San Francisco

The City and County of San Francisco (population 776,773), the fourth-largest city in the state of California, United States in terms of population, is a consolidated city-county situated at the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula that forms San Francisco Bay.

The city is the focal point of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan area, whose total population is about 7 million. U.S. census data shows San Francisco to have the highest population density of any city aside from New York City. The first Europeans to settle in San Francisco were the Spanish, in 1776. The city grew rapidly due to the California gold rush starting in 1848.