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Everything about Southern California totally explained
Southern California or ( So Cal) is defined as the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population centers on the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Riverside. Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, behind only the BosWash Region in the Northeastern United States.
There is no official definition for the northern boundary of Southern California, however, most definitions in use include all the land south of the Tehachapi Mountains, located about north of Los Angeles.
On the west of Southern California lies the Pacific Ocean; to the south is the international border between the United States and Mexico; to the east are the Mojave and Colorado Deserts and the Colorado River at the state's border with Arizona and Nevada.
Significance
Within its boundaries is a major world city, Los Angeles, and three of the country's largest metropolitan areas.
Its counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Riverside are in the top 15 most populous counties in the United States. The region is also home to Los Angeles International Airport, the third-busiest airport in the United States by passenger volume, and the 2nd by international passenger volume, Van Nuys Airport, the world's busiest general aviation airport, Ontario International Airport, John Wayne International Airport, San Diego International Airport, and LA/Palmdale Regional Airport . Southern California is also home to the Port of Los Angeles, the United States' busiest commercial port, and the adjacent Port of Long Beach. Also of note in the region is the freeway system, which is the world's busiest. Six of the seven lines of the commuter rail system, Metrolink, run out of Downtown Los Angeles, connecting Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego counties with the other line connecting San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties directly, the nation's first suburb-to-suburb commuter rail line.
The Tech Coast is a moniker that has gained use as a descriptor for the region's diversified technology and industrial base as well as its multitude of prestigious and world-renowned research universities and other public and private institutions. Amongst these include five University of California campuses ( Los Angeles (UCLA), Irvine, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and San Diego (UCSD) campuses), 12 California State University campuses ( Bakersfield, Channel Islands, Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona), Northridge (CSUN), San Bernardino, San Diego (SDSU), San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), and San Marcos campuses), as well as private institutions such as Caltech, the University of Southern California, Pepperdine University, Loyola Marymount University, the Claremont Colleges and the University of San Diego (USD).
Southern California is also the entertainment ( motion picture, television, and recorded music) capital of the world and is home to Hollywood, the center of the motion picture industry. Headquartered in Southern California are The Walt Disney Company (which also owns ABC), Sony Pictures, Universal, MGM, Paramount Pictures (parent company of Dreamworks), 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers, and as well as Univision, Activision, and THQ. Southern California is also home to the world's largest adult entertainment industry, located primarily in the San Fernando Valley. More than 85% of adult film and video production in North America takes place in the area.
Besides the entertainment industry, Southern California is also home to a large surf and skateboard culture. Companies such as Volcom, Quiksilver, O'Neill clothing division, Lost Enterprises, Sector 9, RVCA, Body Glove and Surfline are all headquartered here. Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, professional surfers Rob Machado, Tom Curran, Pat O'Connell, Dane Reynolds, and Chris Ward, and professional snowboarder Shaun White live in Southern California. Some of the world's legendary surf spots are here as well, including Trestles, Rincon, The Wedge, Huntington Beach, and Malibu, and it's second only to the island of Oahu in terms of famous surf breaks. Brand name skate parks including the Vans Skate Park in Orange, the Etnies Park in Lake Forest, and the YMCA Skate Park in Encinitas are in Southern California. Some of the world's biggest extreme sports events including the X Games, Boost Mobile Pro, and the US Open of Surfing are all in Southern California.
Southern California is home to many successful sports franchises and sports networks such as Fox Sports Net. Teams that are located in the region include the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA, Los Angeles Riptide, and San Diego Chargers. Southern California also hosts a number of popular NCAA sports programs, such as the UCLA Bruins, the USC Trojans, and the SDSU Aztecs.
With inhabitants from all over the world, Southern California has always been at the forefront of popular culture as well as a pioneer of several subcultures, including the hippie movement, and various musical movements such as skate punk, hardcore punk, and West Coast Rap with its gangster/"g-funk" style. The Los Angeles area in particular has always been one of the most important areas for entertainment, the arts, architecture, and food, all of which reflects the broad influence Los Angeles has on the world's culture.
