The San Francisco Bay Area, colloquially known as the Bay Area or The Bay, is a geographically and ethnically diverse metropolitan region that surrounds the
San Francisco Bay in
Northern California. It encompasses the cities of
San Francisco,
San Jose, and
Oakland, and their many suburbs. It also includes the smaller urban and rural areas of the
North Bay. As of July
2006, the
Bay Area is home to 7.2 million people, up half a million people since
2000, with the majority of the growth due to international immigration. The Bay Area comprises many cities, towns,
military bases,
airports, and associated regional, state, and
national parks sprawled over nine
counties (sometimes defined as ten or eleven counties) and connected by a massive network of roads,
highways,
railroads,
bridges,
tunnels and
commuter rail.
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