Monterey County is a county on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. The population of the county in 2021 was 437,325.[1] The coastline of Monterey County includes Big Sur, Highway 1, and the scenic 17 Mile Drive in Pacific Grove and Carmel that traces the perimeter of the Monterey Peninsula. Tourism is an important part of the economy in the coastal regions of Monterey county, although agriculture is more dominant in the inland Salinas Valley.
The first people to live in the Monterey Bay Area were the Ohlone.[2] Ancient shell mounds in the Bay Area suggest human settlements were established about 4000 BCE.[3] Spanish explorers first landed in Monterey in 1602, and the city of Monterey was the capital of California while it was under Spanish and Mexican rule. There are also a variety of historic Catholic mission churches, some dating as far back as the 18th century. Monterey has a rich history and is one of California's most historically important cities. The Monterey Bay is also an important marine environment due to its unusual geography and high biological diversity, and the entire coast of Monterey County (as well as the coast north to the San Francisco Bay) is designated the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The Monterey Bay has a high concentration of species, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. Monterey Bay also features an underwater canyon, Monterey Canyon, that is as deep as the Grand Canyon, and which makes the waters of the Bay nutrient-rich, helping support an ecosystem that includes large mammals such as whales and dolphins, as well as sharks (including Great white sharks). The close proximity of the canyon to the shore has greatly facilitated scientific research of deep sea environments, and Monterey County is home to a variety of world-class marine research institutions, as well as the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. The Monterey Bay provides many recreational opportunities for tourists, including scuba diving, surfing, swimming, fishing, and sailing.
Monterey County has also held strategic importance, both historically and currently. It is home to several former and current U.S. military installations and facilities, including Fort Ord, a decommissioned Army base that housed soldiers going through basic training during World War II; the Defense Language Institute, which provides foreign language training in over a dozen languages for U.S. and foreign military, U.S. government, and law enforcement personnel; and the Naval Postgraduate School, which is operated by the Navy and which offers graduate degrees to U.S. military and Department of Defense personnel. Monterey County's significant military population and presence, as well as its abundance of research institutions focused on marine environments, and the proximity to the Bay Area, mean the county attracts a significant number of visitors associated with the military.
Several artists have called Monterey County home, including writer and Nobel prize laureate John Steinbeck (Salinas and Pacific Grove), writer Robert Louis Stevenson (Pacific Grove), surrealist painter Salvador Dalí (Monterey), and California poet Robinson Jeffers (Carmel-by-the-Sea).
