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San Diego (pop. 1,305,736 as of 2005 ) is a coastal Southern California city located in the southwestern corner of the continental United States. It is the second largest city in California and the seventh largest in the United States . It lies just north of the Mexican border (shares border with Tijuana, Mexico), and is a home for United States Navy and Marine Corps bases, many miles of beaches, and a mild marine climate. The annual mean temperature is 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit (18°C). San Diego's economy centers on tourism, trade, agriculture, ship-building, the military, biotechnology, computer science and electronics.

The University of California, San Diego and nearby research institutes on Torrey Mesa provide a base for technological innovation and there are numerous high-tech and biotech companies in the area, such as Qualcomm, Neurocrine, and Illumina. Major tourists attactions include the cities beaches and bays, Balboa Park with its many museums, the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, San Diego Wild Animal Park (in Escondido, north of the city) and Old Town, the site of of the original Spanish settlement.

Downtown San Diego is located on San Diego Bay. Coronado Island and Point Loma separate the bay from the ocean. Ocean Beach is on the west side of Point Loma. Mission Beach and Pacific Beach lie between the ocean and Mission Bay, a man-made aquatic park. La Jolla, an affluent community, lies north of Pacific Beach. Mount Soledad in La Jolla offers views from northern San Diego County to Mexico.

Mountains rise to the east of the city, and beyond the mountains are desert areas. Cleveland National Forest is a half-hour drive from downtown San Diego. Numerous farms are found in the valleys northeast of the city. The city of San Diego itself has deep canyons separating its mesas, creating small pockets of natural parkland scattered throughout the city.

Military bases in or near San Diego include U.S. Navy ports, Marine Corps bases, and Coast Guard stations. San Diego is the home port of the largest naval fleet in the world, including two Navy supercarriers (the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan) five amphibious assault ships, several Los Angeles-class submarines, and many smaller ships.

One of the Marine Corps' two Recruit Depots is located here. San Diego is also known as the "birthplace of naval aviation," although Pensacola, Florida makes a rival claim.

Four Navy vessels have been named USS San Diego in honor of the city.

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 133,936. Pasadena is the main population and cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. It is the 8th largest city in Los Angeles County and famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade.

Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California, located 28 miles southeast of Los Angeles. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 328,014, making it the tenth-largest city in California and 55th-largest in the United States. Anaheim is the second largest city in Orange County and is known for its theme parks, sports teams, and convention center.

Founded by fifty German families in 1857 and incorporated on February 10, 1870, Anaheim developed into an industrial center, producing electronics, aircraft parts, and canned fruit. It is the site of the Disneyland Resort, a world-famous grouping of theme parks and hotels which opened in 1955, Angel Stadium, the Arrowhead Pond, and Anaheim Convention Center, the largest convention center on the American West Coast. Its name is a blend of "Ana", after the nearby Santa Ana River, and "heim", a common Upper German place name compound originally meaning "home". Previously, the settlement was known as Campo Alemán (Spanish for German Camp).

Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 126,003.

It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Historically it was a center of agriculture, notably groves of Valencia oranges and other citrus crops; petroleum extraction; transportation; and manufacturing. It is home to several educational institutions, notably the California State University, Fullerton (CSUF).

Garden Grove, is a city centrally located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of 2004, the city population was 170,000 people. California State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, passes through the city from east to west. Garden Grove is home to a substantial Vietnamese-American population, forming the northern edge of Orange County's Little Saigon, and also to a large Korean-American population centered along Garden Grove Boulevard west of Brookhurst Street. The city is possibly best known outside the Southern California area for being the home of Robert H. Schuller's Crystal Cathedral, from which religious broadcasts are made.

Garden Grove was founded by Alonzo Cook in 1874. A school district and Methodist church were organized that year. It remained a small rural crossroads until the arrival of the railroad in 1905. The rail connection helped the town prosper with crops of oranges, walnuts, chili peppers and -- later -- strawberries. In 1933, much of the town's central business district was destroyed by the Long Beach earthquake, and one person was killed. The post-World War II boom led to rapid development, and Garden Grove was incorporated as a city in 1956 with about 44,000 residents.

