Northern California

File:NorCal county map (labeled and colored).png

California experienced a population boom during its gold rush (1848–1855), bringing more than 300,000 new residents, with very few of these settling in the southern part of the state. The northern two-thirds of the state was seen as the main part, and was often referred to as simply "California", while the southern third was called "Southern California".{{cite book |last1=DiLeo |first1=Michael |last2=Smith |first2=Eleanor |title=Two Californias: The Myths And Realities Of A State Divided Against Itself |date=1983 |publisher=Island Press |location=Covelo, California |isbn=9780933280168 |pages=9–30 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OEqiYRm-ohMC&pg=PA27 }} At that time, the state was profoundly divided by the Tehachapi Mountains which were a barrier to travelers before highways were built, and remain a bioregion barrier. This geographical barrier curves from Point Conception at the Pacific Ocean eastward through the Transverse Ranges including Mount Pinos and Tejon Pass, continuing through the Tehachapi Mountains including Tehachapi Pass, then cutting northward through the southern Sierra Nevada mountain range to Mount Patterson and the Nevada border. The Mojave Desert and the Great Basin Desert are separated from Northern California by mountain ranges in this definition of bioregions.{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Thomas |date=2023-04-23 |title=Where Does Southern California Stop and Northern California Start? |url=https://bayareatelegraph.com/2023/04/23/where-does-southern-california-stop-and-northern-california-start/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |work=Bay Area Telegraph |language=en-US |archive-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425141209/https://bayareatelegraph.com/2023/04/23/where-does-southern-california-stop-and-northern-california-start/ |url-status=live }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dF4KBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA265 |page=265 |editor1=Cheryll Glotfelty |editor2=Eve Quesnel |title=The Biosphere and the Bioregion: Essential Writings of Peter Berg |author=Peter Berg |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134504091 |access-date=October 9, 2023 |archive-date=October 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023205057/https://books.google.com/books?id=dF4KBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA265 |url-status=live }} Southern California in the 1850s was a backwater of mainly Spanish-speaking Californios who resented paying state taxes without receiving state projects.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jcCrQC8rBPgC |title=Southern California: An Island on the Land |last=McWilliams |first=Carey |author-link=Carey McWilliams (journalist) |date=1946 |publisher=Gibbs-Smith |pages=15–20 |isbn=978-0-87905-007-8 }}

In 1859, as proposed by the Californio politician Andrés Pico, the California State Legislature passed the Pico Act aiming to divide the state and create a new territory in the south. The border between the two parts was to be a straight line set at a latitude of six standard parallels south of Mount Diablo—meaning 144 miles south of Mount Diablo at the latitude of 35°45'N,{{cite book |title=Pacific Summary / Index: June 1, 1986 – July 31, 1987 |series=Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Activities |author=Minerals Management Service |date=1987 |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSJPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA6 |access-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221022446/https://books.google.com/books?id=CSJPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA6 |url-status=live }} currently the border between Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. The new southern portion was to be called the Territory of Colorado because much of its eastern border was the Colorado River. This legislation was signed by Governor John B. Weller and sent to the United States Congress for ratification, but it never came to a vote. Congress was too divided with tensions which would soon break out into the American Civil War, and despite the efforts of Senator Milton Latham, the bill died. However, the proposed east-west line continued to define one of the views of north–south division of the state.

"Northern California" may refer to the state's northernmost 48 counties, using the line established by the Pico Act, or it may refer to the portion north of the geographic barrier formed by the Transverse Ranges, the Tehachapi Mountains, and the Southern Sierras. 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.

Technically, California's exact north–south midway division is around 37°N, near the latitude 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.rediscoveringthegoldenstate.com/finding-californias-geographic-center/ |title=Finding California's Geographic Center |last=O'Keefe |first=Rob |date=August 9, 2017 |website=Rediscovering the Golden State |access-date=May 12, 2023}}

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, touching the counties of Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt, and Del Norte. The interior region north of Sacramento metropolitan area is referred to by locals as the Northstate, consisting of about 20 counties.{{Cite web |url=https://www.hcn.org/issues/50.1/communities-rural-discontent-finds-a-home-in-the-state-of-jefferson |title=A separatist state of mind |last=Wiles |first=Tay |date=January 22, 2018 |website=High Country News |language=en-us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617023048/https://www.hcn.org/issues/50.1/communities-rural-discontent-finds-a-home-in-the-state-of-jefferson |archive-date=June 17, 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=August 23, 2018 }}

"Northern California" was used by Tim Draper as the name of the northernmost state to be created by splitting California into three new states. The bill, Cal 3, was prevented from appearing on the 2018 California ballot because of a constitutional review by the Supreme Court of California.{{Cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-split-three-states-20180612-story.html|title=Radical plan to split California into three states earns spot on November ballot|last=Myers|first=John|website=Los Angeles Times|date=June 13, 2018|access-date=June 14, 2018}}

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.

