Palo Alto, << PAL oh AL toh, >> California (pop. 68,572), lies between San Francisco Bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains, 32 miles (51 kilometers) south of San Francisco. Palo Alto means tall tree in Spanish. This refers to a tall redwood, a landmark at the northwest entrance to the city.
Palo Alto is one of the nation’s leading educational, electronics, medical, and research centers. Stanford University is nearby. The area from Palo Alto southeast to San Jose is called Silicon Valley because of its many computer-related industries. It is so named because silicon is used to make computer chips.
Palo Alto was founded in 1888 and called University Park. Its name was changed to Palo Alto in 1892. The city has a council-manager form of government.
