{{short description|American geographic and cultural region}}{{About|the northern part of the U.S. state of California|the historic region|Alta California|the megaregion|Northern California megaregion}}{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}

*factoids*

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco skyline, San Jose, California>San Jose skyline, Muir Woods National Monument, the northern California coast as seen from Muir Beach Overlook, view of a gondola in Lake Tahoe, and Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz.| image_map = Northern California counties in red.png| map_caption = Northern California counties in red| subdivision_type = Country| subdivision_name = United States| subdivision_type1 = State| subdivision_type2 = Major cities| subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name1 = California

San Jose, California>San JoseSan Francisco Fresno Sacramento Oakland Stockton, California

Fremont, California>Fremont Modesto, California

Santa Rosa, California>Santa Rosa Salinas, California

Hayward, California>Hayward Sunnyvale, California

Visalia, California>Visalia Chico, California

Redding, California>Redding San Mateo, California

San Rafael, California>San Rafael Eureka, California

Susanville, California>Susanville| subdivision_name3 = | seat_type = Largest city

San Jose, California>San Jose| population_as_of = 2020| population_total = 15,775,319}}Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's 58 counties.NEWS, September 7, 2014,weblink Westward Tilt: Northern California, Neil, Morgan, Lodi News-Sentinel, Lodi, California, April 19, 1963, BOOK,weblink 6, Kent Guide Manual (Harrison Narcotic Law) and Progressional Registry, John E. Kent, The Service Press, 1917, San Francisco, Its main population centers include the San Francisco Bay Area (anchored by the cities of San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland), the Greater Sacramento area (anchored by the state capital Sacramento), the Redding, California, area south of the Cascade Range, and the Metropolitan Fresno area (anchored by the city of Fresno). Northern California also contains redwood forests, along with most of the Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite Valley and part of Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta (the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range after Mount Rainier in Washington), and most of the Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions.The Northern California Megaregion, one of the 11 megaregions of the United States is centered in Northern California, and extends from Metropolitan Fresno north to Greater Sacramento, and from the Bay Area east across Nevada state line to encompass the entire Lake Tahoeâ€“Reno area.WEB, Gabriel, Metcalf, Egon, Terplan,weblink The northern California megaregion, Novemberâ€“December 2007, The Urbanist, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, November 21, 2009, Evidence of Native American habitation in the area dates from at least 19,000 years agoWEB, Sep 2019, Megan I. Gannon / 4, September 4, 2019, The Knotty Question of When Humans Made the Americas Home,weblink July 29, 2021, SAPIENS, en-US, and successive waves of arrivals led to one of the most densely populated areas of pre-Columbian North America. The arrival of European explorers from the early 16th to the mid-18th centuries did not establish European settlements in northern California. In 1770, the Spanish mission at Monterey was the first European settlement in the area, followed by other missions along the coastâ€”eventually extending as far north as Sonoma County.WEB, Home {{!, County of Sonoma|url=https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Home/|access-date=July 29, 2021|website=sonomacounty.ca.gov}}

Description

(File:NorCal county map (labeled and colored).png|thumb|Map of northern California counties)Northern California is not a formal geographic designation. California's northâ€“south midway division is around 37Â°N, near the level of Morgan Hill and Chowchilla. (The geographic center of California is at {{coord|37|09|58|N|119|26|58|W|display=inline}} near North Fork, northeast of Fresno.WEB,weblink Finding California's Geographic Center, O'Keefe, Rob, August 9, 2017, Rediscovering the Golden State, May 12, 2023, ) Popularly, though, "Northern California" usually refers to the state's northernmost 48 counties. Because of California's large size and diverse geography, the state can be subdivided in other ways as well. For example, the Central Valley is a region that is distinct both culturally and topographically from coastal California, though in northern versus southern California divisions, the Sacramento Valley and most of the San Joaquin Valley are usually placed in northern California. Some observers describe three partitions of California, with north and south sections separated by Central California.The state is often considered as having an additional division north of the urban areas of the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan areas. Extreme northern residents have felt under-represented in state government and, in 1941, attempted to form a new state with southwestern Oregon to be called Jefferson, or more recently to introduce legislation to split California into two or three states. The coastal area north of the Bay Area is often referred to as the North Coast â€” Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt, and Del Norte Counties (also potentially including Napa and Sonoma Counties). The interior region north of Sacramento metropolitan area is referred to by locals as the Northstate â€” roughly speaking, Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties.WEB,weblink A separatist state of mind, Wiles, Tay, January 22, 2018, High Country News, en-us,weblink June 17, 2018, live, August 23, 2018, Northern California was used for the name of a proposed new state on the 2018 California ballot created by splitting the existing state into three parts.WEB,weblink Radical plan to split California into three states earns spot on November ballot, Myers, John, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2018, June 14, 2018,

