San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the United States and the county seat of Santa Clara County. It is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay. The San Jose/Silicon Valley area is a major component of the greater San Francisco Bay Area, a region of nearly 7.5 million people.
Once a small farming city, San Jose experienced rapid growth from the 1950s to the present. San Jose is now the largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area in terms of population, land area, and industrial development. The California Department of Finance estimated the population at 1,023,083 as of January 1, 2010.
San Jose was founded on November 29, 1777, as El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, the first town in the Spanish colony of Nueva California, which later became Alta California. San Jose served as a farming community to support Spanish military installations at San Francisco and Monterey. When California gained statehood in 1850, San Jose served as its first capital. After more than 150 years as an agricultural center, San Jose experienced increased demand for housing from soldiers and other veterans returning from World War II, as well as aggressive expansion during the 1950s and 1960s by annexing more land area. By the 1990s, San Jose's location within the booming local technology industry earned the city its nickname, Capital of Silicon Valley.
The lowest point in San Jose is 13 feet below sea level at the San Francisco Bay in Alviso; the highest is 4,372 feet at Copernicus Peak, Mount Hamilton, which is technically outside the city limit. Due to the proximity to Lick Observatory atop Mount Hamilton, San Jose has taken several steps to reduce light pollution, including replacing all street lamps and outdoor lighting in private developments with low pressure sodium lamps. To recognize the city's efforts, the 6216 San Jose was named after the city.