Inyo County, California

Inyo County is located in east-central in the southwestern, on the east side of the  and south of. As of the county had a population of 17,945. The is.

, the highest peak in the states, is located in Inyo County. , in and the lowest point in the, is also located in the county. The two points are not visible from each other, but both can be observed from the on the west side of Death Valley.

History
Inyo County was formed in from parts of  and  Counties.

The county derived its name from the name for the mountains in its area. The meaning of the word inyo is "dwelling place of the great spirit."

Natural History
Inyo County is host to a number of natural superlatives. Among them are:
 * , the highest point in the United States outside of Alaska
 * , in, the lowest point in North America
 * , an ancient and the oldest living thing on Earth
 * , the deepest valley on the American continents
 * Two mountain ranges exceeding 14,000 feet in elevation: The and the
 * Fourteen of California's fifteen peaks which exceed 14,000 feet (a ) in elevation
 * The largest in the United States, rising from the floor of Death Valley to the top of  in the



Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 10,227 square miles (26,488 km²), of which 10,203 sq mi (26,426 km²) is land and 24 sq mi (62 km²) is water. Relatively, it is an extremely large county, the second-largest in the state and one of the largest in the nation.

Adjacent Counties

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

Major Highways

 * [[Image:US 6 (CA).svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 395 (CA).svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:California 127.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 136.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 168.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 178.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 190.svg|20px]]

Public Transportation
operates intercity bus service along U.S. 395, as well as local services in Bishop. Service extends south to Ridgecrest (Kern County) and north to.

Airports
,, and are general aviation airports located near their respective cities. and are located near.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 17,945 people, 7,703 households, and 4,937 families residing in the county. The was 1/km² (2/sq mi). There were 9,042 housing units at an average density of 0/km² (1/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 80.06%, 0.16% or , 10.04% , 0.91% , 0.08% , 4.60% from , and 4.15% from two or more races. 12.58% of the population were or  of any race. 89.2% spoke and 9.3%  as their first language.

There were 7,703 households out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.8% were living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.4% under the age of 18, 5.80% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,006, and the median income for a family was $44,970. Males had a median income of $37,270 versus $25,549 for females. The for the county was $19,639. About 9.30% of families and 12.60% of the population were below the, including 16.00% of those under age 18 and 8.30% of those age 65 or over.

Politics
Inyo is a strongly county in  and  elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was in.

Inyo is part of, which is held by Republican. In the, Inyo is part of the 34th Assembly district, which is held by Republican , and the 18th Senate district, which is held by Republican.

Education
School district in Inyo County are: