Bakersfield metropolitan area
| Kern County, California | |||||||
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| County | |||||||
| County of Kern | |||||||
Images, from top down, left to right: Downtown Bakersfield, Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, Fort Tejon barracks, a fighter jet landing at Edwards Air Force Base, the Midway-Sunset Oil Field
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 Location in the state of California |
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| Coordinates: 35°20′N 118°43′W / 35.34°N 118.72°WCoordinates: 35°20′N 118°43′W / 35.34°N 118.72°W | |||||||
| Country |  United States of America |
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| State |
 California
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| Incorporated | 1866 | ||||||
| County seat (and largest city) |
 Bakersfield
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| Area | |||||||
| • Total | 8,163 sq mi (21,140 km2) | ||||||
| • Land | 8,132 sq mi (21,060 km2) | ||||||
| • Water | 31 sq mi (80 km2) | ||||||
| Highest elevation | 8,755 ft (2,669 m) | ||||||
| Lowest elevation | 206 ft (63 m) | ||||||
| Population (April 1, 2010) | |||||||
| • Total | 839,631 | ||||||
| • Estimate (2015) | 882,176 | ||||||
| • Density | 100/sq mi (40/km2) | ||||||
| Time zone | Pacific Time Zone (UTC−8) | ||||||
| • Summer (DST) | Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7) | ||||||
| Area code | 661 | ||||||
| FIPS code | 06-029 | ||||||
| GNIS feature ID | 2054176 | ||||||
| Website | www |
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Kern County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 839,631. Its county seat is Bakersfield.
Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, CA Metropolitan statistical area. The county spans the southern end of the Central Valley. Covering 8,161.42 square miles (21,138.0 km2), it ranges west to the southern slope of the Coast Ranges, and east beyond the southern slope of the eastern Sierra Nevada into the Mojave Desert, at the city of Ridgecrest. Its northernmost city is Delano and its southern reach expands just beyond Lebec to the Grapevine and the northern tip of the parallel Antelope Valley.
The county's economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction. There is also a strong aviation, space, and military presence, such as Edwards Air Force Base, the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, and the Mojave Air and Space Port. It is one of the fastest growing areas in the United States in terms of population growth, and suffers from significant water supply issues and poor air quality.
The area was claimed by the Spanish in 1769, and in 1772 Commander Don Pedro Fages became the first European to enter it, from the south by way of the Grapevine Canyon.
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