Northern California
From Free net encyclopedia
Northern California, sometimes abbreviated NorCal, refers to the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Some people use the term to refer to the area north of the ten counties of Southern California; some use the term to describe anything in the northern half of the state; and others, only for the northern reaches of the state. However, a distinction is usually made between Northern California (being above Sacramento) and Central California (stretching from Sacramento to Bakersfield). The region is characterized by its beautiful coastline, Mediterranean climate, low population density (apart from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento area, if those are being included), and redwood forests. It is also a land of volcanoes, such as Lassen National Park and Mt. Shasta, lakes and windswept sagebrush steppe, as in the northeast portion of the state.
Northern California's largest metropolitan area is the San Francisco Bay Area which includes the cities of San Francisco, San Jose and its Silicon Valley suburbs, and Oakland. The California state capital, Sacramento, is also in Northern California. Other cities in the region include Redding at the northern end of the Central Valley, and Eureka on the northern coast.
Just before World War II, some parts of extreme Northern California unsuccessfully sought secession from California, to be incorporated as the state of Jefferson.
Higher education
- California State University, Chico
- California State University, East Bay (formerly California State University, Hayward)
- California State University, Sacramento
- California State University, Monterey Bay
- College of the Redwoods
- Humboldt State University
- Saint Mary's College of California
- Santa Clara University
- San Francisco State University
- San José State University
- Sonoma State University
- Stanford University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of California, Davis
- University of California, Merced
- University of California, San Francisco
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- University of the Pacific
- University of San Francisco
Northern California is also home to a number of seminaries including Fuller Theological Seminary (see also Fuller Northern California), and Western Seminary, each with campuses in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Sacramento.
NOR*CAL Regions-
- San Francisco Bay Area
- North Bay (Marin, Sonoma, Solano, and Napa counties)
- East Bay - Oakland, Berkeley, and other cities
- South Bay - roughly equivalent to Santa Clara Valley
- The Peninsula - San Francisco and San Mateo County
- Silicon Valley includes portions of the South Bay and the Peninsula
- Santa Cruz area
- Wine Country includes Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties
- Salinas Valley, including Salinas and King City
- Monterey, including Pacific Grove and Carmel
- Gold Country within Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento and Tuolumne counties
- Shasta Cascade
- Emerald Triangle
- Sacramento Valley
- San Joaquin Valley, with the exception of Kern County
- Humboldt County including Eureka, Arcata, and McKinleyville
de:Nordkalifornien fr:Californie du Nord pt:Norte da Califórnia