Fresno, California

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4km) and Yosemite. Fresno enjoys a Mediterranean climate, with average annual temperatures of 20°C, and has 300 days of sunshine in the year. The town's name comes from the Spanish word "fresno" (ash-tree).

Economy

As it did at the start of its existence, the town's economy still depends largely on its agricultural products, especially grapes, nectarines, plums, tomatoes and peaches. As Fresno lies in the unusually fertile San Joaquin Valley the total value of its agricultural production can exceed 2 billion dollars per year.

In addition, one of the world's biggest dried fruit firms (Sun Maid) is based here.

Colleges

32,500 students in all are registered at the two colleges of California State University and City College. There are also 35 specialist colleges. Probably Fresno's most famous son is the writer William Saroyan.

Population

When it received its municipal charter in 1885, Fresno had exactly 3,464 inhabitants, mainly Armenians, Volga Germans, Danes, Swedes, Irish, Scots, English and Portuguese, who had decided, on the basis of newspaper advertisements, to settle in Fresno. In the first decade of this century the town still had no more than 12,000 inhabitants; since then it has expanded rapidly; in the last decade alone the town has grown by over a third.