Significance

Since the events of the California Gold Rush, Northern California has been a leader on the world's economic, scientific, and cultural stages. From the development of gold mining techniques and logging practices in the 19th century that were later adopted around the world, to the development of world-famous and online business models (such as Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Google, Yahoo!, and eBay), northern California has been at the forefront of new ways of doing business. In science, advances range from being the first to isolate and name fourteen transuranic chemical elements, to breakthroughs in microchip technology. Cultural contributions include the works of Ansel Adams, George Lucas, and Clint Eastwood, as well as beatniks, the Summer of Love, winemaking, the cradle of the international environmental movement, and the open, casual workplace first popularized in the Silicon Valley dot-com boom and now widely in use around the world. Other examples of innovation across diverse fields range from Genentech (development and commercialization of genetic engineering) to CrossFit as a pioneer in extreme human fitness and training.It is also home to one of the largest Air Force Bases on the West Coast, and the largest in California by square meters, Travis Air Force Base.{{clear right}}

Cities

Northern California's largest metropolitan area is the San Francisco Bay Area which consists of 9 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties. The Bay Area consists of the major cities of San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and their many suburbs. Although not a part of the Bay Area, in recent years the Bay Area has drawn more commuters from as far as Central Valley cities such as Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Turlock and Modesto. These cities in the central part of the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills may be viewed as part of a single megalopolis. The 2010 U.S. Census showed that the Bay Area grew at a faster rate than the Greater Los Angeles Area while Greater Sacramento had the largest growth rate of any metropolitan area in California.The state's larger inland cities are considered part of Northern California in cases when the state is divided into two parts. Key cities in the region which are not in major metropolitan areas include Eureka on the far North Coast, Redding, at the northern end of the Central Valley, Chico, and Yuba City in the mid-north of the Central Valley, as well as Fresno and Visalia on the southern end. Though smaller in each case, with the notable exception of Fresno, than the larger cities of the general region, these smaller regional centers are often of historical and economic importance for their respective size, due to their locations, which are primarily rural or otherwise isolated.Panoramic Downtown San Jose.jpg|San Jose, the most populous city in Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, and the tenth largest city in the United States. SanFran downtown panorama.jpg|San Francisco, the second most populated city in Northern California and a major economic, cultural, and financial center for the region.File:Chukchansi.jpg|Fresno, the third most populated city in northern California, as seen from Chukchansi Park. Fresno is the largest city by population in the Central Valley.File:Sacramento Skyline (cropped).jpg|alt=Sacramento Skyline (cropped).jpg|Sacramento, the fourth most populous city in Northern California, the capital city of the State of California, and the principal city of the Sacramento metropolitan area.File:Panorama-downtown-oakland by Daniel Ramirez.jpg|Oakland, the fifth-largest city by population in Northern California. Oakland is the major port city of the region and the center of Northern California's African American community.

History

Prehistory to 1847

Inhabited for millennia by Native Americans, from the Shasta tribe in the north, to the Miwoks in the central coast and Sierra Nevada, to the Yokuts of the southern Central Valley, northern California was among the most densely populated areas of pre-Columbian North America.WEB,weblink California Indian Tribes map, CaliforniaPrehistory.com, R.F. Heizer, 1966, February 10, 2007, April 30, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110430112732weblink">weblink dead,

European explorers

The first European to explore the coast was Juan RodrÃguez Cabrillo, sailing for the Spanish Crown; in 1542, Cabrillo's expedition sailed perhaps as far north as the Rogue River in today's Oregon.WEB,weblink Juan RodrÃguez Cabrillo: A Voyage of Discovery, U.S. National Park Service, February 10, 2007, Beginning in 1565, the Spanish Manila galleons crossed the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Spanish Philippines, with silver and gemstones from Mexico. The Manila galleons returned across the northern Pacific, and reached North America usually off the coast of northern California, and then continued south with their Asian trade goods to Mexico.In 1579, northern California was visited by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake who landed north of today's San Francisco and claimed the area for England. In 1602, the Spaniard SebastiÃ¡n VizcaÃno explored California's coast as far north as Monterey Bay, where he went ashore. Other Spanish explorers sailed along the coast of northern California for the next 150 years, but no settlements were established.WEB, Introduction--Early History of the California Coast--A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary,weblink July 29, 2021, www.nps.gov,

Spanish era

The first European inhabitants were Spanish missionaries, who built missions along the California coast. The mission at Monterey was first established in 1770, and at San Francisco in 1776. In all, ten missions stretched along the coast from Sonoma to Monterey (and still more missions to the southern tip of Baja California). In 1786, the French signaled their interest in the northern California area by sending a voyage of exploration to Monterey.The first twenty years of the 19th century continued the colonization of the northern California coast by Spain. By 1820, Spanish influence extended inland approximately 25 to {{convert|50|mi|km|0}} from the missions. Outside of this zone, perhaps 200,000 to 250,000 Native Americans continued to lead traditional lives. The Adams-OnÃs Treaty, signed in 1819 between Spain and the young United States, set the northern boundary of the Spanish claims at the 42nd parallel, effectively creating today's northern boundary of northern California.

