Search results
Kids. Students. Scholars. San Francisco, California. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Introduction. Located midway up the California coast, San Francisco is a major cultural and financial center of the western United States. It is known for the beauty of its natural setting and its ethnically diverse population. Cityscape.
- Related Articles
By continuing to use this site, you consent to the terms of...
- Scholars
We would like to show you a description here but the site...
- Angel Island
Angel Island is the largest natural island in California ’s...
- Chinatown
Lanterns hang in the Chinatown neighborhood of San...
- Related Articles
- History
- Geography
- Demographics
- Culture and Contemporary Life
- Beaches and Parks
- Infrastructure
- Consulates and Sister Cities
- Economy
- Sports
- Education
The earliest archaeological evidence of human habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC. The Yelamu group of the Ohlone people resided in a few small villages when an overland Spanish exploration party, led by Don Gaspar de Portolà, arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay...
San Francisco is located on the West Coast of the United States at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within its boundaries. Several picturesque islands—Alcatraz, Treasure Island and the adjacent Yerba Buena Island, and small portions of Alameda Island, Red Rock...
The 2020 United States census showed San Francisco's population to be 873,965, an increase of 8.5% from the 2010 census. With roughly one-quarter the population density of Manhattan, San Francisco is the second-most densely populated large American city, behind only New York City among cities greater than 200,000 population, and the fifth-most dens...
Although the Financial District, Union Square, and Fisherman's Wharf are well-known around the world, San Francisco is also characterized by its numerous culturally rich streetscapes featuring mixed-use neighborhoods anchored around central commercial corridors to which residents and visitors alike can walk. Because of these characteristics, San Fr...
Several of San Francisco's parks and nearly all of its beaches form part of the regional Golden Gate National Recreation Area, one of the most visited units of the National Park system in the United States with over 13 million visitors a year. Among the GGNRA's attractions within the city are Ocean Beach, which runs along the Pacific Ocean shorelin...
Public safety
The San Francisco Police Department was founded in 1849. The portions of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area located within the city, including the Presidio and Ocean Beach, are patrolled by the United States Park Police. The San Francisco Fire Department provides both fire suppression and emergency medical services to the city.
San Francisco participates in the Sister Cities program. A total of 41 consulates general and 23 honorary consulates have offices in the San Francisco Bay Area.
According to academic Rob Wilson, San Francisco is a global city, a status that pre-dated the city's popularity during the California Gold Rush. Such cities are characterized by their ethnic clustering, network of international connectivity, and convergence of technological innovation. Global cities, such as San Francisco, are considered to be comp...
Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants have played in San Francisco since moving from New York in 1958. The Giants play at Oracle Park, which opened in 2000. The Giants won World Series titles in 2010, 2012, and in 2014. The Giants have boasted such stars as Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Barry Bonds. In 2012, San Francisco was ranked No. 1 ...
Colleges and universities
The University of California, San Francisco is the sole campus of the University of California system entirely dedicated to graduate education in health and biomedical sciences. It is ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States and operates the UCSF Medical Center, which ranks as the number one hospital in California and the number 5 in the country. UCSF is a major local employer, second in size only to the city and county government. A 43-acre (17 ha) Mission Bay campus wa...
Primary and secondary schools
Public schools are run by the San Francisco Unified School District as well as the California State Board of Education for some charter schools. Lowell High School, the oldest public high school in the U.S. west of the Mississippi, and the smaller School of the Arts High School are two of San Francisco's magnet schools at the secondary level. Public school students attend schools based on an assignment system rather than neighborhood proximity. Just under 30% of the city's school-age populati...
Early education
San Francisco has nearly 300 preschool programs primarily operated by Head Start, San Francisco Unified School District, private for-profit, private non-profit and family child careproviders. All 4-year-old children living in San Francisco are offered universal access to preschool through the Preschool for All program.
People also ask
Is San Francisco a city?
What is San Francisco known for?
What makes San Francisco a great city?
Does San Francisco have children?
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.
Apr 27, 2024 · The history of the city of San Francisco, California, and its development as a center of maritime trade, were shaped by its location at the entrance to a large natural harbor. San Francisco is the name of both the city and the county; the two share the same boundaries.
With a population of 808,437 residents as of 2022, [25] San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of California. The city covers a land area of 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers) [26] at the end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second-most densely populated large U.S. city after New York City and the ...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. San Francisco is located midway up the California coast on the tip of a broad peninsula that stretches for 30 miles (48 kilometers) southward from the Golden Gate. The peninsula sits between San Francisco Bay to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
It was during the 1860s to the 1880s when San Francisco began to transform into a major city, starting with massive expansion in all directions, creating new neighborhoods such as the Western Addition, the Haight-Ashbury, Eureka Valley, the Mission District, culminating in the construction of Golden Gate Park in 1887.
