San Francisco
consolidated city and county in California, United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
San Francisco is a city in the state of California in the United States. It is in the northern part of California, between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. With 873,965 people in 2020, San Francisco is the 4th largest city in California and the 17th largest city in the United States. It is the economic and cultural center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a metropolitan area with over 7 million people. The city is famous for the Golden Gate Bridge, steep hills, unique architecture, and its large LGBTQ+ population.
San Francisco, California | |
|---|---|
Consolidated city-county | |
| City and County of San Francisco | |
San Francisco from the Marin Headlands | |
 Flag  Seal | |
| Nicknames: See List of nicknames for San Francisco[1] | |
| Motto(s): Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra (Spanish) (English: "Gold in Peace, Iron in War") | |
| Anthem: I Left My Heart in San Francisco[2] | |
 Interactive map outlining San Francisco | |
  San Francisco Location within California Show map of California San Francisco Location within the United States Show map of the United States San Francisco Location within North America Show map of North America.svg) San Francisco San Francisco (Earth) Show map of Earth | |
| Coordinates: 37°46′39″N 122°24′59″W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | San Francisco |
| CSA | San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland |
| Metro | San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward |
| Mission | June 29, 1776[3] |
| Incorporated | April 15, 1850[4] |
| Founded by | José Joaquín Moraga Francisco Palóu |
| Named for | St. Francis of Assisi |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–council |
| • Body | Board of Supervisors |
| • Mayor | London Breed (D)[5] |
| • Supervisors[6] | List
|
| • Assembly members[7][8] | Matt Haney (D) Phil Ting (D) |
| • State senator | Scott Wiener (D)[9] |
| • United States Representatives[10][11] | Barbara Lee (D) Eric Swalwell (D) |
| Area | |
| • City and county | 231.89 sq mi (600.59 km2) |
| • Land | 46.9 sq mi (121.48 km2) |
| • Water | 184.99 sq mi (479.11 km2) 80.00% |
| • Metro | 3,524.4 sq mi (9,128 km2) |
| Elevation | 52 ft (16 m) |
| Highest elevation | 934 ft (285 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Population | |
| • City and county | 873,965 |
| • Rank | 17th in the United States 4th in California |
| • Density | 18,634.65/sq mi (7,194.31/km2) |
| • Metro | 4,749,008 (12th) |
| Demonym(s) | San Franciscan San Francisqueño/a |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (Pacific Time Zone) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (Pacific Daylight Time) |
| ZIP Codes[17] | List
|
| Area codes | 415/628[18] |
| FIPS code | 06-67000 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 277593, 2411786 |
| GDP (2019)[19] | City—$203.5billion
MSA—$591.9 billion (4th) CSA—$1.086 trillion (3rd) |
| Website | sf.gov |
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Spanish explorers created San Francisco in 1776. They called it "Yerba Buena", which is Spanish for "Good Herb", because a lot of mint grew there.[20] After the Mexican-American War, the United States took over Yerba Buena. In 1848 its name was changed to "San Francisco". It became a city in 1850. San Francisco was a center of the Beat Generation in the 1950s and the Hippie movement in the 1960s. Today, it is a center of social and political liberalism.
When the California Gold Rush started in 1848, San Francisco's port became very important. Immigrants came by sea from around the world. During World War II, the city was a center of war industries.[21] In the 1990s, the economy became focused on internet companies and other high tech. Many of the world's largest companies have their main offices in San Francisco, such as Wells Fargo, Salesforce, Uber, Airbnb, Twitter, Levi's, Gap, Dropbox, and Lyft.[22][23] The city has among the highest average incomes and highest housing costs in the United States.