San Diego County is a
county located near the Pacific Ocean
in the far southwest of the U.S. state of California
. It is the southwesternmost county in the
contiguous 48 states.
The population in 2000 was 2,813,835, but a
July 2008 estimate placed the population at 3,001,072 people,
making it the third most populous county in California, just behind
its northwestern neighbor Orange County
. The county seat is
the City of San
Diego
. San Diego County is part of the
San Diego –
Tijuana metropolitan area, an area with over 5 million people
and the largest bi-national metropolitan area shared between the
United States and Mexico.
San Diego
County lies just north of the Mexican border, sharing a border with
Tijuana
. It lies south of Orange
County
and west of Imperial County
. It is home to miles of beaches, a mild
Mediterranean to
semi-arid climate, and 16 military
facilities hosting the
United States
Navy, the
United States
Coast Guard and the
United States Marine Corps.
History
The area which is now San Diego County has been inhabited for more
than 10,000 years by
Kumeyaay Indians, also
called the Diegueños.
European
settlement in what is now San Diego County began with the founding
of the Mission San Diego de Alcalá
by the Spanish
, in
1769. The county was part of Alta California
under the Viceroyalty of New Spain until the
Mexican revolution. From 1821 until 1848 the area was part of
Mexico
San Diego
County became part of the United States
as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in
1848, ending the U.S.-Mexican
War. This treaty designated the new border as
terminating at a point on the Pacific Ocean
coast which would result in the border passing one
Spanish league south of the southernmost portion of San Diego Bay
, thus ensuring that the United States
received the natural harbor.
San Diego County was one of the original counties of California,
and was created at the time of statehood in 1850.
It was named after
San Diego
Bay
, which had been rechristened in 1602 by Sebastián Vizcaíno in honor of
the Franciscan St. Didacus of Alcalá, known in
Spanish as San Diego de Alcalá de
Henares, and whose name was borne by Vizcaíno's
flagship.
As originally created in 1850 San Diego County was quite large and
included most of southeastern California south and east of Los
Angeles County. As such it included major parts of what are now
Inyo, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial counties.
The later part of the 19th century witnessed numerous realignments
of county boundaries.
The most recent changes were the creation of
Riverside
County
, in 1893, and Imperial
County
, in 1907.
Geography
According to the
U.S.
Census Bureau, the
county has a total area of 4,526
sq mi (11,721 km²). 4,200 sq mi
(10,878 km²) of it is land and 326 sq mi (843 km²)
of it (7.20%) is water.
San Diego County has varied topography. On its western side is
seventy miles of coastline.
Most of San Diego between the coast and the
Laguna
Mountains
consists of hills, mesas, and
canyons. Snow-capped mountains rise to the northeast,
with the Sonoran
Desert
to the far east. Cleveland
National Forest
is spread across the central portion of the county,
while Anza-Borrego
Desert State Park
occupies most of the northeast.
North San Diego County is
known locally as "North County"; the exact geographic definitions
of "North County" vary, but it includes the northern suburbs and
sometimes certain northern neighborhoods of the city of San Diego
.
The eastern suburbs are collectively known as "East County", though
most still lie in the western third of the county. The southern
suburbs and southern detached portion of the City of San Diego,
extending to the Mexican border, is collectively referred to as
"South Bay".
Cities and towns in San Diego County
Incorporated cities
Unincorporated communities
Urban communities of San Diego County
In San Diego County, many of the urban cities and communities are
located on the south side of
Interstate 8.
Adjacent counties and municipios
National protected areas
- Cabrillo National Monument

- Cleveland National Forest
(part)
- San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which includes
several individual wildlife refuge areas:
- San Diego Bay South Bay
- San Diego Bay Sweetwater Marsh
- Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge
- Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge
- San Diego National Wildlife Refuge
- Vernal Pools
State parks and protected areas
Mountains
There are 236 mountain summits and peaks in San Diego County
including:
Lakes
Rivers
Transportation infrastructure
Major highways
Airports
- 33°25'60.00"N 117°32'0.00"W
- 33°17'10.00"N 117°27'31.00"W
- Lindbergh Field, (SAN) a.k.a. San
Diego International Airport

- Montgomery Field
, (MYF)
- McClellan-Palomar Airport
, (CLD or CRQ) a.k.a. Palomar Airport,
Carlsbad Airport
- Gillespie Field
, (SEE) located in El Cajon
- Agua Caliente Airport
- Borrego Valley Airport
- Fallbrook Airport
- Jacumba Airport
- Lake Wohlford (private, tiny)
- Oceanside Municipal Airport

- Ocotillo Airport
- Pauma Valley (private)
- Ramona Airport
, (RNM)
- Brown Field, (SDM) (former East Field, NAAS Otay Mesa, and NAAS
Brown Field)
- Carlsbad Airport
Military facilities
Navy
Marines
Coast Guard
Sites of interest
- Mount
Laguna Observatory - owned and primarily operated by San
Diego State University
(SDSU
)
- Palomar Observatory
- owned and primarily operated by California Institute of
Technology
(Caltech
)
- The
Ramona Valley wine-producing region is
located northeast of San Diego

- The
San
Diego Wild Animal Park
, north of the San Diego Zoo
and east of Escondido
- SeaWorld
of San Diego is located on Mission Bay.
