San Jose

San Jose is a large city in Santa Clara County, California, spreading over a wide area framed by mountain ranges to the east and west. The city stretches in several directions, with residential neighborhoods, commercial zones and green spaces forming a sprawling urban mosaic that reaches toward the foothills.

The settlement was established in 1777 as El Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe and served as California's first capital. In the second half of the 20th century, the city transformed through the arrival of technology companies, shifting from an agricultural region to a center of the computer industry.

Visitors walk through neighborhoods where dozens of languages are spoken, as many residents come from Asian and Latin American countries and shape the cityscape through shops, restaurants and festivals. On weekends, families gather in parks and community centers while tech workers sit in cafes with laptops, merging startup culture with older neighborhood traditions.

Norman Y. Mineta International Airport sits north of downtown and offers connections to national and international destinations, while several highways link the city to San Francisco and other regions. Visitors mostly move around by car, as public transit is less frequent than in older California cities.

The Winchester Mystery House draws visitors with its unusual architecture, as owner Sarah Winchester continuously added rooms, staircases and hallways over 38 years without following an overall plan. The result is a maze of chambers, including staircases that lead nowhere and doors that open onto walls.

Location: Santa Clara County

Inception: November 29, 1777

Elevation above the sea: 25 m

Shares border with: Milpitas, Fremont, Los Gatos, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Saratoga, Campbell, Morgan Hill

Address: San Jose, CA, USA

Website: https://sanjoseca.gov

GPS coordinates: 37.33617,-121.89059

Latest update: December 2, 2025 21:13