TULARE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

'Tulare County' is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Fresno. Sequoia National Park is located in the county. As of 2000 the population was 368,021; as of 2007 the population estimate was 429,006. Its county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes and now drained.

Contents

History

Economy

Geography

Cities and towns

Adjacent Counties

Transportation Infrastructure

Major Highways

Public Transportation

Airports

Demographics

See also

External links

History

Tulare County was formed from parts of Mariposa County in 1852. Parts of the county's territory were given to Fresno County in 1856, to Kern County in 1866, to Inyo County in 1866 and Kings County in 1893.
Comandante Pedro Fages, while hunting for deserters in 1772, discovered a great lake surrounded by marshes and filled with rushes which he named ''Los Tules'' (the tules). It is from this lake that the county derives its name. The root of the name ''Tulare'' is found in the Mexican word ''tullin'', designating cattail or similar reeds.
The infectious disease Tularemia caused by the bacterium ''Francisella tularensis'' is named after Tulare County.

Economy

Tulare County bears the unfortunate distinction of being the one of the most impoverished counties in California[1], despite its proximity to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
Milk brings in the most revenue for the county , typically more than US$1 billion a year annually. Oranges, grapes, and other cattle-related commodities also bring in hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
In 2001, Tulare became the most productive county in the U.S. in terms of agricultural revenues at US$3.5 billion annually, surpassing Fresno County's US$3.2 billion, which held the spot for over two decades.
Due to the importance of agriculture in the county as well as its location in the state, the city of Tulare (in Tulare County) has been the home of the annual World Ag Expo [2], the world's largest agricultural exposition, since 1968.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 12,533 km² (4,839 mi²). 12,494 km² (4,824 mi²) of it is land and 39 km² (15 mi²) of it (0.31%) is water.

Cities and towns

★ Alpaugh ★ Cutler ★ Dinuba ★ Ducor ★ Earlimart ★ East Orosi ★ East Porterville ★ Exeter ★ Farmersville ★ Goshen

★ Ivanhoe ★ Lemon Cove ★ Lindsay ★ London ★ Orosi ★ Pixley ★ Poplar-Cotton Center ★ Porterville ★ Richgrove ★ Springville

★ Strathmore ★ Terra Bella ★ Three Rivers ★ Tipton ★ Traver ★ Tulare ★ Visalia ★ Woodlake ★ Woodville

Adjacent Counties

★ Kern County, California - south

★ Kings County, California - west

★ Fresno County, California - north

★ Inyo County, California - east

Transportation Infrastructure

Major Highways

★ California State Route 43

★ California State Route 63

★ California State Route 65

★ California State Route 99

★ California State Route 198

Public Transportation

Tulare County Transit provides a countywide bus service linking the population centers. A connection to Delano in Kern County is also operated.
The cities of Tulare, Porterville and Visalia have their own local bus services.
Greyhound and Orange Belt Stages provide long-distance, intercity bus service.

Airports

Visalia Municipal Airport has limited passenger service. Sequoia Field, just north of Visalia, is a County-owned general aviation airport.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 368,021 people, 110,385 households, and 87,093 families residing in the county. The population density was 29/km² (76/mi²). There were 119,639 housing units at an average density of 10/km² (25/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 58.08% White, 1.59% Black or African American, 1.56% Native American, 3.27% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 30.79% from other races, and 4.60% from two or more races. 50.77% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 56.3% spoke English, 38.9% Spanish and 1.1% Portuguese as their first language.
There were 110,385 households out of which 44.90% had children under the living with them, 58.10% were married couples living together, 14.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.10% were non-families. 17.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.28 and the average family size was 3.67.
In the county the population was spread out with 33.80% under the , 10.60% from 18 to 24, 27.60% from 25 to 44, 18.20% from 45 to 64, and 9.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 100.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.70 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $33,983, and the median income for a family was $36,297. Males had a median income of $30,892 versus $24,589 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,006. About 18.80% of families and 23.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.60% of those under age 18 and 10.50% of those age 65 or over.

See also

★ Tulare Lake

★ Tule

External links

★ Tulare County Real Estate News

★ Tulare County official website

★ World Ag Expo official website

★ Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer official website (with Annual Crop and Livestock Reports)