Sacramento

Sister cities

• Ashkelon
• Yongsan District
• Chișinău
• Pasay
• Bethlehem
• Manila
• Hamilton
• Matsuyama
• Jinan
• Sumy
• Liestal

History

Nisenan (Southern Maidu), Modoc, and Plains Miwok American Indians have lived in the area for perhaps thousands of years. Until Spanish settlers arrived in Sacramento, these tribes left little evidence of their existence. Acorns harvested from the plentiful oak trees in the region made up the bulk of their diets, in addition to fruits, bulbs, seeds, and roots gathered throughout the year. Animal protein included salmon, other fish, deer, and elk. In 1808, the Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga encountered and named the Sacramento Valley and the Sacramento River. A Spanish writer with the Moraga expedition wrote: Canopies of oaks and cottonwoods, many festooned with grapevines, overhung both sides of the blue current. Birds chattered in the trees and big fish darted through the pellucid depths. The air was like champagne, and (the Spaniards) drank deep of it, drank in the beauty around them. "¡Es como el sagrado sacramento! (It's like the Blessed Sacrament.)" The valley and the river were then christened after the "Most Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ", referring to the Catholic sacrament of the Eucharist. John Sutter Sr. first arrived in the area on August 13, 1839, at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers with a Mexican land grant of . The next year, he and his party established Sutter's Fort, a massive adobe structure with walls high and thick. Representing Mexico, Sutter Sr. called his colony New Helvetia, a Swiss-inspired name, and was the political authority and dispenser of justice in the new settlement. Soon, the colony began to grow as more and more pioneers headed west. Within just a few short years, Sutter Sr. had become a grand success, owning a orchard and a herd of 13,000 cattle. Fort Sutter became a regular stop for the…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city covers . 98.61% of it is land, and 1.39% of it is water. Depth to groundwater is typically about . Much of the land to the west of the city (in Yolo County) is permanently reserved for a vast flood control basin (the Yolo Bypass), due to the city's historical vulnerability to floods. As a result, the contiguous urban area sprawls only west of downtown (as West Sacramento, California) but northeast and east, into the Sierra Nevada foothills, and to the south into valley farmland. The city is at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River and has a deep-water port connected to the San Francisco Bay by a channel through the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. It is the shipping and rail center for the Sacramento Valley. Sacramento has long been known as the "City of Trees" owing to its abundant urban forest. The city has more trees per capita than any other city in the world. The first recorded use of the term was in 1855, and it was popular by the early 20th century. It was not always so: it was at first called the "City of Plains" because of the lack of trees, but soon afterward there were cottonwood trees planted, and eucalyptus varieties were imported to dry out swampland. Later, locust trees, and willows were planted along streets, then elms, then palm trees, then fruit trees in the late 1910s. In the early 21st century, the tree cover is well above that of the average tree cover of other major cities in the United States and the rest of the world, with the main species being the London plane. Other species are being introduced to increase diversity and to help cope with the effects of climate change on vegetation in the future. Treepedia, a project run by MIT using Google Maps'…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  40,555
• California/Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

  Aphelocoma californica (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  38,936
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  38,407
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  38,200
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  32,756
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  29,166
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  27,747
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  26,627

Largest nearby schools

• Highlands Community Charter
  Other · Sacramento · 6,749 students · 71:1 ratio
• Visions In Education
  Other · Carmichael · 6,591 students · 25.9:1 ratio
• C. K. McClatchy High
  High · Sacramento · 2,427 students · 27.3:1 ratio
• Monterey Trail High
  High · Elk Grove · 2,353 students · 22:1 ratio
• Inderkum High
  High · Sacramento · 2,266 students · 24.9:1 ratio
• Laguna Creek High
  High · Elk Grove · 2,231 students · 21.9:1 ratio
• California Innovative Career Academy
  Other · Sacramento · 2,202 students · 41.5:1 ratio
• Grant Union High
  High · Sacramento · 2,040 students · 21.5:1 ratio