29 September 2022 | Author/Destination: North America / Nordamerika | Rubric: General
Reading Time: 14 minutesThe historic Tower Theater for the Performing Arts, built in 1939 © RichardHarrison/cc-by-sa-4.0
Fresno is a major city in the
San Joaquin Valley of
California. It is the
county seat of
Fresno County and the largest city in the greater
Central Valley region. It covers about 115 square miles (300 km²) and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, making it the
fifth-most populous city in California, the most populous inland city in California, and the
34th-most populous city in the nation. Named for the abundant ash trees lining the
San Joaquin River, Fresno was founded in 1872 as a railway station of the
Central Pacific Railroad before it was
incorporated in 1885. It has since become an economic hub of Fresno County and the San Joaquin Valley, with much of the surrounding areas in the
Metropolitan Fresno region predominantly tied to large-scale agricultural production. Fresno is near the geographic center of California, approximately 220 miles (350 km) north of
Los Angeles, 170 miles (270 km) south of the state capital,
Sacramento, and 185 miles (300 km) southeast of
San Francisco.
Yosemite National Park is about 60 miles (100 km) to the north,
Kings Canyon National Park 60 miles (100 km) to the east, and
Sequoia National Park 75 miles (120 km) to the southeast. Fresno is also
the third-largest majority-Hispanic city in the United States; 50.5% of its population was Hispanic in 2020. Since 2010, statewide
droughts in California have further strained both Fresno’s and the entire Central Valley’s
water security.
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