San Francisco

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.
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. 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. 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. The city has among the highest average incomes and highest housing costs in the United States.
Geography
San Francisco is at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula. The Pacific Ocean is to its west, and the San Francisco Bay is to its east. The Golden Gate, a strait that connects the ocean and the bay, is to its north. The cities of Daly City and Brisbane, in San Mateo County, are to its south. It has a total land area of 46.9 square miles, or 121 square kilometers.
Several islands are part of the city: Alcatraz, Treasure Island, and Yerba Buena Island in the bay, and the Farallon Islands in the ocean. The Farallon Islands are a protected nature reserve. Only scientists can visit them.
Climate
San Francisco has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb in the Koppen climate classification). The record high temperature is 41.1 degC (106 degF) on September 1, 2017. The record low temperature is -4.4 degC (24 degF) on December 9, 1972.
Government and politics
San Francisco is officially called the City and County of San Francisco. It is the only city in California that is also a county. It is a charter city, which means it can choose its own system of government.
San Francisco has a mayor and a board of supervisors. The city is divided into 11 districts. Each district elects one supervisor to the board. Half of them are elected every two years. They serve as supervisor for four years after the election. The mayor is elected every four years. Elections for mayor and supervisors use instant-runoff voting.
Since 1960, San Francisco has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election. Since 2004, the Democratic candidate has won more than 80% of the votes in each election. Every mayor since 1964 has been a Democrat.
Transport
Public transport
The city of San Francisco has a public transport system called San Francisco Municipal Railway, or Muni for short. It operates light rail trains, called Muni Metro; buses; streetcars; and cable cars. The cable cars are the oldest and the most famous.
Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART, operates one rapid transit train line through San Francisco. It carries people south to San Mateo County and to San Francisco International Airport and east, then south under the bay, towards Oakland and San Jose.
Caltrain operates one train line. It goes from San Francisco south to San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.
Ferries travel across the bay from San Francisco to Marin County, Vallejo, Richmond, Oakland, Alameda, and South San Francisco.
Roads and bridges
The Bay Bridge connects San Francisco to Oakland. It is made of two separate bridges. Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island are between them. The bridge carries Interstate 80.
The Golden Gate Bridge connects San Francisco to Marin County in the north. It carries U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1.
U.S. Route 101 enters San Francisco from the south. The southern part is a freeway. Interstate 80 then branches off to the east and goes to the Bay Bridge. The next part of U.S. Route 101 is on city streets: Van Ness Avenue, then Lombard Street, then Richardson Avenue. It becomes a freeway again and travels to the Golden Gate Bridge.
Interstate 280 enters San Francisco from the southwest. It travels northwest, then ends before the Bay Bridge.
State Route 1 branches off from Interstate 280 in southwest San Francisco. It travels north as 19th Avenue. It crosses Golden Gate Park, and then becomes Park Presidio Boulevard. It merges with U.S. Route 101 before the Golden Gate Bridge.
Airports
The main airport for San Francisco is San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The city owns this airport, but the airport is south of the city in San Mateo County. Oakland International Airport (OAK) is also near the city. San Jose International Airport (SJC) is somewhat farther away.