San Bernardino County, California

San Bernardino County is the largest in the contiguous  by area, containing more land than each of. The county is larger in area than the states of, , , and combined. Any of those states could be replaced in the list by, , or.

, is second,, is third, and is fourth. On the other hand, the, the largest in the country, is over seven times the size.

Located in the southeast of the of, the deserts and mountains of this vast county stretch from the outskirts of the densely populated   to the  border and the. The fast growing county had a 2007 population estimate by the was 2,028,013 (12th in the country but only 4th in the state), largely located in its more populated southwestern portions. The is. The county records are located in .Its southwestern portions (the more urbanized part of San Bernardino County) are considered to be part of the region of, a bicounty area.

History
Father Francisco Dumetz named San Bernardino on, 1810, feast day of St..

San Bernardino County was formed from parts of in 1853. Parts of the county's territory were given to in 1893.

The  gave the name San Bernardino to the snowcapped peak in, in honor of the saint and it is from him that the county derives its name.

Geography
covers some of the eastern desert, especially between and. The desert portion also includes the cities of next to the, and  at the junction in  and. is at the northwestern part of the county west of. This famous national park, mostly within, also has a small portion of land within the county. The largest metropolitan area in the part of the county is the  with the incorporated localities of, , , and. Further south, a portion of overlaps the county near. Additional places near and west of Twentynine palms include, , and.

The mountains are home to the, and include the communities of , , , , , and.

The is at the eastern end of the, and is part of the. The San Bernardino Valley includes the cities of, , , , , , , , , , , , , and.

The area of Southern California is made up of the southwestern portion of San Bernardino County and western portion of Riverside county.

Incorporated communities




Unincorporated communities

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Adjacent counties

 * - north
 * - northeast
 * - east
 * - southeast
 * - south
 * - southwest
 * - west
 * - west

San Bernardino County, California, is one of the few counties in the United States to border as many as 8 counties.

Major highways

 * [[Image:I-10.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:I-15.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:I-40.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:I-210.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:I-215.svg|22px]]
 * [[Image:US 95 (CA).svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 395 (CA).svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:California 18.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 30.svg|20px]]


 * [[Image:California 38.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 58.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 62.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 66.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 127.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:California 138.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:California 210.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:California 247.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:California 330.svg|23px]]

Public transportation

 * provides transit service in the urbanized portion of San Bernardino County, serving the City of San Bernardino, as well as the area between Montclair and Yucaipa.
 * connects the Inland Empire area to the San Gabriel Valley and downtown Los Angeles.
 * connects Chino to and.
 * connects Montclair to Riverside County.
 * operates buses in Victorville, Hesperia, Adelanto, Apple Valley and the surrounding county area.
 * serves Barstow and the surrounding county area.
 * (MARTA) covers the Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear regions. Limited service is also provided to Downtown San Bernardino.
 * provides bus service in Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms (including the Marine base). Limited service is also provided to Palm Springs.
 * San Bernardino County is also served by buses and  trains.  commuter trains connect the urbanized portion of the county with Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties.

Airports

 * is being remodeled and is expected to serve the region as an international airport. The airport will have access through interstate and  through Mill Street. The airport is going to have commercial passenger flights starting in June 2008
 * Commercial passenger flights are available at.
 * (Victorville) is a major cargo and general aviation airport.
 * The County of San Bernardino owns six general aviation airports:, , , , , and.
 * Other general aviation airports in the county include:, (Upland), and

Politics
San Bernardino County voter registration and voting patterns lean to the Republican Party, with in  being the last Democrat to win a majority in the county. However, the county is split between poorer, heavily Latino, heavily Democratic areas and wealthy suburbs. For example, the heavily Latino cities of Ontario and San Bernardino went for John Kerry in 2004. However, these cities had abysmal voter turnout; in 2006, San Bernandino's population exceeded 201,000, and in 2004, cast a mere 42,520 votes. In 2006, strongly Republican Rancho Cucamonga had over 145,000 people, and cast 53,054 votes.

In the, all of and parts of the , , , and  districts are in the county. Except for the 43rd, which is held by Democrat, every district is held by Republicans: , , , and respectively.

In the, tiny parts of the 32nd and 34th districts, parts of the 36th, 59th, 60th, 61st, 63rd, and 65th districts, and all of the 62nd district are in the county. Except for the 61st and 62nd districts, which are represented by Democrats and  respectively, every district is represented by a Republican:  (AD-32),  (AD-34),  (AD-36),  (AD-59),  (AD-60),  (AD-63), and  (AD-65).

