Northern California
Northern California, or "NorCal," refers to the northern portion of the state of California, roughly covering all of those counties except for the eight counties which make up Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Imperial.Northern California includes the region's largest city, San Jose and its suburbs in the Silicon Valley. Other major cities include Oakland, Sacramento (the state capital) and San Francisco.
Northern California is home to two of the most-prestigious universities in the United States, Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, as well as smaller universities such as Humboldt State University.
It is characterized by its beautiful coastline, mediterranean climate, relatively low population density (apart from the San Francisco Bay Area and metropolitan Sacramento), and redwood forests.