Irvine

About Irvine

Irvine ( UR-vyne) is a planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s. The city was formally incorporated on December 28, 1971. The 66-square-mile (170 km2) city had a population of 318,629 as of June 2025. As of 2025, it is the second most populous city in Orange County, fifth most in the Greater Los Angeles region, and 63rd most in the United States.

Several major corporations in the technology and semiconductor sectors maintain their headquarters in Irvine. Irvine is also home to several higher-education institutions including the University of California, Irvine (UCI), Concordia University, Irvine Valley College, and campuses of University of La Verne and Pepperdine University.

The Kizh (Tongva) people (also known as Gabrieleño) inhabited the Irvine area for thousands of years prior to European contact. In the present, the city and the schools within are taking action to educate the community about the indigenous history. In 2024 there was a proposal to create a village based on Putuidem...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.