Santa Ana (Spanish for “Saint Anne”) is the county seat of Orange County, California and part of the Greater Los Angeles region in Southern California. The city recorded a population of 310,227 in the 2020 United States census and ranked as the third most populous in Orange County by 2023, after Anaheim and Irvine. It is also the 14th largest city in California and 65th in the United States, serving as a major economic and cultural hub for the Orange Coast. The area’s recorded history began in 1810 when the Spanish governor granted Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana to José Antonio Yorba. After the Mexican War of Independence, the Yorba family expanded the rancho into one of the region’s largest properties. Following the American Conquest of California, ownership passed to the Sepúlveda family, who later lost the land claim. In 1869, William H. Spurgeon purchased the property and established modern Santa Ana. Today, roughly 80% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino Americans, leading The New York Times to call Santa Ana “the face of a new California,” where Latinos hold significant electoral, cultural, and demographic influence.