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| San Diego, California |
San Diego, California:"San Diego" redirects here. For other uses, see San Diego (disambiguation).
San Diego is a coastal southern California city located in the extreme southwestern corner of the continental United States. It is the county seat of San Diego County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 1,223,400; as of 2005, the California Department of Finance estimated the city to have 1,305,736 residents. The city is the second-largest in California and the seventh-largest in the United States and is noted for its temperate climate and many beaches.
It is also the home of many U.S. military facilities, including U.S. Navy ports, Marine Corps bases, and Coast Guard stations. It is the home port of the largest naval fleet in the world, including two Navy supercarriers (the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan) five amphibious assault ships, several Los Angeles-class submarines, and many smaller ships. One of the Marine Corps' two Recruit Depots is located here. San Diego is also known as the "birthplace of naval aviation," though Pensacola, Florida makes a rival claim.
Several Navy vessels have been named USS San Diego in honor of the city.
History
The area has long been inhabited by the Kumeyaay people. The first European to visit the region was Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, sailing under the flag of Spain, in 1542. He named it San Miguel. The San Diego Bay and the area of present-day San Diego were given their current names by Sebastian Vizcaino when he was mapping the coastline of Alta California for Spain in 1602. The explorers camped near a Native American village called Nipaguay and celebrated Mass in honor of San Diego de Alcala (Saint Didacus of Alcalá). California was then part of the colony of New Spain.
In 1769, Gaspar de Portolà and his expedition founded the Presidio of San Diego (military post), and on July 16, Franciscan friars Junípero Serra, Juan Viscaino and Fernando Parron raised and blessed a cross, establishing the first mission in Upper California, Mission San Diego de Alcala. Colonists began arriving in 1774; the following year, the native people rebelled. They killed the priest and two others, and burned the mission. Father Serra organized the rebuilding and two years later a fire-proof adobe structure was built. By 1797 the mission had become the largest in California, with over 1,400 natives associated with it.
In 1821, Spain recognized Mexico's independence. The governor of Alta California and Baja California moved the capital to San Diego from Monterey. The mission was secularized in 1834 and 432 people petitioned Governor José Figueroa to form a pueblo. Commandant Santiago Arguello endorsed it. Juan Maria Osuna was elected the first alcalde (mayor), winning over Pio Pico in the 13 ballots cast. However, the population of the town shrank to little over a hundred persons, and by the late 1830s it lost its township until the province of Alta California became part of the United States in 1850 following the Mexican defeat in the Mexican-American War. The village was designated the seat of the newly-established San Diego County and incorporated as a city.
In 1885, San Diego was linked to the rest of the nation by railroad. San Diego was reincorporated as a city in 1886.
Significant U.S. Naval presence began in 1907 with the establishment of the Navy Coaling Station.
San Diego hosted two World's Fairs, the Panama-California Exposition in 1915 and the California Pacific International Exposition in 1935.
Since World War II, the military has played a leading role in the local economy. Following the end of the Cold War the military presence has diminished considerably. San Diego has since become a center of the emerging biotech industry and is home to telecommunications giant Qualcomm.
Largely because of their city's strong military presence, San Diegans have a reputation for being more politically conservative than residents of California's other two large coastal cities. This reputation is still true when San Diego is compared to San Francisco and Los Angeles, but the city is changing and it is not nearly as conservative as Orange County to the north, or even the northern portion of San Diego County itself. Indications are that while suburban areas of San Diego County are fairly Republican, the city of San Diego itself tilts toward Democrats, for example Al Gore and John Kerry both won the city of San Diego despite losing San Diego County narrowly; notably, reports [http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/voters/Eng/reports/current_reg_report.pdf] show that as of 2005 registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans, 39% to 34%, within the city itself.
Beginning in 2003, the public became aware of an ongoing pension fund scandal which has left the city with an estimated $1.4 billion pension fund gap. Despite mounting problems with city finances the incumbent Mayor Dick Murphy narrowly won re-election with a plurality of votes. Some controversy ensued during and after the election when, contrary the San Diego City Charter, current city councilmember Donna Frye was allowed to run as a write-in candidate one month before election day. While more may have intended to vote for her than Dick Murphy, many did not fill in the "bubble" next to her written name and thus these were not counted as legitimate votes.
With mounting pressure, Mayor Dick Murphy, in April 2005, announced his intent to resign by mid-July. A few days after his resignation two city councilmembers, Ralph Inzunza and deputy mayor Michael Zucchet, who was to take Murphy's place, were convicted for taking bribes in a scheme to get the city's "no touch" laws at strip clubs repealed. Both subsequently resigned.
On July 26, 2005, city councilmember Donna Frye finished first in the special election to replace Dick Murphy with 43% of the vote, but was without the majority required to win outright. She lost the run-off election to the second place finisher, former San Diego police chief Jerry Sanders on a November 8, 2005 ballot.
Because of its many recent scandals, San Diego briefly removed references to its longtime nickname, "America's Finest City," from its [http://www.sandiego.gov/ official city website], as [http://www2.dailynews.com/news/ci_3279196 reported] by the Associated Press. As of December 5, 2005, the nickname [http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=2A8604B3-615C-44D2-A1F7-B00EFA827172 appeared] on San Diego's website once again, as pledged by mayor Jerry Sanders at his inauguration ceremony.
Geography and climate
San Diego is located at 32°46'46" North, 117°8'47" West (32.779541, -117.146344) (about 100 miles south of Los Angeles).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 963.6 km² (372.0 mi²). 840.0 km² (324.3 mi²) of it is land and 123.5 km² (47.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 12.82% water.
The city's borders are very irregularly shaped because of the absorption of many suburbs into the city limits. Additionally, the numerous canyons that run through the city create natural boundaries and obstacles to development. When conjoined with Tijuana, the San Diego-Tijuana metropolitan area has 4,688,762 people, making it the 21st largest metropolitan area in the Americas.
San Diego is famous for its temperate climate. Onshore breezes from the Pacific Ocean tempers the local climate so that the summers are cooler and the winters are warmer. The average summer daytime highs are 25°C (76°F) with overnight lows of 19°C (66°F). Average winter daytime highs are 19°C (66°F) with overnight lows of 9°C (49°F). San Diego averages 10 inches of rain per year, with most of it falling from November to March.