Northern boundary
The region's northern boundary is subject to a broader degree of interpretation than those of the West, East, and South. The most commonly used physical boundary between "Southern California" and the rest of the state is the Tehachapi Range, located about north of Los Angeles, and the Transverse Ranges in Santa Barbara County west to Point Conception. Seven counties (listed in descending order of population) are included: Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, and Imperial, as well as the southern part of Santa Barbara.
A more inclusive definition coinciding neatly with county lines uses the sixth standard parallel south of Mount Diablo (144 miles south of Mt. Diablo at 35°47′28″N) which forms the northern borders of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino counties as the boundary. The rest of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Kern County, California are included as well for a total of ten counties.
| County |
Population (Jan 2007 estimate) |
Land Area (mi²) |
Density (per mi²) |
| San Bernardino County |
2,028,013 |
20,105 |
100.9 |
| Los Angeles County |
10,331,939 |
4,061 |
2,544.2 |
| Ventura County |
825,512 |
1,846 |
447.2 |
| San Diego County |
3,098,269 |
4,200 |
737.7 |
| Riverside County |
2,031,625 |
7,207 |
281.9 |
| Orange County |
3,098,121 |
789 |
3,926.6 |
| Imperial County |
172,672 |
4,175 |
41.36 |
| Southern California |
21,586,151 |
42,383 |
509 |
| City |
Population (2007 estimate) |
| Santa Barbara |
89,456 |
| Goleta, Santa Barbara County |
30,169 |
| Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County |
14,123 |
| Summerland CDP, Santa Barbara County |
1,545 (2000 Census) |
| Isla Vista CDP, Santa Barbara County |
18,344 (2000 Census) |
| Mission Canyon CDP, Santa Barbara County |
2,610 (2000 Census) |
| Toro Canyon CDP, Santa Barbara County |
1,697 (2000 Census) |
| Hope Ranch, Santa Barbara County |
2,200 (2000 Census) |
| Southern Coast of Santa Barbara County |
170,144 |
| Kern County |
801,648 |
| SoCal boundary disputed |
971,792 |
Source : http://www.dof.ca.gov/HTML/DEMOGRAP/ReportsPapers/Estimates/E1/documents/e-1press.pdf
Urban landscape
Southern California is in part a heavily developed urban environment, along with vast arid areas that have been left undeveloped. It is the second-largest urbanized region in the United States, second only to the Washington, D.C./ Philadelphia/ New York/ Boston megalopolis ( BosWash). Whereas the BosWash cities are dense, with major downtown populations and significant rail and transit systems, much of SoCal is famous for its large, spread-out, suburban communities and use of automobiles and highways. The dominant areas are Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Riverside, and San Bernardino, each of which is the center of its respective metropolitan area, which are in turn composed of numerous other cities and communities.
Traveling south on Interstate 5, the main gap to continued urbanization is Camp Pendleton. The communities along Interstate 15 and Interstate 215 are so inter-related that Temecula has as much connection with San Diego County as it does with the Inland Empire. To the east, the United States Census Bureau considers the San Bernardino and Riverside County areas, Riverside-San Bernardino Area as a separate metropolitan area from Los Angeles County. While many commute to L.A. and Orange Counties, there are some differences in development, as most of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties were developed in the 1980s and 1990s.
Regions
Major cities (over 200,000 inhabitants)
All population information is from the 2005 estimate of the State of California.
Anaheim - 345,317
Chula Vista - 217,543
Glendale - 207,007
Huntington Beach - 200,763
Long Beach - 491,564
Los Angeles - 3,957,875
Riverside - 305,255
San Diego - 1,305,736
Santa Ana - 351,697
San Bernardino - 205,010
Irvine - 202,050
The Imperial Valley's largest city is the Border town of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico with 500,000 to one million residents serves as an important urban center for this mostly rural area on the American side of the region.
