Inland Empire

The Inland Empire (I.E.) is a region in Southern California. The term may be used to refer to the cities of western Riverside County and southwestern San Bernardino County. A generally broader definition will include eastern Los Angeles County cities in the Pomona Valley, and/or the desert community of Palm Springs as well as its surrounding area; a much larger definition will include all of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

The U.S. Census Bureau-defined Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area, which comprises Riverside County and San Bernardino County, California, covers more than 27,000 square miles (70,000 km²) and has a population of approximately 4 million. Most of the area's population is located in southwestern San Bernardino County and northwestern Riverside County. At the end of the 19th century, the Inland Empire was a major center of agriculture, including citrus, dairy, and wine-making. Agriculture declined through the 20th century, and since the 1970s a rapidly growing population, fed by families migrating in search of affordable housing, has led to more residential, industrial, and commercial development.

San Bernardino Tunnel

The San Bernardino road tunnel is a road tunnel in the canton of Graubünden in south-eastern Switzerland. It runs under the San Bernardino Pass between the town of San Bernardino and the town of Hinterrhein, and forms part of the A13 motorway and the European route E43. The tunnel was completed in 1967 and is 6,596 metres (21,640 ft) long. Since the opening of the tunnel, the Val Mesolcina, one of the Italian-speaking southern valleys of Graubünden, is now connected all-year round with the rest of the canton.

The San Bernardino Tunnel is part of the A13 as a single carriageway freeway and therefore passes through one bore without a central physical structure. As there is only one lane per direction, overtaking (passing other vehicles) inside the tunnel is not permitted. The speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) is enforced by means of speed-check cameras. This road tunnel is considerably less prone to traffic jams than the St. Gotthard Tunnel.

The old name Vogelberg may refer to the migratory birds who pass by here every year in large flocks. These have now also discovered the tunnel as a "shortcut". Sometimes, the traffic must be stopped so that the birds find their way undisturbed.

San Bernardino Pass

San Bernardino Pass (elevation 2,066 metres or 6,778 feet) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting the Hinterrhein and the Mesolcina (Misox) valleys between Thusis (Graubünden) and Bellinzona (Ticino). Located in the far eastern side of the Western Alps it is not to be confused with the Great St. Bernard Pass and the Little St. Bernard Pass. The top of the pass represents both the Italo-German language frontier and the watershed (drainage divide) between the Po basin and the Rhine basin.

The route first became important as a mule track in the fifteenth century when the route between Thusis and Splügen was known as the Via Mala. A road for wheeled vehicles was opened in 1770; this road was significantly improved between 1821 and 1823, financed in part by the Kingdom of Sardinia, keen to improve a trade route connecting Genoa and Piedmont to the Graubünden that was not directly controlled by Austria.

Traffic flow was much facilitated when in 1967, the San Bernardino road tunnel was completed, since then vehicle traffic on the pass has been reduced, benefiting those taking the time to avoid the tunnel. The pass road is only open in summer.

San Bernardino County, California

San Bernardino County, California, officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, making it the fifth-most populous county in California, and the 12th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is San Bernardino.

San Bernardino County is included in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as the Inland Empire, as well as the Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA Combined Statistical Area.

With an area of 20,105 square miles, San Bernardino County is the largest county in the United States by area, although some of Alaska's boroughs and census areas are larger. It is larger than each of the nine smallest states, larger than the four smallest states combined, and larger than 71 different sovereign nations.

Located in southeast California, the thinly populated deserts and mountains of this vast county stretch from where the bulk of the county population resides in two Census County Divisions, some 1,422,745 people as of the 2010 Census, covering the 450 square miles (1,166 km²) south of the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino Valley, to the Nevada border and the Colorado River.