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107-594: San Benito County ( / ˌ s æ n b ə ˈ n iː t oʊ / ; San Benito , Spanish for " St. Benedict "), officially the County of San Benito , is a county located in the Central Coast region of California . Situated in the California Coast Ranges , the county had a population of 64,209, as of the 2020 census . The county seat is the city of Hollister . San Benito County
214-620: A condor ). The Pajaro River has had many names. Early Spanish maps had the name Rio de San Antonio and Rio del Pajaro . Alternate names included Pigeon River , Rio de La Senora La Santa Ana , Rio del Paxaro , Rio de Santa Ana , San Antonio River and Sanjon del Tequesquite . In 1953 the State Water Resource Control Board determined that the Pajaro Valley Watershed suffered from saltwater intrusion due to groundwater overdraft. In
321-606: A Spanish-based creole language called Chavacano developed in the southern Philippines. However, it is not mutually intelligible with Spanish. The number of Chavacano-speakers was estimated at 1.2 million in 1996. The local languages of the Philippines also retain significant Spanish influence, with many words derived from Mexican Spanish , owing to the administration of the islands by Spain through New Spain until 1821, until direct governance from Madrid afterwards to 1898. Pajaro River The Pajaro River ( pájaro
428-603: A considerable number of words from Arabic , as well as a minor influence from the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin , the form of Latin in use at that time. According to
535-522: A dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants , known in Spanish as the reajuste de las sibilantes , which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ ). See History of Spanish (Modern development of
642-482: A first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos ( Ilustrados ). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing. Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after
749-478: A long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty , hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States. The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of
856-668: A migration pathway for adult steelhead trout migrating to spawning and nursery habitat in the upper watersheds of the Pajaro's tributaries ( Corralitos , Uvas , Llagas and Pacheco Creeks ), although the Pajaro River mainstem itself provides poor spawning and rearing habitat due to low summer flows and high sedimentation loads. In a 1912 report, Stanford University ichthyologist John Otterbein Snyder indicated that there were reports of Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tschawytscha ) in
963-466: A population of 55,269. The racial makeup of San Benito County was 35,181 (63.7%) White , 483 (0.9%) African American , 895 (1.6%) Native American , 1,443 (2.6%) Asian , 94 (0.2%) Pacific Islander , 14,471 (26.2%) from other races , and 2,702 (4.9%) from two or more races. There were 31,186 people of Hispanic or Latino origin, of any race (56.4%). As of the census of 2000, there were 53,234 people, 15,885 households, and 12,898 families residing in
1070-508: A primarily Hassaniya Arabic -speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language, and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ( Algeria ), where the Spanish language is still taught as
1177-658: A public access point for canoes and kayaks, including a parking lot, trail, and public restrooms. The Pajaro River CARE project was funded by the California Natural Resources Agency. The Pajaro River Watershed Integrated Regional Water Management Plan (IRWMP) is a movement by the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PVWMA), San Benito County Water District (SBCWD), and Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) to join together in order to create and benefit
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#17327646882481284-617: A second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system. While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco , the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco , stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media. According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of
1391-531: A second language, largely by Cuban educators. The number of Spanish speakers is unknown. Spanish is also an official language of the African Union . Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization , it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as
1498-850: A whole, as it straddles the major political fault lines of the state. Before 1904, however, it was a solidly Democratic county whilst the state leaned Republican, voting Democratic in every election from its creation in 1876 up to and including 1900, although California only voted Democratic in 1880 and 1892 . As of May 2010, the California Secretary of State reports that San Benito County has 34,562 eligible voters. Of those 24,736 (71.57%) are registered voters. Of those, 11,959 (48.35%) are registered Democratic, 7,477 (30.23%) are registered Republican, 565 (2.28%)are registered American Independent, and 116 (0.47%) are Green Party. The two incorporated municipalities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista have Democratic majorities on their voter rolls, whereas
1605-451: Is bird in Spanish ) is a U.S. river in the Central Coast region of California, forming part of the border between San Benito and Santa Clara Counties, the entire border between San Benito and Santa Cruz County , and the entire border between Santa Cruz and Monterey County . Flowing roughly east to west, the river empties into Monterey Bay , west of Watsonville, California . The first European land exploration of Alta California ,