Russian presence

In 1812, the Russian state-sponsored Russian-American Company established Fort Ross, a fur trading outpost on the coast of today's Sonoma County. Fort Ross was the southernmost Russian settlement, located some {{convert|60|mi|km|0}} north of Spanish colonies in San Francisco. In 1839, the settlement was abandoned due to its inability to meet resource demands, and the increasing Mexican and American presence in the region.WEB,weblink Russian Expansion to America (Russian American Company in California),

Mexican era

After Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico continued Spain's missions and settlements in northern California as well as Spain's territorial claims. The Mexican Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians) in these settlements primarily traded cattle hides and tallow with American and European merchant vessels.File:Trees and sunshine.JPG|thumb|Coast Redwoods in Muir Woods National Monument, in Marin County Marin CountyIn 1825, the Hudson's Bay Company established a major trading post just north of today's Portland, Oregon. British fur trappers and hunters then used the Siskiyou Trail to travel throughout northern California.WEB,weblink Hunters and Trappers at Upper Soda Springs, Museum of the Siskiyou Trail, February 10, 2007, The leader of a further French scientific expedition to northern California, Eugene Duflot de Mofras, wrote in 1840 "...it is evident that California will belong to whatever nation chooses to send there a man-of-war and two hundred men."BOOK, Bancroft, Hubert Howe,weblink 1886, History of California, 1840â€“1845, Volume 4, A. L. Bancroft, Hubert Howe Bancroft, 9475460, {{Rp|260}} By the 1830s, a significant number of non-Californios had immigrated to northern California. Chief among these was John Sutter, a European immigrant from Switzerland, who was granted {{convert|48827|acre|km2}} centered on the area of today's Sacramento.WEB,weblink Sutter's Fort Historic State Park, California Department of Parks & Recreation, February 10, 2007,

American interest

American trappers began entering northern California in the 1830s.{{Rp|263â€“4}} In 1834, American visionary Ewing Young led a herd of horses and mules over the Siskiyou Trail from missions in northern California to British and American settlements in Oregon. Although a small number of American traders and trappers had lived in northern California since the early 1830s, the first organized overland party of American immigrants to arrive in northern California was the Bartleson-Bidwell Party of 1841 via the new California Trail.{{Rp|263â€“273}} Also in 1841, an overland exploratory party of the United States Exploring Expedition came down the Siskiyou Trail from the Pacific Northwest. In 1846, the Donner Party earned notoriety as they struggled to enter northern California.

Californian independence and beginning of the United States era

When the Mexicanâ€“American War was declared on May 13, 1846, it took almost two months (mid-July 1846) for word to get to California. On June 14, 1846, some 30 non-Mexican settlers, mostly Americans, staged a revolt and seized the small Mexican garrison in Sonoma. They raised the "Bear Flag" of the California Republic over Sonoma. The "Bear Flag Republic" lasted only 26 days, until the U.S. Army, led by John FrÃ©mont, took over on July 9.WEB,weblink American Transition to Early Statehood, California Department of Parks & Recreation, February 10, 2007, The California state flag today is based on this original Bear Flag, and continues to contain the words "California Republic."Commodore John Drake Sloat ordered his naval forces to occupy Yerba Buena (present San Francisco) on July 7 and within days American forces controlled San Francisco, Sonoma, and Sutter's Fort in Sacramento. The treaty ending the Mexicanâ€“American War was signed on February 2, 1848, and Mexico formally ceded Alta California (including all of present-day northern California) to the United States.File:Moon Lake.jpg|thumb|Moon Lake in Lassen County, California Lassen County, California

Gold Rush and California statehood

The California Gold Rush took place almost exclusively in northern California from 1848 to 1855. It began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in Coloma."[E]vents from January 1848 through December 1855 [are] generally acknowledged as the 'Gold Rush' .... After 1855, California gold mining changed and is outside the 'rush' era." WEB, The Gold Rush of California: A Bibliography of Periodical Articles, California State University, Stanislaus, 2002,weblink January 23, 2008, March 12, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120312213110weblink">weblink dead, News of the discovery soon spread, resulting in some 300,000 people coming to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. San Francisco grew from a tiny hamlet, home to about 1,000 Californios into a boomtown of over 50,000 people in the 12 years between 1848 and 1860.BOOK, Richards, Rand, 1949-,weblink Historic San Francisco : a concise history and guide, 1991, Heritage House Publishers, 1-879367-00-9, San Francisco, 23463043, WEB, 1860 Census: Population of the United States,weblink October 10, 2020, The United States Census Bureau, EN-US, New roads, churches, and schools were built, and new towns sprung up, aided in part by the development of new methods of transportation such as steamships which came into regular service and railroads which now connected the coasts. The Gold Rush also had negative effects: American colonists chose to use genocide as a tool to remove the Indigenous people so that they could look for gold on their land. Native oyster species saw their numbers plummet when American colonists began over-harvesting them, leading to a near-extinction of the oysters from the California coast on up into the Pacific Northwest,{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} and gold mining caused environmental harm{{Specify|date=July 2021}}.The Gold Rush also increased pressure to make California a U.S. state. Pro-slavery politicians initially attempted to permanently divide northern and southern California at 36 degrees, 30 minutes, the line of the Missouri Compromise. But instead, the passing of the Compromise of 1850 enabled California to be admitted to the Union as a free state.WEB, June 15, 2021, Living shorelines could help California coasts adapt to rising sea levels,weblink July 29, 2021, Grist, en-us,

Population and agricultural expansion (1855â€“1899)

