms that swept across the Los Angeles Basin in February-Marc ...
devastated some areas of Orange County, with most of the effects being in Santa Ana and
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-most p ...
, which were flooded with six feet of water. As an eight-foot-high rush of water further spilled out of the
Santa Ana Canyon Santa Ana Canyon ( es, Cañón de Santa Ana), or the Santa Ana Narrows, is the water gap where the Santa Ana River passes between the Santa Ana Mountains and the Chino Hills, near the intersection of Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, ...
, forty-three people were killed in the predominately Mexican communities of Atwood and
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 ...
in Placentia. The devastation from this event, as well as from the
1939 California tropical storm The 1939 California tropical storm, also known as the 1939 Long Beach tropical storm, and El Cordonazo, was a tropical cyclone that affected Southern California in September 1939. Formerly a hurricane, it was the only tropical storm to make landf ...
, meant that Orange County was in need of new infrastructure, which was supported by the
New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
. This included the construction of numerous schools, city halls, post offices, parks, libraries, and fire stations, as well as the improvement of road infrastructure throughout Orange County.
School segregation School segregation is the division of people into different groups in the education system by characteristics such as race, religion, or ethnicity. See also *''D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic'' *School segregation in the United States *Single- ...
between Mexican and white students in Orange County was widespread in the mid 1940s, with 80% of Mexican students attending 14 segregated schools. These schools taught Mexican children manual education – or
gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...
, bootmaking, blacksmithing, and
carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters tr ...
for Mexican boys and sewing and homemaking for girls – while white schools taught academic preparation. The landmark case Mendez vs. Westminster (1947) desegregated Orange County schools, after the Mendez family were denied enrollment into the
17th Street School The Westminster School District (WSD) is a school district in Orange County, California, established in 1872 and headquartered in Westminster. It operates schools in Westminster, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, and Midway City. It operates eleme ...
in
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
in 1944, despite their cousins with lighter skin being admitted, and were instead told to enroll at the Hoover Elementary School for Mexican children. In the 1950s, agriculture, such as that involving the
boysenberries The boysenberry is a Hybrid (biology), cross between the European raspberry (''Rubus idaeus''), European blackberry (''Rubus fruticosus''), American dewberry (''Rubus aboriginum''), and loganberry (''Rubus'' × ''loganobaccus''). It is a large ...
made famous by
Buena Park Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, namely Knott's Berry Farm. It is about 12 mil ...
native
Walter Knott Walter Marvin Knott (December 11, 1889 – December 3, 1981) was an American farmer who created the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in California, introduced the Boysenberry, and made Knott's Berry Farm boysenberry preserves. Early life On De ...
, began to decline. However, the county's prosperity soared during this time. The completion of
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 Califor ...
in 1954 helped make Orange County a
bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
for many who moved to
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
to work in
aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...
and manufacturing. Orange County received a further economic boost in 1955 with the opening of
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
. In 1969,
Yorba Linda Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and had a population of 68,336 at the 2020 census. Yo ...
-born Orange County native
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
became the 37th
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
. In the late 1970s, Vietnamese and Latino immigrants began to populate central Orange County. In the 1980s, Orange County had become the second most populous county in California as the population topped two million for the first time. In the 1990s,
red foxes The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, p ...
became common in Orange County as a non-native
mesopredator A Mesopredator is a mid-ranking predator in a trophic level, which typically prey on smaller animals. Mesopredators often vary in ecosystems depending on the food web. While there is no definitive measurement for mesopredators, they are usually ref ...
, with increasing urban development pushing out coyote and mountain lion populations to the county's shrinking natural areas. In 1994, an investment fund meltdown led to the criminal prosecution of treasurer
Robert Citron Robert Lafee Citron (April 14, 1925 – January 16, 2013) was a longtime Treasurer-Tax Collector of Orange County, California, when it declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy on December 6, 1994. The bankruptcy was brought on by Citron's investment strate ...
. The county lost at least $1.5 billion through high-risk investments in bonds. The loss was blamed on
derivatives The derivative of a function is the rate of change of the function's output relative to its input value. Derivative may also refer to: In mathematics and economics * Brzozowski derivative in the theory of formal languages * Formal derivative, an ...
by some media reports. On December 6, 1994, the County of Orange declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy, from which it emerged on June 12, 1996. The Orange County bankruptcy was at the time the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Land use conflicts arose between established areas in the north and less developed areas in the south. These conflicts were over issues such as construction of new toll roads and the repurposing of a decommissioned air base.
El Toro Marine Corps Air Station Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro, near Irvine, California. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps Aviation on the West Coast. ...
was designated by a voter measure in 1994 to be developed into an international airport to complement the existing
John Wayne Airport John Wayne Airport is a commercial and general aviation airport that serves Orange County, California, and the Greater Los Angeles area. The airport is located in an unincorporated area of Orange County, and it is owned and operated by the cou ...
. But subsequent voter initiatives and court actions have caused the airport plan to be permanently shelved. It has developed into the
Orange County Great Park The Great Park is a public park located in Irvine, California, with a focus on sports, agriculture, and the arts. It is a non-aviation reuse of the decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro. The Orange County park comprises 28.8% ...
and housing.


21st century

In the 21st century, the social landscape of Orange County has continued to change. The
opioid epidemic The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It includes the sign ...
saw a rise in Orange County, with unintentional overdoses becoming the third highest contributor of deaths by 2014. As in other areas, the deaths disproportionately occurred in the homeless population. However, deaths were widespread among affluent and poorer areas in Orange County, with the highest at-risk group being Caucasian males between the ages of 45-55. A 2018 study found that supply reduction was not sufficient to preventing deaths. In 2008, a report issued by the Orange County Superior Court found that the county was experiencing a pet "overpopulation problem," with the growing number of pets leading to an increase in euthanasias at the Orange County Animal Shelter to 13,000 for the year alone. Following the 2016 presidential election, Santa Ana become a
sanctuary city Sanctuary city (; ) refers to municipal jurisdictions, typically in North America, that limit their cooperation with the national government's effort to enforce immigration law. Leaders of sanctuary cities say they want to reduce fear of deport ...
for immigrants. This created an intense debate in Orange County surrounding politics toward immigration, with many cities opposing pro-immigration policies. The COVID-19 pandemic in Orange County disproportionately affected lower income and Latino residents. Implementation of
renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
and
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 E ...
awareness in Orange County increased, with the city of Irvine pledging to be a
zero-carbon Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...
economy by 2030 and
Buena Park Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, namely Knott's Berry Farm. It is about 12 mil ...
,
Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
, and Fullerton pledging to move to 100% clean energy. Residential solar panel installation has rapidly increased, even among middle-income families, as a result of the state's residential solar program which began in 2006. In the 2010s, campaigns to conserve remaining natural areas gained awareness. By the early 2020s, some success was found, with the conservation of 24 acres in the
West Coyote Hills The West Coyote Hills are a low mountain range in northern Orange County, California. It contains one of the last large open-space area in north Orange County. Parts of it lie within the city limits of La Habra, Buena Park, and La Mirada, with most ...
of a total 510 acres and the Genga/Banning Ranch project moving forward, conserving some 385 acres, which was part of the
Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...
village area of Genga. In 2021, the commemorative 1.5 acre
Putuidem Putuidem ('' Acjachemen'': "belly" or "the navel"), alternative spelling Putiidhem or Putuidhem, was a large native village of the Acjachemen people, also known as ''Juaneño'' since their relocation to Mission San Juan Capistrano. The site wa ...
village opened after years of delays and campaigning by the
Acjachemen The Acjachemen (, alternate spelling: Acagchemem) are an Indigenous people of California. They historically lived south of what is known as Aliso Creek and north of the Las Pulgas Canyon in what are now the southern areas of Orange County and t ...
.