- Mission Bay
Recreation Area, including Fiesta Island, is a sheltered bay
popular for watersports and known for the annual Over the line tournament.
- Mission San Diego de Alcala
, the first of California's 21 Spanish missions, is
located in the city. It is an operating Roman Catholic
parish and also is open for historical interest tours during the
week. It is located near the interchange of Interstates 8 and
15.
- Balboa
Park
, with several museums and other cultural locations,
is located adjacent to Downtown San
Diego. This large park extends from 6th Avenue to 28th
Street west to east, and through the entire area occupied on the
west and east sides by west-east streets alphabetically named after
trees. (Ash, Beech, Cedar, etc. to Redwood, Spruce, Thorn,
Upas).
- San Diego Zoo
, located in Balboa Park, has the most species of
any zoo in the world. One of the few zoos in the United
States to offer pandas, the San Diego Zoo also is one of the
world's leaders in animal conservation, constantly finding ways to
help save species and breed others in captivity, as well as release
animals back into the wild.
- Old
Town San Diego State Historic Park
is located at the western end of Mission Valley, north
of Downtown San Diego.
It
preserves and recreates the original settlement of San Diego during
its pueblo, Alta
California
, and early
American periods, through 1872.
- Presidio Park,
located on a bluff directly above Old Town, is a city historic park
on the site of the San Diego Presidio
, the first European settlement in
California.
- Cabrillo National Monument
is located at the southern tip of the Point
Loma
Peninsula. It has historical exhibits about
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and
World War II as well as the Old
Point Loma Lighthouse
which is open to the public. It offers
striking views of the harbor and ocean, natural areas for hiking
and bird watching, and tide pools.
- San Diego Bay
contains the USS Midway
, an aircraft carrier restored as a floating museum,
and the eight floating museum ships of the San
Diego Maritime Museum
. Harbor cruises, sailing, and sport
fishing are also available.
- Legoland California
is a Lego theme park in
Carlsbad. It is the only Legoland outside of Europe.
- Alta Vista Gardens is a
Botanical Garden in Vista dedicated to bringing together 'People, Nature
& Art'
Politics
Presidential election results
Year |
GOP |
DEM |
Others |
2008 |
44.10% 539,939 |
54.29%
664,685 |
1.67% 19,270 |
2004 |
52.52%
596,033 |
46.39% 526,437 |
1.09% 12,378 |
2000 |
49.63%
475,736 |
45.66% 437,666 |
4.71% 45,232 |
1996 |
45.57%
402,876 |
44.11% 389,964 |
10.33% 91,311 |
1992 |
35.7% 352,125 |
37.2%
367,397 |
27.08% 267,124 |
1988 |
60.2%
523,143 |
38.3% 333,264 |
1.47% 12,788 |
1984 |
65.3%
502,344 |
33.4% 257,029 |
1.29% 9,894 |
1980 |
60.8%
435,910 |
27.3% 195,410 |
11.93% 85,546 |
1976 |
55.7%
353,302 |
41.6% 263,654 |
2.66% 16,839 |
1972 |
61.8%
371,627 |
34.3% 206,455 |
3.84% 23,055 |
1968 |
56.3%
261,540 |
36.1% 167,669 |
7.67% 35,654 |
1964 |
50.3%
214,445 |
49.7% 211,808 |
0.01% 33 |
1960 |
56.4%
233,045 |
43.3% 171,259 |
0.28% 1,106 |
|
San Diego County has historically been a
Republican stronghold: 2008
was the first time in decades that a Democratic presidential
nominee won a majority of the county's votes (though in 1992 Bill
Clinton won a plurality).
The city of San Diego
itself is more Democratic than the
county's average (though fairly moderate for a large city) and has
voted for Democrats Clinton, Gore, Kerry, and Obama in the last
five presidential elections respectively. The city of San
Diego, as well as La Jolla
, Coronado
and Imperial Beach
are part of the 53rd congressional district
which has a Cook Partisan
Voting Index (CPVI) of D +12. San Diego's northern and
eastern suburbs tend to be very conservative. Northern suburbs
including Carlsbad were part of the
50th district with
a CPVI of R +5. In the 2004 presidential election, San Diego,
Encinitas, National City, Del Mar, and some other areas voted for
John Kerry; San Marcos, Escondido,
Carlsbad, Oceanside, Coronado, Santee, Poway, El Cajon, and Vista
overwhelmingly backed
George W.