Principal cities (over 100,000 inhabitants)
Burbank - 106,739
Corona - 144,070
Costa Mesa - 113,440
Downey - 113,607
East Los Angeles - 124,283
El Monte - 125,832
Escondido - 141,350
Fontana - 160,015
Fullerton - 135,672
Garden Grove - 172,042
Inglewood - 118,164
Lancaster - 133,703
Moreno Valley - 174,565
Norwalk - 110,178
Oceanside - 161,029
Ontario - 170,373
Orange - 137,751
Oxnard - 189,990
Palmdale - 136,734
Pasadena - 146,166
Pomona - 160,815
Rancho Cucamonga - 161,830
Santa Clarita - 167,954
Simi Valley - 121,427
South Gate - 102,165
Thousand Oaks - 127,112
Torrance - 147,405
Ventura - 106,096
Victorville - 102,538
West Covina - 112,417
Indio at 80,000 is the largest city of the Coachella Valley, but include those who are "snowbirds" and part-time residents, the city may have over 100,000 residents.
CountiesSouth of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains
Imperial
San Diego
Riverside
Ventura
Orange
Los Angeles
San Bernardino
North of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains
Northern Los Angeles (Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita)
Northern San Bernardino (Mojave Desert)
Santa Barbara
San Luis Obispo
Kern
Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura are also counties in the Central Coast.
ZIP Codes
See Southern California Zip Codes
Geographical regions
Southern California is also divided into the Coastal Region (Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Diego County, Santa Barbara County, and Ventura County) and the larger, more sparsely populated, desert Inland Empire (San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and Imperial County). The division between the Coastal Regions and the Inland Empire winds along the backs of the coastal mountain ranges such as the Santa Ana Mountains.
A related geographical term is cismontane Southern California, which refers to the portion of California on the coastal side of the Transverse and Peninsular mountain ranges. The term "Southern California" often refers to this region specifically, as opposed to largely desert areas comprising the rest of the southern portion of the state, which are referred to as transmontane Southern California.
Geographic features
Antelope Valley (Los Angeles and Kern Counties)
Ballona Wetlands (Los Angeles County)
Big Bear Lake (San Bernardino County)
Cajon Pass (San Bernardino County)
Channel Islands (Ventura County)
Coachella Valley (Riverside County)
Colorado River (San Bernardino, Riverside & Imperial Counties)
Conejo Valley (Ventura County)
Cucamonga Valley (San Bernardino County)
High Desert (Los Angeles, Kern, & San Bernardino Counties)
Imperial Fault (Imperial County)
Imperial Valley (Imperial County)
In-Ko-Pah Mountains (San Diego County)
Inland Empire (Riverside, San Bernardino and parts of Los Angeles Counties)
Jacumba Mountains (San Diego County)
La Jolla Cove (San Diego County)
Laguna Mountains (San Diego County)
Lake Arrowhead (San Bernardino County)
Lake Casitas (Ventura County)
Lake Castaic (Los Angeles County)
Lake Piru (Ventura County)
Lakeview Mountains (Riverside County)
Los Angeles Basin (Los Angeles County)
Los Angeles River (Los Angeles County)
Low Desert (Imperial, Riverside & San Bernardino Counties)
Mojave Desert (Los Angeles, Kern & San Bernardino Counties)
Mugu Lagoon (Ventura County)
New River (Imperial County)
Orange Coast (Orange County)
Oxnard Plain (Ventura County)
Palomar Mountain (San Diego County)
Palos Verdes Peninsula (Los Angeles County)
Peninsular Ranges (San Diego County)
Point Mugu (Ventura County)
Pomona Valley (Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties)
Puente Hills (Los Angeles County)
Pyramid Lake (Los Angeles County)
Rio Hondo (Los Angeles County)
Saddleback Valley (Orange County)
Salton Sea (Imperial & Riverside Counties)
San Andreas Fault (All Counties)
San Bernardino Mountains (San Bernardino County)
San Bernardino Valley (San Bernardino County)
San Diego River (San Diego County)
San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles County)
San Gabriel Mountains (Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties)
San Gabriel River (Los Angeles County)
San Gabriel Valley (Los Angeles County)
San Jacinto Mountains (Riverside County)
San Pedro Bay (Los Angeles County)
Santa Ana Mountains (Los Angeles, Riverside & Orange Counties)
Santa Ana River (San Bernardino, Los Angeles & Orange County)
Santa Ana Valley (Orange County)
Catalina Island (Los Angeles County)
Santa Clara River (Ventura County)
Santa Clara River Valley (Ventura County)
Santa Clarita Valley (Los Angeles County)
Santa Margarita River (Riverside, Orange & San Diego Counties)
Santa Monica Bay (Los Angeles County)
Santa Monica Mountains (Los Angeles & Ventura Counties)
Santa Susana Mountains (Los Angeles & Ventura Counties)
Sonoran Desert (San Diego County, Arizona, Mexico)
Tijuana River (San Diego County)
Ventura River (Ventura County)
Victor Valley (San Bernardino County)
Transportation
Airports
For major airlines and commercial air carriers
Los Angeles International Airport
San Diego International Airport
San Bernardino International Airport
LA/Ontario International Airport
LA/Palmdale Regional Airport
John Wayne International Airport
Bob Hope (Burbank) Airport
Long Beach Airport
Santa Barbara Airport
Palm Springs International Airport
McClellan-Palomar Airport
Oxnard Airport
Santa Maria Airport
Southern California Logistics Airport
Thermal Airport
Central business districts
The following are central business districts in Southern California:
Downtown Long Beach
Downtown Los Angeles
West L.A.