Geography

According to the
U.S. 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. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (16.6%) is water. It is the smallest county by area in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
, being just over 40% the size of the region's next smallest county, Ventura. The average annual temperature is about . Orange County is bordered on the southwest by the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
, on the north by
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
, on the northeast by
San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...
, on the east by
Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...
, and on the southeast by
San Diego County 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 fi ...
. The northwestern part of the county lies on the
coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coa ...
of the
Los Angeles Basin The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an anomalous group of east-west trending chains of mountains collectively known as the Tr ...
, while the southeastern end rises into the foothills of the
Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside co ...
. Most of Orange County's population reside in one of two shallow coastal valleys that lie in the basin, the
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 ...
and the
Saddleback Valley Saddleback Valley refers to the flat and foothill areas west-southwest of the Saddleback (Orange County, California), Saddleback double summit, double peak of the Santa Ana Mountains and east-northeast of the hilly Crystal Cove State Park in sou ...
. The Santa Ana Mountains lie within the eastern boundaries of the county and of the
Cleveland National Forest Cleveland National Forest encompasses 460,000 acres (), mostly of chaparral, with a few riparian areas. A warm dry mediterranean climate prevails over the forest. It is the southernmost U.S. National Forest of California. It is administered by th ...
. The high point is
Santiago Peak Santiago Peak is the southern mountain of the Saddleback landform in Orange County, California. It is the highest and most prominent peak of both the Santa Ana Mountains and Orange County; it also marks a border point with Riverside County. Th ...
(), about east of Santa Ana. Santiago Peak and nearby
Modjeska Peak Modjeska Peak is the northern mountain of the Saddleback landform in Orange County California. It is the second-highest peak of the Santa Ana Mountains, after Santiago Peak, whose summit is less than to the northwest. Modjeska lies within Clevel ...
, just shorter, form a ridge known as Saddleback, visible from almost everywhere in the county. The Peralta Hills extend westward from the Santa Ana Mountains through the communities of
Anaheim Hills Anaheim Hills is a planned community encompassing the eastern portions of the city of Anaheim, in Orange County, California. History Prior to the development, a few scattered low-density neighborhoods existed in the area, including Peralta Hills ...
,
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
, and ending in
Olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
. The Loma Ridge is another prominent feature, running parallel to the Santa Ana Mountains through the central part of the county, separated from the taller mountains to the east by
Santiago Canyon Santiago Canyon is a canyon and unincorporated community in South Orange County, California. According to the 2000 census, Santiago Canyon has several hundred residents living within its borders. Trabuco Canyon, Silverado Canyon, Modjeska Ca ...
. The
Santa Ana River The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, before cutting through ...
is the county's principal watercourse, flowing through the middle of the county from northeast to southwest. Its major tributary to the south and east is
Santiago Creek Santiago Creek is a major watercourse in Orange County in the U.S. state of California. About long, it drains most of the northern Santa Ana Mountains and is a tributary to the Santa Ana River. It is one of the longest watercourses entirely within ...
. Other watercourses within the county include Aliso Creek,
San Juan Creek San Juan Creek, also called the San Juan River, is a long stream in Orange and Riverside Counties, draining a watershed of .7.5 Minute Quadrangle Map, U.S. Geological Survey, San Juan Capistrano, 1968, photorevised 1981 Its mainstem begins in ...
, and Horsethief Creek. In the North, the San Gabriel River (California), San Gabriel River also briefly crosses into Orange County and exits into the Pacific on the Los Angeles-Orange County line between the cities of
Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...
and
Seal Beach Seal Beach is a coastal city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,242, up from 24,168 at the 2010 census. Seal Beach is located in the westernmost corner of Orange County. To the northwest ...
.
Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...
is home to the county's only natural lakes, Laguna Lakes, which are formed by water rising up against an underground fault.


Regions of Orange County

Orange County is sometimes divided into northern and southern regions. There are significant political, demographic, economic and cultural distinctions between North and South Orange County. A popular dividing line between the two regions is the Costa Mesa Freeway. North Orange County, including Anaheim, Fullerton, Garden Grove, California, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, was the first part of the county to be developed and is culturally closer to neighboring
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
. This region is more Hispanic (mostly Mexican) and Asian (predominantly Vietnamese and Korean), more densely populated (Santa Ana is the List of United States cities by population density, fifth most densely-populated city in the United States with a population of over 200,000), younger, less wealthy and with higher unemployment. It has more renters and fewer homeowners and generally votes Democratic. There are notable exceptions to these general trends, such as strongly Republican
Yorba Linda Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and had a population of 68,336 at the 2020 census. Yo ...
and affluent
Anaheim Hills Anaheim Hills is a planned community encompassing the eastern portions of the city of Anaheim, in Orange County, California. History Prior to the development, a few scattered low-density neighborhoods existed in the area, including Peralta Hills ...
, North Tustin, and Villa Park, California, Villa Park. North Orange County is predominantly flat, giving way to the
Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside co ...
in the Northeast. South Orange County is wealthier, more residential, more Republican, predominantly non-Hispanic white and more recently developed. Irvine, the largest city in the region, is an exception to some of these trends, being not only a major employment center, but also a major tech hub and education center with UCI. Furthermore, the city is an Asian plurality (both South and East Asian), and votes reliably Democratic in recent years. South Orange County almost always includes 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, Newport ...
, and the cities to their southeast, including Lake Forest, California, Lake Forest,
Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...
, Mission Viejo, and
San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...
. Alternatively, Irvine and Newport Beach are sometimes seen as Central Orange County, acting as a transition zone between north and south; when this viewpoint is taken Tustin is also considered to be in central Orange County. Costa Mesa is sometimes included in South County, although it is located predominantly to the west of the Costa Mesa Freeway and is part of the even street grid network of north Orange County. Irvine is located in a valley defined by the Santa Ana Mountains and the San Joaquin Hills, while much of South Orange County is very hilly. Another region of Orange County is the Orange Coast, which includes the six cities bordering the Pacific Ocean. These are, from northwest to southeast:
Seal Beach Seal Beach is a coastal city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,242, up from 24,168 at the 2010 census. Seal Beach is located in the westernmost corner of Orange County. To the northwest ...
,
Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
,
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, Newport ...
,
Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...
,
Dana Point Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast, and with ready access via State Route 1, it is a po ...
and
San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...
, although Seal Beach is sometimes viewed as an extension of neighboring
Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...
in Los Angeles County.


Commercial clusters — edge cities

Older cities like Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Fullerton have traditional downtowns dating back to the 19th century, with Downtown Santa Ana being the home of the county, state and federal institutions. However, far more commercial activity is concentrated in clusters of newer commercial development are found in the county's edge city, edge cities, the three largest being * along Interstate 5 Anaheim–Santa Ana edge city, between Disneyland and Downtown Santa Ana * South Coast Plaza–John Wayne Airport edge city, South Coast Plaza to the Irvine Business Complex, and at *
Irvine Spectrum Irvine Spectrum is a district in southeastern Irvine, Orange County, California, centered on the Irvine Spectrum Center shopping and lifestyle center. It is also an edge city, a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a tr ...


