Portal:California/Selected article/63
Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's 58 counties. One of the 11 megaregions of the United States, Northern California in its largest definition is determined by dividing the state into two parts, the other being Southern California. The region's main population centers include the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, Metropolitan Fresno, and the Monterey Bay Area.
Northern California is coterminous with the natural range of the coast redwood and the giant sequoia, with many well-known old-growth forests and smaller groves. It contains most of the Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite Valley and part of Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta (the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range after Mount Rainier in Washington), and most of the Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions. Northern California is also home to Silicon Valley, the global headquarters for several of the largest and most powerful companies in the world, including Alphabet Inc. (Google), Apple, Meta, and Nvidia. (Full article...)