In the, parts of the 18th and 32nd districts, which are held by and  respectively, are in the county.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 1,709,434 people, 528,594 households, and 404,374 families residing in the county. The was 33/km² (85/sq mi). There were 601,369 housing units at an average density of 12/km² (30/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 58.91%, 9.09% , 1.17% , 4.69% , 0.30% , 20.82% from , and 5.03% from two or more races. 39.16% of the population were or  of any race. 66.1% spoke, 27.7% and 1.1%  as their first language.

There were 528,594 households out of which 43.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.80% were married couples living together, 14.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.50% were non-families. 18.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.15 and the average family size was 3.58.

In the county the population was spread out with 32.30% under the age of 18, 10.30% from 18 to 24, 30.20% from 25 to 44, 18.70% from 45 to 64, and 8.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 99.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,066, and the median income for a family was $46,574. Males had a median income of $37,025 versus $27,993 for females. The for the county was $16,856. About 12.60% of families and 15.80% of the population were below the, including 20.60% of those under age 18 and 8.40% of those age 65 or over.

Median household income by community

 * : $95,990
 * : $92,173
 * : $78,428
 * : $60,826
 * : $55,401
 * : $53,649
 * : $50,524
 * : $50,338
 * : $48,734
 * : $48,155
 * : $45,787
 * : $45,782
 * : $44,257
 * : $42,452
 * : $41,254
 * : $41,230
 * : $41,225
 * : $40,797
 * : $40,421
 * : $40,201
 * : $39,144
 * : $39,028
 * : $38,204
 * : $38,187
 * : $37,845
 * : $36,357
 * : $35,883
 * : $35,777
 * : $35,615
 * : $35,069
 * : $34,447
 * : $34,106
 * : $31,594
 * : $31,178
 * : $30,240
 * : $26,635
 * : $26,535
 * : $26,108
 * : $23,488
 * : $18,750

Gang violence
The is well known for its. The most well-known gangs are the Onterio Varrio Sur Black Angels gang and the West Side Verdugo gang, as well as the South Side Verdugo Flats gang, in various parts of south, particularly around Mount Vernon Avenue. Fuelled by money and the ease of communication brought on by affordable, the street gangs have flourished and spread across and beyond the Inland Empire in the face of sporadic and ineffective  efforts and inadequate intervention strategies. Incidents of gang violence in San Bernardino County have increased since the, while at the same time growing more brutal. There are now an estimated 68,600 gang members in 287 gangs in the Inland Empire.

Sergeant Phil Brown of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said the gangs are growing more violent in the farthest reaches of the county, including the. Racial tensions among the Chicano gangs and the Afro-American gangs have heightened dramatically in the Inland Empire, causing even the most rural areas to be affected. "It's getting out in more remote areas," Brown said. "They go gang against gang. There's more gang violence to the general public and it's becoming more random.." 

Environmental quality
California Attorney General sued the county in April 2007 under the state's  for failing to account for the impact of  in the county's 25-year growth plan, approved in March. The, and the  also sued in a separate case. According to Brendan Cummings, a senior attorney for the s: "San Bernardino has never seen a project it didn't like. They rubber-stamp development. It's very much of a frontier mentality." The plaintiffs want the county to rewrite its growth plan's section to include methods to measure  and take steps to reduce them.

According to county spokesman David Wert, only 15% of the county is actually controlled by the county; the rest is cities and federal and state land. However, the county says it will make sure employment centers and housing are near transportation corridors to reduce traffic and do more to promote compact development and mass transit. The county has budgeted $325,000 to fight the lawsuit.

Places of interest

 * northeast of Barstow via
 * (The name of a and  community in the County)
 * , a ghost town along
 * home to outdoor activities
 * home to outdoor activities
 * home to outdoor activities

Trivia

 * San Bernardino County is the only California County bordered by both and.

Residents of note
Including current residents, as well as former residents who have made their mark in history.


 * , founder of
 * , professional soccer player for the U.S. National Team and the.
 * , actor
 * , one of the "Fighting Earps" of Dodge City, and Tombstone fame. Buried in Mountain View Cemetery, San Bernardino
 * , US Marshall killed in Tombstone, Arizona, and buried in Hermosa Gardens Cemetery, Colton, California, one of the "Fighting Earps" of Tombstone fame.
 * , Justice of the Peace, coroner, judge, preacher, saloon owner, gambler, father of the "Fighting Earps".
 * , one of the "Fighting Earps" of Dodge City, and Tombstone fame. US Marshall, Arizona Territory. Lived in.
 * , one of the "Fighting Earps" of Dodge City, and Tombstone fame. Lived in, and .  and owned a gold mine in the nearby.
 * , western pioneer
 * , four-time  motorcycle racer.
 * , the so-called "American Taliban" fighter now incarcerated in.
 * , the fast food pioneering brothers of what became Corporation
 * , fantasy author
 * and
 * , the fictional canine resident from the area
 * , guitar prodigy who played with 's Blizzard of Oz, is laid to rest in Mount View Cemetery