Orange County, California in the context of "Southern California"

Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, with the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County at its center, and Orange County to the southeast. The Los Angeles–Long Beach combined statistical area (CSA) covers 33,954 square miles (87,940 km), making it the largest metropolitan region in the United States by land area. The contiguous urban area is 2,281 square miles (5,910 km), whereas the remainder mostly consists of mountain and desert areas. With an estimated population of over 18.3 million (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023), it is the second-largest metropolitan area in the country, behind New York, as well as one of the largest megacities in the world.

In addition to being the nexus of the global entertainment industry, including films, television, and recorded music, Greater Los Angeles is also an important center of international trade, education, media, business, tourism, technology, and sports. It is the third-largest metropolitan area by nominal GDP in the world with an economy exceeding $1 trillion in output, behind New York City and Tokyo.

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 Gabriel Valley (Spanish: Valle de San Gabriel), sometimes referred to by its initials as SGV, is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, with the city of Los Angeles directly bordering it to the west and occupying the vast majority of the southeastern part of Los Angeles County. Surrounding landforms and other features include:

• the San Gabriel Mountains to the north;
• the San Rafael Hills to the west, with the Los Angeles Basin beyond;
• the Crescenta Valley to the northwest;
• the Puente Hills to the south, with the coastal plain of Orange County beyond;
• the Chino Hills and San Jose Hills to the east, with the Pomona Valley and Inland Empire beyond; and
• the city limits of Los Angeles bordering its western edge.

The San Gabriel Valley derives its name from the San Gabriel River that flows southward through the center of the valley, which itself was named for the Spanish Mission San Gabriel Arcángel originally built in the Whittier Narrows in 1771.

Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime industries; today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws visitors with a waterfront path and easy access from the ferry to the shops and restaurants.

Yorba Linda (/ˈjɔːrbə ˈlɪndə/, YOR-buh LIN-duh) is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, United States, approximately 37 miles (60 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and had a population of 68,336 at the 2020 census.

Yorba Linda is known for its connection to Richard Nixon, the 37th president of the United States. His birthplace is a National Historic Landmark, and his presidential library and museum are also located in the city.

San Diego County (/ˌsæn diˈeɪɡoʊ/ ), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous county in California and the fifth-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is San Diego, the second-most populous city in California and the eighth-most populous in the United States. It is the southwesternmost county in the 48 contiguous United States, and is a border county. It is home to 18 Indian reservations, the most of any county in the United States. There are 16 military installations of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard in the county.

San Diego County comprises the San Diego–Chula Vista–Carlsbad, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is the 18th most populous metropolitan statistical area and the 18th most populous primary statistical area in the United States. San Diego County is also part of the San Diego–Tijuana region, the largest metropolitan area shared between the United States and Mexico. From north to south, San Diego County extends from the southern borders of Orange and Riverside counties to the Mexico–U.S. border and the municipalities of Tijuana and Tecate in Baja California. From west to east, San Diego County stretches from the Pacific Ocean to its boundary with Imperial County, which separated from it in 1907.