File:Mount Shasta Farm.jpg|thumb|left|Farm near Mount Shasta Mount ShastaThe decades following the Gold Rush brought dramatic expansion to northern California, both in population and economically â€“ particularly in agriculture. The completion of the First transcontinental railroad in 1869, with its terminus in Sacramento (and then later, Oakland), meant that northern California's agricultural produce (and some manufactured goods) could now be shipped economically to the rest of the United States. In return, immigrants from the rest of the United States (and Europe) could comfortably come to northern California. A network of railroads spread throughout northern California, and in 1887, a rail link was completed to the Pacific Northwest. Almost all of these railways came under the control of the Southern Pacific Railroad, headquartered in San Francisco, and San Francisco continued as a financial and cultural center.Substantial tensions during this era included nativist sentiments (primarily against Chinese immigrants),WEB, California Labor History Archive,weblink July 29, 2021, California Labor Federation, October 29, 2016, en-US, tensions between the increasing power of the Southern Pacific Railroad and small farmers, and the beginnings of the labor union movement.

Economy

(File:ISS-37 Northern California region.jpg|thumb|Satellite image of Northern California at night)Northern California's economy is noted for being the de facto world leader in high-tech industry (software, semiconductor/micro-electronics, biotechnology and medical devices/instruments), as well as being known for clean power, biomedical, government, and finance. Other significant industries include tourism, shipping, manufacturing, and agriculture. Its economy is diverse, though more concentrated in high technology. It is home to the state capital, as well as several Western United States regional offices in San Francisco, such as the Federal Reserve and 9th Circuit Court.

Climate

File:Northern California KÃ¶ppen.png|thumb|upright|KÃ¶ppen climate types in northern California]]Northern California has a warm or mild to cool climate, in which the Sierra mountains gets snow in the late fall through winter and occasionally into spring. Summers are mild along the coast and generally warm and dry, while winters are cool and usually wet. The high temperatures range from 50s to 30s in the winters while summers temperature range is 90s to 60s or 50s, with highs well into the 100s for the Sacramento region. Snow covers the mountains (generally above 3000 feet) in mid January through February. Fog occurs infrequently or occurs normally in the west and coast, especially in the summer, creating some of the coolest summer conditions in North America.WEB, Northern California,weblink July 29, 2021, www.ccul.org, January 26, 2021, en-us, Since the first decade of the 21st century, droughts and wildfires have increased in frequency as a consequence of climate change.NEWS, Boxall, Bettina, St. John, Paige, November 10, 2018, California's most destructive wildfire should not have come as a surprise, Los Angeles Times,weblink November 11, 2018, WEB, Advancing Drought Science and Preparedness across the Nation,weblink dead,weblink November 11, 2018, November 11, 2018, National Integrated Drought Information System,

Population

{{US Census population|1850= 86105|1860= 346714|1870= 516089|1880= 772778|1890= 961628|1900= 1147725|1910= 1569141|1920= 2003075|1930= 2632273|1940= 3066654|1950= 4654248|1960= 6318482|1970= 7849575|1980= 9359160|1990= 11490926|2000= 13234136|2010= 14573946|2020= 15775319}}The population of the forty-eight counties of northern California has shown a steady increase over the years.WEB,weblink weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20031231155609weblink">weblink dead, December 31, 2003, Historical census data by U.S. Census Bureau, February 6, 2019, WEB,weblink U.S. Census website, United States Census Bureau, February 6, 2019, The largest percentage increase outside the Gold Rush era (52%) came during the 1940s, as the region was the destination of many post-War veterans and their families, attracted by the greatly expanding industrial base and (often) by their time stationed in northern California during World War II. The largest absolute increase occurred during the 1980s (over 2.1 million person increase), attracted by job opportunities in part by the expansion taking place in Silicon Valley and the Cold Warâ€“era expansion of the defense industry. Since the 2000 U.S. Census, Northern California has grown at a faster rate than Southern California due to the strong economic performances of the Bay Area and Sacramento.The Northern California Megaregion, p.22, SPUR, 2007.(File:Ethnic Origins in Northern California.png|center|thumb|440x440px|Ethnic origins in Northern California)

Parks and other protected areas

National Park System

The U.S. National Park System controls a large and diverse group of parks in northern California. The best known is Yosemite National Park, which is displayed on the reverse side of the (:File:California quarter, reverse side, 2005.jpg|California state quarter). Other prominent parks are the Kings Canyon-Sequoia National Park complex, Redwood National Park, Pinnacles National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park and the largest in the contiguous forty-eight states, Death Valley National Park.

National Monuments and other federally protected areas

Other areas under federal protection include Muir Woods National Monument, Giant Sequoia National Monument, Devils Postpile National Monument, Lava Beds National Monument, Point Reyes National Seashore, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries (both off the coast of San Francisco). Included within the latter National Marine Sanctuary is the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge; this National Wildlife Refuge is one of approximately twenty-five such refuges in northern California. National forests occupy large sections of northern California, including the Shastaâ€“Trinity, Klamath, Modoc, Lassen, Mendocino, Eldorado, Tahoe, and Sequoia national forests, among others. Included within (or adjacent to) national forests are federally protected wilderness areas, including the Trinity Alps, Castle Crags, Granite Chief, and Desolation wilderness areas.In addition, the California Coastal National Monument protects all islets, reefs, and rock outcroppings from the shore of northern California out to a distance of {{convert|12|nmi|km|abbr=on}}, along the entire northern California coastline. In addition, the National Park Service administers protected areas on Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Whiskeytownâ€“Shastaâ€“Trinity National Recreation Area, and the Smith River National Recreation Area. The NPS also administers the Manzanar National Historic Site in Inyo County, the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, and the Tule Lake National Monument outside of Tulelake.

