Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location next to the Santa Ana River. Riverside County is included in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as the Inland Empire, and the Los Angeles-Long Beach Combined Statistical Area. The county covers 7,208 square miles (18,670 km) in Southern California, stretching from the Los Angeles metropolitan area to the Arizona border.
It has a Mediterranean climate in the western part and is mostly desert in the central and eastern parts. Most of Joshua Tree National Park is located in the county and it is home to resort towns such as Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Desert Hot Springs. When Riverside County was formed in 1893, it was named after the city of Riverside, which was founded in 1870 and received its name because of its location next to the Santa Ana River. The indigenous peoples of what is now Riverside County are the Luiseño, Cupeño and Cahuilla Indians.
The Luiseño territory includes the Aguanga and Temecula basins, the Elsinore Depression and the eastern Santa Ana Mountains and south to San Diego County. The territory of Cahuilla is located east and north of Luiseño, in the interior valleys, in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains and the Salton Sink Desert. The first European settlement in the county was a ranch or farm of the Saint Louis King Mission of France in the Luiseño village of Temescal. Riverside County was created out of parts of San Bernardino County and San Diego County.
In 1893, seventy percent of voters approved its formation and chose Riverside as its county seat by a wide margin. It was officially formed on May 9th, when the Board of Commissioners presented the final ballot count. Riverside County was an important focal point of civil rights movements in the United States, especially for African-Americans living in Riverside and heavily Mexican-American communities of Coachella Valley visited by Cesar Chavez of agricultural union struggle. There is a diversity of flora and fauna within Riverside County with desert flora but also wooded areas.
California's endemic blue oak, Quercus douglasii, is found in its southernmost part. In terms of population demographics, 30.3 percent were under 18 years old; 9.2 percent were from 18 to 24; 28.9 percent were from 25 to 44; 18.9 percent were from 45 to 64; 12.7 percent were aged 65 or over; and 33 years was the median age. For every 100 women there were 99.1 men; for every 100 females age 18 or over there were 96.8 men. The municipal departments within Riverside County are Banning, Beaumont, Blythe, Calimesa, Cathedral City, Corona, Desert Hot Springs, Hemet, Indio, Menifee, Murrieta, Palm Springs and Riverside Community College.
Amtrak trains stop at Riverside and Palm Springs with bus connections to San Joaquins at Riverside, Beaumont, Palm Springs, Thousand Palms, Indio Moreno Valley Perris Sun City and Hemet. There are 12 federally recognized Indian reservations linking it to Sandoval County New Mexico by being second county in United States with two additional co-use areas shared between reserves while San Diego County California has most with 18 reservations. The Riverside County Sheriff provides judicial protection prison administration and forensic services for all of Riverside County.Riverside County voted 64.8 percent in favor of Proposition 8 which amended California Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriages while it is organized as general law county under provision of California Government Code.These Beautiful Riverside County Neighborhoods Are More Affordable Than Other California Communities with North being organizer of Riverside's first cooperative development considered founder of Riverside while its Marketplace area is located in westernmost part off Riverside Highway (9). When California's initial 27 counties were established in 1850 area now known as Riverside County was divided between Los Angeles County and San Diego County.
