Central Valley (California)

The Central Valley is a broad, flat valley that dominates the interior of California, running roughly 450 miles from north-northwest to south-southeast and 40 to 60 miles wide, and covering about 18,000 square miles, some 11 percent of the state's land area. It formed as a basin below sea level created by subduction of the Farallon Plate, later filled by sediment eroding off the surrounding Coast Ranges to the west and the Sierra Nevada to the east, which produced its characteristic flatness. The valley is made up of three drainage systems, the wetter Sacramento Valley in the north, the drier San Joaquin Valley in the south, and the semi-arid Tulare Basin, and it holds cities including Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield and Stockton. Its deep alluvial soils make it one of the most productive agricultural regions on Earth, producing more than half of the fruits, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States.