|
The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth largest city in the state of California in the United States. The city was ruined completely by the 1906 earthquake, but was quickly rebuilt. San Francisco lies close to the San Andreas Fault and Hayward Fault, which are two big sources of earthquake activity in California. Due to the threat of earthquakes, the buildings in the city of San Francisco are constructed so as to be especially resistant to earthquakes.
State: California
Country: United States of America
Location: San Francisco is located at the end of the San Francisco Peninsula on San Francisco Bay.
Geographic Coordinates: Latitude 37.48 N, Longitude 122.33 W
Area: It has a total area of 600.7 square km.
Per Capita Income: The per capita income of the city is $34,556, which is the 19th highest in the country.
Population: San Francisco had an estimated population of 744,230 in the year 2004.
Age Structure: The age structure of the city of San Francisco is as follows. A 14.5 percent of the people are under the age of 18 years. A 9.1 percent of the people are between the ages of 18 to 24, while 40.5 percent are between the ages of 25 to 44 years. The 45 to 64 years age group accounts for 22.3 percent of the population, while the 65 years or above age group accounts for 13.7 percent of the population.
Racial Makeup: African-Americans make up 7.44 percent of the population, while Asians make up a huge 30.72 percent of the population. Native Americans account for 0.26 percent of the population, while Hispanics account for 14.11 percent of the people. Whites constitute 43.63 percent of the population.
Economy: The core area of San Francisco’s economy is tourism and the supporting services. San Francisco, for most of its economic history, was the financial center of the West Coast. Finance continues to be one of its most important industries. Two of the
|
country’s largest commercial banks have their headquarters here. Besides this, many international banks also have their regional headquarters here. The Federal Reserve Bank and the Pacific Stock Exchange are based here. Major production facilities for the US Mint are located here. A lot of insurance companies are based here. Other significant industries are printing, publishing, food processing, and oil refining. Besides this, San Francisco and the Bay Area form one of the largest ports on the West Coast.
Climate:San Francisco is surrounded on three sides by water. Thus, its climate is strongly influenced by the Pacific Ocean. Weather remains moderate most of the year, and can be classified as the Mediterranean type. The summers are cool and pleasant, while winters are comparatively warm. The average temperatures in summers touch the upper 60o F to 70o F mark, while temperatures in the winters never reach sub-zero. It is very rare for San Francisco to have rains in summers. In contrast to the summers, the winters have a lot of rains. San Francisco experiences very rare snowfalls. A peculiar characteristic of San Francisco weather is that it’s foggy all year round there. Earthquakes have been a problem for San Francisco since it lies on the San Andreas Fault. The city experienced a massive earthquake in the year 1906, which almost destroyed the city. Since then, the city has been plagued by earthquakes, the most recent of which was in the year 1989. Any time of the year is the correct time to visit San Francisco.
Government Type: The City and County of San Francisco is a metropolitan municipality, and is simultaneously a charter city and charter county with a consolidated government. The Mayor is also the county executive. The board of supervisors of the city also functions as the city council. The government of San Francisco consists of two branches – the first is the executive branch. This is headed by the Mayor. The second is the legislative branch. This consists of the Board of Supervisors. The judicial branch consists of the Superior Court. The Mayor is elected every four years. The Board of Supervisors consists of 11 members. Each member is elected on a non partisan basis from the district where he or she lives.
Major Political Parties: Democratic Party, Republican Party, Green Party, Libertarian Party, California Communist Party USA, Peace & Freedom Party.
|