Bush. Chula Vista, La Mesa, Lemon
Grove, Solana Beach, and Imperial Beach are considered swing areas
of the county – Chula Vista and Imperial Beach narrowly backed
Al Gore in 2000 but narrowly voted for Bush
in 2004, while Solana Beach switched from Bush in 2000 to Kerry in
2004. La Mesa narrowly voted for Bush both times, and Lemon Grove
narrowly went Democratic both times. In 2008,
Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win a
majority of votes in San Diego County since
World War II. Obama captured Chula Vista,
Oceanside, and Carlsbad.
One unique feature of the political scene is the use of
Golden
Hall, a convention facility next to City Hall, as a central
elections center. The County Registrar of Voters rents the hall to
distribute election results. Supporters and political observers are
invited to watch the results come in, candidates give their victory
and concession speeches and host parties for campaign volunteers
and donors at the site, and television stations broadcast from the
floor of the convention center. Golden Hall was scheduled to be
closed in 2004, but was reused again for the November 2005 special
election. The atmosphere on the evening of election day is often
comparable to the voting portion of a political party national
convention.
In the
House of
Representatives, all of California's
50th,
52nd, and
53rd districts and
parts of the
49th and
51st districts are
in the county. By district, the seats are held by Republican
Darrell Issa, Republican
Brian Bilbray, Democrat
Bob Filner, Republican
Duncan Hunter, and Democrat
Susan Davis.
On Nov.
4, 2008 San Diego County voted 53.8 % for
Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban
same-sex marriages, thus restoring Proposition 22 which was
overturned by a ruling from the California Supreme Court
. However the city of San Diego, along
with Del Mar, Encinitas, and Solana Beach, voted against
Proposition 8.
In the
State Assembly,
parts of the 66th and 73rd districts, and all of the 74th–79th
districts are in the county. Districts 76 and 79 are held by
Democrats,
Lori Saldaña and
Mary Salas respectively; the others are
held by Republicans; by district they are
Kevin Jeffries,
Mimi
Walters,
Martin Garrick,
George A. Plescia,
Joel
Anderson, and
Shirley
Horton.
In the
State Senate, all of
the
39th district
and parts of the 36th, 38th, and 40th districts are in the county
and are held by Republicans
Dennis
Hollingsworth and
Mark Wyland, and
Democrats
Christine Kehoe and
Denise Moreno Ducheny.
District |
Location |
Cook PVI |
% for Bush, 2004 |
Median household income |
Per capita income |
49th
district |
Northern San Diego and South-western Riverside County |
R +10 |
63% |
$46,445 |
$19,659 |
50th
district |
Northern San Diego County, including costal
communities such as Carlsbad , California but excluding La
Jolla |
R +5 |
55% |
$59,813 |
$29,877 |
51st
district |
Southern San Diego County, including Chula Vista and National
City. Also includes all of Imperial
County |
D +7 |
46% |
$39,243 |
$14,923 |
52nd
district |
Eastern San Diego County, including La Mesa, El Cajon and
Lakeside. |
R +9 |
61% |
$52,940 |
$24,544 |
53rd
district |
City of San Diego including La Jolla, Coronado and Imperial Beach |
D +12 |
39% |
$36,637 |
$21,715 |
Mean |
Districts: 49th, 50th, 51st,
52nd, 53rd |
R +5 |
52.8% |
$47,016 |
$22,144 |
Demographics
As of 2006, there were 2,941,454 people, 1,067,846 households, and
663,449 families residing in the county. The
population density was 670 people per
square mile (259/km²). There were 1,118,410 housing units at an
average density of 248 per square mile (96/km²). The racial
makeup of the county was 69.5%
White American, 5.2%
Black or
African American, 0.7%
Native American, 10.2%
Asian, 0.4%
Pacific Islander, 10.3% from
other races, and 3.6%
from two or more races. 29.9% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race. 67.0% spoke
English, 21.9%
Spanish, 3.1%
Tagalog and 1.2%
Vietnamese as their first
language.
In 2000 there were 994,677 households out of which 33.9% had
children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were
married couples living together, 11.6% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families.
24.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.29.
In the county the population was spread out with 25.7% under the
age of 18, 11.30% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45
to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 101.2 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.7 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $47,067, and
the median income for a family was $53,438. Males had a median
income of $36,952 versus $30,356 for females. The
per capita income for the county was
$22,926. About 8.9% of families and 12.4% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 16.5%
of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.
Current estimates
According to estimates by the
San Diego Association of
Governments, the
median
household income of San Diego County in 2005 was $64,273 (not
adjusted for
inflation). When adjusted for
inflation (1999 dollars; comparable to
Census
data above), the median household income was $52,192.
Crime statistics
Crime statistics for 2005 (Reported by the
sheriff's office or
police)
See also
References
- U.S. Census Quickfacts
- climate map
- kumeyaay website
- Ibid. 207
- Ibid. 113
- San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex
website
- MountainZone.com
- Amid the celebrations, farewell | The San Diego
Union-Tribune
- San Diego County Proposition 8 Results by
Community
External links