Demographics
largest metropolitan area in the Americas
As of the census of 2000, there are 1,223,400 people, 450,691 households, and 271,315 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,456.4/km² (3,771.9/mi²). There are 469,689 housing units at an average density of 559.1/km² (1,448.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 47.18% White, 9.86% African American, 1.62% Native American, 13.65% Asian, 0.48% Pacific Islander, 12.39% from other races, and 4.83% from two or more races. 25.40% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. The city's Asian ethnicities breakdown accordingly: Filipino (6.1%), Vietnamese (2.2%), Chinese (1.9%), Other Asian (1.5%), Japanese (0.8%), Korean (0.6%), Asian Indian (0.6%).
There are 450,691 households out of which 30.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% are married couples living together, 11.4% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.8% are non-families. 28.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.61 and the average family size is 3.30.
In the city the population is spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 12.4% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 101.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 100.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $45,733, and the median income for a family is $53,060. Males have a median income of $36,984 versus $31,076 for females. The per capita income for the city is $23,609. 14.6% of the population and 10.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 20.0% of those under the age of 18 and 7.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Current estimates
According to estimates by the San Diego Association of Governments, the median household income of San Diego in 2004 was $56,438 (not adjusted for inflation). When adjusted for inflation (1999 dollars; comparable to Census data above), the median household income was $50,543.
Neighborhoods
Census
Northwestern: Bay Ho, Bay Park, Carmel Valley, Clairemont, Clairemont Mesa, Del Mar Heights, Fairbanks Country Club, La Jolla, La Jolla Shores, La Jolla Village, Linda Vista, North City, North Clairemont, Pacific Highlands Ranch, Sorrento Hills, Sorrento Valley, Torrey Hills, Torrey Pines, University City, Via de la Valle
North Central: Kearny Mesa, Mission Village, Serra Mesa, Birdland, Murphy Canyon
Northeastern: Carmel Mountain Ranch, Miramar, Miramar Ranch North, Mira Mesa, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Peñasquitos, Sabre Springs, San Pasqual, Santa Luz, Scripps Ranch (Scripps Miramar Ranch), Sorrento Mesa, West Bernardo
Eastern: Allied Gardens, Del Cerro, East Elliott, Grantville, Lake Murray, Mission Valley East, Navajo, San Carlos, Tierrasanta
Western: Crown Point, La Playa, Loma Portal, Midtown, Midway, Mission Bay Park, Mission Beach, Morena, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Peninsula, Point Loma, Point Loma Heights, Roseville-Fleetridge, Sunset Cliffs
Central: Balboa Park, Banker's Hill, Centre City, Core-Columbia, Cortez, Gaslamp Quarter, Golden Hill, Grant Hill, Hillcrest, Harborview, Horton Plaza, Little Italy, Logan Heights (Barrio Logan), Marina, Memorial, Mission Hills, Mission Valley West, Mountain View, North Park, Old Town, Park West, Sherman Heights, South Park, Stockton, University Heights, Uptown
Mid-City: City Heights, College Area, Chollas Creek, Darnall, El Cerrito, Gateway, Kensington, Normal Heights, Oak Park, Rolando, Talmadge, Webster
Southeastern: Alta Vista, Broadway Heights, Chollas View, Emerald Hills, Jamacha, Lomita, Lincoln Park, Mountain View, Mt. Hope, North Bay Terraces, North Encanto, Paradise Hills, Shelltown, Skyline, South Bay Terraces, South Encanto, Southcrest, Valencia Park
Southern: Egger Highlands, Nestor, Ocean Crest, Otay Mesa, Otay Mesa West, Palm City, San Ysidro, Tijuana River Valley
Economy
Tagged as one of six centers of innovation, San Diego community business entrepreneurs and civic entrepreneurs are building one of the great technology regions of the twenty-first century.
San Diego's leaders made a commitment in the 1980s to diversify the economy and encourage the growth of high technology companies. They were motivated by the desire to move away from the boom or bust cycles that dependency on just two core industries had created. No one could have predicted the success with which the region has developed key technology industries. Developing in parallel, and in today's technology environment, finding more and more cross-fertilization opportunities, San Diego's core technology sectors have become leading centers for biotechnology, communications and software development.
Fueled by the research being done at San Diego's world class universities and institutes, and supported by a business-friendly public sector, the San Diego region is now recognized as a hotbed for new companies. San Diego's biotechnology community is the third largest in the country. San Diego's communications industry is one of the fastest growing in the country and has earned the title of wireless communications capital of the world.
Crime
San Diego has had a declining crime rate since the early 1990's. In 1991 the number of murders was 167, in 2004 the number of murders was only 62. San Diego is now one of America's safest cities.
Education
- San Diego State University, (SDSU) (California State University)
- University of California, San Diego, UCSD (University of California)
- University of San Diego, USD (Roman Catholic)
- Alliant International University, AIU (Formerly United States International University-USIU)
- Point Loma Nazarene University, PLNU (Nazarene)
- National University
- San Diego Community College District, (San Diego City College, San Diego Mesa College, San Diego Miramar College)
Accredited Law Schools in San Diego include(alphabetical):
- California Western School of Law
- Thomas Jefferson School of Law
- University of San Diego School of Law - [http://www.sandiego.edu/usdlaw University of San Diego School of Law Website]
Culture
Cuisine
Owing to its privileged position on the Pacific Ocean and its warm Mediterranean-style climate, San Diego enjoys an abundance of quality produce and dining. With a myriad ethnic and cultural mix, San Diego is well known for its wide selection of cuisines. One can find excellent Mexican, Italian, Greek, Latin, Central and East Asian, Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander food throughout the city. The city's long history and close proximity to Mexico has endowed an endless array of Mexican cafes and restaurants. Regional homemade specialties, border fare and haute cuisine are all easily available.
San Diego's warm, dry climate and access to the sea have also made it a natural center for the production of fruit and vegetables. Long a center of the tuna industry, San Diego benefits from an abundant seafood supply.
