Redwood City is a city and the county seat of San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the Bay Area. It sits about 27 miles south of San Francisco and 24 miles northwest of San Jose, between the Santa Cruz Mountains and San Francisco Bay. With a population of about 84,000, it anchors the southern end of the Peninsula and serves as the seat of county government. The city is best known today as a technology and software hub. Oracle, Electronic Arts, Box, Informatica, and Evernote are among the companies headquartered in or associated with Redwood City, with research and development campuses clustered along Veterans Boulevard, Middlefield Road, and the downtown core, alongside a growing biotech presence. That employment base gives the city an identity that bridges the county-seat civic role and Silicon Valley industry. Downtown Redwood City has become a regional destination. The restored Fox Theatre anchors a dining and entertainment district centered on Broadway and Courthouse Square, which hosts concerts, festivals, and community events through the year. The historic motto Climate Best by Government Test, adopted in the early twentieth century, still captures the mild, temperate weather that shapes life here. The city blends that urban energy with access to nature. Bair Island Wildlife Refuge and the bayfront trails sit minutes from downtown, the Port of Redwood City is the only deep-water port in the South Bay, and the Santa Cruz Mountains rise just to the west. Caltrain service through the heart of the city connects residents to San Francisco and San Jose, while the Redwood City School District and Sequoia Union High School District anchor a strong public-school system that draws families across the Peninsula.