Other

Educational institutions

Northern California hosts a number of world-renowned universities including Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley. Top-tier public graduate schools include Boalt Hall and Hastings law schools and UC San Francisco (a top-ranked medical school) and UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, the largest veterinary school in the United States.

Public

Six University of California campuses:

*UC Berkeley *UC Davis *UC Hastings *UC Merced *UC San Francisco *UC Santa Cruz

Eleven California State University campuses:

* California Maritime Academy * Chico State * CSU East Bay * CSU Monterey Bay * Fresno State * Cal Poly Humboldt * Sacramento State * San Francisco State * San Jose State * Sonoma State * Stanislaus State

A large number of local community colleges

Private

(Partial list)

Research

(Partial list)

Counties

Regions

The following regions are entirely or partly within northern California:{{div col|colwidth=22em}} {{div col end}}

Cities and towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants

File:San Jose California Skyline.jpg|1 â€“ San JoseFile:SF From Marin Highlands3.jpg|2 â€“ San FranciscoFile:Fresno skyline.jpg|3 â€“ FresnoFile:Tower Bridge Sacramento edit.jpg|4 â€“ SacramentoFile:Oakland California skyline.jpg|5 â€“ OaklandFile:Commercial & Savings Bank - Stockton, CA.jpg|6 â€“ StocktonFile:Mission-Peak-2006.jpg|7 â€“ FremontFile:Modesto Arch.JPG|8 â€“ ModestoFile:SR vineyard.jpg|9 â€“ Santa RosaFile:Laguna Springs Dr and Laguna Blvd.jpg|10 â€“ Elk GroveFile:Main Street, Salinas.jpg|11 â€“ SalinasFile:Hayward City Hall number 3 front.jpg|12 â€“ HaywardFile:Murphystreetsunnyvale.jpg|13 â€“ SunnyvaleFile:Roseville - City Civic Center.jpg|14 â€“ RosevilleFile:Visalia Transit 2011.jpg|15 â€“ VisaliaFile:Santaclaraconventioncenter.jpg|16 â€“ Santa ClaraFile:DK From Parking Lot.jpg|17 â€“ VallejoFile:Todos Santos Plaza (Concord, California) Dec 2009.jpg|18 â€“ ConcordFile:Berkeley-downtown-Bay-bridge-SF-in-back-from-Lab.jpg|19 â€“ BerkeleyFile:Pollasky Ave. Clovis.JPG|20 â€“ ClovisFile:Aerial view of Fairfield, California.jpg|21 â€“ FairfieldFile:Point Richmond, Richmond, California.jpg|22 â€“ RichmondFile:Shannon-Williamson Ranch (Antioch, CA).JPG|23 â€“ AntiochFile:MCB-san-mateo-aerial.jpg|24 â€“ San MateoFile:Daly City.jpg|25 â€“ Daly CityFile:Aerial view of Vacaville, California.jpg|26 â€“ VacavilleFile:Bidwell Park Chico.jpg|27 â€“ ChicoFile:Sundialbridge2.jpg|28 â€“ ReddingFile:11th and Central Tracy California 14-May-2006.jpg|29 â€“ TracyFile:San Leandro Marina 07830.JPG|30 â€“ San LeandroFile:LLNL Aerial View.jpg|31 â€“ LivermoreFile:Citrus Heights - Police.jpg|32 â€“ Citrus HeightsFile:Merced Theatre.JPG|33 â€“ MercedFile:SanRamonPanorama.jpg|34 â€“ San RamonFile:Redwoodcitypanorama.jpg|35 â€“ Redwood CityFile:MantecaCA.jpg|36 â€“ MantecaFile:Mountainviewcentennialplaza.jpg|37 â€“ Mountain ViewFile:Lake Folsom.JPG|38 â€“ FolsomFile:Footbridge to Great Mall Main station, March 2018 (cropped).JPG|39 â€“ MilpitasFile:MCB-pleasanton-ca.jpg|40 â€“ Pleasanton {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="font-size:100%;"! scope="col" width="150" | City! scope="col" width="110" | Population (2020)WEB, U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts,weblink United States Census Bureau, September 3, 2021,

Metropolitan areas

Northern California is home to three of the state's four extended metropolitan areas, which are home to over three-fourths of the region's population as of the 2010 United States Census:Excerpted from 2010 United States Census{| class="wikitable"! Metropolitan region! Population|San Francisco Bay Area7,468,390|Greater Sacramento2,461,780|Metropolitan Fresno1,081,315

Major business districts

The following are major central business districts:

Transportation

See also articles:

See also categories:{{div col|colwidth=22em|small=yes}}

(:Category:Transportation in Alameda County, California|Transportation in Alameda County)
(:Category:Transportation in Alpine County, California|Transportation in Alpine County)
(:Category:Transportation in Amador County, California|Transportation in Amador County)
(:Category:Transportation in Butte County, California|Transportation in Butte County)
(:Category:Transportation in Calaveras County, California|Transportation in Calaveras County)
(:Category:Transportation in Colusa County, California|Transportation in Colusa County)
(:Category:Transportation in Contra Costa County, California|Transportation in Contra Costa County)
(:Category:Transportation in Del Norte County, California|Transportation in Del Norte County)
(:Category:Transportation in El Dorado County, California|Transportation in El Dorado County)
(:Category:Transportation in Fresno County, California|Transportation in Fresno County)
(:Category:Transportation in Glenn County, California|Transportation in Glenn County)
(:Category:Transportation in Humboldt County, California|Transportation in Humboldt County)
(:Category:Transportation in Inyo County, California|Transportation in Inyo County)
(:Category:Transportation in Kings County, California|Transportation in Kings County)
(:Category:Transportation in Lake County, California|Transportation in Lake County)
(:Category:Transportation in Lassen County, California|Transportation in Lassen County)
(:Category:Transportation in Madera County, California|Transportation in Madera County)
(:Category:Transportation in Marin County, California|Transportation in Marin County)
(:Category:Transportation in Mariposa County, California|Transportation in Mariposa County)
(:Category:Transportation in Mendocino County, California|Transportation in Mendocino County)
(:Category:Transportation in Merced County, California|Transportation in Merced County)
(:Category:Transportation in Modoc County, California|Transportation in Modoc County)
(:Category:Transportation in Mono County, California|Transportation in Mono County)
(:Category:Transportation in Monterey County, California|Transportation in Monterey County)
(:Category:Transportation in Napa County, California|Transportation in Napa County)
(:Category:Transportation in Nevada County, California|Transportation in Nevada County)
(:Category:Transportation in Oakland, California|Transportation in Oakland)
(:Category:Transportation in Placer County, California|Transportation in Placer County)
(:Category:Transportation in Plumas County, California|Transportation in Plumas County)
(:Category:Transportation in Sacramento, California|Transportation in Sacramento)
(:Category:Transportation in Sacramento County, California|Transportation in Sacramento County)
(:Category:Transportation in San Benito County, California|Transportation in San Benito County)
(:Category:Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area|Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area)
(:Category:Transportation in San Francisco|Transportation in San Francisco)
(:Category:Transportation in San Joaquin County, California|Transportation in San Joaquin County)
(:Category:Transportation in San Mateo County, California|Transportation in San Mateo County)
(:Category:Transportation in Santa Clara County, California|Transportation in Santa Clara County)
(:Category:Transportation in Santa Cruz County, California|Transportation in Santa Cruz County)
(:Category:Transportation in Shasta County, California|Transportation in Shasta County)
(:Category:Transportation in Sierra County, California|Transportation in Sierra County)
(:Category:Transportation in Siskiyou County, California|Transportation in Siskiyou County)
(:Category:Transportation in Solano County, California|Transportation in Solano County)
(:Category:Transportation in Sonoma County, California|Transportation in Sonoma County)
(:Category:Transportation in Stanislaus County, California|Transportation in Stanislaus County)
(:Category:Transportation in Sutter County, California|Transportation in Sutter County)
(:Category:Transportation in Tehama County, California|Transportation in Tehama County)
(:Category:Transportation in Trinity County, California|Transportation in Trinity County)
(:Category:Transportation in Tulare County, California|Transportation in Tulare County)
(:Category:Transportation in Tuolumne County, California|Transportation in Tuolumne County)
(:Category:Transportation in Yolo County, California|Transportation in Yolo County)
(:Category:Transportation in Yuba County, California|Transportation in Yuba County)

Airports

(File:International Terminal of San Francisco International Airport2.jpg|200px|thumb|San Francisco International Airport (or SFO) is the largest and busiest airport in northern California, also ranking second in the state and tenth in the United States.)File:Airbus A-300 UPS takes off (5863558111) (2).jpg|thumb|200px|San Jose International Airport is ranked as the best-run airport in the United States, by the ACBJ.WEB,weblink San Jose's SJC flies past SFO to the top of rankings as America's best-run airport, Silicon Valley Business Journal, November 2, 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170517230218weblink">weblink May 17, 2017, live, ]]There are 11 airports in Northern California categorized as Primary Service Commercial airports by the FAA:WEB,weblink Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) and All-Cargo Data for U.S. Airports â€“ Airports, Faa.gov, February 6, 2019, {| class="wikitable"! Airport !! ID !! City !!Category !!2018 EnplanementsSan Francisco International Airport>San Francisco >| 27,794,154San Jose International Airport>San Jose, California>San Jose Medium Hub 7,037,144Oakland International Airport>Oakland, California>Oakland Medium Hub 6,687,963Sacramento International Airport>Sacramento>| 5,907,901Fresno Yosemite International Airport>Fresno >| 853,538Charles M. Schulzâ€“Sonoma County Airport>Santa Rosa, California>Santa Rosa Non Hub 217,994Monterey Regional Airport>Monterey, California>Monterey Non Hub 188,046Stockton Metropolitan Airport>Stockton, California>Stockton Non Hub 99,258Arcata-Eureka Airport>Arcata, California>Arcata Non Hub 69,604Redding Municipal Airport>Redding, California>Redding Non Hub 42,775Mammoth Yosemite Airport>Mammoth Lakes, California>Mammoth Lakes Non Hub 23,522

