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About Riverside County
Covering 7,207 square miles from the Los Angeles metropolitan area eastward to the Arizona border, Riverside County includes vast areas of desert, as well as the L.A. suburbs. Most of Joshua Tree National Park lies within the county. The Salton Sea, at 228 feet below sea level, is also partially in the county. The forested San Jacinto Mountains, rise to 9,000 feet in elevation in the eastern part of the county, and the resort town of Palm Springs sits at their feet. The Santa Ana Mountains form the western boundary, and the Colorado River is on the eastern boundary. The Palo Verde Valley is a rich agricultural area, thanks to irrigation water from the Colorado River.
Riverside County was established in 1893, including portions of San Bernardino County to the north and Sand Diego County to the south. It covers 7,207 square miles and is home to 1,545,387 people. Interstate 10 traverses the county from east to west, hitting the major towns of Riverside, Palm Springs and Blythe.