San Francisco County
Unlike almost anywhere else, San Francisco is both a city and a county. It is the financial, commercial, and cultural center of the entire Northern California region. Although its population is under a million, it is the second-most densely populated large city in the United States, and the fifth most…
Marin County
Marin County is located just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, and San Rafael is the county seat. It was created in 1850, shortly before California was admitted to the Union, and one of its original 27 counties. Before that, the area had been…
San Mateo County
San Mateo is Spanish for St. Matthew, and the county covers much of the peninsula below San Francisco. It was established in 1856, along with the other eight original counties that were formed when California gained its statehood. It has a population of about 700,000, and Redwood City is the…
Contra Costa County
Located across the bay from San Francisco, the primarily suburban Contra Costa County has about 1,000,000 people, and Martinez is the county seat. Fossils have shown that a wide variety of now-extinct animals populated this area in prehistoric times. Later, there was an extensive settlement consisting of several Native American…
Solano County
Solano County was also created in 1850 when California officially became one of the United States. It has a population of about 400,000, and the county seat is Fairfield. It was named for Chief Solano of the Suisan Native American tribe and is the 5th most racially diverse in the…
Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County is located on the Pacific Coast of California, between San Francisco and Monterey. The county is the northern coast of Monterey Bay. It has a population of about 260,000, and the city of Santa Cruz is the county seat. With a redwood forest on one side, the…
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County is located almost directly in the center of eastern California. It’s largest city and county seat is San Jose. It is probably most known for being home to Silicon Valley, the center of high technology. The tech industry’s concentration of wealth has given it the world’s third-highest…
Sonoma County
Sonoma County is not densely populated, with about 484 000 residents. Santa Rosa is its largest city and county seat. It is located to the north of Marin County and west of Napa County. While it may not be quite as well-known as either of those, it produces more wine…
Napa County
Napa Valley has long been known for its excellent vineyards and wineries. It had achieved such success in the industry that it ranked equally with French wines several decades ago when two local wines won the “Judgment of Paris” in 1976. The county seat is Napa, and it was one…
Alameda County
Alameda is the county that contains the well-known cities of Berkeley and Oakland – which is the county seat, although there are 12 others and several unincorporated communities. The population as of the last census was about 1,500,000. The name meant tree-lined street and was given by early Spanish explorers…