Several of the finest choices of dining can be found in the Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy, La Jolla and Old Town. The city's many immigrant and ethnic groups have heavily influenced local eating habits and tastes.
Local specialties include:
- Mexican cuisine (including carne asada, burritos, fish tacos, enchiladas, and ceviche)
- Woodfired, California-styled Pizza
- Wide variety of salads made from fresh, local produce (including Caesar, Greek, Mixed, and Caprese Salads)
- Southern Italian-styled pastas, panini, and pizzas
- Varieties of shish kebabs, shashlyk, and Gyros
- Southeast Asian specialties including spring rolls,egg rolls and pho
- Locally produced, artisan bread
- Local Wines (San Pasqual Valley, Rancho Bernardo)
- Locally produced (from the mountains near Julian) hard and sweet apple cider
- Various fruits and vegetables (including avocados, tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, eggplant, oranges, lemons, limes, strawberries, grapefruit, grapes, apples, pomegranates, persimmons, and melons)
Several chain restaurants have gotten their start in San Diego. These include Jack in the Box, Pat & Oscar's, Souplantation (March 1978), Rubio's, and Anthony's Fish Grotto. Rubio's fish tacos were also featured at the 1996 Republican National Convention.
Events
- Comic Con
- Holiday Bowl
- Poinsettia Bowl
Shopping malls
- Fashion Valley
- Westfield Shoppingtown, Mission Valley
- Westfield Shoppingtown, Horton Plaza
- College Grove
- Westfield Shoppingtown, University Towne Centre
- The Shops at Las Americas (also a U.S.-Mexico Port of Entry walkway and Duty-Free centre)
- The San Diego Factory Outlet
Sites of interest
Westfield Shoppingtown
San Diego is a major tourist destination, attracting visitors from all over the world. Among the many attractions are its beaches, climate, and deserts. Noted San Diego tourist attractions include:
- Balboa Park -
- Berkeley, ferry boat -
- Chicano Park
- Gaslamp Quarter
- La Casa de Estudillo -
- La Jolla
- Little Italy (see also Little Italy)
- Mission Bay Park
- Mission Beach Roller Coaster at Belmont Park
- Mission San Diego de Alcala -
- Mount Soledad
- Old Mission Dam in Mission Trails Regional Park -
- Old TownOld Town
- Petco Park
- Point Loma
- Qualcomm Stadium
- San Diego Aerospace Museum
- San Diego Presidio -
- San Diego Wild Animal Park
- San Diego Zoo
- Seaport Village
- SeaWorld
- Star of India, barque sailing ship -
- Torrey Pines Golf Course
- Torrey Pines State Reserve
- USS Midway (CV-41), aircraft carrier museum
( - An asterisk designates National Historic Landmarks)
San Diego is about two hours south of Los Angeles and north adjacent to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
Sports
San Diego has several sports venues. Jack Murphy Field at Qualcomm Stadium hosts football and soccer games. Baseball can be seen at Petco Park and Tony Gwynn Stadium. iPayOne Center, formerly the San Diego Sports Arena, hosts hockey, arena football, and basketball, which is also hosted at Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl. Jenny Craig Pavilion at the University of San Diego hosts basketball and volleyball games.
SDSU Aztecs (MWC) and the USD Toreros (WCC) are
NCAA Division I teams. The UCSD Tritons (CCAA) are members of the NCAA Division II while the PLNU Sea Lions (GSAC) are members of the NAIA.
- San Diego is the primary setting and filming location for the 1986 movie Top Gun about the real-life TOPGUN program. At the time the movie was made, the TOPGUN program was based at the former Naval Air Station Miramar, which is currently the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, in San Diego. The bar featured in the movie's piano scene, Kansas City BBQ, is on the corner of Kettner Boulevard and West Harbor Drive (near the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel) and contains memorabilia from the film.
- San Diego and Los Angeles are part of the futuristic utopian megacity San Angeles in the 1993 movie Demolition Man.
- San Diego is home to the 2004 season of MTV's reality series The Real World.
- In the comic book series Aquaman, half of San Diego was plunged into the Pacific Ocean by an earthquake.
- The fictional town of Neptune, California (as portrayed in the hit television show Veronica Mars) is said to be a suburb of San Diego.
- San Diego of the 1970s is the setting for the 2004 comedy film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy starring Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy. The Burgundy character is partially inspired by former San Diego television news personalities.
- In Jurassic Park II, a T-Rex rampaged through the city.
- The Season Two finale of television series Quantum Leap, "M.I.A", was based around San Diego's Naval Base.
- Writer/Director Cameron Crowe attended University of San Diego. He later went "undercover" at Clairemont High School as a student to oberve the students, who were the basis for his book and screenplay Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The semi-autobiographical Almost Famous, which Crowe also wrote and directed, shows shots of San Diego and the Ocean Beach Pier, where main character William Miller grew up.
Transportation
Public mass transportation
Almost Famous
San Diego has trolley (LRT), bus [http://www.sdcommute.com/Rider_Information/bus/], Coaster [http://www.gonctd.com/], and Amtrak service. However, these systems serve limited routes and schedules; the vast majority of transportation in San Diego is by private automobile.
Private motoring
San Diego includes a comprehensive collection of freeways, highways, major arterial roads, and streets that forms circles around the interior and outlying areas in the county. Almost every major freeway in the county crosses through the city, but all are important to the flow of goods and people into and out of the city. Of note is that San Diego is the only major California metropolitan area to have its freeway system completed as originally planned, except for Routes 125 and Route 56.
Cycling
San Diego's roadway system provides an excellent network of routes for travel by bicycle. The climate in San Diego makes cycling a convenient and pleasant year-round option. Many San Diego cyclists belong to the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition which represents the rights and interests of cyclists throughout the county.
Air
San Diego International Airport, also known as Lindbergh International Airport or Lindbergh Field, is the primary commercial airport serving San Diego. It is one of the busiest single-runway airports in the nation, serving over 16 million passengers every year. Other airports include Brown Field Airport (Brown Field) and Montgomery Field Municipal Airport (Montgomery Field).
Sea
The Port of San Diego manages the maritime operations of San Diego harbor and the airport. San Diego has a growing cruise ship operation and cargo operations are also a major sector with produce imports from South America, vehicle imports from Germany and Japan and Mexico and other trade operations.