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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 13th most populous 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 fourth most populated city in northern California, as seen from Chukchansi Park. Fresno is the largest city by population in the San Joaquin Valley.

File:Sacramento Skyline (cropped).jpg|alt=Sacramento Skyline (cropped).jpg|Sacramento, the third 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.

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.{{cite web | url=http://www.californiaprehistory.com/tribmap.html | title=California Indian Tribes map | website=CaliforniaPrehistory.com | author=R.F. Heizer | year=1966 | access-date=February 10, 2007 | archive-date=April 30, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430112732/http://www.californiaprehistory.com/tribmap.html | url-status=dead }}

The first European to explore the coast was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, sailing for the Spanish Crown; in 1542, Cabrillo's expedition sailed perhaps as far north as the Rogue River in today's Oregon.{{cite web | url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/cabr/juan.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011001559/http://www.nps.gov/archive/cabr/juan.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 11, 2006 | title=Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo: A Voyage of Discovery | publisher=U.S. National Park Service | access-date=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 Sebastián Vizcaíno 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.{{Cite web|title=Introduction--Early History of the California Coast--A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary|url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/ca/intro.htm#:~:text=The%20first%20explorers%20and%20settlers,first%20Europeans%20to%20visit%20California.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823164224/http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/ca/intro.htm#:~:text=The%20first%20explorers%20and%20settlers,first%20Europeans%20to%20visit%20California.|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 23, 2007|access-date=July 29, 2021|website=www.nps.gov}}

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-Onís 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.

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fortross.org/russian-american-company.htm#The%20Russian%20Advance%20to%20California|title = Russian Expansion to America (Russian American Company in California)}}

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 in Muir Woods National Monument, in Marin County]]

In 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.{{cite web | url=http://museumsiskiyoutrail.org/upper_soda_springs_information/hunters_and_trappers.html | title=Hunters and Trappers at Upper Soda Springs | publisher=Museum of the Siskiyou Trail | access-date=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."{{cite book |last=Bancroft |first=Hubert Howe |url=https://archive.org/details/nativeracespaci15bancgoog |year=1886 |title=History of California, 1840–1845, Volume 4 |publisher=A. L. Bancroft|author-link= Hubert Howe Bancroft |oclc=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.{{cite web | url=http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=485 | title=Sutter's Fort Historic State Park | publisher=California Department of Parks & Recreation | access-date=February 10, 2007}}

American trappers began entering northern California in the 1830s.{{Rp|263–4}} 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|263–273}} 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.

When the Mexican–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 Frémont, took over on July 9.{{cite web |url=http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=1096 |title=American Transition to Early Statehood |publisher=California Department of Parks & Recreation |access-date=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 Mexican–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]]

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." {{cite web| title = The Gold Rush of California: A Bibliography of Periodical Articles| publisher = California State University, Stanislaus| year = 2002| url = http://library.csustan.edu/bsantos/goldrush/GoldTOC.htm| access-date = January 23, 2008| archive-date = March 12, 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120312213110/http://library.csustan.edu/bsantos/goldrush/GoldTOC.htm| url-status = 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.{{Cite book|last=Richards, Rand, 1949-|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/23463043|title=Historic San Francisco : a concise history and guide|date=1991|publisher=Heritage House Publishers|isbn=1-879367-00-9|location=San Francisco|oclc=23463043}}{{Cite web|title=1860 Census: Population of the United States|url=https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1864/dec/1860a.html|access-date=October 10, 2020|website=The United States Census Bureau|language=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.

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.{{Cite web|date=June 15, 2021|title=Living shorelines could help California coasts adapt to rising sea levels|url=https://grist.org/science/how-oysters-and-seagrass-could-help-the-california-coast-adapt-to-rising-seas/|access-date=July 29, 2021|website=Grist|language=en-us}}

File:Mount Shasta Farm.jpg]]

The decades following the Gold Rush brought dramatic expansion to northern California, both in population and economically – 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),{{Cite web|title=California Labor History Archive|url=https://calaborfed.org/california-history/|access-date=July 29, 2021|website=California Labor Federation|date=October 29, 2016 |language=en-US}} tensions between the increasing power of the Southern Pacific Railroad and small farmers, and the beginnings of the labor union movement.

