Population : 1,359,132 (2010)

Median Income: $ 59,901 (2009)

Elevation : 40 ft (75 m)

Land: 324.3 Square Miles

Water: 47.7 Square Miles

Area Code: 619, 760, 858

Zip Code: 92101, 92102, 92103, 92104, 92105, 92106, 92107, 92108, 92109, 92110, 92111, 92112, 92113, 92114, 92115, 92116, 92117, 92119, 92120, 92121, 92122, 92123, 92124, 92126, 92127, 92128, 92129, 92130, 92131, 92132, 92133, 92134, 92135, 92136, 92137, 92138, 92139, 92140, 92142, 92145, 92147, 92149, 92150, 92152, 92153, 92154, 92155, 92158, 92159, 92160, 92161, 92162, 92163, 92164, 92165, 92166, 92167, 92168, 92169, 92170, 92171, 92172, 92174, 92175, 92176, 92177, 92179, 92182, 92184, 92186, 92187, 92190, 92191, 92192, 92193, 92194, 92195, 92196, 92197, 92198, 92199.

Average temperature:

Highest: 73-67 *F

Lowest: 57-48 *F

Airport Distances:

John Wayne Airport: 86.4 Mi.

LAX Airport : 124 Mi.

Ontario Airport : 111 Mi.

San Diego (pronounced /ˌsæn diːˈeɪɡoʊ/), named after Saint Didacus (Spanish: Diego de Alcalá), is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California, after Los Angeles, with a population of 1,359,132 (Jan 2010) within its administrative limits on a land area of 372.1 square miles (963.7 km2). The urban area of San Diego extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 2,880,000. Also, this is part of a megalopolis (the San Diego and Los Angeles metropolitan areas) with a population of about 22 million. It is located on the Pacific Ocean at the southernmost end of the west coast of the continental United States.

The city is also the county seat of San Diego County as well as the economic center of the San Diego–Carlsbad–San Marcos Metropolitan Area considered congruent with the county. The city was rated the fifth-best place to live in the United States in 2006 by Money magazine. According to Forbes magazine, San Diego is the fifth-wealthiest city in the United States and the 9th safest city in the top 10 list of safest cities in the U.S. San Diego's top four industries are manufacturing, defense, tourism, and agriculture. San Diego's economy is largely composed of agriculture, biotechnology/biosciences, computer sciences, electronics manufacturing, defense-related manufacturing, financial and business services, ship repair, ship construction, software development, telecommunications, wireless research, and tourism. The presence of the University of California, San Diego, (UCSD) with the affiliated UCSD Medical Center promotes research in biotechnology. San Diego is also designated as an iHub Innovation Center by Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Office of Economic Development.

History Main article: History of San Diego Mission San Diego de Alcalá

The area of San Diego has been inhabited for more than 10,000 years by the Kumeyaay Indians.The first European to visit the region was Portuguese-born explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailing under the flag of Castile, who sailed his flagship San Salvador from Navidad, New Spain. In 1542, Cabrillo claimed the bay for the Spanish Empire and named the site San Miguel. In November of 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno was sent to map the California coast. Arriving on his flagship San Diego, Vizcaíno surveyed the harbor and what are now Mission Bay and Point Loma and named the area for the Catholic Saint Didacus, a Spaniard more commonly known as San Diego de Alcalá. On November 12, 1602, the first Christian religious service of record in Alta California was conducted by Friar Antonio de la Ascensión, a member of Vizcaíno's expedition, to celebrate the feast day of San Diego.

In 1769, Gaspar de Portolà established the Fort Presidio of San Diego overlooking Old Town. Around the same time, Mission San Diego de Alcalá was founded by Franciscan friars under Father Junípero Serra. By 1797, the mission boasted the largest native population in Alta California, with over 1,400 neophytes living in and around the mission proper. It is the southern end in California of the historic mission trail El Camino Real. Mission San Diego de Alcalá's fortunes declined in the 1830s after Mexico won its independence from Spain and the decree of secularization was enacted, as was the case with all of the missions under the control of Mexico. However, it remains an active Catholic church and is a National Historic Landmark.

In 1847 San Diego was a destination of the 2,000-mile (3,200 km) march of the Mormon Battalion, members of whom established a brickyard and built the city's first courthouse at the corner of San Diego Avenue and Mason Street in Old Town.

The Battle of San Pasqual, a battle of the Mexican-American War, was fought in the San Pasqual Valley which is now part of the city of San Diego. With the end of that war and the great influx of Americans during the gold rush of 1848, California was admitted to the United States in 1850. San Diego was designated the seat of the newly-established San Diego County and was incorporated as a city in 1850. The first city charter was adopted in 1889. The current city charter was adopted in 1931.

The original town of San Diego grew up at the foot of Presidio Hill, in the area which is now Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. The location was not ideal, being several miles away from navigable water. In the late 1860s Alonzo Horton promoted a move to "New Town", several miles south of the original settlement, in the area which became Downtown San Diego. People and businesses flocked to New Town because of its location on San Diego Bay convenient to shipping. New Town quickly eclipsed the original settlement, known to this day as Old Town, and became the economic and governmental heart of the city.

In the years before World War I, the Industrial Workers of the World labor union conducted a free speech fight in San Diego, arousing a brutal response.

San Diego hosted two World's Fairs, the Panama-California Exposition in 1915 and the California Pacific International Exposition in 1935. Many of the Spanish/Baroque-style buildings in the city's Balboa Park were built for these expositions, particularly the one in 1915. Intended to be temporary structures, most remained in continuous use until they progressively fell into disrepair. Most were eventually rebuilt using castings of the original facades to faithfully retain the architectural style.

Significant U.S. Naval presence began in 1901 with the establishment of the Navy Coaling Station in Point Loma, and expanded greatly during the 1920s. After World War II, the military played an increasing role in the local economy, but post-Cold War cutbacks took a heavy toll on the local defense and aerospace industries. The resulting downturn led San Diego leaders to seek to diversify the city's economy, and San Diego has since become a major center of the emerging biotechnology industry. It is also home to telecommunications giant Qualcomm.

In October 2003, San Diego was the site of the Cedar Fire, which has been called the largest wildfire in California over the past century. The fire burned 280,000 acres (1,100 km2), killed 15 people, and destroyed more than 2,200 homes. In addition to damage caused by the fire, smoke resulted in a significant increase in emergency room visits due to asthma, respiratory problems, eye irritation, and smoke inhalation; the poor air quality caused San Diego County schools to close for a week. Four years later many additional wildfires, including the Witch Creek and Harris fires, damaged parts of the city of San Diego, completely destroying some areas and communities (particularly within Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Santa Fe), as well as many other parts of the county (especially Ramona) during the severe Southern California fire season of 2007.