The
San Joaquin Valley is the area of the
Central Valley of the
U.S. state of
California that lies south of the
Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the
San Joaquin River. Seven
Northern California counties comprise the San Joaquin Valley: all of
Kings County; a majority of
Fresno,
Merced,
Stanislaus counties; segments of
Madera,
Tulare counties and the
Southern California county of
Kern Although a majority of the valley is rural, it does contain urban cities such as
Fresno,
Bakersfield,
Stockton,
Modesto,
Turlock,
Porterville,
Visalia,
Merced, and
Hanford.