By 1960, population had grown to 85,000; by 1970 it was 120,000. In the late Seventies and Eighties a significant Asian population (primarily Vietnamese and Korean) began to locate in the area. In recent years, Harbor Boulevard has become a booming entertainment and tourism area, served by nine high-rise hotels. Well-known Garden Grove residents include actor Steve Martin, adventurer Steve Fossett and baseball star Lenny Dysktra. Garden Grove also lends its name to a song by the famous Southern California band Sublime, on their eponymous album.

Irvine is an incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated in 1971, the 46-square mile city has a population of 180,803 (as of 2005). It currently has plans to annex an undeveloped area to the north, and has already annexed the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, most of which is to be made into a park called the Orange County Great Park.

The city is notable for its well-regarded public elementary and high schools and exceptionally low crime rate (as of 2005, the FBI considers Irvine the safest city in the US ).

Irvine is home to the University of California, Irvine (UCI), the Orange County Center of University of Southern California, Irvine Campus of Alliant International University, Concordia University, and Irvine Valley College.

Irvine is also home to a number of corporations, particularly in the technology sector. The city's two biggest employers are UCI and Verizon Wireless.

Rancho Cucamonga is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 127,743. By July 1, 2002 Census the fast-growing city's population had reached 143,711. By early 2006, the city's population had reached over 161,000 people.

Bill J Alexander is the current mayor of Rancho Cucamonga, since 1994. Jack Lam is the City Manager.

The city was incorporated in 1977, as a result of a merger among the unincorporated communities of Alta Loma, Cucamonga, and Etiwanda.

San Bernardino is the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of 2005 the California Department of Finance estimates the population at 199,803. Currently, freeway entry signs state the poulation is 201,823. Some areas, particularly north of downtown, have a density beyond design capacity, including garage conversions. Although rapid residential development is transforming the city into a bedroom community, manufacturing remains a major industry in San Bernardino and the surrounding cities. It is an anchor city of the Inland Empire. San Bernardino has three major events, the annual Route 66 Rendezvous a multi-day automobile event held in downtown San Bernardino each September, the National Orange Show , held each April/May, and the Western Regional Little League Championships in the summer.

Santa Clarita is the fourth largest city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2005 California Department of Finance estimate, the city population was 167,954. It is located about 35 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and occupies most of the Santa Clarita Valley. It is a notable example of a U.S. edge city or boomburb. The FBI rates it as the sixth safest city in the United States with at least 100,000 inhabitants. (Nearby Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, in Ventura County, traditionally alternate between the first and second spots on the list.)

Santa Clarita was incorporated in 1987 as the union of several previously existing communities, including Saugus, Valencia, Canyon Country, Newhall, and portions of Castaic. Its principal boundaries are the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways; their merger in Newhall Pass at the city's southernmost point gives Santa Clarita its distinctive triangular appearance on the map. Unlike many other hybrid cities' districts, communities in Santa Clarita retain a considerable degree of autonomy, to the extent that some of them--Valencia, most notably--are often mistaken for completely separate cities.

Santa Clarita's most notable attractions are the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park on the western edge of the city, and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), located in Valencia.

As the city is hemmed in by mountains on all sides (the Tehachapis on the north, the San Gabriels on the east, and the Santa Susanas on the south and west) and is primarily reliant on the automobile for transportation, it suffers from chronic smog. It is also prone to wildfires, as demonstrated by the destruction of large undeveloped areas around the city during blazes in 2003 and 2004.

Los Angeles—often known simply as L.A. or informally as the City of Angels—is the largest city in the state of California and the second-largest in the United States. As of the 2004 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a population of 3.85 million. The city is the core cultural and economic center of the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana metropolitan area with a population of 12.9 million.

Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4 1850—five months before California achieved statehood—and is the county seat of Los Angeles County. The city has a global presence as a center of culture, science, and higher education. Los Angeles is arguably the world's leading producer of popular entertainment—such as motion pictures, television, and recorded music—lending the city an extraordinary measure of international fame.

Los Angeles is also one of the most cosmopolitan places in the world—it is home to people from virtually every nation on Earth. The city has hosted two Olympic Games—in 1932 and 1984—and is home to world-renowned scientific and cultural institutions. People have long been attracted to the world-class city for its balmy weather, unique and vibrant lifestyle, laid-back energy, Pacific Rim Gateway status, and the hope of realizing the "American Dream."

Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is an important suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The city is bordered to the southwest by the Atwater Village district of Los Angeles; to the west by Burbank; to the northwest by the Tujunga district of Los Angeles; to the northeast by the city of La Cañada Flintridge and the unincorporated La Crescenta area; and to the east by Pasadena. The Golden State, Ventura, Glendale, and Foothill freeways run through the city.

As of the 2000 census, the city population was 194,973. Since then, there have been estimates of 201,326 by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2004 and 207,007 by the California State government in 2005, making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the seventeenth largest city in the state of California.

Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, located in Glendale, contains the remains of many celebrities and local residents. It is famous as the pioneer of a new style of cemetery.

The U.S. headquarters of the Swiss foods multinational Nestlé are located here. Glendale is also home to the "southern campus" of DreamWorks SKG, the diversified entertainment company founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.

Long Beach is a city located in southern Los Angeles County, California, on the Pacific coast. It borders Orange County on its southeast edge. It is about 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown Los Angeles.

As of the 2000 census, the city population was 461,522. By 2006 its population is estimated to have increased to 490,166 . It is the 34th-largest city in the nation, 5th in California and 2nd in Los Angeles County (after Los Angeles). Long Beach is also the largest U.S. city that is not a county seat.

According to the 2000 US Census, Long Beach is the most ethnically diverse large city in the United States . For example, Long Beach has the second-largest population of Cambodians outside of Asia (after Paris), and the area along Anaheim St. is sometimes called "Little Phnom Penh". There are also sizable populations of African-Americans, Mexicans, Salvadorians and other Central Americans, Filipino Americans, Vietnamese Americans and other Asians. There is a small population of Pacific Islander Americans in Long Beach and the surrounding communities, especially Samoan Americans. There is also a significant population of gays and lesbians, with many gay-owned businesses along Broadway, 2nd Street and 4th Street between Downtown Long Beach and Belmont Shore.

Having an excellent harbor, it is one of the world's largest shipping ports and a year-round resort noted for its long, wide beaches and beautiful active marina. It has the largest municipally owned marina in the country with 3,400 slips. The city also has a large oil industry; oil (discovered in 1921) is found both underground and offshore. Manufactures include aircraft, automobile parts, electronic and audiovisual equipment, and home furnishings. It is also home to numerous regional, national, and world headquarters for major corporations such as Epson America, Molina Healthcare, Scan Health Care, and Polar Air Cargo. Long Beach grew with the development of high-technology and aerospace industries in the area.

The city draws 5.5 million visitors annually. The R.M.S. Queen Mary has been located in Long Beach since her retirement in 1967 and now serves as a hotel, convention center, and tourist attraction. The Aquarium of the Pacific, a world-class research facility, is a popular tourist destination.

Tourists are also drawn to Long Beach by the numerous annual events held in the city, which include music festivals, sports competitions, and cultural celebrations.

The Long Beach Grand Prix, an annual Champ Car race, takes place on city streets near the Convention Center and is one of the largest Grand Prix events in the world. It is the largest street race in the United States with an estimated 300,000 people watching the event in person every year over three days.

Long Beach is the location of the largest California State University, CSULB, and the headquarters of the California State University system. The city also has a Veterans Affairs hospital and is a major healthcare hub for the region.

Signal Hill is an incorporated city surrounded entirely by Long Beach.

The City of Orange is located in Orange County, California. It is approximately 3 miles (6 kilometers) north of the County seat in Santa Ana, California, and approximately 32 miles (52 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.

The Current OMB metropolitan designation for Orange and the Orange County Area is "Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA."

Oxnard is the largest city in Ventura County, California in terms of population. It is located in the heart of the fertile Oxnard Plain, and is one of the world's most important agricultural centers, with its distinction as the strawberry and lima bean capital. Founded in 1903, it is home to more than 200,000 citizens.

The city is home to two large U.S. Navy bases (Port Hueneme and Point Mugu). The Port of Hueneme is the busiest commercial port between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Oxnard is also a major transit hub in Southern California, with Amtrak, Union Pacific, Metrolink, Greyhound, Intercalifornias and many others stopping in Oxnard. Oxnard also has a regional airport called Oxnard Airport (OXR), but its only destination is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). There are ongoing discussions regarding future plans to build a major airport in the region.

The city boasts of its weather, its beaches, its economy (home to several major companies), its ambience, its sense of community and the numerous opportunities it offers.

Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States.

