San Diego County, a 4,000 square-mile area, is populated with many small cities connected by major state and interstate highways. Less populated areas of the county boast forests, mountains, canyons and the Anza-Borrego desert. Almost three million people live in San Diego County and of that number close to 1.3 million reside within the city itself. Major industries include manufacturing, government, tourism, agriculture and, of course, the Navy and Marine Corps . Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, located 40 miles north of downtown San Diego, occupies the northwest corner of San Diego County forming a buffer between the suburban development of North San Diego County and Southern Orange County.
Diversity is the name of the game.
San Diego is gaining worldwide recognition for its biomedical research firms, generally centered on the University of California at San Diego and the Salk Institute. County growers harvest a wide variety of crops throughout the year, but are particularly known for flowers, strawberries and avocados. Macadamia nut trees are gaining in importance as well. Tourism, however, has the highest profile. Tourism provides direct employment for some 149,300 of our residents.