Berkeley ( BURK-lee) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryville to the south and the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington to the north. Its eastern border with Contra Costa County generally follows the ridge of the Berkeley Hills. The 2020 census recorded a population of 124,321.
Berkeley is home to the oldest campus in the University of California system, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which is managed and operated by the university. It also has the Graduate Theological Union, one of the largest religious studies institutions in the world. Berkeley is considered one of the most socially progressive cities in the United States.


The site of today's City of Berkeley was the territory of the Chochenyo/Huchiun band of the Ohlone people when Europeans first arrived. Other artifacts were discovered in the 1950s in a downtown area during remodeling, near today's upper campus. The first people of European descent (most likely Spanish missionaries) arrived with Juan Bautista de Anza, who led an expedition from Mexico that began its westward journey on November 2, 1776. Today, this is noted by signage on Interstate 80 and U.S.

Berkeley City Map Poster

Design your own map of Berkeley

About Berkeley

Cities near Berkeley