File:ISS-37 Northern California region.jpg

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.

File:Northern California Köppen.png 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 °F (10–15 °C) to 30s °F (−1 – +4 °C) in the winters while summers temperature range is 90s °F (32–37 °C) to 60s °F (15–20 °C) or 50s °F (10–15 °C), with highs well into the 100s °F (37–42 °C) for the Sacramento region. Snow covers the mountains (generally above {{convert|3000|ft|m}}) 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.{{Cite web|title=Northern California|url=https://www.ccul.org/click-here-list/257-economy-articles/4830-northern-california|access-date=July 29, 2021|website=www.ccul.org|date=January 26, 2021 |language=en-us}} Since the first decade of the 21st century, droughts and wildfires have increased in frequency as a consequence of climate change.{{Cite news |last1=Boxall |first1=Bettina |last2=St. John |first2=Paige |date=November 10, 2018 |title=California's most destructive wildfire should not have come as a surprise |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-camp-fire-science-20181110-story.html |access-date=November 11, 2018}}{{Cite web |title=Advancing Drought Science and Preparedness across the Nation |url=https://www.drought.gov/drought/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111042024/https://www.drought.gov/drought/ |archive-date=November 11, 2018 |access-date=November 11, 2018 |publisher=National Integrated Drought Information System}}

{{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.{{cite web|url=http://countingcalifornia.cdlib.org/sas-bin/broker?_program=prd.calmatx.sas&study=histpop&file=histcnty%20histcity%20histst&varMtx=histpop_1&dtbl=histpop_1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031231155609/http://countingcalifornia.cdlib.org/sas-bin/broker?_program=prd.calmatx.sas&study=histpop&file=histcnty%20histcity%20histst&varMtx=histpop_1&dtbl=histpop_1|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 31, 2003|title=Historical census data by U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=February 6, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|title=U.S. Census website|website=United States Census Bureau|access-date=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 War–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.[https://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/2013-09/SPUR_The_Northern_California_Megaregion.pdf The Northern California Megaregion], p.22, SPUR, 2007.

File:Ethnic Origins in Northern California.png

{{Main|List of areas in the United States National Park System|List of national parks of the United States}}

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 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.

{{Main|List of national monuments of the United States|United States National Marine Sanctuary|List of National Wildlife Refuges of the United States|List of national forests of the United States}}

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 Shasta–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, Whiskeytown–Shasta–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.

{{Incomplete list|date=August 2008}}

{{div col|colwidth=28em}}

• Tilden Regional Park
• Alum Rock Park
• Angel Island
• Bidwell Park
• Big Basin Redwoods State Park
• Butano State Park
• Calaveras Big Trees State Park
• Castle Rock State Park
• Caswell Memorial State Park
• East Bay Regional Park District
• Farallon Islands
• Golden Gate Park
• Henry W. Coe State Park
• Humboldt Redwoods State Park
• Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
• Lake Tahoe Basin
• Marble Mountain Wilderness
• Mill Creek State Park
• Mount Tamalpais State Park
• Suisun Marsh
• Sacramento River
• Talowa Dunes State Park
• Turtle Bay Exploration Park
• McArthur–Burney Falls Memorial State Park
• Wilder Ranch State Park
• Sequoia National Park

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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.

• Six University of California campuses:

{{Div col}}

:*UC Berkeley

:*UC Davis

:*UC Hastings

:*UC Merced

:*UC San Francisco

:*UC Santa Cruz

{{Div col end}}

• Eleven California State University campuses:

{{Div col}}

:* 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

{{Div col end}}

• A large number of local community colleges

(Partial list)

• Academy of Art University
• California College of the Arts
• Dominican University of California
• Fresno Pacific University
• Golden Gate University
• Jessup University
• Menlo College
• Northwestern Polytechnic University
• Notre Dame de Namur University
• Pacific Union College
• Samuel Merritt University
• Santa Clara University
• Saint Mary's College of California
• Simpson University
• Stanford University
• Touro University California
• University of San Francisco
• University of the Pacific

(Partial list)

• American Institute of Mathematics
• Bodega Marine Reserve
• Hopkins Marine Station
• Joint Genome Institute
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Lick Observatory
• Long Marine Laboratory
• Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
• Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
• NASA Ames Research Center
• Owens Valley Radio Observatory
• Pacific Institute
• Point Reyes Bird Observatory
• White Mountain Research Station