Anaheim—Santa Ana edge city

A contiguous strip of commercial development (an edge city) stretches from Disneyland through to MainPlace Mall along the I-5 Santa Ana Freeway, straddling the city limits of
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-most p ...
, Garden Grove, California, Garden Grove,
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
, and Santa Ana, and in fact stretching between the original downtowns of those four cities. Entertainment and cultural facilities include Disneyland Resort,
Angel Stadium Angel Stadium of Anaheim is a baseball stadium located in Anaheim, California. Since its opening in 1966, it has served as the home ballpark of the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), and was also the home stadium to the Los Ange ...
, Christ Cathedral (Garden Grove, California), Christ Cathedral (formerly Crystal Cathedral), City National Grove of Anaheim - a live concert venue, Discovery Cube Orange County, the Honda Center - home to the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL (National Hockey League), and the Anaheim Convention Center. Health care facilities include CHOC (Children's Hospital of Orange County), Kaiser Permanente Health Pavilion (Anaheim), St. Joseph Health System, St. Joseph Hospital (Orange), and the UCI Medical Center. Retail complexes include Anaheim GardenWalk, Anaheim Marketplace (claiming to be the largest indoor swap meet in Orange County with more than 200 vendors), MainPlace Mall, Orange Town & Country, and The Outlets at Orange, originally a mall named "The City" which was the centerpiece of a planned, 1970s mixed-use development by the same name. There is commercial strip-style development including big box retailers along West Chapman Avenue in Orange (Marshalls, Ralphs), along Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove (Burlington (department store), Burlington, Ross Dress for Less), and around Harbor Blvd. and Chapman Ave. in Anaheim (Target Corporation, Target). Major hotels line Harbor Boulevard from Disneyland south to Garden Grove: Grand Legacy at the Park, Hilton, Marriott, Courtyard, DoubleTree Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, Embassy Suites, Residence Inn, Hyatt Regency, Marriott Suites, Sheraton, and the Great Wolf Lodge. The Orange County Transit Authority studied the corridor as the possible route for a streetcar, a proposal that was dropped in 2018 due to opposition from Anaheim and other city governments. In addition to suburban-style apartment complexes, Anaheim's Platinum Triangle, Anaheim, Platinum Triangle is undergoing transformation from a low-density commercial and industrial zone into a more urban environment with high-density housing, commercial office towers, and retail space. Anaheim envisions it as a "downtown for Orange County". The area undergoing this large-scale redevelopment includes the city's two major sports venues, the Honda Center and Angel Stadium of Anaheim.


National protected areas

*
Cleveland National Forest Cleveland National Forest encompasses 460,000 acres (), mostly of chaparral, with a few riparian areas. A warm dry mediterranean climate prevails over the forest. It is the southernmost U.S. National Forest of California. It is administered by th ...
(part) * Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge


Climate


Demographics


2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''


2018


2011


Places by population, race, and income


2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Orange County had a population of 3,010,232. The racial makeup of Orange County was 1,830,758 (60.8%) White (U.S. Census), White (44.0% non-Hispanic white), 50,744 (1.7%) African American (U.S. Census), African American, 18,132 (0.6%) Native American (U.S. Census), Native American, 537,804 (17.9%) Asian (U.S. Census), Asian, 9,354 (0.3%) Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), Pacific Islander, 435,641 (14.5%) from Race (United States Census), other races, and 127,799 (4.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic (U.S. Census), Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Census), Latino of any race were 1,012,973 persons (33.7%). The Hispanic and Latino population is predominantly of Mexican American, Mexican origin; this group accounts for 28.5% of the county's population, followed by Salvadorans (0.8%), Guatemalans (0.5%), Puerto Ricans (0.4%), Cubans (0.3%), Colombians (0.3%), and Peruvians (0.3%). Santa Ana with its population reportedly 75 percent Hispanic/Latino, is among the most Hispanic/Latino percentage cities in both California and the U.S., esp. of Mexican-American descent. Among the Asian population, 6.1% are Vietnamese, followed by Koreans (2.9%), Chinese (2.7%), Filipinos (2.4%), Indians (1.4%), Japanese (1.1%), Cambodians (0.2%) Pakistanis (0.2%), Thais (0.1%), Indonesians (0.1%), and Laotians (0.1%). According to KPCC (radio station), KPCC in 2014, Orange County has the largest proportion of Asian Americans in Southern California, where one in five residents are Asian American. There is also a significant Islam in the United States, Muslim population in the county.


2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,846,289 people, 935,287 households, and 667,794 families living in the county, making Orange County the second most populous county in California. The population density was 1,392/km2 (3,606/sq mi). There were 969,484 housing units at an average density of 474/km2 (1,228/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 64.8% White (U.S. Census), White, 13.6% Asian (U.S. Census), Asian, 1.7% African American (U.S. Census), African American, 0.7% Native American (U.S. Census), Native American, 0.3% Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), Pacific Islander, 14.8% from Race (United States Census), other races, and 4.1% from two or more races. 30.8% were Hispanic (U.S. Census), Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Census), Latino of any race. 8.9% were of german people, German, 6.9% english people, English and 6.0% irish people, Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 58.6% spoke only English language, English at home; 25.3% spoke Spanish language, Spanish, 4.7% Vietnamese language, Vietnamese, 1.9% Korean language, Korean, 1.5% Chinese language, Chinese (Cantonese or Standard Mandarin, Mandarin) and 1.2% Tagalog language, Tagalog. In 1990, still according to the census there were 2,410,556 people living in the county. The racial makeup of the county was 78.6% White (U.S. Census), White, 10.3% Asian (U.S. Census), Asian or Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), Pacific Islander, 1.8% African American (U.S. Census), African American, 0.5% Native American (U.S. Census), Native American, and 8.8% from Race (United States Census), other races. 23.4% were Hispanic (U.S. Census), Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Census), Latino of any race. Out of 935,287 households, 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% Marriage, married couples were living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.48. Ethnic change has been transforming the population. By 2009, nearly 45 percent of the residents spoke a language other than English at home. Whites now comprise only 45 percent of the population, while the numbers of Hispanics grow steadily, along with Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese families. The percentage of foreign-born residents jumped to 30 percent in 2008 from 6 percent in 1970. The mayor of Irvine, Sukhee Kang, was born in Korea, making him the first Korean-American to run a major American city. “We have 35 languages spoken in our city,” Kang observed.Adam Nagourney, "Orange County Is No Longer Nixon Country,
''New York Times,'' Aug. 30, 2010
.
The population is diverse age-wise, with 27.0% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.9% 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males. The median income for a household in the county was $61,899, and the median income for a family was $75,700 (these figures had risen to $71,601 and $81,260 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $45,059 versus $34,026 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,826. About 7.0% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over. Residents of Orange County are known as "Orange Countians".


Economy


Business

Orange County is the headquarters of many Fortune 500 companies including Ingram Micro (#62) and First American Corporation (#476) in Santa Ana, Broadcom (#150) in Irvine, Western Digital (#198) in Lake Forest, and Pacific Life (#269) in Newport Beach. Irvine is the home of numerous start-up companies and also is the home of Fortune 1000 headquarters for Allergan, Edwards Lifesciences, Epicor, and Sun Healthcare Group. Other Fortune 1000 companies in Orange County include Beckman Coulter in Brea, Quiksilver in Huntington Beach and Apria Healthcare Group in Lake Forest. Irvine is also the home of notable technology companies like TV and sound bar company Vizio Inc., VIZIO, router manufacturer Linksys, video/computer game creator Blizzard Entertainment, and in-flight product manufacturer Panasonic Avionics Corporation. Also, the prestigious Mercedes-Benz Classic Center, Mercedes-Benz Classic Center USA is located in the City of Irvine. Many regional headquarters for international businesses reside in Orange County like Mazda, Toshiba, Toyota, Samsung, Kia Motors, Kia, in the City of Irvine, Mitsubishi in the City of Cypress, California, Cypress, Kawasaki Motors in Foothill Ranch, and Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai in the City of Fountain Valley. Fashion is another important industry to Orange County. Oakley, Inc. is headquartered in Lake Forest. Hurley International is headquartered in Costa Mesa. Both the network cyber security firm Milton Security Group and the shoe company Pleaser USA, Inc. are located in Fullerton. St. John (clothing), St. John is headquartered in Irvine. Tustin, is home to Ricoh Electronics, New American Funding, and Safmarine. Wet Seal is headquartered in Lake Forest, California, Lake Forest. PacSun is headquartered in Anaheim. Restaurants such as Taco Bell, El Pollo Loco, In-N-Out Burger, Claim Jumper, Marie Callender's, Wienerschnitzel, have headquarters in the city of Irvine as well. Del Taco is headquartered in Lake Forest. Gaikai also has its headquarters in Orange County.


Shopping

Shopping in Orange County is centered around regional shopping malls, big-box store, big box power center (retail), power centers and smaller strip malls. South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is the largest mall in California, the third largest in the United States, and List of largest shopping malls, 31st largest in the world. Other regional shopping malls include (from north to south): Brea Mall, The Village at Orange, The Outlets at Orange, MainPlace Santa Ana, Westminster Mall (California), Westminster Mall, Bella Terra in
Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
, The Market Place (Orange County, California), The Market Place straddling Tustin and Irvine, Irvine Spectrum Center, Fashion Island in
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, Newport ...
, Five Lagunas and The Shops at Mission Viejo. Downtown Disney and Anaheim GardenWalk are specialized shopping and entertainment centers aimed at visitors. Power centers include La Habra Marketplace, Anaheim Plaza, and Anaheim Town Square. There is one major outlet mall, The Outlets at San Clemente.