Military institutions
- [http://www.nasni.navy.mil/ Naval Air Station North Island]
- [http://www.nasni.navy.mil/ Naval Amphibious Base Coronado] (Both NAS North Island and NAB Coronado are consolidated into one base known as Naval Base Coronado)
- [http://www.navstasd.navy.mil/ Naval Station San Diego] (Naval Station also has the nickname of Naval Station 32nd Street, due in part to its location at 32nd Street and Harbor Drive in San Diego)
- [http://www.cnrsw.navy.mil/subase2/index.asp Naval Base Point Loma] - Submariners
- [http://www.mcrdsd.usmc.mil/ US Marine Corps Recruit Depot]
- [http://www.miramar.usmc.mil/ US Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar]
- US Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
- [http://enterprise.spawar.navy.mil/ SPAWAR] (Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command)
- [http://www.militarymuseum.org/FtRosecrans.html Fort Rosecrans Military Reservation]
Sister cities
San Diego has fifteen sister cities, as designated by [http://www.sister-cities.org/ Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI)]: Alcalá de Henares (Spain), Campinas (Brazil), Warsaw (Poland), Yantai (China), Yokohama (Japan), Taichung City (China), Jalalabad (Afghanistan), Cavite City (Philippines), Jeonju (South Korea), Edinburgh (Scotland, United Kingdom), León (Mexico), Perth (Australia), Tema (Ghana), Tijuana (Mexico), and Vladivostok (Russia).
External links
- [http://www.sandiego.gov/ City of San Diego Official Website]
- [http://www.aroundandaboutsandiego.com/ Where to go and what to see in San Diego]
- [http://www.sandiego.org/ Official tourism site]
- [http://sandiegohistory.org/index.html San Diego History]
- [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?papr:1:./temp/~ammem_28aA:: Movie of the San Diego Exposition, 1915]
- [http://www.2-sir.com/VirtualSanDiego/ Virtual San Diego]
- [http://www.portofsandiego.org/ Port of San Diego]
- [http://www.san.org/ San Diego International Airport]
Category:Cities in California
Category:Coastal cities
Category:San Diego, California
ja:サンディエゴ
San Diego (disambiguation)San Diego is the Hispanicized form of Saint Didacus.
San Diego may mean the following:
- San Diego, California, United States, the second largest city in California, is located in San Diego County.
- San Diego County is in the southwest corner of both California and the continental USA, the only US county bordering both Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.
- The San Diego was the flagship that Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino used to explore San Diego Bay.
- Mission San Diego de Alcala was the first Spanish mission in Alta California.
- San Diego, Texas, is the county seat of Duval County, Texas, United States.
- San Diego de la Unión is a city in Guanajuato, Mexico.
- San Diego, Carabobo, is an agricultural town in Venezuela.
- Cabo San Diego is a cape on Tierra del Fuego in southern Argentina, near Cape Horn.
- Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin – The first Mexican Saint.
- San Diego is the codename of a version of the Athlon 64 CPU from AMD.
- The USS San Diego refers to several ships of the United States Navy, each named after San Diego, California.
- The San Diego Season was the fourteenth edition of the reality TV series The Real World aired on MTV in 2004.
- The Cape of San Diego at the northeast tip of Taiwan.
Continental United StatesThe continental United States refers (except sometimes in federal law and regulations) to the largest part of the U.S. that makes up one single geographic unit (plus minor nearby islands. Specifically, this includes the District of Columbia and the 48 states that all border at least one other state; it excludes Alaska and Hawaii.
The continental United States can also be used in its more literal (and geographically accurate) sense to refer the part of the United States situated on the North American continent, thus excluding only Hawai'i but not the exclave of Alaska.
These 48 states and the District of Columbia are also referred to as:
- the contiguous states (occasionally meant to include the District of Columbia)
- the contiguous United States (abbreviated in various specialized contexts as "CONUS")
- the conterminous or coterminous states
Some places, because of their own location relative to the continental US, have their own unique labels for the contiguous states.
- In Hawaii, it is called "the mainland" or "the continent".
- In Alaska, long-time residents often simply call this area "Outside", as in "My brother went Outside to have heart surgery". Some Alaskans use the more familiar term "lower 48" (logical only from an "Alaskan-centric" perspective).
All of these have some shortcoming of logic, ambiguity, or excessive or deficient formality. In particular:
- no collection of states includes the District of Columbia.
- "conterminous" and "coterminous" are rare, somewhat technical words. In addition, they are more generally used in the sense of having fully coincident boundaries. That is, the County of Hawaii and the Island of Hawaii are conterminous, and the eastern border of Arizona is conterminous with the western border of New Mexico, but it is inaccurate to say that Arizona and New Mexico are "conterminous" without some such clarification.
- while Hawaii is not part of any continent, Alaska is clearly, like the contiguous states, part of North America, and excluding it from the "continental U.S." must be described as a misnomer.
It is sometimes objected that since, for example, Oregon and Maryland are neither "contiguous" nor "conterminous", that these words are inappropriate to describe the whole main area of the US. However, the phrase Contiguous United States is entirely in keeping with the general use of the word "contiguous", as in Long rows of contiguous houses or the contiguous colors of the rainbow. In addition, "conterminous" is occasionally used in the same broad sense, as in Allied species, whose ranges are separate but conterminous. In the case of the US states, the disambiguating word "separate" would not be necessary.)
Use in federal law
As the language of the Alaska Omnibus Act of 1959 makes apparent, the term was in use in U.S. federal law prior to then. It presumably dates from after the acquisition of Alaska in 1867, and probably from after the Spanish-American War and the annexation of Hawaii brought the U.S. its first off-continent possessions, both in 1898. Whatever else these terms may be, "continental United States" is a term defined in various federal laws, in different ways in different time periods; it is also defined in different ways at the same time, depending on whether the context was the IRS or not, during at least a period that began with Alaska statehood.
