Coachella Valley in the context of "ANA Inspiration"

The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California in the Greater Los Angeles area, focusing around the cities in Riverside and San Bernardino county with Los Angeles County and Orange County to the west. The region, at its narrowest definition, includes the cities of northwestern Riverside County and southwestern San Bernardino County that are part of the contiguous urbanized area of Greater Los Angeles. It is sometimes considered to include the desert communities of the Coachella and Victor Valleys, respectively on the other sides of the San Gorgonio Pass and San Bernardino Mountains from the Santa Ana River watershed that creates the majority of the Inland Empire. A much wider definition includes the entireties of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, stretching east to the Nevada and Arizona borders and covering a larger area than West Virginia; this definition is primarily used by the US Census Bureau, which exclusively delineates metropolitan areas at the county level.

The U.S. Census Bureau–defined Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metropolitan area, which comprises Riverside County and San Bernardino, California, covers more than 27,000 sq mi (70,000 km) and had a population of about 4.6 million in 2020. At the end of the 19th century, the Inland Empire was a major center of agriculture, including citrus, dairy and winemaking. Agriculture declined through the 20th century and a rapidly increasing population, helped by families migrating in search of affordable housing, has led to more residential, industrial and commercial development since the 1970s.

The San Gorgonio Pass wind farm is a wind farm that stretches from the eastern slope of the San Gorgonio Pass, near Cabazon, to North Palm Springs, on the western end of the Coachella Valley, in Riverside County, California. Flanked by Mount San Gorgonio and the Transverse Ranges to the North, and Mount San Jacinto and the Peninsular Ranges to the South, the San Gorgonio Pass is a transitional zone from a Mediterranean climate west of the pass, to a Desert climate east of the pass. This makes the pass area one of the most consistently windy places in the United States.

Development of the wind farm began in the 1980s. It is one of the first three major wind farm areas in California, along with those at Altamont and the Tehachapi passes.

The Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert located in California, United States, and Baja California, Mexico. It encompasses approximately 7 million acres (2,800,000 ha; 28,000 km), including the heavily irrigated Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna.

The San Gorgonio Pass, or Banning Pass, is a 2,600 ft (790 m) elevation gap on the rim of the Great Basin between the San Bernardino Mountains to the north and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. The pass was formed by the San Andreas Fault, a major transform fault between the Pacific plate and the North American plate that is slipping at a rate of 7.2 ±2.8 mm/year. The tall mountain ranges on either side of the pass result in the pass being a transitional zone from a Mediterranean climate west of the pass, to a Desert climate east of the pass. This also makes the pass area one of the windiest places in the United States, and why it is home to the San Gorgonio Pass wind farm.

It serves as a major transportation corridor between the Greater Los Angeles region and the Coachella Valley, and ultimately into Arizona and the United States interior. Both Interstate 10, and the Union Pacific Railroad, utilize the pass. When the rail line was completed in January 1883, by the Southern Pacific Railroad, it was billed as the second U.S. transcontinental railroad.

Indio (Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. Indio is approximately 125 miles (201 km) east of Los Angeles, 23 miles (37 km) east of Palm Springs, and 98 miles (158 km) west of Blythe, California.

The population was 89,137 in the 2020 United States census, up from 76,036 at the 2010 census, an increase of 17%. Indio is the most populous city in the Coachella Valley, and was formerly referred to as the "Hub of the Valley," a Chamber of Commerce slogan used in the mid-twentieth century. Indio is now nicknamed the "City of Festivals," a reference to the numerous cultural events held in the city, most notably the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Festival.

The Imperial Valley (Spanish: Valle de Imperial or Valle Imperial) of Southern California lies in Imperial and Riverside counties, with an urban area centered on the city of El Centro. The Valley is bordered by the Colorado River to the east and, in part, the Salton Sea to the west. Farther west lies the San Diego and Imperial County border. To the north is the Coachella Valley region of Riverside County, which together with Imperial Valley form the Salton Trough, or the Cahuilla Basin, also the county line of Imperial and Riverside counties, and to the south the international boundary with Mexico.

The culture of the area blends those of the United States and Mexico, due to its regional history and geographic location along the international border. The Imperial Valley economy is based on agriculture.