Century City
Downtown Riverside
Downtown San Bernardino
Downtown San Diego
Transport
Freeways
Interstate Highways
Golden State Freeway/Santa Ana Freeway/San Diego Freeway/Montgomery Freeway (Interstate 5)
Ocean Beach Freeway/Mission Valley Freeway (Interstate 8)
Santa Monica (Rosa Parks) Freeway/Golden State Freeway/San Bernardino Freeway/Indio (Dr. June McCarroll) Freeway/Blythe Freeway (Interstate 10)
Mojave Freeway/Barstow Freeway/Ontario Freeway/Corona Freeway/Temecula Valley Freeway/Escondido Freeway (Interstate 15)
Century (Glenn Anderson) Freeway (Interstate 105)
Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110)
Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210, expected to expand along current in near future)
Barstow Freeway/San Bernardino Freeway/Moreno Valley Freeway/Escondido Freeway (Interstate 215)
San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405)
San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605)
Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710)
Jacob Dekema Freeway (Interstate 805)
Future Interstate 905
U.S. Highway system
Ventura Freeway/Hollywood Freeway/Santa Ana Freeway/El Camino Real (U.S. Route 101)
California State Routes » Note: highway segments with names listed in italics are surface streets and not freeways.
Pacific Coast Highway (PCH)/Lincoln Boulevard/Sepulveda Boulevard/Oxnard Boulevard/Coast Highway/Camino las Ramblas (State Route 1)
Angeles Crest Highway/Glendale Freeway/Santa Monica Boulevard (State Route 2)
Antelope Valley Freeway (State Route 14)
Rosemead Boulevard/Lakewood Boulevard (State Route 19)
Seventh Street/Garden Grove Freeway (State Route 22)
Decker Road/Mulholland Highway/Westlake Boulevard
Topanga Canyon Boulevard
Ojai Freeway (State Route 33)
San Gabriel Canyon Road/Azusa Avenue/Beach Boulevard
Manchester Boulevard
Terminal Island Freeway/Seaside Avenue/Vincent Thomas Bridge
Soledad Freeway
South Bay Freeway/2nd Street
Costa Mesa Freeway/Newport Boulevard (State Route 55)
Ted Williams Freeway (State Route 56)
Orange Freeway (State Route 57)
Pomona Freeway/Moreno Valley Freeway (State Route 60)
Foothill Boulevard and E Street (also known as Historic U.S. Route 66)
Julian Road/San Vicente Freeway
Corona Expressway/Chino Valley Freeway (State Route 71)
Firestone Boulevard/Whittier Boulevard
San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor (toll road) (State Route 73)
Ortega Highway/Palms to Pines Highway (State Route 74)
San Diego-Coronado Bridge/Silver Strand Boulevard
Mission Avenue/Pala Road/Cuyamaca Highway
Vista Freeway/San Pasqual Valley Road
Winchester Road/Temecula Parkway/Firefighter Steven Rucker Memorial Highway (State Route 79)
Historic U.S. Route 80, officially called Imperial County Route S80 Barbara Worth Highway
Euclid Avenue
Indio Boulevard which is Historic U.S. Route 99 (locally known as the NAFTA Highway, proposed to be called East Valley Parkway)
Marina Freeway/Imperial Highway/Richard Nixon Freeway (State Route 90)
Artesia Boulevard/Gardena Freeway/Artesia Freeway/Riverside Freeway (State Route 91)
Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway/Campo Road
Hawthorne Boulevard
Pasadena Freeway (State Route 110)
Grapefruit Boulevard (Proposed name: Desert Cities Highway or Desert Resorts Highway)
Ronald Reagan Freeway (State Route 118)
La Mesa Freeway (State Route 125)
Santa Paula Freeway (State Route 126)
