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Northern California, sometimes abbreviated NorCal, refers to the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Definitions of what areas constitute "Northern California" vary considerably. The term may refer to all of California north of the ten counties of Southern California, though some use the term to describe anything from San Luis Obispo County or the Transverse Ranges northward. Additionally, a distinction is sometimes made between Northern California (being north of Santa Cruz County) and Central California (stretching from Santa Cruz County to San Luis Obispo County), though many residents of rural far Northern California define their region as encompassing only those areas to the north of the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan area. This definition becomes problematic for inland regions; the Central Valley is a distinct region in itself both culturally and topographically from coastal California, though in Northern vs Central California divisions, the Sacramento Valley is usually placed in Northern California and the San Joaquin Valley is placed in Central California. Division of the Sierra Nevada and Eastern California regions into Northern, Central, and Southern California is even more problematic. The region is highly diverse, but can be generally characterized by its beautiful coastline, redwood forests, Mediterranean to warm Temperate climate, and low population density (apart from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento area, if those are being included). It is also a land of wine country, high mountains (the Sierra Nevada, the southern Cascade Range, and the Klamath Mountains), lakes, and windswept sagebrush steppe, in the northeast portion of the state. Northern California's largest metropolitan area is the San Francisco Bay Area which includes the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and their many suburbs, and the Silicon Valley high-tech region. The California state capital, Sacramento, is also in Northern California. Other important cities in the region include Redding at the northern end of the Central Valley, Chico, in the mid-north of the Valley, and Eureka on the northern coast.
Regions Higher education Northern California is also home to a number of seminaries including Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary (see also Fuller Northern California), and Western Seminary, each with campuses in the San Francisco Bay Area and/or Sacramento. See also | ||||||||
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