See also
- Mainland
Category:Subdivisions of the United States
County seatA county seat is an administrative center for a county. In the U.S. New England states and the Canadian Maritime Provinces, the term "shire town" is also used, but officially so only in Vermont. In England, Wales and Ireland, the term county town is used. This term is probably still used colloquially in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but today neither are divided into counties - instead being divided, respectively, into regions and districts. Counties are called "parishes" in Louisiana and Alaska is divided into "boroughs" (here, meaning a very large district or region of the state). Their seats of county government are called "parish seat" and "borough seat," respectively. The Canadian province of Ontario, in addition to counties, also has territorial districts, regional muncipalities, and at least one metropolitan municipality, which are effectively different types of counties in that they perform county government functions.
In America as in England and Canada, a county is an administrative division of a state which has no sovereign jurisdiction of its own, so it would not be correct to say that a county seat is equivalent to a capital city since it's just an administrative centre. (See also the article, Counties of the United States.) Counties administer state or provincial law at the local level as part of the decentralisation of state/provincial authority. In many U.S. states, state government is further decentralised by dividing counties into townships, to provide local government services to residents of the county who do not live in incorporated cities or towns.
A county seat is often, but not always, an incorporated municipality. The county courthouse and county administration are usually located in the county seat, but some functions may also be conducted in other parts of the county, especially if it is geographically large.
Most counties have only one county seat. However, some counties in Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Mississippi have two or more county seats, usually located on opposite sides of the county. An example is Harrison County, Mississippi, which lists both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats. The practice of multiple county towns dates from the days when travel was difficult. There have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement since a county seat is a source of pride (and jobs) for the towns involved.
In Virginia, all cities are independent cities, which are legally distinct from the counties that surround them. An independent city interacts with the commonwealth (state) government directly whereas villages and other local government authorities do so through the county government apparatus. However, many of Virginia's independent cities act as the county seat for their neighbouring counties. For example, the City of Fairfax is separate from Fairfax County, but is still the county's seat.
Uniquely, because it was formerly part of the District of Columbia, Arlington County, Virginia, which is the smallest county in the United States, has no county seat - because it has no muncipalities within its boundaries. Prior to their retrocession to Virginia during the nineteenth century, Arlington and the neighboring independent city of Arlington were, respectively, Arlington County and Alexandria County - two of the three counties of the District of Columbia. The District as currently drawn was coextensive with the County of Washington, which disappeared in the twentieth century following the amalgamation of Tenley, Anacostia and the other rural and semi-rural towns and villages of Washington County, D.C., to the City of Washington.
References
Category:Capitals
Category:U.S. counties
ja:郡庁所在地
San Diego County, California
San Diego County is a county located on the Pacific Ocean in the far southwest of the U.S. state of California, along its border with Mexico. With a population of 2,813,833 (as of 2000), it is the third largest county by population in the state. The county seat is the city of San Diego.
The San Diego area is one of the fastest growing areas in the state.
History
European settlement in what is now San Diego County began with the founding of the Mission San Diego de Alcala by the Spanish, in 1769.
San Diego County was one of the original counties of California, and was created at the time of statehood in 1850. It was named after San Diego Bay, which had been rechristened in 1602 by Sebastián Vizcaíno in honor of the Franciscan St. Didacus of Alcalá, known in Spanish as San Diego de Alcalá de Henares, and whose name was borne by Vizcaíno's flagship.
Parts of the county were later divided off to create Riverside County, in 1893, and Imperial County, in 1907.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 11,721 km² (4,526 mi²). 10,878 km² (4,200 mi²) of it is land and 843 km² (326 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 7.20% water.
San Diego County has varied topography. On its western side is seventy miles of coastline. Snow-capped mountains rise to the northeast, with the Sonoran Desert to the far east. The Cleveland National Forest lies to the southeast.
North San Diego County is known locally as "North County", and has a culture of its own.
Adjacent Counties
- Imperial County, California - (east)
- Orange County, California - (northwest)
- Riverside County, California - (north)
Observatories
- Mount Laguna Observatory - owned and operated by San Diego State University (SDSU)
- Palomar Observatory - owned and primarily operated by California Institute of Technology (CalTech)
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 2,813,833 people, 994,677 households, and 663,449 families residing in the county. The population density is 259/km² (670/mi²). There are 1,040,149 housing units at an average density of 96/km² (248/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 66.52% White, 5.74% Black or African American, 0.86% Native American, 8.88% Asian, 0.48% Pacific Islander, 12.82% from other races, and 4.69% from two or more races. 26.69% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 994,677 households out of which 33.90% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.70% are married couples living together, 11.60% have a female householder with no husband present, and 33.30% are non-families. 24.20% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.90% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.73 and the average family size is 3.29.
In the county the population is spread out with 25.70% under the age of 18, 11.30% from 18 to 24, 32.00% from 25 to 44, 19.80% from 45 to 64, and 11.20% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 101.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 99.70 males.
The median income for a household in the county is $47,067, and the median income for a family is $53,438. Males have a median income of $36,952 versus $30,356 for females. The per capita income for the county is $22,926. 12.40% of the population and 8.90% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 16.50% of those under the age of 18 and 6.80% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Current estimates
According to estimates by the San Diego Association of Governments, the median household income of San Diego County in 2004 was $58,280 (not adjusted for inflation). When adjusted for inflation (1999 dollars; comparable to Census data above), the median household income was $52,192.
