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Place Name
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Contra Costa County
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Place Status (Type)
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county
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Capital is
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Martinez
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Population
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803,732 (1990)
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Location
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California, United States, North America
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Latitude
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37°56'N
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Longitude
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121°57'W
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Contra Costa
, county (
720 sq mi/1,865 sq km; 1990 pop.
803,732), W Calif.;  Martinez; 37°56'N 121°57'W. Bounded on
W by San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Strait, NW by San Pablo Bay, N by
Carquinez Strait, Suisun Bay, San Joaquin/Sacramento
estuary, and San Joaquin R., E by Old San Joaquin R. (old channel).
Important ports (notably Richmond) and industrial cities (Pittsburg,
with large steelworks; Antioch, Port Chicago, Martinez, Crockett,
Hercules); and large oil refineries, shipyards, food processing, and
other diversified mfg. plants. Highly urbanized and growing in W,
center, and N. Berkeley Hills are along SW boundary; Mt. Diablo State
Park is in S center. In NE is part of fertile delta of San Joaquin R.
Asparagus, tomatoes, apples, walnuts; wheat, oats, barley, corn;
nursery stock. Quarrying of stone, clay, sand, gravel, pumice; natural
gas wells. County crossed E-W by Mokelumne Aqueduct. Formed 1850.
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