Geography 417

Political Geography - Map Quiz Study Guide

Which Places Should We Know?

Knowing where major counties, cities and historical locations are on a map is a good first step to understanding why California is the way it is.

Listed below are the political features that you are responsible for knowing on map quizzes and tests.

The are roughly in order of their likelihood to be on a map quiz.

Large Cities in California

List of Large Cities
Rank	City Name	County	Notes
1	Los Angeles	Los Angeles	Second largest city in the United States, important manufacturing and cultural center.
2	San Diego	San Diego	Major defense, naval hub.
3	San Jose	Santa Clara	Hub of Silicon Valley, largest city in Northern California
4	San Francisco	San Francisco	Major port, banking and cultural center.
5	Long Beach	Los Angeles	Major port, manufacturing
6	Fresno	Fresno	Major agricultural hub.
7	Sacramento	Sacramento	Capital of California
8	Oakland	Alameda	Major manufacturing city.
9	Santa Ana	Orange	Largest city in Orange County
10	Anaheim	Orange	Home to Disneyland, tourism

Other notable California Locations

The cities and towns in the list below are also notable and somewhat likely to be on a map quiz. Those lower on the list are primarily to help you orient yourself on the accompanying map and/or because they are likely to be mentioned or discussed in lecture.

Other Notable Cities and Towns
City or Town	County	Notes
Riverside	Riverside	Important Inland Empire City
Bakersfield	Kern	Famous for country music, agriculture
Stockton	San Joaquin	Inland Seaport and important agricultural center
Fremont	Alameda	Important Bay Area industrial city
Modesto	Stanislaus	Large agricultural city in the central valley
San Bernardino	San Bernardino	Important city in the Inland Empire
Salinas	Monterey	Home of author John Steinbeck, agricultural hub.
Santa Rosa	Sonoma	Largest city in California's Northern Wine country.
Berkeley	Alameda	Home to the University of California campus
Santa Clara	Santa Clara	Center of Silicon Valley
Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara	Famous tourist city, wine region
Redding	Shasta	Largest city in the northern part of the Sacramento Valley, close to Mount Shasta
Napa	Napa	Napa Valley California Wine Industry
Palo Alto	Santa Clara	Home of Stanford University, high tech industry
Indio	Riverside	Important Agricultural City, Salton Sea
San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo	Central Coast City, Wine Industry
Palm Springs	Riverside	Famous tourist destination.
Blythe	Riverside	Desert entry point, Interstate 10
Tehachapi	Kern	Known for its pass, railroad loop
Placerville (PLASS-er-ville)	El Dorado	Nearest town to Coloma and Sutter's Mill
Pismo Beach	San Luis Obispo	Famous beach tourist destination
Solvang	Santa Barbara	Danish themed tourist destination
Needles	San Bernardino	Desert entry point, Interstate 40
Joshua Tree	San Bernardino	National Park, unique flora
Lone Pine	Inyo	Eastern gateway to Mount Whitney, Yosemite and Manzanar
Yosemite Valley	Mariposa	Yosemite National Park
Chico	Butte
South Lake Tahoe	El Dorado
Eureka	Humboldt
Edwards AFB	Kern
Merced	Merced
Mammoth Lakes	Mono
Truckee	Nevada
Barstow	San Bernardino
Big Bear Lake	San Bernardino
Ontario	San Bernardino
Oceanside	San Diego
Lodi	San Joaquin
Vandenberg AFB	Santa Barbara
Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz
Visalia	Tulare

Furnace Creek	Inyo	Death Valley Town

Regionally Important Cities and Towns

The list of cities and towns below are probably familiar to local students. They will appear on any supplemental quiz on local geography. They also appear on accompanying maps associated with local geography and the third grade standards.

Locally Notable Cities and Towns
City or Town	County	Notes
Burbank	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Compton	Los Angeles	Locally notable City
East Los Angeles	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Glendale	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Inglewood	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Lancaster	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Malibu	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Marina del Rey	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Palmdale	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Pasadena	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Pomona	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
San Fernando	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Santa Clarita	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Santa Monica	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Torrance	Los Angeles	Locally Important City
Fullerton	Orange	Locally Important City
Garden Grove	Orange	Locally Important City
Huntington Beach	Orange	Locally Important City
Irvine	Orange	Locally Important City
Orange	Orange	Locally Important City
Calabasas	Ventura	Locally notable town
Ojai	Ventura	Locally notable town
Oxnard	Ventura	Locally Important City
San Buenaventura (Ventura)	Ventura	Locally Important City
Simi Valley	Ventura	Locally Important City
Thousand Oaks	Ventura	Locally Important City