San Francisco
Founded in 1776 by Spanish missionaries and colonists,San Francisco (Spanish for Saint Francis), officially the City and County of San Francisco, population 870,000, is "the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California." (Wikipedia). Located at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula, and at the "Golden Gate" or narrow mouth of San Francisco Bay, after which the city was named, San Francisco is about 48 square miles (124 km2) in area, the smallest county—and only consolidated city-county—in California.
San Francisco is notable for its large population and population density:
High density - With a density of about 18,581 people per square mile (7,174 people/km2), San Francisco is the most densely settled large city in California and the second-most densely populated major city in the United States after New York City.
Populous - San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in California, after Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose, and the 13th-most populous city in the United States—with a census-estimated 2016 population of 870,887.
The city and its surrounding areas (encompassing nine California counties which border the Bay) are known as the San Francisco Bay Area, and are a part of the larger OMB-designated San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland combined statistical area, the fifth most populous in the nation with an estimated population of 8.7 million.
-- adapted from Wikipedia: San Francisco.
Government
San Francisco (the City and County of San Francisco) has been in place as a consolidated city-county (the only such jurisdiction in California) since 1856 when it split from adjoining San Mateo County.
As a consolidated city-county of the Mayor of San Francisco is also the chief county executive and the County Board of Supervisors also fills the role of a City Council.
San Francisco's charter sets out that the city-county's government consist of two co-equal branches:
Executive Branch - This branch includes the Mayor and other city-wide elected and appointed office-holders, as well as the City and County's civil service
Legislative Branch - The legislative branch consists of the Board of Supervisors, elected to ten specific districts within the City, headed by a president. The Board is responsible for passing laws and budgets and the President of the Board of Supervisors steps in to fill the vacancy in the Executive Branch upon the death or resignation of the Mayor.
Note that legislation in San Francisco is also made through a direct ballot initiative/referendum process.
Neighborhoods and Internal Geographic Designations
City-designated "Analysis Neighborhoods" (41 neighborhoods)
Bayview Hunters Point | Bernal Heights | Castro/Upper Market | Chinatown | Excelsior | Financial District/South Beach | Glen Park | Golden Gate Park | Haight Ashbury | Hayes Valley | Inner Richmond | Inner Sunset | Japantown | Lakeshore | Lincoln Park | Lone Mountain/USF | Marina | McLaren Park | Mission | Mission Bay | Nob Hill | Noe Valley | North Beach | Oceanview/Merced/Ingleside | Outer Mission | Outer Richmond | Pacific Heights | Portola | Potrero Hill | Presidio | Presidio Heights | Russian Hill | Seacliff | South of Market | Sunset/Parkside | Tenderloin | Treasure Island | Twin Peaks | Visitacion Valley | West of Twin Peaks | Western Addition
San Francisco Planning Neighborhoods
San Francisco Realtor Neighborhoods
Alamo Square | Anza Vista | Balboa Terrace | Bayview | Bayview Heights | Bernal Heights | Buena Vista - Ashbury Heights | Candlestick Point | Central Richmond | Central Sunset | Central Waterfront - Dogpatch | Clarendon Heights | Cole Valley/Parnassus Heights | Corona Heights | Cow Hollow | Crocker Amazon | Diamond Heights | Downtown | Duboce Triangle | Eureka Vally - Dolores Heights | Excelsior | Financial District - Barbary Coast | Forest Hill | Forest Hill Extension | Forest Knolls | Glen Park | Golden Gate Heights | Haight Ashbury | Hayes Valley | Hunters Point | Ingleside | Ingleside Heights | Ingleside Terrace | Inner Mission | Inner Parkside | Inner Richmond | Inner Sunset | Jordan Park - Laurel Heights | Lake Shore | Lakeside | Lake Street | Little Hollywood | Lone Mountain | Lower Pacific Heights | Marina | Merced Heights | Merced Manor | Midtown Terrace | Miraloma Park | Mission Bay | Mission Dolores | Mission Terrace| Monterey Heights | Mount Davidson Manor | Nob Hill| Noe Valley | North Beach | North Panhandle | North Waterfront | Oceanview | Outer Mission | Outer Parkside | Outer Richmond | Outer Sunset | Pacific Heights | Parkside | Pine Lake Park | Portola | Potrero Hill | Presidio Heights | Russian Hill | Saint Francis Wood | Sea Cliff | Sherwood Forest | Silver Terrace | South Beach | South of Market | Stonestown | Sunnyside | Telegraph Hill | Tenderloin | Twin Peaks Van Ness - Civic Center | Visitacion Valley | Western Addition | West Portal | Westwood Highlands | Westwood Park | Yerba Buena
Supervisor Districts (Numbered 1-10)
District 1 - Northwest District 2 - Central West District 3 - Southwest District 4 - Twin Peaks West District 5 - Central District 6 - Central North District 7 - North District 8 - Northeast District 9 - Central East District 10 - Southeast
San Francisco Police Department Districts (10 districts. Note that the Presidio is policed by the United States Park Police)
Bayview | Central | Ingleside | Mission | Northern | Park | Richmond | Southern | Taraval | Tenderloin
Nicknames & Motto
The City; The City by the Bay; The Golden City; Fog City; San Fran, Saint Frank, Frisco (all 3 locally disparaged); The City that Knows How (past); Baghdad by the Bay (past); The Paris of the West (past)
Motto:Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra (Spanish); (English: "Gold in Peace, Iron in War").
References
San Francisco Analysis Neighborhoods https://data.sfgov.org/Geographic-Locations-and-Boundaries/Analysis-Neighborhoods/p5b7-5n3h/data
San Francisco Indicator Project Geographic Boundaries http://sfgov.maps.arcgis.com/apps/OnePane/basicviewer/index.html?appid=e4927a261ae044959ec4d4932b047ff8
San Francisco (Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco