Riverside County, California

Riverside County is a located in the southeastern part of the  of, stretching from  to the , which is the border with. This county is part of the, in an region of known as the.

The population of Riverside County was 1,545,387 in 2000, and the 2006 population has been estimated at 2,026,803. The is the city of.

Geographically, the county is. Most of is located in the county. Riverside County lies inland of, and south of large numbers of Los Angeles workers have moved to the county in recent years to take advantage of relatively affordable housing costs. Alongside neighboring, it is one of the fastest growing parts of the Inland Empire. This spawned a wave of construction in the area in the, starting with the addition of toll commuter lanes to the , the main traffic artery to the western metropolis. In addition, smaller (but significant) numbers of people have been moving into southern Riverside County from San Diego metropolitan area. The cities of and  account for 20% of increase in population of Riverside County between 2000 and 2007.

Such famous golf resorts as, , , and  are located in Riverside County. is the center of an important growing region.

History
Riverside County was created in from parts of  and  Counties.

The county derives its name from the City of, christened when the upper canal of the reached it in.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 18915 sqkm of which 18667 sqkm is land and 248 sqkm, or 1.31%, is water. At roughly 180 mi wide in the east-west dimension, the area of the county is massive. County government documents frequently cite the town of  as being a "three-hour drive" from the county seat,. Some view the areas west of San Gorgonio Pass as the Inland Empire portion of the county and the eastern part as either the or  portion. There are probably at least three geomorphic provinces: the Inland Empire western portion, the Santa Rosa Mountains communities, and the desert region. Other possible subdivisions include tribal lands, the Colorado River communities, and the Salton Sink.

Serving this area are 19 healthcare facilities identified as "General Acute Care ." Five of these are identified as rural, sixteen provide at least basic emergency care, and three are level 2. The State of California defines Riverside county as Health Service Area 12.

There are 14 major airports in Riverside County. County government projections expect the county's population to roughly double between 2004 and 2040. Most of the growth is expected in communities viewed as being within practical commute distances of work in and.

In California, each County Office of Education has influence over funding and operation of schools within its area. The county includes a total of about 380 public schools including Riverside's California School for the Deaf. These schools are operated by about 24 school districts and by Tribal governments in conjunction with the.

The area of southern California is made up of the western portion of Riverside County.

=== Incorporated Cities in Riverside County ===







See for individual Zip Code data.

Unincorporated communities and neighborhoods in Riverside County






Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - east
 * - south
 * - south
 * - west

Law
The Riverside Superior Court is responsible for upholding the for Riverside County. The unified system has a total of 13 : Riverside Historic Courthouse, Riverside Hall of Justice, Riverside Family Law Court, Riverside Juvenile Court, Southwest Justice Center - Murrieta, Moreno Valley Court, Banning Court, Hemet Court, Temecula Court, Larson Justice Center - Indio, Larson Justice Center - Annex, Indio Juvenile Court, and Blythe Court.

The main courthouse is the Riverside Historic Courthouse. This landmark, erected in 1904, was modeled after the and  in. The courthouse, designed by Los Angeles architects Burnham and Bliesner, has a classical design&mdash;including a great hall that connects all the departments. In 1994, the courthouse was shut down for seismic retrofits due to the 1992 and 1994. The courthouse was rededicated in September 1998.

Politics
Riverside is a -leaning county in and  elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was in.

In the, Riverside is mostly in , with parts in the , , and districts. All four districts are held by Republicans, the 41st by, the 44th by , the 45th by , and the 49th by.

In the all of the 64th district and parts of the 63rd, 65th, 66th, 71st, and 80th districts are in the county. They are all represented by Republicans: the 63rd by, the 64th by , the 65th by , the 66th by , the 71st by , and the 80th by.

In the all of the 37th district and parts of the 31st, 36th, and 40th districts are in the county. The 31st, 36th, and 37th districts are held by Republicans,, , and respectively, and the 40th is held by Democrat.

Government
A General Plan was prepared for the county by the firm of Earth Metrics in the year 1994; in 2003 the County Supervisors authorized updating of this plan with respect to certain unincorporated areas.

Public Transportation

 * serves the city of Riverside and the western third of Riverside County, as far east as Banning.
 * serves Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley area.
 * provides service in Blythe, near the Arizona border.

Riverside County is also served by buses. trains stop in Riverside and Palm Springs. trains provide commuter rail service from western Riverside County to Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

Airports

 * offers commercial flights. The nearest commercial airport to Western Riverside County is, and (completed in early 2008)both in San Bernardino County.

Most of the other airports in Riverside County are for general aviation only:
 * Corona Municipal Ariport
 * , Riverside
 * , Murietta (Temecula Valley)
 * (San Jacinto Valley)
 * , Thermal (Coachella Valley)
 * (San Jacinto Valley)
 * , Thermal (Coachella Valley)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 1,545,387 people, 506,218 households, and 372,576 families residing in the county. The was 83/km² (214/sq mi). There were 584,674 housing units at an average density of 31/km² (81/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 65.58%, 6.24% or , 1.18% , 3.69% , 0.25% , 18.69% from , and 4.37% from two or more races. 36.21% of the population were or  of any race. 67.2% spoke and 27.7%  as their first language.

In 2006 the county had 2,026,803 people, an increase of 31.2% since 2000. In 2005 45.8% of the population was non-Hispanic whites. The percentages of African Americans, Asians and Native Americans remained relatively similar. The percentage of Pacific Islanders had majorly risen to 0.4. Hispanics now constituted 41% of the population.

There were 506,218 households out of which 38.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.50% were living together, 12.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.40% were non-families. 20.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.47.

In the county the population was spread out with 30.30% under the age of 18, 9.20% from 18 to 24, 28.90% from 25 to 44, 18.90% from 45 to 64, and 12.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 99.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,887, and the median income for a family was $48,409. Males had a median income of $38,639 versus $28,032 for females. The for the county was $18,689. About 10.70% of families and 14.20% of the population were below the, including 18.50% of those under age 18 and 7.60% of those age 65 or over.

Military Installations

 * , Corona Division
 * , Corona Division

Places of interest

 * 
 * Historic hotel in downtown Riverside
 * Wilderness
 * Historic hotel in downtown Riverside
 * Wilderness
 * Historic hotel in downtown Riverside
 * Wilderness
 * Wilderness