1712-416: Is cognate to the root word of satisfacer ("to satisfy"), and hecho ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of satisfecho ("satisfied"). Compare the examples in the following table: Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent
1819-666: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe . Today, it is a global language with about 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain , and about 600 million when including second language speakers. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries , as well as one of the six official languages of
1926-609: Is a sag pond dammed by the fault scarp of the Calaveras Fault , which forms a natural dike along the western shoreline. It is perennial in all but the driest years, e.g. 1977. San Felipe Lake used to be 50% larger until the man-made North and South Outflow canals, which drain to the Miller Canal, were cut through the western rim in 1874. The Pajaro River's largest tributary is the San Benito River which
2033-401: Is also considered a bellwether county for California in presidential elections; since 1904 the only candidates to carry the state without winning this county have been Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 and Harry S. Truman in 1948 . The county's bellwether status goes beyond presidential politics to ballot initiatives and statewide candidates, as its election results mirror those of the state as
2140-454: Is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language , making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers . An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language , making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers. Spanish is also
2247-761: Is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish. In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil . In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President , making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil. In September 2016 this law
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#17327646882482354-725: Is included in the San Jose - Sunnyvale - Santa Clara , CA Metropolitan Statistical Area , which is also included in the San Jose- San Francisco - Oakland , CA Combined Statistical Area . El Camino Real passes through the county and includes one mission in San Juan Bautista . Before the arrival of the first European settlers, the San Benito County area was inhabited by the Mutsun sub-group of
2461-720: Is land and 1.8 square miles (4.7 km) is water (0.1%). Sharing a border with Santa Clara County , San Benito County lies adjacent to the San Francisco Bay Area and is sometimes considered a part of that region. Frequently, the county is associated with the Monterey Bay Area through governmental organizations such as the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments as well as the Pajaro River , which flows from northern San Benito County into
2568-523: Is much longer than the Pajaro, flowing northwest from its source at an elevation of 4,760 feet on San Benito Mountain on its course between the Diablo Range and the Gabilan Range , traveling for about 65 miles (105 km) before its confluence with the Pajaro River, about 15 miles (24 km) upstream from the ocean. The lowest tributary of the Pajaro River is Salsipuedes Creek which drains
2675-561: Is perhaps the southernmost record of North American river otter ( Lontra canadensis ) in a California coastal watershed. In 1969 river otter were recorded eating freshwater mussels ( California floater ( Anodonta californiensis )) on the Santa Ana Creek tributary of Tequisquita Slough, 2 miles east of Hollister. The river is heavily polluted by people dumping illegally. One cleanup in 2015 revealed over 1,000 tires, five boats, two trucks, and tons of trash. High toxicity levels in
2782-732: Is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella ), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile , in turn, is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). In the Middle Ages , the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Romance and later also as Lengua vulgar . Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Romance castellano ( romanz castellano , romanz de Castiella ), lenguaje de Castiella , and ultimately simply as castellano (noun). Different etymologies have been suggested for
2889-844: Is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence. Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands , located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 km (62 mi) off
2996-457: Is the 16th elected Sheriff-Coroner-Marshal of San Benito County. He was appointed on June 25, 2021, and was elected in June 2022. His term began on January 2, 2023. The San Benito County Sheriff provides law enforcement services, search and rescue, court security, marshal services, correctional facility operations and coroner service for the entire county. It provides patrol and detective services for
3103-813: Is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico . The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles , Miami , San Antonio , New York , San Francisco , Dallas , Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor , as well as more recently, Chicago , Las Vegas , Boston , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Philadelphia , Cleveland , Salt Lake City , Atlanta , Nashville , Orlando , Tampa , Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration. Although Spanish has no official recognition in
