The Imperial Valley lies in California's Imperial County. It is located in southeastern Southern California, and is the site of an urban area largely centered around the city of El Centro. The Valley is bordered by the Colorado River to the east and, in part, the Salton Sea to the west. Farther west lies the San Diego and Imperial County border. To the north is the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley, which together form the Salton Trough, or the Cahuilla Basin, also the county line of Imperial and Riverside counties, and to the south the international boundary with the U.S. state of California and Baja California.
The Imperial Valley is rich in natural beauty, local history, and culture. The unique culture of the area blends the two different countries of the United States with Mexico, due to its regional history and geographic location along the international border. This creates a small town atmosphere, and an economy based on agriculture, and a strong work ethic for the people of the Valley. From early in January through the winter holiday season, the Imperial Valley hosts many festivals and activities that keep things moving. From the aerial displays of the Blue Angels to the Tomato Festival. From the North to the South. Imperial Valley offers visitors and residents a taste of many cultures such as those from Mexico with all its sights, sounds and tastes waiting to be savored. Mexico can easily be accessed by vehicle or by walking due to the Valleys proximity to the border.
Imperial Valley was so named by the Imperial Land Company, in hopes of attracting settlers. Having done that it is now the home of the El Centro metropolitan area and also an economic center of California's, government defined, "South Border". Locally, the terms "Imperial Valley" and "Imperial County" are used synonymously.
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Famous quotes containing the words imperial and/or valley:
“Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore.”
—Apocrypha. Ecclesiasticus, 44:14.
The line “their name liveth for evermore” was chosen by Rudyard Kipling on behalf of the Imperial War Graves Commission as an epitaph to be used in Commonwealth War Cemeteries. Kipling had himself lost a son in the fighting.
“Ah! I have penetrated to those meadows on the morning of many a first spring day, jumping from hummock to hummock, from willow root to willow root, when the wild river valley and the woods were bathed in so pure and bright a light as would have waked the dead, if they had been slumbering in their graves, as some suppose. There needs no stronger proof of immortality. All things must live in such a light. O Death, where was thy sting? O Grave, where was thy victory, then?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)