Southern California
Southern California is a megapolitan area in the southern region of the U.S. state of California. The large urban areas containing Los Angeles and San Diego stretch all along the coast from Ventura to the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego.| Tap on a place to explore it |
Photo: 08OceanBeach SD, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Essential Destinations
Top destinations include Los Angeles and San Diego.
Los Angeles
Photo: Mfield, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Frank Lloyd Wright is said to have quipped, "Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles," a quote that has since been repeated both by those who love and hate L.A.
San Diego
Photo: William Toti, CC BY 2.0.
From balmy beaches with a laid-back attitude to a gleaming modern image, San Diego offers much for the tourist to enjoy. Situated on the Southern California seacoast, San Diego is the second largest city in the state, with 1.4 million residents, and has long attracted travelers for its ideal climate, miles of beaches, and location on the Mexican border right across from Tijuana.
Hollywood
Photo: Der Wolf im Wald, CC BY-SA 3.0 de.
No trip to Los Angeles is complete without a visit to its most famous district: Hollywood, best known as the self-declared entertainment capital of the world.
Destinations to Discover
Explore places such as Orange County and San Diego County.
Orange County
Photo: Traveler100, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Orange County is a prominent suburban region in Southern California, south of Los Angeles and part of the extended Los Angeles metropolitan area. A patchwork of 34 independent municipalities, Orange County has a very culturally diverse population and…
San Diego County
Photo: Bovlb, Public domain.
San Diego County is the southern-most region of Southern California. It encompasses the city of San Diego and its large metropolitan area, which includes many smaller cities and communities.
Riverside County
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the United States.
San Bernardino County
San Bernardino County is a county that spans the Southern California and Desert regions of the state of California. It is the largest county in the state at 20,105 sq mi - an area larger than nine of the US states, and about the same size as Costa Rica!
Southern California
- Type: Region with 22,000,000 residents
- Description: geographic and cultural region
- Also known as: “SoCal”
- Location: California, United States, North America
- View on OpenStreetMap
This page is based on GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
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Satellite Map
Discover Southern California from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
In Other Languages
From Afrikaans to Western Frisian—“Southern California” goes by many names.
- Afrikaans: “Suid-Kalifornië”
- Arabic: “كاليفورنيا الجنوبية”
- Armenian: “Հարավային Կալիֆորնիա”
- Asturian: “Sur de California”
- Azerbaijani: “Cənubi Kaliforniya”
- Basque: “Hegoaldeko Kalifornia”
- Belarusian: “Паўднёвая Каліфорнія”
- Bengali: “দক্ষিণ ক্যালিফোর্নিয়া”
- Bulgarian: “Southern California”
- Bulgarian: “Южна Калифорния”
- Catalan: “Califòrnia del Sud”
- Catalan: “Sud de Califòrnia”
- Central Kurdish: “باشووری کالیفۆڕنیا”
- Chinese: “南加利福尼亚州”
- Chinese: “南加利福尼亞州”
- Chinese: “南加州”
- Czech: “Jižní Kalifornie”
- Dutch: “SoCal”
- Dutch: “Southern California”
- Dutch: “Zuid Californie”
- Dutch: “Zuid Californië”
- Dutch: “Zuid-Californie”
- Dutch: “Zuid-Californië”
- Dutch: “Zuidelijk Californie”
- Dutch: “Zuidelijk Californië”
- Esperanto: “Suda Kalifornio”
- Faroese: “Suðurkalifornia”
- Finnish: “Etelä-Kalifornia”
- French: “Californie du Sud”
- French: “SoCal”
- French: “Sud de la Californie”
- Galician: “Conurbación do sur de California”
- German: “Südkalifornien”
- Greek: “Νότια Καλιφόρνια”
- Hebrew: “דרום קליפורניה”
- Indonesian: “California Selatan”
- Indonesian: “Kalifornia Selatan”
- Italian: “California del Sud”
- Italian: “California meridionale”
- Italian: “SoCal”
- Japanese: “南カリフォルニア”
- Kabiyè: “Kalɩfɔrnii nɛ hadɛ”
- Kirghiz: “Түштүк Калифорния”
- Korean: “남가주”
- Korean: “남부 캘리포니아 주”
- Korean: “남부 캘리포니아”
- Korean: “남캘리포니아”
- Korean: “사우던 캘리포니아”
- Korean: “사우던캘리포니아”
- Korean: “서던 캘리포니아”
- Korean: “서던캘리포니아”
- Korean: “캘리포니아 남부”
- Korean: “캘리포니아 주 남부”
- Latin: “California Meridiana”
- Malay: “California Selatan”
- Northern Frisian: “Süüdkalifornien”
- Norwegian Bokmål: “Sør California”
- Norwegian Bokmål: “Sør-California”
- Norwegian: “Sør-California”
- Ossetian: “Хуссар Калифорни”
- Panjabi: “ਦੱਖਣੀ ਕੈਲੀਫ਼ੋਰਨੀਆ”
- Persian: “کالیفرنیا جنوبی”
- Persian: “کالیفرنیای جنوبی”
- Polish: “Kalifornia Południowa”
- Polish: “Południowa Kalifornia”
- Polish: “Southern California”
- Portuguese: “Califórnia do Sul”
- Portuguese: “SoCal”
- Portuguese: “Southern California”
- Portuguese: “Sul da Califórnia”
- Romanian: “California de Sud”
- Russian: “Южная Калифорния”
- Scots: “SoCal”
- Scots: “Soothren Californie”
- Slovenian: “Južna Kalifornija”
- Slovenian: “So Cal”
- Slovenian: “SoCal”
- Slovenian: “South California”
- South Azerbaijani: “سوترن کالیفورنیا”
- Spanish: “SoCal”
- Spanish: “Southern California”
- Spanish: “Sur de California”
- Tamil: “தெற்கு கலிபோர்னியா”
- Thai: “เซาเทิร์นแคลิฟอร์เนีย”
- Turkish: “Güney Kaliforniya”
- Ukrainian: “Південна Каліфорнія”
- Urdu: “جنوبی کیلیفورنیا”
- Venetian: “Southern Całifornia”
- Vietnamese: “miền Nam Ca Li”
- Vietnamese: “miền Nam California”
- Vietnamese: “Miền Nam California”
- Vietnamese: “Nam Ca Li”
- Vietnamese: “Nam California”
- Vietnamese: “SoCal”
- Western Frisian: “Súdlik Kalifornje”
California: Must-Visit Destinations
Delve into San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, and San Gabriel Valley.
Explore These Curated Destinations
Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
About Mapcarta. Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Southern California”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.