3210-629: The Army Corps of Engineers along its lower 22 miles (35 km) and severe runoff into the river from agricultural fields. There are six species listed as threatened or California species of special concern (SSC) under the CESA that regularly occur and/or breed near or in the Pajaro River. Western pond turtles ( Actinemys marmorata ), pallid bat ( Antrozous pallidus ), burrowing owls ( Athene cunicularia ), dusky-footed woodrat ( Neotoma fuscipes ), least Bell's vireo ( Vireo bellii pusillus ), and
3317-524: The Corralitos Creek and Salsipuedes Creek sub-basins. The lower watershed is in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties which currently have levee systems. The original river system was Corralitos Creek, fed by Aromas Creek. The Pajaro river has taken over this system, and Corralitos Creek is now only a tributary. A residential development, agricultural fields, and Zmudowski State Beach border
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3424-829: The Monterey Bay . The United States Census Bureau includes the county in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA and the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland CSA , which the Census uses as a statistical definition of the San Francisco Bay Area. The county also borders Merced County and Fresno County on the east, which extend into California's San Joaquin Valley . It borders Santa Cruz County on
3531-602: The Ohlone Native Americans . In 1772 Father Juan Crespí conducted a brief expedition into the area and named a small river which he found in honor of San Benito de Nursia ( Saint Benedict ), the patron saint of monasticism. The county was later named after the San Benito Valley , the valley surrounding this river. Thus it was from the Spanish version of the saint's name that the county eventually took its name. In 1797 Spanish missionaries founded
3638-952: The Pacific Plate which slips north along the San Andreas Fault. It is made up of granitic material, and marine sediments. The Pajaro River has a history of changing its course due to the San Andreas fault slippage between the Pacific plate and the North American Plate . At another time it flowed into the Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, California , then into the Pacific Ocean, but today it joins with Corralitos Creek to discharge into
3745-593: The San Lorenzo River , 25 miles (40 km) north of the Pajaro River mouth on the California coast. Historically, the Pajaro River is one of two Northern California coastal rivers mentioned in 1829 by Russian explorer K. T. Khlebnikov as hosting sturgeon, presumably white sturgeon ( Acipenser transmontanus ), along with the Russian River . San Felipe Lake, which is the central feature of
3852-568: The Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005. Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ( ABC Islands ) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency. The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba)
3959-508: The Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s. Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino , a standardized version of Tagalog . Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under
4066-548: The United Nations . Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese ; the world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English , Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ); and the world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico . Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group , in which
4173-661: The serpentine soils of the New Idria serpentine mass support many rare local endemic plant species including San Benito evening primrose ( Camissonia benitensis ), rayless layia ( Layia discoidea ), Guirado's goldenrod ( Solidago guiradonis ), and San Benito fritillary ( Fritillaria viridea ). The plant species Benitoa occidentalis was named for San Benito County. Camissonia benitensis , Monardella antonina subsp. benitensis , and Arctostaphylos benitoensis were named in recognition of their being endemic or near-endemic to San Benito County. The species Hollisteria lanata
4280-551: The yellow-breasted chat ( Icteria virens ). Four species are listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) that are present or for which suitable habitat exists in or adjacent to the Pajaro River. Steelhead trout, the California red-legged frog ( Rana draytonii ), the Northern tidewater goby ( Eucyclogobius newberryi, ), and the snowy plover ( Charadrius nivosus ), which nests at
4387-651: The "Bolsa de San Felipe", is designated as a "California Important Bird Area " by the National Audubon Society . The Bolsa is a crossroads for birds migrating between San Francisco Bay to the north, Monterey Bay to the west and the Central Valley to the east. The Bolsa is also identified by the National Audubon Society as a "bird vagrant trap", a site where bird species far outside of their normal range appear. Also noteworthy
San Benito County, California - Misplaced Pages Continue
4494-480: The 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to the Americas. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Alongside English and French , it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout
4601-481: The 1970s, the groundwater basin consistently fell below sea level, and was identified in 1980 as critically over-drafted. By the 21st century, 54 square miles of the Pajaro Watershed's groundwater supply was overdrawn and as a result, below sea level making the area susceptible to saltwater intrusion. The Pajaro River has a recurring history of flooding. The towns of Pajaro and Watsonville were built on