Cities and towns in San Diego County
Census
Census
Incorporated Cities
- Carlsbad (Aviara, La Costa)
- Chula Vista
- Coronado
- Del Mar
- El Cajon
- Encinitas (Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Leucadia, Olivenhain)
- Escondido
- Imperial Beach
- La Mesa
- Lemon Grove
- National City
- Poway
- Oceanside
- San Diego
- San Marcos
- Santee
- Solana Beach
- Vista
Unincorporated Communities
- Agua Caliente Springs
- Alpine
- Barrett
- Blossom Valley
- Bonita
- Bonsall
- Borrego Springs
- Bostonia
- Boulevard
- Camp Pendleton North
- Camp Pendleton South
- Campo
- Canebrake
- Carmel Mountain Ranch
- Casa de Oro-Mount Helix
- Crest
- Cuyamaca
- Dehesa
- De Luz
- Descanso
- Dulzura
- Eucalyptus Hills
- Fairbanks Ranch
- Fallbrook
- Fernbrook
- Flinn Springs
- Granite Hills
- Guatay
- Harbison Canyon
- Hidden Meadows
- Jacumba
- Jamul
- Julian
- La Presa
- Lake Morena
- Lake San Marcos
- Lakeside
- Mount Laguna
- Pine Hills
- Pine Valley
- Portero
- Rainbow
- Ramona
- Rancho Bernardo
- Rancho Penasquitos
- Rancho San Diego
- Rancho Santa Fe
- San Diego Country Estates
- San Elijo
- Santa Ysabel
- Shelter Valley
- Spring Valley
- Tecate
- Tierra del Sol
- Valley Center
- Vallecitos
- Warner Springs
- Winter Gardens
Airports
- Lindbergh Field, (SAN) a.k.a. San Diego International Airport
- Montgomery Field, (MYF)
- McClellan-Palomar Airport, (CLD or CRQ) a.k.a. Palomar Airport, Carlsbad Airport
- Gillespie Field, (SEE) located in El Cajon
- Agua Caliente Airport
- Borrego Valley Airport
- Fallbrook Airport
- Jacumba Airport
- Lake Wohlford]] (private, tiny)
- Oceanside Municipal Airport
- Ocotillo Airport
- Pauma Valley (private)
- Ramona Airport, (RNM)
See also
- List of school districts in San Diego County, California
External links
- [http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/ County of San Diego Official Website]
- [http://www.aroundtownsandiego.org/ San Diego Events & Activities]
Category:California counties
Category:San Diego County, California
ja:サンディエゴ郡 (カリフォルニア州)
2000
This article is about the year 2000. For other uses of 2000, see 2000 (number) or 2000 (breakdancing move).
2000 (MM) is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. Popular culture also holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium. By strict interpretation of the Gregorian Calendar, however, this distinction falls to the year 2001. This is due to the fact that the first century began with the year 1, and there does not exist a year zero. The first century (or first 100 years AD) was from January 1, in the year one (1 AD) through December 31, in the year one-hundred (100 AD). The second century began on January 1, in the year one-hundred and one (101 AD).
The year 2000 is also marked as:
- The International Year for a Culture of Peace.
- The World Mathematical Year.
See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.
Events
- January 1 - Millennium celebrations take place throughout the world. Y2K passes without the serious, widespread computer failures and malfunctions that had been predicted.
- January 5-January 8 - The 2000 al-Qaida Summit
- January 6 - The last remaining Pyrenean Ibex is found dead.
- January 10 - America On-line announces an agreement to buy Time Warner for $162 billion. This is the largest-ever corporate merger.
- January 11 - the armed wing of Islamic Salvation Front concludes its negotiations with the government for an amnesty and disbands in Algeria.
- January 11 - The trawler Solway Harvester sinks off the Isle of Man.
- January 14 - A United Nations tribunal sentences five Bosnian Croats up to 25 years for the 1993 killing of over 100 Bosnian Muslims in a Bosnian village.
- January 16 - In Sacramento, California a commercial truck carrying evaporated milk is driven into the state capitol building killing the driver.
- January 24 - God's Army, Karen militia group led by twins Johnny and Luther Htoo, take 700 hostages at a Thai hospital near the Burmese border.
- January 30 - St. Louis Rams 23 defeat the Tennessee Titans 16 to win the Super_Bowl_XXXIV
- January 30 - Off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169. Within a day, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashes off the California coast into the Pacific Ocean, killing 88.
- January 31 - Dr. Harold Shipman in sentenced to life in prison for murder of at least 15 of his patients out of 365 suspected victims.
- February 4 - German extortionist Klaus-Peter Sabotta is jailed for life for attempted murder and extortion in connection with sabotage of German railway lines.
- February 6 - Tarja Halonen is elected the first Finnish female president.
- February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published.
- February 14 - The spacecraft NEAR Shoemaker entered orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.
- March 1 - The Constitution of Finland is rewritten.
- March 2 - Hans Blix assumes the position of Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC.
- March 8 - Tokyo train disaster.
- March 9 - FBI arrests suspected purveyor of art forgeries, Ely Sakhai, in New York City.
- March 10 - The NASDAQ Composite Index reaches an all-time high of 5048. ([http://dynamic.nasdaq.com/dynamic/IndexChart.asp?symbol=IXIC&desc=NASDAQ+Composite&sec=nasdaq&site=nasdaq&months=84])
- March 18 - 2000 Taiwanese presidential election: Chen Shui-bian is elected President of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
- March 20 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther, is captured after gun battle that left a sheriff's deputy dead.
- March 21 - Pope John Paul II began the first office visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to Israel.
- March 21 - US Supreme Court ruled the goverment lacked authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug, throwing out the Clinton administration's main anti-smoking initiative.
- March 26 - Presidential elections in Russia: Vladimir Putin elected President.
- March 30 - America's Cup 2000 retained by Team New Zealand near Auckland. Prada Challenge 2000 lost 0-5 in a "best-of-9".
April.]]
- April 1 - Japanese prime minister Keizo Obuchi suffers a stroke and falls into a coma.
- April 3 - United States v. Microsoft: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors.
- April 5 - Yoshiro Mori replaces Obuchi as prime minister of Japan.
- April 7 - Attack submarine ex-Trepang completes being recycled.
- April 16 - Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, Raja of Perlis dies after a reign of 55 years. He was the longest reigning monarch in the world since the death of Prince Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein.
- April 17 - Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin becomes Raja of Perlis.
- April 22 - In a predawn raid, federal agents seize six-year old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida and fly him to his Cuban father in Washington, DC ending one of the most publicized custody battles in US history.
- April 25 - The State of Vermont passes HB847, legalizing Civil Unions for same-sex couples.
- May 3 - A rare conjunction occurs on the New Moon including all seven of the traditional celestial bodies known from ancient times up until 1781 with the discovery of Uranus. The May 2000 conjunction consisted of: the Sun and Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
- May 3 - Computer pioneer Datapoint Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- May 12 - The Tate Modern opens in London.
- May 13 - In Enschede a heavy fireworks explosion kills 20 and leaves an entire neighborhood in ruins.
