San Francisco Overview

San Francisco is known as the "Paris of the West". The city encompasses approximately 47 square miles on the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula. With over 800,000 residents, it is the fourth most populous city in California and the second-most densely populated large city in the United States. San Francisco is the financial, technological, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San Francisco Bay Area, a region of over 7 million people.

San Francisco's has unique status as a major architectural landmark and epicenter. With its interesting and challenging variations in geography and topology and tumultuous history, San Francisco is known worldwide for its particularly eclectic mix of historic, Victorian, Edwardian and modern architecture and its famous landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, and the Transamerica Pyramid. The city is also a principal banking, technology and finance center and is home to over 30 international financial institutions.