4708-404: The 2021–2022 school year alone. The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects. Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population, a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely. Aside from standard Spanish,
4815-595: The 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara , and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City . For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language . Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it
4922-654: The Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business. Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish. The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages. Spanish
5029-577: The Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque , Iberian , Lusitanian , Celtiberian and Gallaecian . The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era , the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages — Mozarabic ( Andalusi Romance ), Navarro-Aragonese , Leonese , Catalan/Valencian , Portuguese , Galician , Occitan , and later, French and Italian . Spanish also borrowed
5136-424: The Old Spanish sibilants) for details. The Gramática de la lengua castellana , written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija , was the first grammar written for a modern European language. According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I , she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire. In his introduction to
5243-408: The Pacific at a slightly more north location. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the Santa Cruz Mountains deformed the Pajaro levee system. Other faults within the watershed are the Zayante fault, Sargent Fault, and Calaveras fault. A. R. Wilson Granite Rock quarry is located by the Pajaro gap adjacent to the river in San Benito County. Due to the geology in the area, the geomorphology of
5350-415: The Pajaro River mouth and the connecting Watsonville Slough. The river mouth is often open to tidal action for extended periods, especially during the winter months. Should the mouth fill with sediment, it must be physically reopened to prevent nearby agricultural fields from flooding. The main water source for agriculture and drinking water in the region comes from groundwater. The three primary aquifers in
5457-542: The Pajaro River watershed. However, his 1909 seine nets obtained no small specimens at his collecting stations. In 1953, local Gilroy resident, Herman Garcia Sr., caught a Chinook salmon in the Uvas Creek tributary of the Pajaro River. Although the image shows no adipose fin, California's hatcheries were not clipping adipose fins until the 1970's, so it may be an artifact of the taxidermy. However, citizen naturalist and author William "Bill" Leikam reported salmon in Corralitos Creek while fishing for steelhead trout in 1956 in
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#17327646882485564-408: The Pajaro Watershed are the Alluvial, the Aromas, and the Purisma aquifers. All three suffer from seawater intrusion due to groundwater overdraft, the worst affected being the Aromas aquifer. The Alluvial aquifer is heavily polluted by agricultural runoff. In 2006, the Pajaro River was designated as " America's Most Endangered River " by the American Rivers organization, "due to levees" constructed by
5671-503: The Pajaro river mouth at Zumdowski State Beach at the Pacific Ocean. Native California fish present in the lower Pajaro River are: three-spined stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus microcephalus ), Sacramento perch ( Archoplites interruptus ), riffle sculpin ( Cottus gulosus ), Russian River tule perch ( Hysterocarpus traskii traskii ), South Central California Coast steelhead trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ), and thicktail chub ( Siphatales crassicauda ). The Pajaro River serves as
5778-454: The Pajaro watershed to pay for water projects. One project funded was the building of two 1 million gallon storage tanks for the waste water recycling plant which provides water to local agriculture in the Valley. In early 2015, a land purchase in the upper Pajaro Watershed was purchased by Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority in an effort to preserve agriculture, and increase floodplain and wildlife protection in Santa Clara County. This land
5885-454: The Spanish Portolà expedition , camped near the river for two nights, in the vicinity of today's community of Watsonville , on October 8–9, 1769. The party continued north the next day toward Santa Cruz. Expedition soldiers called it "Pajaro" (meaning "bird" in Spanish). Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí , traveling with the expedition, noted in his diary that they "found half the body of a very large black bird, hanging [from] poles" (possibly
5992-424: The Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian), the language from the Kingdom of Castile , contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician , Basque , Asturian , Catalan/Valencian , Aragonese , Occitan and other minor languages. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of
6099-502: The U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico , where it is also an official language along with English. Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English
6206-399: The administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later. It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language. Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the Government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of