- May 18 - Boo.com collapses due to lack of funds after six months.
- May 25 - Israel withdraws IDF troops from southern Lebanon after 22 years.
- May 28 - The volcano Mount Cameroon erupts.
- June 1 - Mark Mendlan, professional wrestler known by his ring name "Kid Gorgeous," is killed while wrestling at a show in New Hampshire.
- June 7 - U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of the 4th circuit ordered the breakup of Microsoft Corp.
- June 10 - The New Jersey Devils defeat the Dallas Stars 4 games to 2 to win the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals.
- June 10 - The 2000 European Football Championship begins, hosted jointly by Belgium and the Netherlands.
- June 21 - Section 28, a law preventing the promotion of homosexuality is repealed by the Scottish Parliament.
- June 23 - Palace Backpackers Hostel fire in Childers, Queensland, Australia, kills 15 people.
- June 30 - During a set of the band Pearl Jam at the Roskilde Festival near Copenhagen, 9 die and 26 are injured in the crowd.
July
- July 2 - France beat Italy 2-1 to win the 2000 European Football Championship with a golden goal.
- July 2 - Presidential election of Mexico. Vicente Fox wins the Presidency as candidate of the rightist PAN (National Action Party).
- July 10 - In southern Nigeria, a leaking petroleum pipeline explodes killing about 250 villagers who were scavenging gasoline
- July 10 - Death of Denis O Conor Donn, died 10th July 2000, aged 88; succeded by his son, Desmond as The O Connor Donn
- July 18 - Alex Salmond resigns as the leader of the Scottish National Party
- July 25 - A Concorde carrying Air France Flight 4590 crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 5 on the ground.
- August 1 - The Santa Cruz Operation announced that it will sell its Server Software and Services Divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, to Caldera Systems,Inc.
- August 8 - Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.
- August 12 - The Russian submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea, resulting in the deaths of all 118 men on board.
- August 14 - The first comic of Megatokyo goes online. This webcomic will later become one of the most popular comics on the web (in terms of page views) and spawn numerous imitators.
- August 25 - the Emulex hoax - wire services publish fraudulent bad news about Emulex
- August 27 - The Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, three people are killed.
- September 5 - Tuvalu joins the United Nations.
- September 6 - In New York City, the United Nations Millennium Summit begins with more than 180 world leaders present.
- September 6 - The last wholly Swedish-owned arms manufacturer, Bofors, is sold to American arms manufacturer United Defense
- September 7–14 - The UK fuel protests take place, with refineries blockaded, and supply to the country's network of petrol stations halted.
- September 8 - Albania officially joins the World Trade Organization.
- September 15 - The 2000 Summer Olympics are opened in Sydney, Australia.
- September 16 - Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze is last seen alive; this day is taken as the commemoration date of his death.
- September 24 - The American Family Association begins lobbying the U.S. Congress to eradicate the National Endowment for the Arts for funding the controversial book One of the Guys by Robert Clark Young
- September 26 - Anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 15,000 protesters) turned violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.
- September 28 - Ariel Sharon leads several hundred armed Israelis in a visit to the Temple Mount. Palestinian civil disorder increases into the Al-Aqsa Intifada.
- September 29 - The Long Kesh prison in Northern Ireland is closed.
- October 2 NBC Today Show expanded it to three hours (7:00–10:00 A.M. Eastern Time/Pacific Time; 6:00–9:00 A.M. Central Time/Mountain Time)
- October 5 - President Slobodan Milošević leaves office after widespread demonstrations throughout Serbia and the withdrawal of Russian support.
- October 11 - 250 million gallons of coal sludge spill in Martin County, Kentucky. Considered a greater environmental disaster than the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
- October 12 - In Aden, Yemen, the USS Cole is badly damaged by two suicide bombers who placed a small boat laden with explosives along-side the United States Navy destroyer, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.
- October 21 15 Arab leaders convened in Cairo, Egypt, for their first summit in four years; the Libyan delegation walked out, angry over signs the summit would stop short of calling for breaking ties with Israel.
- October 22 – Mainichi Shinbun exposes Japanese archeologist Shinichi Fujimura as a fraud; Japanese archaeologists had based their treatises of his findings.
- October 26 - Pakistani authorities announce that their police have found an apparently ancient mummy of a persian princess in the province of Baluchistan. Iran, Pakistan and the Taliban all claim the mummy until Pakistan announces it is a forgery in April 17 2001
- October 31 - Singapore Airlines Flight 006 collides with construction equipment in the Chiang Kai Shek International Airport - 83 dead.
- October 31 - The last Jeremy clone has shut down.
November
- November - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq rejects new U.N. Security Council weapons inspections proposals
- November 1 - Yugoslavia's new democratic government joined the United Nations after eight years of U.N. ostracism under former strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
- November 3 - Widespread flooding throughout England and Wales after days of heavy rain
- November 4 - President Clinton vetoed a bill that would have criminalized the leaking of government secrets.
- November 7 - U.S. presidential election, 2000: Republican challenger George W. Bush defeats Democrat Vice President Al Gore, but the final outcome is not known for over a month because of disputed votes in Florida.
- November 7 - Criminal gang raids the Millennium Dome to steal The Millennium Star diamond but police surveillance catches them in the act
- November 7 - Hillary Rodham Clinton is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first First Lady of the United States to win public office
- November 11 - Kaprun disaster, Austria, where 155 skiers and snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel.
- November 13 - Richard C. Duncan presents his paper, "The Peak Of World Oil Production And The Road To The Olduvai Gorge", on the Olduvai theory (about the collapse of the industrial civilization), at the Summit 2000 Pardee Keynote Symposia of the Geological Society of America)
- November 14 - Netscape version 6.0 is launched following two years of open source development creating a stable Mozilla web browser upon which it is based
- November 16 - Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting US President to visit Vietnam
- November 17 - Catastrophical landslide in Log pod Mangartom,Slovenia, kills 7, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophies in Slovenia in the past 100 years.
- November 17 - Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru
- November 27 - Canada - Parliamentary elections - Jean Chrétien re-elected as Prime Minister as Liberal Party increases majority in House of Commons
- November 28 - Ukrainian politician Oleksander Moroz touches off the Cassette Scandal by publicly accusing President Leonid Kuchma of involvement in the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.