Tourism

Tourism remains a vital aspect of Orange County's economy.
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-most p ...
is the main tourist hub, with the Disneyland Resort's
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
being the second most visited theme park in the world. Also, Knotts Berry Farm gets about 7 million visitors annually and is located in the city of
Buena Park Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, namely Knott's Berry Farm. It is about 12 mil ...
. The Anaheim Convention Center holds many major conventions throughout the year. Resorts within the Beach Cities receive visitors throughout the year due to their close proximity to the beach, biking paths, mountain hiking trails, golf courses, shopping and dining.


Food culture

As recently as the 1990s, award-winning restaurants in Orange County consisted mostly of national chain restaurants with traditional American or Tex-Mex comfort food. In the late 1990s, Tim and Liza Goodell with chef Florent Marneau, and David Wilhelm, established culinary restaurant groups featuring nouvelle cuisine, gourmet burgers and more. The Orange County Register states that the "tipping point" came in 2007 when Marneaus founded Marché Moderne (since moved to Crystal Cove), and ''Top Chef'' chef Amar Santana opened a branch of Charlie Palmer (chef), Charlie Palmer (closed 2015), both at South Coast Plaza. Santana followed opening restaurants Broadway in Laguna Beach and Vaca in Costa Mesa. Other Top Chef chefs followed with their own restaurants including Brian Huskey (Tackle Box), Shirley Chung (Twenty Eight), Jamie Gwen of ''Cutthroat Kitchen'', and from ''The Great Food Truck Race'', Jason Quinn (chef), Jason Quinn (Playground), who also opened three stands at the 4th Street Market food hall in
Downtown Santa Ana Downtown Santa Ana (DTSA), also called Downtown Orange County, is the historic city center of Santa Ana and the county seat of Orange County, California. It is the institutional center for the city of Santa Ana as well as Orange County, a reta ...
in 2016. Food halls with gourmet vendors include the Anaheim Packing District, the 4th Street Market in
Downtown Santa Ana Downtown Santa Ana (DTSA), also called Downtown Orange County, is the historic city center of Santa Ana and the county seat of Orange County, California. It is the institutional center for the city of Santa Ana as well as Orange County, a reta ...
, Lot 579 in
Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
, Trade Food Hall in
Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...
, OC Mix in Costa Mesa, and The Source OC in
Buena Park Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, namely Knott's Berry Farm. It is about 12 mil ...
. In 2019, the Michelin Guide awarded stars for the first time to Orange County restaurants, awarding Hana Re and Taco Maria one star each. In 2021, Knife Pleat (restaurant), Knife Pleat in Costa Mesa was awarded one Michelin star as well.


Arts and culture

The area's warm Mediterranean climate and of year-round beaches attract millions of tourists annually.
Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
is a hot spot for sunbathing and surfing; nicknamed "Surf City, U.S.A.", it is home to many surfing competitions. "The Wedge (surfing), The Wedge", at the tip of The Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, is one of the most famous body surfing spots in the world. Southern California surf culture is prominent in Orange County's beach cities. Another one of these beach cities being Laguna Beach, just south of Newport Beach. A few popular beaches include A Thousand Steps on 9th Street, Main Street Beach, and The Montage. Other "local" beaches that are worth a visit are Tablerock Beach and West Street Beach, both located in South Laguna Beach. Other tourist destinations include the theme parks
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
and Disney California Adventure Park in
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-most p ...
and
Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...
in
Buena Park Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, namely Knott's Berry Farm. It is about 12 mil ...
. Due to the 2022 reopening of Wild Rivers (water park), Wild Rivers in Irvine, the county is home to two water parks along with Knott's Soak City, Soak City in Buena Park. The Anaheim Convention Center is the largest such facility on the West Coast. The old town area in the City of Orange (the traffic circle at the middle of Chapman Avenue at Glassell Street) still maintains its 1950s image, and appeared in the movie ''That Thing You Do!''. Little Saigon, Orange County, Little Saigon is another tourist destination, home to the largest concentration of Vietnamese people outside Vietnam. There are also sizable Taiwanese, Chinese, and Korean communities, particularly in western Orange County. This is evident in several Asian-influenced shopping centers in Asian American hubs like Irvine. Popular food festival 626 Night Market has a location at OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa and is a popular attraction for Asian and fusion food, as well as an Art Walk and live entertainment. Historical points of interest include
Mission San Juan Capistrano Mission San Juan Capistrano ( es, Misión San Juan Capistrano) is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''Las Californias'' by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan O ...
, the renowned destination of migrating swallows. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is in
Yorba Linda Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and had a population of 68,336 at the 2020 census. Yo ...
and the Richard Nixon Birthplace, on the grounds of the Library, is a National Historic Landmark. John Wayne's yacht, the ''Wild Goose'' or USS YMS-328, is in
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, Newport ...
. Other notable structures include the home of Madame Helena Modjeska, in Modjeska Canyon on
Santiago Creek Santiago Creek is a major watercourse in Orange County in the U.S. state of California. About long, it drains most of the northern Santa Ana Mountains and is a tributary to the Santa Ana River. It is one of the longest watercourses entirely within ...
; Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse (California), Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse in Santa Ana, the largest building in the county; the historic Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach; and the Huntington Beach Pier. The county has nationally known centers of worship, such as Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, Garden Grove, the largest house of worship in California; Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, Lake Forest, one of the largest churches in the United States; and the Calvary Chapel.


Religion

In 2014, the county had 1,075 religious organizations, the sixth-highest total among all US counties (matching its status as the sixth-most-populous county in the US). Orange County is the base for several religious organizations: *The Newport Beach California Temple, one of four temples operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Southern California. *Christ Cathedral (Garden Grove, California), Christ Cathedral (formerly Reverend Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral) is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, located in Garden Grove, California, Garden Grove. *University Synagogue, one of the world’s largest Reconstructionist Judaism, Reconstructionist Jewish synagogues located in
Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...
to serve the sizable Jewish community in the area, especially students at nearby
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
. *Beth Jacob Congregation of Irvine, the largest Orthodox Jewish synagogue between
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 world' ...
and
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 List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
, serving several thousand families. *Temple Beth El of South Orange County, located in Aliso Viejo, and built in 2001 to serve the fast-growing Jewish community in Orange County, this synagogue can seat 1,400 congregants and is the largest by size in Orange County, and is one of the largest places of worship in the state in terms of size. Temple Beth El is affiliated with both the Reform Judaism, Reform and Conservative Judaism denominations. *Temple Bat Yahm of Newport Beach, is the largest Reform synagogue in
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, Newport ...
and serves more than 500 families. *Chabad, Chabad of Orange County, serves more than 100,000 Jewish families at more than of a dozen of its synagogues and community centers located in Irvine, Laguna Woods, Newport Beach, Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, North Irvine, Laguna Niguel, Yorba Linda, Tustin, Dana Point, Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach. These synagogues adhere to the Chabad-Lubavitch school of Orthodox Judaism, but all Jews are welcome to worship regardless of denomination or background. *Temple Beth Emet of Anaheim, is the only synagogue in
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-most p ...
and was the first Conservative Jewish synagogue to open in Orange County back in 1955. *Islamic Center of Irvine, which has raised over $5.5 million for its expansion project (as of October 2018). *Islamic Institute of Orange County, an Islamic Center in Orange County, located in
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-most p ...
and founded in 1991. *The Islamic Society of Orange County in Garden Grove, established in 1976 and one of the largest mosques in the United States. *Islamic Center of Santa Ana (ICSA), which opened a new $2.6 million facility in 2017. *Orange County Islamic Foundation, located in Mission Viejo. *The Islamic Educational Center of Orange County (IECOC), located in Costa Mesa *Forty Martyrs Armenian Apostolic Church, located in Santa Ana is one of two Armenian Apostolic Church, otherwise referred to as "Armenian Orthodox Church" or "Gregorian Church" in Orange County. *St. Mary Armenian Church, located in Costa Mesa is one of two Armenian Apostolic Church, otherwise referred to as "Armenian Orthodox Church" or "Gregorian Church" in Orange County. *Family International, also known as "The Children of God", was founded in 1968 in
Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
by David Berg. *Chuck Smith (pastor), Chuck Smith, early leader in the Jesus movement, Jesus People movement and founder of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa. *Pao Fa Temple in Irvine is one of the largest Buddhist monasteries and temples in the United States. *''The Purpose Driven Life'' author Rick Warren and his Saddleback Church (the largest church in California) are in Lake Forest, California, Lake Forest. *The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange headed by Bishop Kevin Vann. There are about 1.04 million Catholics in Orange County. *Trinity Broadcasting Network began as Channel 40 in Tustin, now in Costa Mesa. *Monasteries of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, Vedanta Society and St. Michael's Abbey (Orange County, California), St. Michael's Abbey are located in Trabuco Canyon. *The Vineyard Christian Fellowship movement began in Orange County. *The Jain Center of Southern California in
Buena Park Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, namely Knott's Berry Farm. It is about 12 mil ...
, largest center for followers of Jain faith, originally started by Jains from India *The Sikh Center of Orange County located in Santa Ana * The Sikh Center of Buena Park - Gurdwara Singh Sabha *Harvest Orange County in Irvine. Also holds the Harvest Crusades in Anaheim Stadium. * Living Stream Ministry is headquartered in Anaheim and hosts several Christian conferences a year. * Orange County Buddhist Center in Laguna Hills, part of the Soka Gakkai International


