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"SoCal" redirects here. For other uses, see SoCal (disambiguation). This article is about the southern U. S. State of California. For the Lower California peninsula of The Californias, see Baja California peninsula.     Southern California, or SoCal, is defined as the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population encompasses three major metropolitan areas, each of which have over 3 million people; the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area with over 12 million inhabitants, the San Bernardino-Riverside Metropolitan Area with over 4 million inhabitants, and the San Diego Metropolitan Area with over 3 million inhabitants. The region is home to approximately 24 million people, which is more than half of California's population, and is the nation's second most populous region behind the urban seaboard of the Northeastern United States. Though there is no official definition for the northern boundary of Southern California, most definitions in use include all the land south of the Tehachapi Mountains, located about 70 miles (113 km) north of Los Angeles.[1] On the west of Southern California lies the Pacific Ocean; to the south is the international border between the United States and Mexico; to the east are the Mojave and Colorado Deserts and the Colorado River at the state's border with Arizona and Nevada.
[edit] SignificanceWithin its boundaries is a major world city, Los Angeles, and three of the country's largest metropolitan areas.[2]  With a population of 1,336,865, San Diego is the second most populous city in California, and the eighth most populous in the U.S. Its counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Riverside are in the top 15 most populous counties in the United States and all five are the top 5 most populous counties in California.[3] The region is also home to Los Angeles International Airport, the third-busiest airport in the United States by passenger volume (see World's busiest airports by passenger traffic) and the second by international passenger volume, San Diego International Airport the busiest single runway airport in the world, Van Nuys Airport (see Busiest airports in the United States by international passenger traffic), the world's busiest general aviation airport, major commercial airports at Orange County, Ontario, Burbank and Long Beach and numerous smaller commercial and general aviation airports. Southern California is also home to the Port of Los Angeles, the United States' busiest commercial port, the adjacent Port of Long Beach, and the Port of San Diego. Also of note in the region is the freeway system, which is the world's busiest. Six of the seven lines of the commuter rail system, Metrolink, run out of Downtown Los Angeles, connecting Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego counties with the other line connecting San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties directly.  The Tech Coast is a moniker that has gained use as a descriptor for the region's diversified technology and industrial base as well as its multitude of prestigious and world-renowned research universities and other public and private institutions. Amongst these include five University of California campuses (Los Angeles (UCLA), Irvine, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and San Diego (UCSD) campuses), 10 California State University campuses (Channel Islands, Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona), Northridge (CSUN), San Bernardino, San Diego (SDSU), and San Marcos campuses), as well as private institutions such as Caltech, the University of Southern California, Pepperdine University, Loyola Marymount University, the Claremont Colleges and the University of San Diego (USD).  Southern California is also the entertainment (motion picture, television, and recorded music) capital of the world and is home to Hollywood, the center of the motion picture industry. Headquartered in Southern California are The Walt Disney Company (which also owns ABC), Sony Pictures, Universal, MGM, Paramount Pictures (parent company of Dreamworks), 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers, and as well as Univision, Activision, and THQ. Southern California is also home to the world's largest adult entertainment industry, located primarily in the San Fernando Valley. Besides the entertainment industry, Southern California is also home to a large home grown surf and skateboard culture. Companies such as Volcom, Quiksilver, O'Neill clothing division, No Fear,[Lost Enterprises, Sector 9[4], RVCA, Body Glove and Surfline[5] are all headquartered here. Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, professional surfers Rob Machado, Tim Curran, Bobby Martinez, Pat O'Connell, Dane Reynolds, and Chris Ward, and professional snowboarder Shaun White live in Southern California. Some of the world's legendary surf spots are here as well, including Trestles, Rincon, The Wedge, Huntington Beach, and Malibu, and it is second only to the island of Oahu in terms of famous surf breaks. Some of the world's biggest extreme sports events including the X Games[6], Boost Mobile Pro[7], and the U.S. Open of Surfing are all in Southern California. Southern California is also important to the world of yachting. The annual Transpacific Yacht Race, or "Transpac", from Los Angeles to Hawaii, is one of yachting's premier events. The San Diego Yacht Club held the America's Cup, the most prestigious prize in yachting, from 1988 to 1995 and hosted three America's Cup races during that time. Southern California is home to many sports franchises and sports networks such as Fox Sports Net. Professional teams that are located in the region include the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA, Los Angeles Riptide, and San Diego Chargers. Southern California also is home to a number of popular NCAA sports programs, such as the UCLA Bruins, the USC Trojans, and the SDSU Aztecs. [edit] Northern boundary The region's northern boundary is subject to a broader degree of interpretation than those of the West, East, and South. The most commonly used physical boundary between "Southern California" and the rest of the state is the Tehachapi Range[citation needed], located about 70 miles (113 km) north of Los Angeles, and the Transverse Ranges[8] in Santa Barbara County west to Point Conception. Seven full counties (listed in descending order of population) are included: Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, and Imperial, as well as the southern part of Santa Barbara. A more inclusive definition coinciding neatly with county lines uses the sixth standard parallel south[9] of Mount Diablo (144 miles south of Mt. Diablo at 35°47′28″N) which forms the northern borders of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernardino counties as the boundary. San Luis Obispo, Kern County, California and the remainder of Santa Barbara, are included under this definition as well, for a total of ten counties.
Kern County is also part of the San Joaquin Valley, and San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties are also considered part of California's Central Coast. [edit] Urban landscapeSouthern California consists of a heavily developed urban environment, along with vast arid areas that have been left undeveloped. It is the second-largest urbanized region in the United States, second only to the Washington, D.C./Philadelphia/New York/Boston Northeastern Megalopolis. Whereas these cities are dense, with major downtown populations and significant rail and transit systems, much of SoCal is famous for its large, spread-out, suburban communities and use of automobiles and highways. The dominant areas are Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Riverside, and San Bernardino, each of which is the center of its respective metropolitan area, composed of numerous smaller cities and communities. Traveling south on Interstate 5, the main gap to continued urbanization is Camp Pendleton. The communities along Interstate 15 and Interstate 215 are so inter-related that Temecula has as much connection with San Diego County as it does with the Inland Empire. To the east, the United States Census Bureau considers the San Bernardino and Riverside County areas, Riverside-San Bernardino Area as a separate metropolitan area from Los Angeles County. While many commute to L.A. and Orange Counties, there are some differences in development, as most of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties were developed in the 1980s and 1990s.  [edit] Regions[edit] Major cities (over 200,000 inhabitants) Population figures for California cities are 2008 State of California estimates[10]
[edit] Other cities with over 100,000 inhabitants 
[edit] Other county seats (under 100,000 inhabitants)
[edit] Counties
Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura are also counties in the Central Coast. [edit] Geographical regions Southern California is also divided into the Coastal Region (Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Diego County, Santa Barbara County, and Ventura County) and the larger, more sparsely populated, desert Inland Empire (San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and Imperial County). The division between the Coastal Regions and the Inland Empire winds along the backs of the coastal mountain ranges such as the Santa Ana Mountains. A related geographical term is cismontane Southern California, which refers to the portion of California on the coastal side of the Transverse and Peninsular mountain ranges. The term "Southern California" often refers to this region specifically, as opposed to largely desert areas comprising the rest of the southern portion of the state, which are referred to as transmontane Southern California. [edit] Geographic features   
[edit] EarthquakesEach year the southern California area has about 10,000 earthquakes. Most of them are so small that they are not felt. Only several hundred are greater than magnitude 3.0, and only about 15-20 are greater than magnitude 4.0.[11] [edit] The Great Southern California ShakeOutThe Great Southern California ShakeOut is based on a potential magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault— approximately 5,000 times larger than the magnitude 5.4 earthquake that shook southern California on July 29, 2008.[12] The question is not if but when southern California will be hit by a major earthquake, one so damaging that it will permanently change lives and livelihoods in the region. The magnitude 8.0 ShakeOut earthquake is modeled to cause about 2,800 deaths and $213 billion of economic losses[citation needed]. [edit] Transportation [edit] AirportsThe following airports currently have regularly scheduled commercial service:
[edit] Major Central business districts The following are major central business districts in Southern California: [edit] Transport[edit] Freeways
Main article: Southern California freeways
[edit] RailroadOne of California's main shipping depends on rail. Union Pacific, BNSF, and Santa Fe runs through Southern California. Union Pacific has many rails which enter California so as BNSF. Santa Fe does not have much of a rail system in California but Southern California has one of the best Rail photos in California but some places it would be hard to walk to. [edit] Major public transit organizations
[edit] Metrolink commuter linesMain article: Metrolink (Southern California)
[edit] Communication[edit] Telephone area codes
[edit] Universities
[edit] Colleges
[edit] Law Schools
[edit] Medical Schools
[edit] Graphic Design Schools
[edit] Beauty Schools
[edit] Dental Schools
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[edit] Sports teams[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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