Originally a sleepy, dusty town of citrus orchards and cattle ranches astride Route 66 (now known as Foothill Boulevard) and numerous rail lines, Fontana was radically transformed during World War II by the construction of a steel mill belonging to the Henry J. Kaiser Company and the routing of the San Bernardino Freeway through a section of the town. Explosive growth soon followed, with the area becoming a prominent industrial exurb of Los Angeles. Its working-class orientation, and a population of largely rural Southern and Midwestern origins, led to the city receiving the derisive nicknames Fontucky and Fontucket. This reputation for provincialism was not aided by the rise to prominence of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, which had originally formed in Fontana. Despite this reputation, Fontana elected its first African American to the city council in 2004.

Foreign competition and mismanagement led to the closure of the Kaiser Steel plant in the early 1980s, and Fontana and neighboring San Bernardino soon became centers of lower income whites. The production and consumption of methamphetamine, and its distribution by the Hells Angels, rose during this time. However, Fontana's fortunes improved notably (along with the rest of the cities of the Inland Empire) with the advent of the Southern California real estate boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s: As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 128,929, but a July 1, 2002 Census estimate showed the fast-growing city's population at 143,607. The completion of the Foothill Freeway extension in 2003 should contribute to Fontana's increasing prominence as both a bedroom community and a center of industry. Much of the boom has occurred to the north of the city core with residents who choose to identify with surrounding cities such as Rancho Cucamonga.

Fontana's principal cultural/entertainment attraction is the California Speedway, a racetrack that plays host to two NASCAR Nextel Cup events a year and various smaller races. It is built on portions of the former site of the Kaiser mill. Some parts of the mill were sold to China, and the rest remains as an operating steel mill.

Huntington Beach, is a seaside city in Orange County, in southern California. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 189,594. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the southwest, by Seal Beach on the northwest, by Costa Mesa on the east, by Newport Beach on the southeast, by Westminster on the north, and by Fountain Valley on the northeast.

It is known for its long 14 km (8.5 miles) beach, mild climate, and excellent surfing. The waves are a unique natural effect caused by edge-diffraction of ocean swells by the island of Catalina, and waves from distant hurricanes. Because of the curve of the coastline at Huntington Beach, the local beach actually faces southwest. In summer, the southwest-facing beach often has very strong surf from hurricanes off the Mexican coast.

Huntington Beach incorporated in 1909 under its first mayor, Ed Manning. Its original developer was the Huntington Beach Company, a real-estate development firm owned by Henry Huntington, a railroad magnate after whom the city is named. The Huntington Company is still a major land-owner in the city, and still owns most of the local mineral rights. The city's first high school, Huntington Beach High School was built in 1906. The school's team, the Oilers, are named after the city's original natural resource.

The climate is generally sunny, dry and cool, although evenings can be excessively damp. In the morning and evening, there are often strong breezes, 15 mph (25 km/h). Ocean water temperatures average 55 to 65 °F (10 to 15 °C). In the summer, temperatures rarely exceed 85 °F (25 °C). In the winter, temperatures rarely fall below 55 °F (10 °C), even on clear nights. There are about 10 inches (250 mm) of rain, almost all in mid-winter. Frost occurs only rarely on the coldest winter nights.

Huntington Harbour is suitable for light craft, and includes a dock, launching ramp, basic services and a few restaurants.

The harbor entrance is sometimes restricted by the US Navy, which loads ships with munitions at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station to the north of the main channel.

Long Beach is a city located in southern Los Angeles County, California, on the Pacific coast. It borders Orange County on its southeast edge. It is about 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown Los Angeles.

As of the 2000 census, the city population was 461,522. By 2006 its population is estimated to have increased to 490,166 . It is the 34th-largest city in the nation, 5th in California and 2nd in Los Angeles County (after Los Angeles). Long Beach is also the largest U.S. city that is not a county seat.

According to the 2000 US Census, Long Beach is the most ethnically diverse large city in the United States . For example, Long Beach has the second-largest population of Cambodians outside of Asia (after Paris), and the area along Anaheim St. is sometimes called "Little Phnom Penh". There are also sizable populations of African-Americans, Mexicans, Salvadorians and other Central Americans, Filipino Americans, Vietnamese Americans and other Asians. There is a small population of Pacific Islander Americans in Long Beach and the surrounding communities, especially Samoan Americans. There is also a significant population of gays and lesbians, with many gay-owned businesses along Broadway, 2nd Street and 4th Street between Downtown Long Beach and Belmont Shore.

