Editing Northern California (section)

== Cities ==
Northern California's largest [[metropolitan area]] is the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] which consists of 9 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties. The Bay Area consists of the major cities of [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], and their many [[suburbs]]. Although not a part of the Bay Area, in recent years the Bay Area has drawn more commuters from as far as [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]] cities such as [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], [[Stockton, California|Stockton]], [[Fresno, California|Fresno]], [[Turlock, California|Turlock]] and [[Modesto, California|Modesto]]. These cities in the central part of the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills may be viewed as part of a single [[megalopolis (city type)|megalopolis]].<ref name="spur.org" /> The 2010 U.S. Census showed that the Bay Area grew at a faster rate than the [[Greater Los Angeles Area]] while Greater Sacramento had the largest growth rate of any metropolitan area in California.

The state's larger inland cities are considered part of Northern California in cases when the state is divided into two parts. Key cities in the region which are not in major metropolitan areas include [[Eureka, California|Eureka]] on the far [[North Coast (California)|North Coast]], [[Redding, California|Redding]], at the northern end of the Central Valley, [[Chico, California|Chico]], and [[Yuba City]] in the mid-north of the Central Valley, as well as [[Fresno, California|Fresno]] and [[Visalia, California|Visalia]] on the southern end. Though smaller in each case, with the notable exception of [[Fresno, California|Fresno]], than the larger cities of the general region, these smaller regional centers are often of historical and economic importance for their respective size, due to their locations, which are primarily rural or otherwise isolated.

<gallery mode="packed" widths="140px" heights="140px">
Panoramic Downtown San Jose.jpg|[[San Jose, California|San Jose]], the most populous city in Northern California and the [[San Francisco Bay Area]], and the 13th most populous city in the United States. 
SanFran downtown panorama.jpg|[[San Francisco]], the second most populated city in Northern California and a major economic, cultural, and financial center for the region.
File:Chukchansi.jpg|[[Fresno]], the fourth most populated city in northern California, as seen from [[Chukchansi Park]]. Fresno is the largest city by population in the [[San Joaquin Valley]].
File:Sacramento Skyline (cropped).jpg|alt=Sacramento Skyline (cropped).jpg|[[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], the third most populous city in Northern California, the capital city of the State of [[California]], and the principal city of the [[Sacramento metropolitan area]].
File:Panorama-downtown-oakland by Daniel Ramirez.jpg|[[Oakland, California|Oakland]], the fifth-largest city by population in Northern California. Oakland is the major [[Port of Oakland|port city]] of the region and the center of Northern California's [[African Americans|African American]] community.
</gallery>