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Santa Ana

Santa Ana, the seat of California's Orange County, is the center of an area known as "the Golden Corridor." It is the most populated city in Orange County and lies approximately 10 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. It is the 8th most compactly populated place in the United States with a population of 100,000 or more with 12,471.5 people per sq. mile.

Santa Ana has a population of roughly 350,000, of which over 75% is composed of inhabitants from an Hispanic or Latino decent. For this it is well known, having, as it has, the highest percentage of Latino citizens out of all the 50 States of America.

Santa Ana is situated in a beautiful valley, which was discovered in July of 1769 by an expedition led by Don Gaspar Portola. The name to which they gave the valley, which they also gave to the river which flows through it, was chosen in honor of Saint Anne. Santa Ana was incorporated as a city in 1886 with a population of 2000 and in 1889 became the seat of the newly formed Orange County.

The big increase, or rather, one of the big increases in population occurred during the Californian Gold Rush of 1848, during which there was a huge influx of gold seekers from all over the world. Santa Ana is rich in Mexican-American culture, which is one of the reasons that many people from Latino roots now reside here.

As previously mentioned, a river flows through Santa Ana, of the same name, ‘The Santa Ana river.’ The river beginning in San Bernardino County, is one of the largest river systems in Southern California. The city of Santa Ana lies approximately 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean, on the Coast of California.

Some of the sites of which to aware in Santa Ana are; Bowers Museum, the Discovery Science Center, the Historic French Park, The Santa Ana zoo and ‘El Centro Cultural de Mexico’.

Santa Ana has boasted quite a few notable residents, including; Beverly Bivens, Diana Keaton, Marlon Brando and Michelle Pfeiffer.

More information:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana%2C_California
• city-data.com/us-cities/The-West/ Santa-Ana-Geography-and-Climate.html

Resources:

• Santa Ana City Council
• Santa Ana Airport (named after John Wayne!)
• The Orange County Register
• The Bowers Museum