6313-407: The age of 18 living with them, 65.7% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.8% were non-families. 14.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.32 and the average family size was 3.64. In the county 32.2% of the population was under
6420-456: The age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 102.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.6 males. The median income for a household in the county was $ 57,469, and the median income for a family was $ 60,665. Males had a median income of $ 44,158 versus $ 29,524 for females. The per capita income for
6527-555: The city of Hollister, and intercity service in the northern portion of the county. Service operates as far north as Gilroy , in Santa Clara County . Hollister Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport located just north of Hollister. The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of San Benito County. † county seat 36°37′N 121°05′W / 36.61°N 121.08°W / 36.61; -121.08 Spanish language Spanish ( español ) or Castilian ( castellano )
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#17327646882486634-566: The classic hispanus or hispanicus took the suffix -one from Vulgar Latin , as happened with other words such as bretón (Breton) or sajón (Saxon). Like the other Romance languages , the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin , which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War , beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages )—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages , and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in
6741-399: The confluence of Pacheco Creek , Tequisquita Slough and Ortega Creek. Pacheco Creek's headwaters are in the Diablo Range at about 400 feet (120 m) elevation. The Pajaro River mainstream flows west for 30 miles (50 km), passing the city of Watsonville and emptying into Monterey Bay . Lower Soap Lake, also called Soap Lake, is an intermittent body of water a few miles downstream of
6848-446: The consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic b and v . Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary , and found in a small area of Calabria ), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f into h- whenever it
6955-521: The counties responsible because in 1944, both counties made promises to maintain the levees implemented by the Army Corps of Engineers. Damage to 3,280 acres of agricultural crops along the Pajaro River were estimated at $ 67 million, and urban damages in Pajaro estimated at $ 28 million. Two persons drowned The San Andreas Fault line crosses the Pajaro River at the Pajaro Gap just east of Chittenden Pass and Logan, California (near Aromas ) on California State Route 129 . The Salinian Block rests above
7062-404: The country's constitution. In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language, and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system, with over 7,000 students studying the language in
7169-410: The county was $ 20,932. About 6.7% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 11.4% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over. County government is overseen by a five-member elected Board of Supervisors, who serve four-year terms of office. Other elected county leaders include: San Benito County had the last elected Marshal in California until 2010 when
7276-441: The county. The population density was 38 people per square mile (15 people/km). There were 16,499 housing units at an average density of 12 units per square mile (4.6 units/km). The racial makeup of the county in 2010 was 38.3% non-Hispanic White , 0.6% non-Hispanic Black or African American , 0.4% Native American , 2.3% Asian , 0.1% Pacific Islander , 0.1% from other races , and 1.7% from two or more races. 56.4% of
7383-463: The economy and agriculture in general, the county voters approved a measure in 2014 that bans well stimulation techniques such as fracking , acidizing and steam injection, along with conventional drilling in some areas. In the 1950s, the oil drilling industry had many wells and the county is over the Monterey Shale formation but there is very little activity now. According to the San Benito County Economic Development Corporation of San Benito County,
7490-448: The extreme southeastern portion of San Benito County at Panoche Valley, Panoche Hills , Tumey Hills , and Vallecitos, the climate is arid and part of the recently recognized San Joaquin Desert biome. The flora there includes saltbush scrub, San Joaquin Desert scrub, and California juniper woodland. Panoche Hills navarretia ( Navarretia panochensis ) is nearly endemic to this small portion of the San Joaquin Desert in San Benito County. At
7597-400: The first European settlement in the county as the San Juan Bautista mission . In 1848 the United States government gained control over what would soon become the state of California , which included the area now known as San Benito county. The town of New Idria was the next town to develop in the area and was founded ca. 1857. New Idria was centered around the New Idria Mercury Mine . When
7704-507: The flood control system, however no funds were provided from the federal government. Following the 1995 floods, several lawsuits were issued against the different counties and cities by farmers and homeowners affected. Santa Cruz County, Monterey County, and the California Department of Transportation were all held responsible for failing to maintain the Pajaro River during floods and sued by about 250 people. Plaintiffs held