Sports

Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
annually plays host to the U.S. Open of Surfing, AVP Pro Beach Volleyball and ''Vans World Championship of Skateboarding''. It was also the shooting location for Pro Beach Hockey. United States women's national water polo team, USA Water Polo, Inc. has moved its headquarters to Irvine, California. Orange County's active outdoor culture is home to many surfers, skateboarders, mountain bikers, cyclists, climbers, hikers, kayaking, sailing and sand volleyball. The Major League Baseball team in Orange County is the Los Angeles Angels. The team won the World Series under manager Mike Scioscia in 2002. In 2005, new owner Arte Moreno wanted to change the name to "Los Angeles Angels" in order to better tap into the Los Angeles media market, the second largest in the country. However, the standing agreement with the city of Anaheim demanded that they have "Anaheim" in the name, so they became the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This name change was hotly disputed by the city of Anaheim, but the change stood, which City of Anaheim v. Angels Baseball LP, prompted a lawsuit by the city of Anaheim against Arte Moreno, won by the latter. Prior to the 2016 Moreno and the club officially dropped the Anaheim moniker now simply going by the Los Angeles Angels. The county's National Hockey League team, the Anaheim Ducks, won the 2007 Stanley Cup beating the Ottawa Senators. They also came close to winning the 2003 Stanley Cup finals after losing in Game 7 against the New Jersey Devils. The Toshiba Classic, the only PGA Champions Tour event in the area, is held each March at The Newport Beach Country Club. Past champions include Fred Couples (2010), Hale Irwin (1998 and 2002), Nick Price (2011), Bernhard Langer (2008) and Jay Haas (2007). The tournament benefits the Hoag Hospital Foundation and has raised over $16 million in its first 16 years. Orange County SC is a United Soccer League team and are the only professional soccer club in Orange County. The team's first season was in 2011 and it was successful as Charlie Naimo's team made it to the quarter-finals of the playoffs. With home games played at Championship Soccer Stadium in
Orange County Great Park The Great Park is a public park located in Irvine, California, with a focus on sports, agriculture, and the arts. It is a non-aviation reuse of the decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro. The Orange County park comprises 28.8% ...
the team looks to grow in the Orange County community and reach continued success. Former and current Orange County SC players include Richard Chaplow, Bright Dike, Maykel Galindo, Carlos Borja (American soccer), Carlos Borja, and goalkeeper Amir Abedzadeh. The National Football League left the county when the Los Angeles Rams relocated to St. Louis in 1995. The National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers played some home games at The Arrowhead Pond, now known as the Honda Center, from 1994 to 1999, before moving to Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena), which they share with the Los Angeles Lakers.


Government

Orange County is a charter county of California; its county seat, seat is Santa Ana. The elected offices of the county government consist of the five-member Orange County Board of Supervisors, Board of Supervisors, County Assessor, Assessor, Auditor-Comptroller, Controller, County clerk, Clerk-Recorder of deeds, Recorder, District attorney, District Attorney-Public Administrator, Sheriffs in the United States, Sheriff-Coroner, and Treasurer-Tax Collector. Except for the Board of Supervisors, each of these elected officers are elected by the voters of the entire county and oversee their own County departments. , the six countywide elected officers are: *Assessor: Claude Parrish, Republican Party (United States), Republican (since January 5, 2015) *Auditor-Controller: Frank Davies (since October 18, 2019) *Clerk-Recorder: Hugh Nguyen, Republican Party (United States), Republican (since April 3, 2013) *District Attorney-Public Administrator: Todd Spitzer, Republican Party (United States), Republican (since January 7, 2019) *Sheriff-Coroner: Don Barnes (sheriff), Don Barnes, Republican Party (United States), Republican (since January 7, 2019) *Treasurer-Tax Collector: Shari Freidenrich, CPA, Republican Party (United States), Republican (since January 3, 2011) A seventh countywide elected officer, the Superintendent (education), County Superintendent of Schools (jointly with an independently elected County Board of Education) oversees the independent #Department of Education, Orange County Department of Education.


Board of Supervisors

Each of the five members of the Board of Supervisors is elected from a regional district, and together, the board oversees the activities of the county's agencies and departments and sets policy on development, public improvements, and county services. At the beginning of each calendar year, the Supervisors select a Chair and Vice Chair amongst themselves. The Chair presides over board meetings, and the Vice Chair presides when the Chair is not present. The Board appoints the Clerk (legislature), Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, the general counsel, County Counsel, the performance audit, Performance Audit Director, and the Director of the Office of Independent Review. The Board also appoints the County Executive Officer to act as the chief administrative officer of the county and the manager of all agencies and departments not under the sole jurisdiction of an elected county official nor the sole jurisdiction of one of the four aforementioned officers appointed by the Board. , the members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors are: *District 1: Andrew Do, Republican Party (United States), Republican (since February 3, 2015) *District 2: Katrina Foley, Democratic Party (United States), Democrat (since March 23, 2021) *District 3: Donald P. Wagner, Republican Party (United States), Republican (since March 27, 2019) *District 4: Doug Chaffee (politician), Doug Chaffee, Democratic Party (United States), Democrat (since January 7, 2019) *District 5: Lisa Bartlett, Republican Party (United States), Republican (since December 2, 2014)


Department of Education

The County Department of Education is wholly separate from the County government and is jointly overseen by the elected County Superintendent of Schools and the five-member Orange County Board of Education, whose trustees are popularly elected from five separate trustee areas. , the six elected officials overseeing the Orange County Department of Education are: *Trustee Area 1: Jorge Valdes, Republican Party (United States), Republican *Trustee Area 2: Mari Barke, Republican Party (United States), Republican *Trustee Area 3: Ken Williams, Republican Party (United States), Republican *Trustee Area 4: Tim Shaw, Republican Party (United States), Republican *Trustee Area 5: Lisa Sparks, Republican Party (United States), Republican *Superintendent of Schools: Al Mijares, Republican Party (United States), Republican


