Santa Rosa is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California’s Wine Country and Redwood Coast. It is the fifth most populous city in the Bay Area after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont; and the 25th most populous city in California.

Before the arrival of Europeans, what became known as the Santa Rosa Plain was occupied by a strong and populous tribe of Pomo natives known as the Bitakomtara. The Bitakomtara controlled the area closely, barring passage to others until permission was arranged. Those who entered without permission were subject to harsh penalties. The tribe gathered at ceremonial times on Santa Rosa Creek near present-day Spring Lake Regional Park.

Following the arrival of Europeans, initially Spanish explorers and colonists, the Pomos were decimated by smallpox brought from Europe. Social displacement and disruption followed. By 1900, the Pomo population had decreased by 95%.

Santa Rosa was founded in 1833 and named by Mexican colonists after Saint Rose of Lima. The first known permanent European settlement here was the homestead of the Carrillo family of California, in-laws to Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, who settled the Sonoma pueblo and Petaluma area. In the 1830s, during the Mexican period, the family of María López de Carrillo built an adobe house on their Rancho Cabeza de Santa Rosa land grant, just east of what later became downtown Santa Rosa. By the 1820s, before the Carrillos built their adobe in the 1830s, Spanish and Mexican settlers from nearby Sonoma and other settlements to the south were known to raise livestock in the area.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 41.50 sq mi (107.5 km²). Of that area, 41.29 sq mi (106.9 km²) is land and 0.205 sq mi (0.5 km²), comprising 0.49%, is water. .

The city is in the watershed of Santa Rosa Creek, which rises on Hood Mountain and discharges to the Laguna de Santa Rosa. Tributary basins to Santa Rosa Creek lying significantly in the city are Brush Creek, Matanzas Creek, and Piner Creek. Other water bodies within the city include Fountaingrove Lake, Lake Ralphine, and Santa Rosa Creek Reservoir.

In the United States House of Representatives, Santa Rosa is in California’s 5th congressional district, represented by Republican Tom McClintock. It was moved to the district beginning with the 2013 Congress. In the 1980s, future U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer was Santa Rosa’s representative.

In the California State Legislature, the city is in California’s 2nd State Senate district. The city is split between California’s 2nd and 10th State Assembly districts.

The city’s Mayor is Chris Rogers, its Vice Mayor is Natalie Rogers, and the other five council members are Eddie Alvarez, Victoria Fleming, Jack Tibbits, John Sawyer, and Tom Schwedhelm.

The city council in 2013 adopted a set of “Goals and Strategic Objectives” through 2015 comprising six main goals. A “strong, sustainable” economy topped the list; other goals include showing leadership in environmental and cultural issues, and promoting “partnerships between neighborhoods, community organizations, schools, and the City”.

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Santa Rosa has 91,998 registered voters. Of those, 47,905 (52.1%) are registered Democrats, 15,260 (16.6%) are registered Republicans, and 24,012 (26.1%) have declined to state a political party. Source: (Wikipedia)