Railroad

File:Upper platform at 19th Street Oakland station, March 2007.jpg|200px|thumb|The 19th Street/Oakland BART station in downtown Oakland]]

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) â€“ commuter subway connecting most of the core Bay Area including San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose
Caltrain â€“ commuter rail between San Francisco and Gilroy (south of San Jose)
Muni Metro (San Francisco)
VTA light rail (San Jose)
Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) â€“ commuter train connecting Stockton and the Central Valley with San Jose and the Bay Area
Sacramento Regional Transit District light rail
Amtrak:
- California Zephyr â€“ connects Chicago to the Bay Area
- Capitol Corridor â€“ San Jose to Auburn (eastern suburb of Sacramento)
- Coast Starlight â€“ coastal train between Los Angeles and Seattle with northern California stops in San Jose, Oakland, and Sacramento
- San Joaquin â€“ Central Valley train linking Bakersfield in the Central Valley to Sacramento and Oakland

Major transit organizations

Major transit ferries

File:San Francisco Ferry Building.jpg|250px|thumb|The historic San Francisco Ferry Building San Francisco Ferry Building

Freeways

Interstate highways

(File:I-80 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 80 (Eastshore Freeway/Lincoln Highway)
(File:I-280 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 280 (Southern Embarcadero Freeway/Southern Freeway/Junipero Serra Freeway/Sinclair Freeway)
(File:I-380 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 380
(File:I-580 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 580 (Eastshore Freeway/MacArthur Freeway/Brown Freeway)
(File:I-680 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 680 (Joseph P. Sinclair Freeway/Donald D. Doyle Highway/Blue Star Memorial Highway/Luther E. Gibson Freeway)
(File:I-780 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 780
(File:I-880 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 880 (Nimitz Freeway)
(File:I-980 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 980 (Grove-Shafter Freeway)
(File:I-238 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 238
(File:I-5 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 5 (Golden State Freeway/West Side Freeway)
(File:I-205 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 205 (Robert T. Monagan Freeway)
(File:I-505 (CA).svg|20px) Interstate 505
(File:Business Loop 80.svg|20px) Interstate 80 Business (Capital City Freeway)

U.S. Routes

File:GoldenGateBridge.jpg|thumbnail|The Golden Gate Bridge Golden Gate Bridge

(File:US 6 (1961 cutout).svg|20px) U.S. Route 6
(File:US 50 (CA).svg|20px) U.S. Route 50 (El Dorado Freeway)
(File:US 101 (1961 cutout).svg|20px) U.S. Route 101 (South Valley Freeway/Bayshore Freeway/James Lick Freeway/Central Freeway/Redwood Highway/Michael J. Burns Freeway/Redwood Highway)
(File:US 395 (1961 cutout).svg|20px) U.S. Route 395
(File:US 97 (1961 cutout).svg|20px) U.S. Route 97
(File:US 199 (CA).svg|20px) U.S. Route 199

