Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting Alaska, the city lies between the steeply rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Santa Barbara's climate is often described as Mediterranean , and the city has been dubbed "The American Riviera".
In addition to being a popular tourist and resort destination, the city has a diverse economy that includes a large service sector, education, technology, health care, finance, agriculture, manufacturing, and local government. The Santa Barbara area is connected via U.
Highway to Los Angeles mi km to the southeast and San Francisco mi km to the northwest. Behind the city, in and beyond the Santa Ynez Mountains, is the Los Padres National Forest , which contains several remote wilderness areas. Evidence of human habitation of the area begins at least 13, years ago. Evidence for a Paleoindian presence includes a fluted Clovis -like point found in the s along the western Santa Barbara County coast, as well as the remains of Arlington Springs Man , found on Santa Rosa Island in the s.
At least 25, Chumash natives lived in the region prior to Spanish contact. Cabrillo's earlier name, however, is the one that has survived. The first permanent European residents were Spanish missionaries and soldiers under Felipe de Neve , who arrived in and constructed the Presidio. They were sent to both secure the Spanish claim to the region and to convert the indigenous peoples to Catholicism. Many of the Spaniards brought their families with them, and those formed the nucleus of the small town β at first just a cluster of adobes β that surrounded the Presidio of Santa Barbara.
It was the tenth of the California Missions to be founded by the Spanish Franciscans. The Chumash laborers built a connection between the canyon creek and the Santa Barbara Mission water system through the use of a dam and an aqueduct. The most dramatic event of the Spanish period was the powerful earthquake , and tsunami , with an estimated magnitude of 7.