Having an excellent harbor, it is one of the world's largest shipping ports and a year-round resort noted for its long, wide beaches and beautiful active marina. It has the largest municipally owned marina in the country with 3,400 slips. The city also has a large oil industry; oil (discovered in 1921) is found both underground and offshore. Manufactures include aircraft, automobile parts, electronic and audiovisual equipment, and home furnishings. It is also home to numerous regional, national, and world headquarters for major corporations such as Epson America, Molina Healthcare, Scan Health Care, and Polar Air Cargo. Long Beach grew with the development of high-technology and aerospace industries in the area.

The city draws 5.5 million visitors annually. The R.M.S. Queen Mary has been located in Long Beach since her retirement in 1967 and now serves as a hotel, convention center, and tourist attraction. The Aquarium of the Pacific, a world-class research facility, is a popular tourist destination.

Tourists are also drawn to Long Beach by the numerous annual events held in the city, which include music festivals, sports competitions, and cultural celebrations.

The Long Beach Grand Prix, an annual Champ Car race, takes place on city streets near the Convention Center and is one of the largest Grand Prix events in the world. It is the largest street race in the United States with an estimated 300,000 people watching the event in person every year over three days.

Long Beach is the location of the largest California State University, CSULB, and the headquarters of the California State University system. The city also has a Veterans Affairs hospital and is a major healthcare hub for the region.

Signal Hill is an incorporated city surrounded entirely by Long Beach.

Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California, in the eastern San Gabriel Valley. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 149,473. In 2005, its population was estimated as 160,815 . Pomona is the 5th largest city in Los Angeles County (after Los Angeles, Long Beach, Glendale, and Santa Clarita).

Pomona is best known as the location of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). This university was established on the site of breakfast cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg's massive ranch located on the city's west side. It is also the home of the Los Angeles County fairgrounds. While a fair in the nation's most populous county might seem quaint, Cal Poly is one of several major agricultural research facilities in the state, and the fair's livestock exhibits are a noted attraction. (Other major California agriculture schools include California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, Fresno State, UC Davis, and Chico State.)

Western University of Health Sciences is located in downtown Pomona, with programs ranging from veterinary medicine to nursing to osteopathic medicine.

Pomona is not, as is often assumed, the site of Pomona College. Although this elite liberal arts institution was founded in the city in 1887, its campus has been in neighboring Claremont since 1889.

Since the 1980's, Pomona's newest neighborhood Phillips Ranch, experienced rapid growth with demands of new housing units increased. Homes are still being built in the hilly area between Downtown and Diamond Bar. Today, Phillips Ranch is nearly all residential.

Miguel Pulido

Orange County

  - Total

27 mi²

Santa Ana is the largest city and the county seat of Orange County, California. It lies approximately 10 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, on the largely seasonal Santa Ana River. The Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5) runs through the city, and the Costa Mesa Freeway (55 Freeway) and Garden Grove Freeway (22 Freeway) travel along its edges. It is today best-known for its enormous Mexican American population, now comprising over 75% of what was once a virtually all-white city. It has the highest percentage of Latinos, even more than El Paso, among the 50 largest cities in America. The Current OMB metropolitan designation for Santa Ana and the Orange County Area is “Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA.”

Founded in 1869 by Kentuckian William H. Spurgeon on land purchased from the Yorba family, Santa Ana was incorporated as a city in 1886 with a population of 2000 and in 1889 became the seat of the newly formed Orange County.

One of Santa Ana's most notable businesses is the Rickenbacker musical instrument company, whose electric guitars and bass guitars earned fame in the hands of rock and roll legends such as: John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney of The Beatles; Roger McGuinn of The Byrds; Pete Townshend of The Who; Tom Petty; Geddy Lee of Rush; Chris Squire of Yes; and Peter Buck of R.E.M. Santa Ana is also the home of the First American Corporation and Ingram Micro.

Santa Ana is also the location of the original Glenn L. Martin aviation company, which later merged with the Lockheed Corporation to form the largest aircraft and weapons manufacturing corporation on the planet, Lockheed Martin.

Torrance is a city located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California.

The city is named after its founder, oilman Jared Sidney Torrance. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 137,946; a 2003 estimate puts the total population at 142,621 . Torrance is the 7th largest city in Los Angeles County.