SAN FRANCISCO The city by the bay

San Francisco is the fourth-largest city in the state of California, United States, in terms of population. It is a consolidated city situated at the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula that forms San Francisco Bay. The Bay is spanned by two landmarks, the Golden Gate and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridges. It is also graced by four islands - Alcatraz, Angel, Yerba Buena and Treasure. San Francisco is well-known for its more than 40 hills. The main ones (Lone Mountain, Mount Davidson, Nob, Rincon, Russian, Telegraph, and Twin Peaks) led to the Roman soubriquet of 'City of the Seven Hills'. Some call it the City by the Bay, but to most of the locals it is simply "the city". The first Europeans to settle in San Francisco were the Spanish, in 1776. The city was devastated by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but was rebuilt quickly. The phoenix on the city's flag represents San Francisco's "rebirth" from the ashes of the fire that resulted from the quake.

I SPY…

Cable Car System: San Francisco cable car system is the world's last permanently operational manually operated cable car system, and is now an icon of the city of San Francisco in California. Did you know that the cable cars-invented in San Francisco in 1873 were named the country's first moving historical landmark in 1964? Read more in the Magazine...