- December 1 - Mexico - Vicente Fox becomes the first opposition President to take office since Francisco I. Madero in 1911. He wins the Presidency as candidate of the rightist PAN (National Action Party).
- December 28 - U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years.
- December 30 - Rizal Day Bombings: A series of bombs explode in various places in Metro Manila, Philippines, within a span of a few hours killing 22 and injuring about a hundred.
Unknown Date
- Limited reintroduction of routinely armed police in the UK for the first time since 1936.
- Scientists at University of Szeged's laboratory were first in the world to produce artificial heredity material.
- Millie I. Webb elected president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Births
- February 23 - Max & Sam Christy, American actors
- March 15- Amy and Emily Walton, English actresses
- April 25 - Jacob & Joshua Rips, American actors
- October 6 - Amanda Pace, American actress
- October 20 - Cooper and Oliver Guynes, American actors
- November 8 - Madison and Marissa Poer, actresses
Deaths
January
- January 2 - Patrick O'Brian, English writer (b. 1914)
- January 15 - Fran Ryan, American actress (b. 1916)
- January 19 - Bettino Craxi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1934)
- January 19 - Hedy Lamarr, Austrian actress (b. 1913)
February
- February 9 - Beau Jack, American boxer (b. 1921)
- February 11 - Roger Vadim, French film director (b. 1928)
- February 12 - Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins, American musician (b. 1929)
- February 12 - Tom Landry, American football coach (b. 1924)
- February 12 - Charles M. Schulz, American comic strip artist (b. 1921)
- February 23 - Sir Stanley Matthews, English footballer (b. 1915)
April
- April 6 - Habib Bourguiba, President of Tunisia (b. 1903)
- April 16 - Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, King of Malaysia (b. 1920)
- April 25 - David Merrick, American stage producer (b. 1911)
- April 29 - Phạm Văn Ðồng, Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1906)
May
- May 11 - Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (b. 1907)
- May 12 - Adam Petty, American race car driver (b. 1980)
- May 14 - Keizo Obuchi, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937)
- May 17 - Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1909)
- May 19 - Yevgeny Khrunov, cosmonaut
2005
2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar.
2005 is the World Year of Physics, the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese calendar, and the International Year of the Eucharist in Catholicism.
See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.
Events
- January 4 - Death of the Governor of Baghdad, Ali Al-Haidri, assassinated by gunmen.
- January 9 - The same storm which pounded the US earlier in the month hits England and Scandinavia, leaving 13 dead with widespread flooding and power cuts.
- January 9 - Mahmoud Abbas is elected to succeed Yasser Arafat as Palestinian Authority president in the Palestinian election.
- January 12 - Deep Impact is launched from Kennedy Space Center by a Delta 2 rocket.
- January 13 - Terrorists enter into Israel from Gaza and open fire on civilians near border, killing 6 and wounding 5 others. Hamas and Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim joint responsibility for attack.
- January 14 - The Huygens probe lands on Titan, largest moon of Saturn.
- January 16 - Adriana Iliescu gives birth at 66, the oldest woman in the world to do so.
Adriana Iliescu.]]
- January 18 - Terrorists murder 1 person and wound 8 people in Gush Katif, Israel. Hamas claims responsibility.
- January 20 - George W. Bush is inaugurated in Washington, D.C. for his second term as 43rd President of the United States.
- January 20 - Ireland completes metrication.
- January 21 - In Belize's capital city Belmopan, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
- January 23 - Viktor Yushchenko is sworn in as the third President of Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine.
- January 25 - A stampede at Mandher Devi temple in Mandhradevi during a religious pilgrimage in India kills at least 215, mostly women and small children.
- January 30 - The first free Parliamentary elections in Iraq since 1958 take place.
- January 30 - A Royal Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane crashes in Iraq, killing 10 British servicemen. Iraqi insurgents release a video claiming to have shot the aircraft down using a missile.
- February 6 - The New England Patriots defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 to win their third Super Bowl in four years.
- February 8 - Danish parliamentary elections continue the center-right coalition led by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and his Liberal Party.
- February 9 - An ETA car bomb injures 31 people at a conference centre in Madrid.
- February 10 - North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons as a protection against the hostility it feels from the United States.
- February 10 - Saudi Arabia holds its first ever elections for municipal authorities, in which only men are allowed to vote.
- February 12 - Fire devastates the Windsor Building, a 32 story office block, in Madrid.
- February 14 - A massive suicide bomb blast in central Beirut kills Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri and at least 15 other people. At least 135 other people were also hurt.
- February 14 - Around 59 people are killed and 200 injured in a fire at a mosque in Tehran, Iran.
Iran emissions of greenhouse gases.]]
- February 16 - The Kyoto Protocol comes into effect, without the support of the United States and Australia.
- February 16 - The National Hockey League cancels its 2004-2005 season becoming the first North American professional league to cancel a season due to a labour dispute.
- February 19 - Suicide bombers kill more than 30 people in Iraq as Shia Muslims mark Ashura, their holiest day.
- February 20 - Spanish referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
- February 20 - Early Legislative elections in Portugal result in a landslide victory for José Sócrates and the Socialist Party.
- February 22 - More than 500 people are killed and over 1,000 injured after entire villages are flattened in an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale in Zarand region of Kerman province in southern Iran.
- February 25 - The Serial Killer Dennis Rader is apprehended by Wichita Police and the FBI.
- February 25 - Terrorists murder 5 people and wound 50 people in Tel Aviv, Israel. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for attack.
- February 26 - Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt asks parliament to amend the constitution to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005.
- March 1 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules the death penalty unconstitutional for juveniles who committed their crimes under age 18.
- March 3 - At 19:17 the 3500-ton freighter, M/V Karen Danielsen, crashes into the Western bridge of the Great Belt Bridge of Denmark, 800m from Funen. All traffic across the bridge is closed, effectively separating Denmark in two.
- March 3 - Millionaire Steve Fossett breaks a world record by completing the first non-stop, non-refueled, solo flight around the world in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer.
- March 10 - | | |