Sacramento, California

Sacramento, California
State capital city
City of Sacramento
From the top to right: Downtown Sacramento; California State Capitol, Crocker Art Museum; Downtown Sacramento; Tower Bridge and the Sacramento Riverfront; California Supreme Court
Flag Seal
Nicknames:  "Sactown", "Sac", "City of Trees","River City", "Camellia City", "America's Most Diverse City"
Motto(s):  Latin: Urbs Indomita (English: "Indomitable City")
Location within Sacramento County in California
Sacramento Location within the United States Show map of California Sacramento Sacramento (the United States) Show map of the United States Sacramento Sacramento (North America) Show map of North America
Coordinates: 38°34′54″N 121°29′40″W / 38.58167°N 121.49444°W / 38.58167; -121.49444
Country	United States
State	California
County	Sacramento
Region	Sacramento Valley
CSA	Sacramento-Roseville
MSA	Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade
Incorporated	February 27, 1850; 174 years ago (1850-02-27)[1]
Chartered	1920; 105 years ago (1920)[2]
Named for	Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
Government
• Type	City Council[3]
• Body	Sacramento City Council
• Mayor	Darrell Steinberg (D[4])
• City Council[4]	Council Members Lisa Kaplan Shoun Thao Karina Talamantes Katie Valenzuela Caity Maple Eric Guerra Rick Jennings II Mai Vang
Area [5]
• City	99.77 sq mi (258.41 km2)
• Land	97.68 sq mi (253.00 km2)
• Water	2.09 sq mi (5.41 km2)  2.19%
Elevation [6]	30 ft (9 m)
Population  (2020)[7]
• City	524,943
• Rank	35th in the United States 6th in California
• Density	5,374.11/sq mi (2,074.87/km2)
• Metro [8]	2,397,382 (26th)
Demonym	Sacramentan
Time zone	UTC−8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	942xx, 958xx
Area code	916 and 279
Interstates	[9]
U.S. routes	[9]
State highways	[9]
Website	cityofsacramento.org

Sacramento is the capital of the U.S. state of California. The governor and legislature of California are in Sacramento. About 520,000 people live in Sacramento. About 2,000,000 live in and around Sacramento.

Sacramento comes from Spanish and Portuguese for holy rite. A sacrament is a religious act that gives people divine grace (being liked or favored by God.)

Sacramento was started in 1848 by John Sutter. It was a very important place during the California Gold Rush. The Gold Rush was the time after gold was found in California. Many people came to California to find gold. They did this to make money. During the Gold Rush, Sacramento was where the railroad ended. It was also where the Pony Express stopped.

Sacramento is near where the American River meets the Sacramento River. This was important when Sacramento was founded. It meant that ships could bring things to Sacramento from the Pacific Ocean. Sacramento was a railroad town. This made Sacramento a port town. This made it a very important place for business.

The majority of Sacramento's foreign-born population are from Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam, Ukraine and Laos.^[10]

1. ↑ "California Cities by Incorporation Date". California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions. Archived from the original (Word) on February 21, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
2. ↑ "City Hall". City of Sacramento. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
3. ↑ "City Hall". City of Sacramento. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "Mayor & Council". City of Sacramento. Archived from the original on December 16, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
5. ↑ "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
6. ↑ "Sacramento". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
7. ↑ "QuickFacts: Fresno city, California". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
8. ↑ "2020 Population and Housing State Data". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} "Sacramento".
10. ↑ "SACRAMENTO - USC Dornsife - University of Southern California" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2023-11-19.