Geography of California - Northern California

Northern California

Northern California usually refers to the state's northernmost 48 counties. The term is also applied to the area north of the Tehachapi Mountains.

The main population centers of Northern California include San Francisco Bay Area (which includes the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and the largest city of the region, San Jose), and Sacramento (the state capital) as well as its metropolitan area. It also contains redwood forests, along with the Sierra Nevada including Yosemite Valley and Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta (the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range after Mount Rainier in Washington), and the northern half of the Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions. The climate can be generally characterized by its marine to warm Mediterranean climates along the coast, to somewhat Continental Mediterranean Climate in the valley to alpine climate zones in the high mountains. Apart from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan areas (and some other cities in the Central Valley), it is a region of relatively low population density. Northern California's economy is noted for being the de facto world leader industries such as high technology (both software and semiconductor), as well as being known for clean power, biomedical, government, and finance.

Read more about this topic:  Geography Of California

Famous quotes containing the words northern and/or california:

    Our ancestors were savages. The story of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a wolf is not a meaningless fable. The founders of every state which has risen to eminence have drawn their nourishment and vigor from a similar wild source. It was because the children of the Empire were not suckled by the wolf that they were conquered and displaced by the children of the northern forests who were.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    This land is your land, this land is my land,
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    Woody Guthrie (1912–1967)