Marin County is located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, and is included in the San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Image: Marin Civic Center
Image: Point Reyes National Shoreline
Image: Stinson beach
Image: Tamalpais derangedtaco
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including the San Francisco Bay. The Association of Bay Area Governments defines the Bay Area as including the nine counties that border the estuaries of San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and Suisun Bay: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, and San Francisco. Other definitions may be either smaller or larger, and may include neighboring counties such as the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey, or the Central Valley counties of San Joaquin, Merced, and Stanislaus. The Bay Area is known for its natural beauty, progressive politics, prominent universities, technology companies, and affluence. The Bay Area contains many cities, towns, airports, and associated regional, state, and national parks, connected by a complex multimodal transportation network.
Image: Golden Gate Bridge at Purple sunset (cropped)
Image: Painted Ladies
Image: Autumn in Napa Valley vineyards (cropped)
Image: Chimney Rock Trail Point Reyes December 2016 panorama 1 (cropped 2)