|
|
|
Place Name
|
Merced County
|
|
Place Status (Type)
|
county
|
|
Capital is
|
Merced
|
|
Population
|
178,403 (1990)
|
|
Location
|
California, United States, North America
|
|
Latitude
|
37°11'N
|
|
Longitude
|
120°43'W
|
Merced
, county (
1,929 sq mi/4,996 sq km; 1990
pop. 178,403), central Calif.;  Merced; 37°11'N 120°43'W.
Extends across San Joaquin Valley from Diablo Range (W and SW) to
foothills of the Sierra Nevada (E and NE). Fertile agr. area, irrigated
by Merced, San Joaquin, and Chowchilla rivers. Grapes, alfalfa, grain,
sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, cantaloupes, wheat, barley, oats, rice,
beans, sugar beets; dairying; cattle, turkeys and poultry raising. Sand
and gravel. Farm prods. processing (fruit drying and canning, meat and
poultry packing), lumber milling, cement mfg. Crossed in SW (SE to NW)
by Delta Mendota Canal and Calif. Aqueduct. San Luis and Merced natl.
wildlife refuges in center; George Hatfield State Park and Fremont Ford
State Recreation Area in NW; San Luis Reservoir and State Recreation
Area in W; Ortigalita Peak (3,305 ft/1,007 m)
in S corner (Diablo Range) Formed 1855.
|