Pension scandal

On July 12, 2010, it was revealed that former Sheriff Mike Carona received over $215,000 in pension checks in 2009, despite his felony conviction. A 2005 state law denied a public pension to public officials convicted of wrongdoing in office, however, that law only applied to benefits accrued after December 2005. Carona became eligible for his pension at age 50, and is also entitled, by law, to medical and dental benefits. It was noted that the county's retirement system faces a massive shortfall totaling $3.7 billion unfunded liabilities, and Carona was one of approximately 400 retired Orange County public servants who received more than $100,000 in benefits in 2009. Also on the list of those receiving extra-large pension checks is former treasurer-tax collector
Robert Citron Robert Lafee Citron (April 14, 1925 – January 16, 2013) was a longtime Treasurer-Tax Collector of Orange County, California, when it declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy on December 6, 1994. The bankruptcy was brought on by Citron's investment strate ...
, whose investments, which were made while consulting psychics and astrologers, led Orange County into bankruptcy in 1994. Citron, a Democrat, funneled billions of public dollars into questionable investments, and at first the returns were high and cities, schools and special districts borrowed millions to join in the investments. But the strategy backfired, and Citron's investment pool lost $1.64 billion. Nearly $200 million had to be slashed from the county budget and more than 1,000 jobs were cut. The county was forced to borrow $1 billion. The California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility filed a lawsuit against the pension system to get the list. The agency had claimed that pensioner privacy would be compromised by the release. A judge approved the release and the documents were released late June 2010. The release of the documents has reopened debate on the pension plan for retired public safety workers approved in 2001 when Carona was sheriff. Called "3 percent at 50," it lets deputies retire at age 50 with 3 percent of their highest year's pay for every year of service. Before it was approved and applied retroactively, employees received 2 percent. "It was right after September 11 attacks, Sept. 11," said Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach. "All of a sudden, public safety people became elevated to god status. The Board of Supervisors were tripping over themselves to make the motion." He called it "one of the biggest shifts of money from the private sector to the public sector." Moorlach, who was not on the board when the plan was approved, led the fight to repeal the benefit. A lawsuit, which said the benefit should go before voters, was rejected in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2009 and is now under appeal. Carona opposed the lawsuit when it was filed, likening its filing to a "nuclear bomb" for deputies.


Politics

During most of the 20th century and up until 2016, Orange County was known for its political Conservatism in the United States, conservatism and for being a bastion for the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, with a 2005 academic study listing three Orange County cities as among America's 25 most conservative. However, the county's changing demographics have coincided with a shift in political alignments. In United States presidential election in California, 2016, 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first Democrat since 1936 to carry Orange County in a presidential election and in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2018 midterm elections the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party gained control of every Congressional seat in the county. Although Democrats controlled all congressional districts in Orange County at the time, Republicans maintained a lead in voter registration numbers (although it shrunk to less than a percentage point as of February 10, 2019, as compared with over 10% on February 10, 2013). The number of registered Democrats surpassed the number of registered Republicans in the county in August 2019. As the number of Democrats increased, the number of voters not aligned with a political party increased to comprise 27.4% of the county's voters in 2019. Republicans hold a 3-2 majority on the county Board of Supervisors. Seven out of the 12 state legislators from Orange County are also Republicans.


Political history

From the mid-20th century until the 2010s, Orange County was known as a Republican Party (United States), Republican stronghold and consistently sent Republican representatives to the state and federal legislatures — so strongly so, that Ronald Reagan described it as the place that "all the good Republicans go to die." Republican majorities in Orange County helped deliver California's electoral votes to Republican nominees
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
in 1960, 1968, and 1972; Gerald Ford in 1976; Reagan in 1980 and 1984; and George H. W. Bush in 1988. It was one of five counties in the state that voted for Barry Goldwater in 1964. In 1936 United States presidential election in California, 1936, Orange County gave Franklin D. Roosevelt a majority of its presidential vote. The Republican nominee won Orange County in the next 19 presidential elections, until Hillary Clinton won the county with a narrow majority in 2016. In 2020, Joe Biden further improved slightly on Clinton's 2016 margin of victory. The Republican margin began to narrow in the 1990s and 2000s as the state trended Democratic until the mid- to late-2010s when it voted for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in 2016 United States presidential election in California, 2016 and in 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2018, when the Democratic party won every United States House District anchored in the county, including four that had previously been held by Republicans. This prompted media outlets to declare Orange County's Republican leanings "dead", with the ''Los Angeles Times'' running an op-ed titled, "An obituary to old Orange County, dead at age 129." While Republicans were able to recapture two of the seven U.S. House seats in Orange County in 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2020, Democrats continue to hold the other five, with Biden winning the county by a slightly greater margin than Clinton and a majority of the votes in each of the seven congressional districts. Republicans still carry more weight at the local level, and in 2020 for the California State Assembly, State Assembly elections, they won 50.2% of the vote and four out of seven seats of the county. In the 2022 California elections, 2022 Midterm Elections, no congressional districts flipped, though Republicans performed strongly in Orange County, with every statewide GOP candidate carrying it. For the 117th United States Congress in the United States House of Representatives, Orange County is split between seven congressional districts: * , * , * , * , * , * , and * . The 39th, 45th, 46th, and 48th districts are all centered in Orange County. The 38th and 47th have their population centers in Los Angeles County, while the 49th is primarily San Diego County-based. In the California State Senate, Orange County is split into 5 districts: * , * , * , * , and * . In the California State Assembly, Orange County is split into 7 districts: * , * , * , * , * , * , and * . According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Orange County has 1,591,543 registered voters. Of these, 34% (541,711) are registered Republicans, and 33.3% (529,651) are registered Democrats. An additional 28.5% (453,343) declined to state a political party. Orange County has produced such notable Republicans as President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
(born in Yorba Linda, California, Yorba Linda and lived in Fullerton and San Clemente, California, San Clemente), U.S. Senator John F. Seymour (previously mayor of Anaheim, California, mayor of Anaheim), and U.S. Senator Thomas Kuchel (of Anaheim). Former Congressman Christopher Cox (of Newport Beach), a White House counsel for President Reagan, is also a former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Orange County was also home to former Republican Congressman John G. Schmitz, a presidential candidate in 1972 from the ultra-conservative American Independent Party and the father of Mary Kay Letourneau. In 1996, Curt Pringle (later mayor of Anaheim) became the first Republican Speaker of the California State Assembly in decades. While the growth of the county's Hispanic and Asian people, Asian populations in recent decades has significantly influenced Orange County's culture, its conservative reputation has remained largely intact. Partisan voter registration patterns of Hispanics, Asians and other ethnic minorities in the county have tended to reflect the surrounding demographics, with resultant Republican majorities in all but the central portion of the county. When Loretta Sanchez, a Blue Dog Coalition, Blue Dog Democrat, defeated veteran Republican Bob Dornan in 1996, she was continuing a trend of Democratic representation of that district that had been interrupted by Dornan's 1984 upset of former Congressman Jerry M. Patterson, Jerry Patterson. Until 1992, Sanchez herself was a moderate Republican, and she is viewed as somewhat more moderate than other Democrats from Southern California. In 2004 US presidential election in California, 2004, George W. Bush captured 60% of the county's vote, up from 56% in 2000 US presidential election in California, 2000 despite a higher Democratic popular vote statewide. Although Barbara Boxer won statewide 2004 United States Senate election in California, in the simultaneously-held senate election and fared better in Orange County than she did in 1998 US Senate election in California, 1998, Republican Bill Jones (California politician), Bill Jones defeated her in the county, 51% to 43%. While the 39% that John Kerry received is higher than the percentage Bill Clinton won in 1992 US presidential election in California, 1992 or 1996 US presidential election in California, 1996, the percentage of the vote George W. Bush received in 2004 is the highest any presidential candidate has received since 1988, showing a still-dominant GOP presence in the county. In 2006 US Senate election in California, 2006, Senator Dianne Feinstein won 45% of the vote in the county, the best showing of a Democrat in a Senate race in over four decades, but Orange was nevertheless the only Coastal California county to vote for her Republican opponent, Dick Mountjoy. The county is featured prominently in Lisa McGirr's book ''Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right''. She argues that its conservative political orientation in the 20th century owed much to its settlement by farmers from the Great Plains, who reacted strongly to communist sympathies, the civil rights movement, and the turmoil of the 1960s in nearby Los Angeles — across the "Orange Curtain". In the 1970s and 1980s, Orange County was one of California's leading Republican voting blocs and a subculture of residents with "Middle American" values that emphasized capitalist religious morality in contrast to San Francisco values, West coast liberalism. Orange County has many Republican voters from culturally conservative Asian Americans, Asian-American, Middle Eastern Americans, Middle Eastern and Latino immigrant groups. The large Vietnamese Americans, Vietnamese-American communities in Garden Grove, California, Garden Grove and
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
are predominantly Republican; Vietnamese Americans registered Republicans outnumber those registered as Democrats, 55% to 22% as of 2007, while as of 2017 that figure is 42% to 36%. Republican Assemblyman Van Tran was the first Vietnamese-American elected to a state legislature and joined with Texan Hubert Vo as the highest-ranking elected Vietnamese-American in the United States until the 2008 election of Joseph Cao in Louisiana's 2nd congressional district. In the 2007 special election for the vacant county supervisor seat following Democrat Lou Correa's election to the state senate, two Vietnamese-American Republican candidates topped the list of 10 candidates, separated from each other by only seven votes, making the Orange County Board of Supervisors entirely Republican; Correa is first of only two Democrats to have served on the Board since 1987 and only the fifth since 1963. Even with the Democratic sweep of Orange County's congressional seats in 2018, as well as a steady trend of Democratic gains in voter registration, the county remains very Republican downballot. In much of the county, the district's congressperson is the only elected Democrat above the county level, and in some cases the only elected Democrat above the municipal level. Generally, larger cities–those with a population over 100,000, such as Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Irvine - feature a registration advantage for Democrats, while the other municipalities still have a Republican voter registration advantage. This is especially true in Newport Beach, Yorba Linda, and Villa Park, the three cities where the Republican advantage is largest. As of February 10, 2019, the only exceptions to the former are Huntington Beach and Orange, while exceptions to the latter include Buena Park, Laguna Beach and Stanton. Similarly, despite Orange county supporting Democratic candidates for president in 2016, and 2020, there are still several smaller municipalities in the county that have continued to vote Republican for president. In addition to the aforementioned Newport Beach, Yorba Linda, and Villa Park, the cities of Huntington Beach, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, and San Clemente also supported Republican nominee Donald Trump for president twice.


