San Jose, California

San Jose, officially the City of San José (/ˌsæn hoʊˈzeɪ, -ˈseɪ/ ^ⓘ SAN hoh-ZAY, -⁠SAY; Spanish: [saŋ xoˈse]), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is the most populous city in both the Bay Area and Northern California and the 12th-most populous in the United States. Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay, San Jose covers an area of 179.97 sq mi (466.1 km²) and is the seat of Santa Clara County.

Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area around San Jose was long inhabited by the Tamien nation of the Ohlone people. San Jose was founded on November 29, 1777, as the Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, the first city founded in the Californias. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 after the Mexican War of Independence. Following the U.S. Conquest of California during the Mexican–American War, the territory was ceded to the United States in 1848. After California achieved statehood two years later, San Jose served as the state's first capital. San Jose experienced an economic boom after World War II, with a rapid population growth and aggressive annexation of nearby communities in the 1950s and 1960s. The rapid growth of the technology industry further accelerated the city's transition from an agricultural center to an urbanized metropolitan area, prompting Mayor Tom McEnery to adopt San Jose's current motto, "Capital of Silicon Valley," in 1988. Results of the 1990 U.S. census indicated that San Jose had surpassed San Francisco in population. By the turn of the century, San Jose was California's fastest-growing economy.

Today, San Jose is notable for its innovation, cultural diversity, affluence, and sunny and mild Mediterranean climate. Major companies including Cisco, eBay, Adobe, PayPal, NetApp, Cadence, and Zoom maintain their headquarters in San Jose. One of the wealthiest major cities in the world, San Jose has the third-highest GDP per capita (after Zurich and Oslo) and the fifth-most expensive housing market. It is home to one of the world's largest overseas Vietnamese populations, a Hispanic community that makes up over 30% of the city's residents, historic ethnic enclaves such as Japantown and Little Portugal, and the largest Sikh Gurdwara outside of India.

Educational and cultural institutions in San Jose include San Jose State University, Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, the Tech Interactive, the San Jose Museum of Art, Winchester Mystery House, the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, the Viet Museum, Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, Hayes Mansion, Lick Observatory, San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, and the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. Two major league sports teams, the San Jose Earthquakes and the San Jose Sharks, play their home games in San Jose. San Jose International Airport is the third-busiest airport in Northern California. VTA's rail and bus networks, together with Amtrak, ACE, BART, and Caltrain services, connect San Jose to the broader region through hubs such as Diridon Station.