Chapter 2: Physical Environment

Photo courtesy of: http://www.landsat.com/merced-county-california-aerial-photography-2010.html

As mentioned before, Merced lies in the heart of the Central Valley. Therefore the town is surrounded with low, flat land that has been used for agriculture. As you can see from this aerial view, Merced County has been created in a sort of patchwork quilt, with the city right in the middle. The symmetrical rectangles and lines that separate each field have been precisely placed in order to determine property.

During the Spring season, Merced is surrounded with acres and acres of these blossoming almond trees, along with many others.

September 2004, the beginning stages of UC Merced.

When plans were put into place to start the construction of UC Merced, there was controversy as to where it would be built. The local politicians and Chancellor of the University did not want to destroy any of the precious land. In the end, the city of Merced decided on a place out in the country, but unfortunately, the deconstruction of the Merced Hills golf course, a popular local spot, had to take place. The construction took place in the South East part of Merced. As you can also see here, the campus is surrounded by dry, desolate land.

Chapter 1: Regions and Themes

Photo Courtesy of: http://www.villamarinelifestylescalifornia.com/page/California_Central_Valley_Hotels_Attractions

There are 12 main regions in the state of California. Merced is located in the heart of the Central Valley region which is surrounded by the High Sierra region, the Central Coast Region, the Gold County region, and the San Francisco Bay Area region. As you can see, Merced really is the "bellybutton" of California meaning that it is located almost right in the middle of the state.Click here for  Info on all 12 Regions.

	White persons, percent, 2011 (a)	82.1%	74.0%
	Black persons, percent, 2011 (a)	4.3%	6.6%
	American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2011 (a)	2.4%	1.7%
	Asian persons, percent, 2011 (a)	7.9%	13.6%
	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander persons, percent, 2011 (a)	0.4%	0.5%
	Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2011	2.9%	3.6%
	Persons of Hispanic or Latino Origin, percent, 2011 (b)	55.7%	38.1%
	White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2011	31.3%	39.7%

Statistics Courtesy of The United States Census Bureau, 2010. The column on the left are number for just Merced County and the column on the right are numbers for the entire state of California.

An important theme in Merced is the diversity of cultures and nationalities. According to the United States Census Bureau, Merced County is home to 82.1% White persons, and 55.7% of Hispanic or Lations. Between these two extreme numbers lies many other small numbers of different nationalities.

Welcome!

Merced, CA is home to the newest University of California which had its first graduating class on May 16, 2009. The one and only, first lady, Michelle Obama was the commencement speaker at the ceremony.  The university has been accredited for its advanced engineering and biochemistry programs. According to http://www.ucmerced.edu/about-uc-merced as of fall, 2011 UC Merced had 5,200 undergraduate and graduate students. The campus assumes a projected student enrollment of 7,466 by 2015-2016.

 I was born and raised in this town where the population has grown to approximately 86,000. Merced is located an hour North of Fresno, and about 40 minutes South of Modesto.