Voter registration (2020 census)


Cities by population and voter registration (2020 census)


Former congressional districts


Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.


Cities by population and crime rate


Education

Orange County is the home of many colleges and universities, including: Universities *Public **
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
(UCI) **California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) *Private, religious **
Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
**Concordia University, Irvine, Concordia University **Hope International University **Trinity Law School **Vanguard University of Southern California, Vanguard University *Private, secular **Anaheim University **Soka University of America **Springfield College **Western State University College of Law **Whittier Law School Colleges *Two-year (community colleges) **Coastline Community College **Cypress College **Fullerton College **Golden West College **Irvine Valley College **Orange Coast College **Saddleback College **Santa Ana College **Santiago Canyon College *Four-year **Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising **Laguna College of Art and Design **Southern California Institute of Technology Some institutions not based in Orange County operate satellite campuses, including the University of Southern California, National University (California), National University, Pepperdine University, and Springfield College. The Orange County Department of Education oversees 28 school districts.


Media

Orange County is served by media in Los Angeles, including its TV and radio stations. Two television stations—KOCE-TV, the main PBS station in the Southland and KDOC-TV, an independent—are located in Orange County. There are a few radio stations that are actually located in Orange County. KYLA 92.7 FM has a Christian format. KSBR 88.5 FM airs a jazz music format branded as "Jazz-FM" along with news programming. KUCI 88.9 FM is a free form college radio station that broadcasts from UC Irvine. KWIZ 96.7 FM, located in Santa Ana, airs a regional Mexican music format branded as "La Rockola 96.7". KWVE-FM 107.9 is owned by the Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa. KWVE-FM is also the primary Emergency Alert System station for the county. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim also own and operate a sports-only radio station from Orange, KLAA (AM), KLAA. KX 93.5 FM broadcasts out of Laguna Beach and features an eclectic mix of mostly alternative rock. County-wide politics and government coverage is primarily provided by the ''Orange County Register'' and ''Voice of OC''. ''OC Weekly'' was an alternative weekly publication, and ''Excélsior'' is a Spanish-language newspaper. A few communities are served by the ''Los Angeles Times'' publication of the ''Daily Pilot''. ''Orange Coast (magazine), Orange Coast'' was established in 1974 and is the oldest continuously published lifestyle magazine in the region. ''OC Music Magazine'' is also based out of Orange County, serving local musicians and artists. The ''Orange County Plain Dealer'' (January 1898 to May 8, 1925), was a mostly Anaheim-based newspaper, and successor to ''The Independent'', bought by James E. Valjean, a Republican and edited by him, a former editor of the Portsmouth Blade (Ohio). Other newspapers were: ''Anaheim Daily Herald'', ''Anaheim Gazette'', ''Anaheim Bulletin''.


Transportation

Transit in Orange County is offered primarily by the Orange County Transportation Authority. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) cited OCTA as the best large public transportation system in the United States for 2005. OCTA manages the county's bus network and funds the construction and maintenance of local streets, highways, and Southern California freeways, freeways; regulates taxicab services; maintains express toll lanes through the median of California State Route 91; and works with Southern California's Metrolink (Southern California), Metrolink to provide commuter rail service along three lines: the Orange County Line, the 91 Line, and the Inland Empire–Orange County Line.


Major highways

Ground transportation in Orange County relies heavily on three major interstate highways: the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5), the Interstate 405 (California), San Diego Freeway (I-405 and Interstate 5 in California, I-5 south of Irvine), and the San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605 (California), I-605), which briefly passes through northwestern Orange County. The other freeways in the county are state highways, and include the Riverside Freeway, Riverside and Artesia Freeway (California State Route 91, SR 91) and the Garden Grove Freeway (California State Route 22, SR 22) running east–west, and the Orange Freeway (California State Route 57, SR 57), the Costa Mesa Freeway (California State Route 55, SR 55), the Laguna Freeway (California State Route 133, SR 133), the San Joaquin Hills Toll Road, San Joaquin Transportation Corridor (California State Route 73, SR 73), the Eastern Toll Road (California), Eastern Transportation Corridor (California State Route 261, SR 261, California State Route 133, SR 133, California State Route 241, SR 241), and the Foothill Toll Road, Foothill Transportation Corridor (California State Route 241, SR 241) running north–south. Minor stub freeways include the Richard M. Nixon Freeway (SR 90), also known as Imperial Highway, and the southern terminus of Pacific Coast Highway (SR 1). There are no United States Numbered Highways, U.S. Highways in Orange County, though two existed in the county until the mid-1960s: U.S. Route 91, 91 and U.S. Route 101, 101. US 91 went through what is now CA-91, the state route of the same number, and US 101 was replaced by Interstate 5. SR 1 was once a bypass of US 101 (Route 101A). *
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 Califor ...
* Interstate 405 (California), Interstate 405 * Interstate 605 * California State Route 1, State Route 1 * California State Route 22, State Route 22 * California State Route 39, State Route 39 * California State Route 55, State Route 55 * California State Route 57, State Route 57 * California State Route 72, State Route 72 * California State Route 73, State Route 73 * California State Route 74, State Route 74 * California State Route 90, State Route 90 * California State Route 91, State Route 91 * California State Route 133, State Route 133 * California State Route 142, State Route 142 * California State Route 241, State Route 241 * California State Route 261, State Route 261


Bus

The bus network comprises 6,542 stops on 77 lines, running along most major streets, and accounts for 210,000 boardings a day. The fleet of 817 buses is gradually being replaced by CNG (Compressed natural gas)-powered vehicles, which already represent over 40% of the total fleet. Service is operated by OCTA employees and First Transit under contract. OCTA operates one bus rapid transit service, Bravo, on Harbor Boulevard. In addition, OCTA offers paratransit service for the disabled (OC ACCESS), also operated by MV.


