Oakland

Sister cities

• Fukuoka
• Funchal
• Da Nang
• Ulaanbaatar
• Livorno
• Ocho Rios
• Bahir Dar
• Sekondi-Takoradi
• Agadir
• Nakhodka
• Santiago de Cuba
• Callao

History

The earliest known inhabitants of the area were the Huchiun natives, who lived there for thousands of years. The Huchiun belonged to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone (a Miwok word meaning "western people"). In Oakland, they were concentrated around Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek, a stream that enters the San Francisco Bay at Emeryville. In 1772, the area that later became Oakland was colonized, along with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers for the king of Spain. In the early 19th century, the Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to Luis María Peralta for his Rancho San Antonio. The grant was confirmed by the successor Mexican republic upon its independence from Spain. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons. Most of Oakland was within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. The portion of the parcel that is now Oakland was called Encinar (misrendered at an early date and carried forward as "encinal") – Spanish for "oak grove" – due to the large oak forest that covered the area, which eventually led to the city's name. According to Stanford University historian Albert Camarillo, the Peralta family struggled to keep their land after the incorporation of California into the United States after the Mexican–American War. Camarillo claims the family was the victim of targeted racial violence. He writes in Chicanos in California, "They lost everything when squatters cut down their fruit trees, killed their cattle, destroyed their buildings, and even fenced off the roads leading to the rancho. Especially insidious were the actions of attorney Horace Carpentier, who tricked Vicente Peralta into signing a 'lease' which turned out to be a mortgage against the 19,000-acre rancho. The lands became…

Geography

Oakland is in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay. The United States Census Bureau says the city's total area is , including of land and (28.48 percent) of water. Oakland's highest point is near Grizzly Peak Blvd, east of Berkeley, just over above sea level at about . Oakland has of shoreline, but Radio Beach is the only beach in Oakland. Oaklanders refer to their city's terrain as "the flatlands" and "the hills". Until recent waves of gentrification, these terms also symbolized Oakland's deep economic divide, with "the hills" being more affluent communities. About two-thirds of Oakland lies in the flat plain of the East Bay, with one-third rising into the foothills and hills of the East Bay range. Ruptures along the nearby San Andreas Fault caused severe earth movement in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1906 and 1989. San Andreas quakes induces creep (movement occurring on earthquake faults) in the Hayward fault, which runs directly through Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose and other Bay Area cities. Oakland has more than 50 distinct neighborhoods. The city's greater divisions include downtown Oakland and its greater Central Business District, Lake Merritt, East Oakland, North Oakland, West Oakland, and the Oakland Hills. East Oakland, which includes the East Oakland Hills, encompasses more than half of Oakland's land area, stretching from Lakeshore Avenue on the east shore of Lake Merritt southeast to the San Leandro border. North Oakland encompasses the neighborhoods between downtown and Berkeley and Emeryville. West Oakland is the area between downtown and the Bay, partially surrounded by the Oakland Point, and encompassing the Port of Oakland. In 2011, Oakland was ranked the tenth most walkable city in the United States by Walk Score. Lake Merritt, an…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  98,042
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  94,510
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  86,160
• California Towhee

  Melozone crissalis (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  76,718
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  65,078
• Chestnut-backed Chickadee

  Poecile rufescens (J.K.Townsend, 1837) · Aves
  62,531
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  62,330
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  57,719

Largest nearby schools

• Berkeley High
  High · Berkeley · 3,204 students · 17.9:1 ratio
• Castro Valley High
  High · Castro Valley · 2,799 students · 23.5:1 ratio
• San Leandro High
  High · San Leandro · 2,566 students · 22.1:1 ratio
• Alameda High
  High · Alameda · 1,802 students · 24:1 ratio
• Oakland Technical High
  High · Oakland · 1,796 students · 18.1:1 ratio
• Arroyo High
  High · San Lorenzo · 1,610 students · 26.4:1 ratio
• Skyline High
  High · Oakland · 1,590 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Oakland High
  High · Oakland · 1,531 students · 17.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2026-06-07
  3 km SW of Alamo, CA
• M 2.65 — 2026-06-04
  7 km E of Fremont, CA
• M 2.72 — 2026-05-10
  2 km ESE of Pinole, CA
• M 2.52 — 2026-05-02
  20 km SE of Livermore, CA
• M 2.77 — 2026-04-30
  14 km N of Morgan Hill, CA
• M 2.62 — 2026-04-26
  16 km E of Seven Trees, CA