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San Francisco is a city located on the Pacific Coast of North America. It is about midway between the northern and southern borders of California. Its latitude is 38 degrees N, and its longitude is 122 degrees W.
San Francisco sits on the fingertip of a peninsula with the Pacific Ocean to the west, San Francisco Bay to the east, and Golden Gate Straits to the north. Daly City, in San Mateo County, borders it to the south and is a continuation of the peninsular area. The area called San Francisco is approximately 47 square miles of land and 83 square miles of water. The city itself is about 7 miles wide.
There are four large islands in San Francisco Bay: Alcatraz, Angel Island, Treasure Island, and Yerba Buena Island.
San Francisco has three natural lakes within the chain of lakes in Golden Gate Park. There are three other natural lakes: Lake Merced, which flows into the ocean, Pine Lake at the south end of Sigmund Stern Grove, and Mountain Lake near the Presidio. San Francisco has over 40 hills with Mt. Davidson as its highest point of land at 930 feet. The hills provide people with magnificent views of the San Francisco Bay Area.
San Francisco's geography affects its climate. Its closeness to water on three sides helps provide the city with a mild year long climate. San Francisco has long, dry summers cooled by the coastal fog and ocean breezes. In the summer, San Francisco is one of the coolest cities in the United States. The winters are relatively warm. Temperatures in the winter are not too different from those in the summer. The average year round temperature is about 60 degrees F. September is the warmest month of the year in San Francisco.
Most of the rainfall occurs in the winter months. Annual rainfall in San Francisco is about 20 inches.