Rail

Since 1992, Metrolink (California), Metrolink has operated three commuter rail lines through Orange County, and has also maintained Rail-to-Rail service with parallel Amtrak service. On a typical weekday, over 40 trains run along the Orange County Line, the 91 Line and the Inland Empire–Orange County Line. Along with Metrolink (California), Metrolink riders on parallel Amtrak lines, these lines generate approximately 15,000 boardings per weekday. Metrolink (California), Metrolink also began offering weekend service on the Orange County Line and the Inland Empire-Orange County line in the summer of 2006. As ridership has steadily increased in the region, new stations have opened at Anaheim Canyon station, Anaheim Canyon, Buena Park station, Buena Park, Tustin station, Tustin, and Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station, Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo. Plans for a future station in Placentia station, Placentia are underway and is expected to be completed by 2020. Since 1938, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad and later Amtrak, has operated the ''Pacific Surfliner'' regional passenger train route (previously named the ''San Diegan (train), San Diegan'' until 2000) through Orange County. The route includes stops at eight stations in Orange County including, in northbound order, San Clemente Pier station, San Clemente Pier (selected trips), San Juan Capistrano station, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station, Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo (formerly), Irvine Transportation Center, Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center, Orange Transportation Center (formerly), Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC), and Fullerton Transportation Center. OC Streetcar, formerly known as the Santa Ana/Garden Grove Fixed Guideway Project, is a streetcar line connecting Downtown Santa Ana to the Depot at Santa Ana which is currently under construction and expected to open in 2023. OCTA has also proposed connecting the two systems via Harbor Boulevard and the West Santa Ana Branch corridor. Plans for a streetcar for Harbor Boulevard in Fullerton, Anaheim, and Garden Grove — the Anaheim Rapid Connection — were shelved in 2018.


Sea

A car and passenger ferry service, the Balboa Island Ferry, comprising three ferries running every five minutes, operates within Newport Harbor between Balboa Peninsula and
Balboa Island Balboa Island is a harborside community in Newport Beach, California, accessible to the public via bridge, ferry and several public docks. The community is surrounded by a paved concrete boardwalk open to pedestrian traffic, designated as a pu ...
in
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, Newport ...
. The Catalina Flyer connects the Balboa Peninsula to Avalon, California, Avalon with daily round-trip passage through about nine months of the year. The Catalina Express connects
Dana Point Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast, and with ready access via State Route 1, it is a po ...
to Avalon (with departures from two greater
Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...
ports also connecting to Two Harbors, California, Two Harbors).


Air

Orange County's only major airport is
John Wayne Airport John Wayne Airport is a commercial and general aviation airport that serves Orange County, California, and the Greater Los Angeles area. The airport is located in an unincorporated area of Orange County, and it is owned and operated by the cou ...
; its abbreviation (SNA) refers to Santa Ana, the closest large town in the early 20th century. The airport is located in unincorporated territory surrounded by Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, and Irvine. On destination monitors with flights to SNA, the airport is usually described as "Orange County, CA". In 2014, its Thomas F. Riley Terminal handled over 9 million passengers annually and as of 2019, seven airline brands provide scheduled service.


Communities


Cities

*Aliso Viejo *
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-most p ...
*Brea, California, Brea *
Buena Park Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, namely Knott's Berry Farm. It is about 12 mil ...
*Costa Mesa *Cypress, California, Cypress *
Dana Point Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast, and with ready access via State Route 1, it is a po ...
*Fountain Valley, California, Fountain Valley * Fullerton *Garden Grove, California, Garden Grove *
Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
*
Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...
*La Habra *La Palma, California, La Palma *
Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...
*Laguna Hills *Laguna Niguel *Laguna Woods *Lake Forest, California, Lake Forest *Los Alamitos, California, Los Alamitos *Mission Viejo *
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, Newport ...
*
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
* Placentia *Rancho Santa Margarita, California, Rancho Santa Margarita *
San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...
*
San Juan Capistrano San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for "St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St. ...
* Santa Ana (county seat) *
Seal Beach Seal Beach is a coastal city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,242, up from 24,168 at the 2010 census. Seal Beach is located in the westernmost corner of Orange County. To the northwest ...
*Stanton, California, Stanton *Tustin *Villa Park, California, Villa Park *
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
*
Yorba Linda Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and had a population of 68,336 at the 2020 census. Yo ...


Unincorporated communities

These communities are outside city limits in unincorporated area, unincorporated county territory.


Planned communities

Orange County has a history of large Planned community, planned communities. Nearly 30 percent of the county was created as master planned communities, the most notable being the Irvine, California, City of Irvine, Coto de Caza,
Anaheim Hills Anaheim Hills is a planned community encompassing the eastern portions of the city of Anaheim, in Orange County, California. History Prior to the development, a few scattered low-density neighborhoods existed in the area, including Peralta Hills ...
, Tustin Ranch, Tustin Legacy, Ladera Ranch, Talega, Rancho Santa Margarita, California, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Mission Viejo.
Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...
is often referred to as a model master-planned city because its original seven villages (College Park, The Colony, The Ranch, Culverdale, The Racket Club, University Park, and Turtle Rock) were laid out by the Irvine Company of the mid-1960s before it was bought by a group of investors including Donald Bren.


In popular culture

Orange County has been the setting for numerous written works and motion pictures, as well as a popular location for shooting motion pictures. The city of
San Juan Capistrano San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for "St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St. ...
is where writer Johnston McCulley set the first novella about Zorro, ''The Curse of Capistrano''. It was published in 1919 and later renamed ''The Mark of Zorro''. Many of the novels of Dean Koontz are set in Orange County. Koontz lives in Newport Beach, a well known city on the county's coast. Orange County was featured by Huell Howser in ''Road Trip'' Episode 109. Since the fall 2003 premiere of the hit Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox series ''The O.C.,'' and the 2006 Bravo (US TV network), Bravo series "The Real Housewives of Orange County", tourism has increased with travelers from across the globe hoping to see sights from the shows.


See also

* List of museums in Orange County, California * List of people from Orange County, California * National Register of Historic Places listings in Orange County, California * Orange County (film), ''Orange County'' (film) * Orange County Fair (California) * Orange County School of the Arts * Santiago Library System


Notes


References


Further reading

* Robin Rockey, ''100 Things to Do in Orange County Before You Die.'' Reedy Press, 2019. * Gustavo Arellano, ''Orange County: A Personal History.'' New York: Scribner, 2008. * Samuel Armor
''History of Orange County, California: With Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men and Women of the County Who have been Identified with its Earliest Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present.''
Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1921. * Mark Baldassare, ''When Government Fails: The Orange County Bankruptcy.'' San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California, 1998. * Mike Heywood, ''A History of Orange County: Twelve Decades of Extraordinary Change, 1889 to 2010.'' n.c.: Aardvark Global Publishing, 2010. * Doris I. Walker. ''Orange County Then and Now (Then & Now).'' Thunder Bay Press, 2006. * Philippe Jorion and Robert Roper, ''Big Bets Gone Bad: Derivatives and Bankruptcy in Orange County.'' San Diego: Academic Press, 1995. * Rob Kling, Spencer C Olin, and Mark Poster, ''Postsuburban California: The Transformation of Orange County since World War II.'' Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1991. * Orange County Historical Society, ''Orange County.'' Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2005.
''An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California, From the Earliest Period of Occupancy to the Present Time; Together with Glimpses of their Prospects; Also, Full-Page Portraits of Some of their Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of Many of their Pioneers and of Prominent Citizens of To-day.''
Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1890. * ''The Majestic Empire: Orange County California.'' Santa Ana, CA: Orange County Board of Supervisors, 1964. * ''Orange County, California: The Story of Orange County.'' Santa Ana, CA: Board of Supervisors of Orange County, California, 1939.


External links

* *

– slideshow by ''The New York Times''
Orange County, California
o
National Association Of Counties

Filming Locations in Orange County
{{Authority control Orange County, California, California counties Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles, Counties in Southern California 1889 establishments in California Populated places established in 1889 Government units that have filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy Majority-minority counties in California