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Presentation of San Diego

San Diego is the second-largest city in California and the eighth largest city in the United States, located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States. The city's population at 1,353,993 as of January 1, 2009. This coastal 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. As of 2008, this metropolitan area is the 17th-largest in the United States with a population of 3,001,072 and the 38th-largest metropolitan area in the Americas when including Tijuana, Mexico. According to Forbes the city of San Diego ranks as the fifth wealthiest in the United States. Tourism remains San Diego's third-biggest industry, behind manufacturing and the military.

History of San Diego

After the Battle of San Pasqual, the end of the Mexican-American War, and the gold rush of 1848, San Diego was designated the seat of the newly-established San Diego County and was incorporated as a city in 1850. The city charter was drafted in 1889. 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.

Significant U.S. Naval presence began in 1907 with the establishment of the Navy Coaling Station, which gave further impetus to the development of the town. 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.

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.

In 2003, San Diego was the site of the Cedar Fire, which has been called the largest wildfire in California over the past century. In addition to damage caused by the fire, smoke from the fire resulted in a significant increase in emergency room visits due to asthma, respiratory problems, eye irritation, and smoke inhalation. This caused San Diego County schools to close for a week(s) due to the smoke of the wildfire.

See the full history of San Diego on Wikipedia.

Sister cities of San Diego

Perth (Australia)
Warsaw (Poland)
Alcalá de Henares (Spain)
Edinburgh (United Kingdom)
Ankara (Turkey)
Jalalabad, Afghanistan
Campinas, Brazil
Yantai, China
Tema, Ghana
Yokohama, Japan
León, Mexico
Tijuana, Mexico
Cavite City, Philippines
Jeonju, South Korea
Taichung City, Taiwan