{{div col|colwidth=18em}}

• Alameda
• Alpine
• Amador
• Butte
• Calaveras
• Colusa
• Contra Costa
• Del Norte
• El Dorado
• Fresno
• Glenn
• Humboldt
• Inyo
• Kings
• Lake
• Lassen
• Madera
• Marin
• Mariposa
• Mendocino
• Merced
• Modoc
• Mono
• Monterey
• Napa
• Nevada
• Placer
• Plumas
• Sacramento
• San Benito
• San Francisco
• San Joaquin
• San Mateo
• Santa Clara
• Santa Cruz
• Shasta
• Sierra
• Siskiyou
• Solano
• Sonoma
• Stanislaus
• Sutter
• Tehama
• Trinity
• Tulare
• Tuolumne
• Yolo
• Yuba

{{div col end}}

The following regions are entirely or partly within northern California:

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• Big Sur
• Cascade Range
• Central California
• Central Coast
• Central Valley
• Coastal California
• East Bay (SF)
• Eastern California
• Emerald Triangle
• Gold Country
• Greater Sacramento
• Klamath Basin
• Lake Tahoe
• Lassen Peak
• Lost Coast
• Metropolitan Fresno
• Mount Shasta
• North Bay (SF)
• North Coast
• Russian River
• Sacramento Valley
• San Francisco Bay Area
• San Francisco Peninsula
• San Joaquin Valley
• Santa Clara Valley
• Shasta Cascade
• Sierra Nevada
• Silicon Valley
• South Bay (SF)
• Telecom Valley
• Tri-Valley
• Trinity Alps
• Wine Country
• Yosemite
• Yuba–Sutter area

{{div col end}}

File:San Jose California Skyline.jpg|1 – San Jose

File:SF From Marin Highlands3.jpg|2 – San Francisco

File:Fresno skyline.jpg|3 – Fresno

File:Tower Bridge Sacramento edit.jpg|4 – Sacramento

File:Oakland California skyline.jpg|5 – Oakland

File:Commercial & Savings Bank - Stockton, CA.jpg|6 – Stockton

File:Mission-Peak-2006.jpg|7 – Fremont

File:Modesto Arch.JPG|8 – Modesto

File:SR vineyard.jpg|9 – Santa Rosa

File:Laguna Springs Dr and Laguna Blvd.jpg|10 – Elk Grove

File:Main Street, Salinas.jpg|11 – Salinas

File:Hayward City Hall number 3 front.jpg|12 – Hayward

File:Murphystreetsunnyvale.jpg|13 – Sunnyvale

File:Roseville - City Civic Center.jpg|14 – Roseville

File:Visalia Transit 2011.jpg|15 – Visalia

File:Santaclaraconventioncenter.jpg|16 – Santa Clara

File:DK From Parking Lot.jpg|17 – Vallejo

File:Todos Santos Plaza (Concord, California) Dec 2009.jpg|18 – Concord

File:Berkeley-downtown-Bay-bridge-SF-in-back-from-Lab.jpg|19 – Berkeley

File:Pollasky Ave. Clovis.JPG|20 – Clovis

File:Aerial view of Fairfield, California.jpg|21 – Fairfield

File:Point Richmond, Richmond, California.jpg|22 – Richmond

File:Shannon-Williamson Ranch (Antioch, CA).JPG|23 – Antioch

File:MCB-san-mateo-aerial.jpg|24 – San Mateo

File:Daly City.jpg|25 – Daly City

File:Aerial view of Vacaville, California.jpg|26 – Vacaville

File:Bidwell Park Chico.jpg|27 – Chico

File:Sundialbridge2.jpg|28 – Redding

File:11th and Central Tracy California 14-May-2006.jpg|29 – Tracy

File:San Leandro Marina 07830.JPG|30 – San Leandro

File:Downtown Livermore California.jpg|31 - Livermore

File:Citrus Heights - Police.jpg|32 – Citrus Heights

File:Merced Theatre.JPG|33 – Merced

File:SanRamonPanorama.jpg|34 – San Ramon

File:Redwoodcitypanorama.jpg|35 – Redwood City

File:MantecaCA.jpg|36 – Manteca

File:Mountainviewcentennialplaza.jpg|37 – Mountain View

File:Lake Folsom.JPG|38 – Folsom

File:Footbridge to Great Mall Main station, March 2018 (cropped).JPG|39 – Milpitas

File:MCB-pleasanton-ca.jpg|40 – Pleasanton

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

The following are major central business districts:

• San Francisco Financial District
• Downtown Oakland
• Downtown Sacramento
• Downtown San Jose

See also articles:

• Transportation in the Sacramento metropolitan area
• Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area

See also categories:

{{div col|colwidth=22em|small=yes}}

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

{{div col end}}

{{Main|List of airports in California}}

File:International Terminal of San Francisco International Airport2.jpg

File:Airbus A-300 UPS takes off (5863558111) (2).jpg is ranked as the best-run airport in the United States, by the ACBJ.{{cite web |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2017/03/16/san-jose-sjc-airport-ranking-flights-sfo.html |title=San Jose's SJC flies past SFO to the top of rankings as America's best-run airport |website=Silicon Valley Business Journal |access-date=November 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517230218/http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2017/03/16/san-jose-sjc-airport-ranking-flights-sfo.html |archive-date=May 17, 2017 |url-status=live}}]]

There are 11 airports in Northern California categorized as Primary Service Commercial airports by the FAA:{{cite web|url=https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/|title=Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) and All-Cargo Data for U.S. Airports – Airports|website=Faa.gov|access-date=February 6, 2019}}

File:Upper platform at 19th Street Oakland station, March 2007.jpg BART station in downtown Oakland]]

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

• AC Transit
• Arcata and Mad River Transit System
• County Connection
• El Dorado Transit
• Eureka Transit Service
• Fairfield and Suisun Transit
• Fresno Area Express
• Golden Gate Transit
• Lake Transit
• Mendocino Transit Authority
• Monterey-Salinas Transit
• Porterville City Operated Local Transit
• Redwood Transit System
• SamTrans
• San Benito Express
• SF MUNI
• San Joaquin Regional Transit District
• Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)
• Santa Cruz Metro
• Solano Express
• SolTrans
• Sonoma County Transit
• Tri Delta Transit
• Visalia Transit
• VINE (Napa County)

File:San Francisco Ferry Building.jpg is the busiest ferry terminal on the West Coast and connects Downtown San Francisco to various parts of the Bay Area.]]

• San Francisco Bay Ferry
• Golden Gate Ferry
• Blue & Gold Fleet
• Angel Island – Tiburon Ferry

{{Category see also|San Francisco Bay Area freeways}}

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

File:GoldenGateBridge.jpg is one of northern California's most well-known landmarks and one of the most famous bridges in the world.]]

• 20px U.S. Route 6
• 20px U.S. Route 50 (El Dorado Freeway)
• 20px U.S. Route 101 (South Valley Freeway/Bayshore Freeway/James Lick Freeway/Central Freeway/Redwood Highway/Michael J. Burns Freeway/Redwood Highway)
• 20px U.S. Route 395
• 20px U.S. Route 97
• 20px U.S. Route 199

File:I-80 Eastshore Fwy.jpg in the Bay Area]]

File:SR 120 Yosemite.jpg

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

• 209 — Northern San Joaquin Valley (Stockton, Modesto, and Merced).
• 408/669 — Most of Santa Clara County (San Jose and Gilroy).
• 415/628 — San Francisco, Daly City, and Marin County. One of the three original Area Codes in California.
• 510/341 — Inner East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, and Fremont). Originally part of area code 415.
• 530 — 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 1997–1998.
• 559 — Southern San Joaquin Valley (Madera, Fresno, and Visalia).
• 650 — San Francisco Peninsula (San Mateo, Redwood City, and Palo Alto). Originally part of area code 415.
• 707 — 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 — Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties. Originally part of area code 408.
• 916/279 — 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 — Outer East Bay (Concord, Pittsburg, Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Pleasanton and Livermore). Originally part of area codes 415 and 510.For current information, see [http://www.nanpa.com/ nanpa.com], the North American Numbering Plan Administration site.

{{See also|Bay Bridge Series|Sports in California#Northern California–Southern California rivalry}}

• California Golden Bears
• Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks
• Stanford Cardinal
• Fresno State Bulldogs
• San Jose State Spartans
• Sacramento State Hornets
• UC Davis Aggies

• Laguna Seca Raceway (motorsport)
• Sonoma Raceway (motorsport)
• Olympic Club (golf)
• Silverado Country Club (golf)
• TPC Harding Park (golf)
• TPC Stonebrae (golf)

• 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)

{{Portal|California|San Francisco Bay Area}}

• Northern California Megaregion
• California megapolitan areas
• Central California
• History of California through 1899
• History of the west coast of North America
• Jefferson (proposed Pacific state)
• Megaregions of the United States
• Southern California

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• Real Estate Engineering and Architect Service in California. {{Cite web|title=Leading Pre-Construction Service Providers in California|url=https://designeverest.com/|access-date=July 29, 2021|website=Design Everest|language=en}}

{{California}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Megapolitan areas of California

Category:Regions of California