Eastern Transportation Corridor (toll road)/Laguna Canyon Road (State Route 133)
Ventura Freeway (State Route 134)
Carbon Canyon Road
Cabrillo Freeway (State Route 163)
Hollywood Freeway/Highland Avenue (State Route 170)
Pierce Street (Proposed to be called Salton Sea Street) and Box Canyon Road
Catalina Boulevard/Canon Street/Rosecrans Street
Foothill Freeway (Merges with in San Dimas, formerly the )
Western Avenue
Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor (toll road) (State Route 241)
Balboa Avenue
3rd/4th Street
Cahuilla Road
Otay Mesa Freeway/Otay Mesa Road (once the freeway is complete.)
Major public transit organizations
Metrolink
Los Angeles County MTA, or Metro
San Diego trolley and San Diego County MTS
Orange County Transportation Authority
OmniTrans (San Bernardino County)
Santa Barbara MTD
South Coast Area Transit (Ventura County)
NCTD (North San Diego County)
COASTER (Oceanside to San Diego)
The Sprinter (Oceanside to Escondido)
Santa Monica Big Blue Bus
Metrolink commuter lines
91 Line (Union Station - Riverside-Downtown)
Antelope Valley Line (Union Station - Lancaster)
Inland Empire-Orange County (IEOC) Line (San Bernardino - San Juan Capistrano)
Orange County Line (Union Station - Oceanside)
Riverside Line (Union Station - Riverside-Downtown)
San Bernardino Line (Union Station - San Bernardino/Riverside-Downtown)
Ventura County Line (Union Station - Downtown Oxnard)
Communication
Telephone area codes
213 - Downtown L.A. - originally covered all of Southern California.
323 - Doughnut-shaped area surrounding downtown, including Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, East L.A., northern South L.A.
310 - West L.A., Santa Monica, and the South Bay
424 - shared with 310
562 - South and South-Eastern Los Angeles County, Norwalk, Cerritos, Long Beach, Whittier, Pico Rivera area and Northwest Orange County .
619 - San Diego including downtown, East County and The South Bay
626 - Pasadena, San Gabriel Valley
657 - Overlay area code with 714 beginning February 23, 2008. New telephone numbers in the 714 geographic region will be given the 657 area code.
661 - Santa Clarita Valley and Antelope Valleys including Palmdale (Antelope Valley), Lancaster (Antelope Valley); Santa Clarita (Santa Clarita Valley), Val Verde (Santa Clarita Valley), Stevenson Ranch (SCV), and Castaic (SCV).
714 - Northern Orange County (Anaheim, Santa Ana & Huntington Beach) and parts of San Bernardino County, (Chino Hills)
760 - North County San Diego (Oceanside, Escondido, San Marcos); Palm Springs; El Centro; Victor Valley; Barstow; Ridgecrest Proposed Area Code 442, either as an overlay or an entire new area code for the North San Diego County area and/or the Coachella Valley remains in debate.
805 - All of Ventura County as well as Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County
818 - The San Fernando Valley, Glendale
858 - Some northern neighborhoods of San Diego (Clairemont, La Jolla, Mira Mesa, Rancho Bernardo); Del Mar and Poway
909 - Eastern Los Angeles County and western parts of the Inland Empire/Southwestern San Bernardino County (Pomona & San Bernardino)
949 - Southern Orange County (Irvine, Newport Beach, Laguna Niguel & San Clemente)
951 - Inland Empire South/Western Riverside County (Riverside, Temecula, & Murrieta)
Sports teams
Further Information
Get more info on 'Southern California'.
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