Principal state highways

(File:California 1.svg|20px) State Route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway/Cabrillo Highway)
(File:California 3.svg|20px) State Route 3
(File:California 4.svg|20px) State Route 4
(File:California 9.svg|20px) State Route 9
(File:California 12.svg|20px) State Route 12
(File:California 13.svg|20px) State Route 13 (Ashby Avenue/Tunnel Road/Warren Freeway)
(File:California 16.svg|20px) State Route 16
(File:California 17.svg|20px) State Route 17
(File:California 20.svg|20px) State Route 20
(File:California 24.svg|20px) State Route 24
(File:California 25.svg|20px) State Route 25
(File:California 26.svg|20px) State Route 26
(File:California 29.svg|20px) State Route 29
(File:California 32.svg|20px) State Route 32
(File:California 33.svg|20px) State Route 33
(File:California 35.svg|20px) State Route 35 (Skyline Boulevard)
(File:California 36.svg|20px) State Route 36
(File:California 37.svg|20px) State Route 37 (Sears Point Tollway)
(File:California 41.svg|20px) State Route 41 (E.G. Lewis Highway, Yosemite Freeway, Southern Yosemite Highway, Wawona Road)
(File:California 43.svg|20px) State Route 43
(File:California 44.svg|20px) State Route 44
(File:California 49.svg|20px) State Route 49 (Golden Chain Highway)
(File:California 59.svg|20px) State Route 59
(File:California 61.svg|20px)/(File:California 112.svg|20px)/(File:California 260.svg|20px) State Route 61 (Webster Tube/Posey Tube/Doolittle Drive/Davis Street)
(File:California 63.svg|20px) State Route 63
(File:California 65.svg|20px) State Route 65
(File:California 68.svg|20px) State Route 68
(File:California 70.svg|20px) State Route 70
(File:California 82.svg|20px) State Route 82 (Monterey Highway/El Camino Real/Mission Street)
(File:California 84.svg|20px) State Route 84
(File:California 85.svg|20px) State Route 85 (Stevens Creek Freeway/West Valley Freeway/Norman Y. Mineta Highway/CHP Officer Scott M. Greenly Memorial Freeway)
(File:California 87.svg|20px) State Route 87 (Guadalupe Parkway)
(File:California 88.svg|20px) State Route 88
(File:California 89.svg|20px) State Route 89
(File:California 92.svg|20px) State Route 92 (J. Arthur Younger Freeway/Jackson Street)
(File:California 96.svg|20px) State Route 96
(File:California 99.svg|20px) State Route 99
(File:California 104.svg|20px) State Route 104
(File:California 108.svg|20px) State Route 108
(File:California 113.svg|20px) State Route 113
(File:California 116.svg|20px) State Route 116
(File:California 120.svg|20px) State Route 120
(File:California 121.svg|20px) State Route 121
(File:California 128.svg|20px) State Route 128
(File:California 130.svg|20px) State Route 130
(File:California 132.svg|20px) State Route 132
(File:California 137.svg|20px) State Route 137
(File:California 139.svg|20px) State Route 139
(File:California 140.svg|20px) State Route 140
(File:California 152.svg|20px) State Route 152
(File:California 156.svg|20px) State Route 156
(File:California 160.svg|20px) State Route 160 (North Sacramento Freeway/River Road)
(File:California 162.svg|20px) State Route 162
(File:California 165.svg|20px) State Route 165
(File:California 168.svg|20px) State Route 168
(File:California 174.svg|20px) State Route 174
(File:California 180.svg|20px) State Route 180
(File:California 185.svg|20px)/(File:California 77.svg|20px) State Route 185 (International Boulevard/East 14th Street/Mission Boulevard)
(File:California 190.svg|20px) State Route 190
(File:California 193.svg|20px) State Route 193
(File:California 198.svg|20px) State Route 198
(File:California 201.svg|20px) State Route 201
(File:California 216.svg|20px) State Route 216
(File:California 219.svg|20px) State Route 219
(File:California 236.svg|20px) State Route 236
(File:California 237.svg|20px) State Route 237
(File:California 238.svg|20px) State Route 238 (Mission Boulevard, Foothill Boulevard)
(File:California 245.svg|20px) State Route 245
(File:California 254.svg|20px) State Route 254 (Avenue of the Giants)
(File:California 262.svg|20px) State Route 262 (Mission Boulevard)
(File:California 267.svg|20px) State Route 267
(File:California 269.svg|20px) State Route 269
(File:California 275.svg|20px) State Route 275 (Tower Bridge Gateway)
(File:California 299.svg|20px) State Route 299

Communication

Telephone area codes

209 â€” Northern San Joaquin Valley (Stockton, Modesto, and Merced).
408/669 â€” Most of Santa Clara County (San Jose and Gilroy).
415/628 â€” San Francisco, Daly City, and Marin County. One of the three original Area Codes in California.
510/341 â€” Inner East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, and Fremont). Originally part of area code 415.
530 â€” A large northeastern section of the region including Tehama County, Shasta County, Lassen County, Yuba County, Sutter County, Butte County, and Nevada County. Split from area code 916 in 1997â€“1998.
559 â€” Southern San Joaquin Valley (Madera, Fresno, and Visalia).
650 â€” San Francisco Peninsula (San Mateo, Redwood City, and Palo Alto). Originally part of area code 415.
707 â€” The North Coast section of the region from Sonoma County to the Oregon border. Cities include Eureka, Ukiah, Santa Rosa, Napa, Vallejo and Fairfield.
831 â€” Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties. Originally part of area code 408.
916/279 â€” Sacramento County and the Sacramento suburbs in western Placer and El Dorado Counties. One of the three original area codes in California, formerly covered all areas now within 530.
925 â€” Outer East Bay (Concord, Pittsburg, Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Pleasanton and Livermore). Originally part of area codes 415 and 510.For current information, see nanpa.com, the North American Numbering Plan Administration site.

Sports

{{See also|Bay Bridge Series|Sports in California#Northern Californiaâ€“Southern California rivalry}}

Major league professional sports teams

{| class="wikitable"!Sport!!League!!Team!!Venue !!City Baseball MLB Oakland Athletics (American League)RingCentral ColiseumOakland, California>Oakland San Francisco Giants (National League) Oracle Park| San Francisco Basketball NBA Golden State Warriors Chase Center| San Francisco Sacramento Kings Golden 1 CenterSacramento, California>Sacramento Football NFL San Francisco 49ers Levi's StadiumSanta Clara, California>Santa Clara Ice hockey NHL San Jose Sharks SAP CenterSan Jose, California>San Jose Soccer MLS San Jose Earthquakes Avaya StadiumSan Jose, California>San Jose Indoor football IFL Bay Area Panthers SAP CenterSan Jose, California>San Jose

College sports teams

Sports venues

Sporting events

Pac-12 Football Championship Game (college football)
Emerald Bowl (college football)
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (golf)
Frys.com Open (golf)
Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic (golf)
Grand Prix of Sonoma (motorsport)
Toyota/Save Mart 350 (motorsport)
Monterey Sports Car Championships (motorsport)
Superbike World Championship (motorsport)

References

External links

{{curlie|Regional/North_America/United_States/California/Regions/Northern_California/}}
Real Estate Engineering and Architect Service in California. WEB, Leading Pre-Construction Service Providers in California,weblink July 29, 2021, Design Everest, en,

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