San Francisco is a bustling metropolis known as much for its diverse culture as for its rolling hills, fog, and cable cars. Stretching seven miles in each direction, the City by the Bay sits on the tip of a peninsula and is bordered by San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. This location gives San Francisco the benefit of cool, mild weather all year round, but it also blankets the city in fog for months at a time. San Francisco is a liberal city, with a mixing of cultures from almost every nation in the world. Neighborhoods like Chinatown, the Mission District, and Little Italy all maintain their own distinct cultural identity, even while contributing to San Francisco's melting pot.

The city actually began as the Mission San Francisco de Asís, founded by the Spanish in 1776, and the area became a part of Mexico in 1821. The small trading village of Yerba Buena was founded near the mission in 1835, which drew American settlers to the Golden Gate area. California was claimed by the U.S. in 1846, during the Mexican-American War, and Yerba Buena's name was changed to San Francisco. Despite its status as a trading port and naval base, however, San Francisco didn't truly begin to grow until 1848 with the discovery of gold. A number of entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the sudden wealth, establishing early on San Francisco's status as a major commercial center. The banking industry and the railroads also flourished in the wake of the California Gold Rush.