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Oakland is a city in central California on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay and a major industrial center and West Coast port. Oakland is among the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States.
Oakland is known for its comfortable climate. In January the average high temperature is 14° C (57° F) and the average low 4° C (40° F); in July the average high is 24° C (75° F) and the low 12° C (53° F). Oakland receives about 640 mm (25 in) of precipitation annually. The period between October and April is the rainy season and the summer months are quite dry.
The Spanish named a portion of the region Encinal del Temescal ("oak grove by the sweathouse") because of the area's luxuriant growth of oaks. When the city was laid out in the 1850s, the name Oakland was chosen by its founders.
The Ohlone or Costanoan peoples were living around the shores of San Francisco Bay when the first Europeans arrived in the 1770s to explore the area, then claimed as part of the Spanish Empire. In 1820 the Spanish government granted much of the east bay to rancher Luis Maria Peralta. At about the time the United States assumed control of California following the Mexican War (1846-1848), Oakland became a port of entry and supply base for miners rushing to newly discovered gold fields. Oakland was chartered in 1852 and incorporated as a city in 1854. Its importance increased after 1869 when Oakland became the western terminus of the transcontinental railroad.
Oakland grew rapidly in the 20th century. Following the disastrous San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, many families and businesses relocated from San Francisco to Oakland. Within a decade Oakland's population more than doubled. World War II (1939-1945) also brought tremendous growth and change to Oakland. Thousands of war workers and their families moved to the area to work in wartime shipyards. Many members of the armed forces who were stationed at nearby military bases chose to remain in the area after the war. The war also increased the region's ethnic diversity.
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