Central California, sometimes referenced as Mid-State, is an area of California south of the San Francisco Bay Area and north of Southern California. It includes the southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley south of the San Joaquin River Delta, the Central Coast and central hills of the California Coast Ranges, and the foothills and mountain areas of the central Sierra Nevada.
Central California is generally considered a sub-region within Northern California. Both have their southern boundary where they meet Southern California at either the Tehachapi Mountains or the county lines which cross the state west to east below Kern and San Luis Obispo Counties. Central California is considered to be west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada. (East of the Sierras is Eastern California.)
The largest cities (over 50,000 population) in the region are Fresno, Modesto, Salinas, Visalia, Clovis, Merced, Turlock, Madera, Tulare, Porterville, and Hanford.
Famous quotes containing the words central and/or california:
“In a large university, there are as many deans and executive heads as there are schools and departments. Their relations to one another are intricate and periodic; in fact, “galaxy” is too loose a term: it is a planetarium of deans with the President of the University as a central sun. One can see eclipses, inner systems, and oppositions.”
—Jacques Barzun (b. 1907)
“The apparent ease of California life is an illusion, and those who believe the illusion will live here in only the most temporary way.”
—Joan Didion (b. 1935)