Downtown San Bernardino in the context of "Ontario, California"

San Bernardino (/ˌsæn ˌbɜːrnəˈdiːnoʊ/ SAN BUR-nə-DEE-noh) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the 18th-most populous city in California. The Riverside–San Bernardino metropolitan area at 4.74 million residents is the 12th-largest metropolitan area in the nation. San Bernardino is the economic, cultural, and political hub of the San Bernardino Valley, sharing that distinction for the wider Inland Empire with its twin city of Riverside.

San Bernardino was named in 1810, when Spanish priest Francisco Dumetz led an expedition through the area. In 1839, the Mexican government granted Californio ranchero José del Carmen Lugo the right to settle the area, which was formalized when he was granted Rancho San Bernardino in 1842. Following the American Conquest of California, the largely unsettled rancho was purchased by Mormon settlers who founded the town of San Bernardino in 1851, later incorporated as a city in 1854. After most of the Mormons left in 1857, the city grew significantly in the late 19th century as a commercial hub at the crossroads between Southern California and the American Southwest. Today, San Bernardino is an important hub for the Inland Empire and Southern California. The governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico have established the metropolitan area's only consulates in the downtown area. Furthermore, the city's University District serves as a college town, as home to California State University, San Bernardino.

The University District, often referred to as University or University Hills, is a foothill community and college town located approximately 5–8 miles north of downtown San Bernardino, California. The District is named after the California State University, San Bernardino. It is one of the most desirable neighborhoods in San Bernardino along with the Hospitality Lane District. As California State University, San Bernardino grew so did the region around it; it used to be nothing but mid-desert farmland, but has been developing quickly to become a neighborhood important to not only San Bernardino but also the entire region.