7811-683: The following table: Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants ( geminates ) nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año , and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo ). The consonant written u or v in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably " fortified " to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with
7918-421: The form of rainfall) is about 23.5 inches. Certain tributaries frequently run dry due to a lack of rainfall in the summer. The watershed is approximately 1,300 square miles (3,400 km ) and covers portions of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey Counties. The Pajaro River mainstem begins just west of San Felipe Lake , also called Upper Soap Lake, which is a permanent natural lake formed by
8025-466: The former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras ) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language. Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched
8132-604: The grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire." From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America . Miguel de Cervantes , author of Don Quixote , is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). In
8239-526: The highest elevations of San Benito County at Fremont Peak and San Benito Mountain , the average annual precipitation is high enough and the average annual temperature is cool enough to support mixed conifer forest. At San Benito Mountain, the high elevation climate and extreme geology of the New Idria serpentine , supports a unique mixed-conifer forest that includes foothill pine , Coulter pine , Jeffrey pine , and incense cedar . The extreme conditions of
8346-594: The language is also known as Castilian ( castellano ). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in
8453-549: The language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra . Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany . Spanish is an official language of the European Union . Today,
8560-694: The majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America . Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure —of Argentina , Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní ), Peru (co-official with Quechua , Aymara , and "the other indigenous languages"), Puerto Rico (co-official with English), Uruguay , and Venezuela . Spanish language has
8667-414: The mine played out fairly recently in 1972, New Idria was abandoned, and the town is now one of California's many ghost-towns. The town of Hollister was next founded on November 19, 1868, by William Welles Hollister on the grounds of the former Mexican land-grant Rancho San Justo . In 1874 the California legislature formed San Benito County from a section of Monterey County while naming Hollister as
8774-437: The new county seat. Sections of Merced and Fresno Counties were also later reassigned to San Benito County in 1887 as a result of the growth of the New Idria community. Other towns in the county which were founded early in the county's history include Tres Pinos and Paicines . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 1,390 square miles (3,600 km), of which 1,388 square miles (3,595 km)
8881-734: The northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century , and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas, which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish. The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as
8988-638: The office closed. Shasta and Trinity Counties still have appointed Marshals. In the United States House of Representatives , San Benito County is part of California's 18th congressional district , represented by Democrat Zoe Lofgren . In the California State Legislature , San Benito County is in the 17th Senate District , represented by Democrat John Laird , and in the 29th Assembly District , represented by Democrat Robert Rivas . Eric S. Taylor
9095-654: The other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano . The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by the Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms— español and castellano —are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. The term castellano
9202-411: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 7.6% were of German , 6.3% Irish and 5.4% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000 . 62.8% spoke only English at home, while 35.3% spoke Spanish . As of the 2010 census , San Benito County was the only county in the greater San Francisco Bay Area with a Hispanic majority. There were 15,885 households, out of which 46.3% had children under
9309-533: The population. Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla. Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education). In Western Sahara , formerly Spanish Sahara ,
9416-437: The reach along Freedom, California at the season's first large winter storms. Two adult Chinook salmon 60 centimetres (24 in) and 65 centimetres (26 in) long were caught by gill net and released in a 2005 study of San Felipe Lake, although these may have been fall-run Chinook from hatchery net-pen operations that released these fish at Moss Landing . Snyder did not report Coho salmon ( Oncorhyncus kisutch ) south of
9523-452: The river are a result from agriculture in the watershed. During low flows, organophosphate pesticides have been detected in the river, and organochlorine pesticides have been detected post-high surface runoff events. Toxaphene, DDT, and Diazinon have also been detected at concentrations unhealthy to local aquatic species. In 2010 the City of Watsonville was awarded a $ 424,000 grant to create
9630-541: The river's natural floodplain. Before the Army Corps of Engineers built the levees, flooding devastated homes, businesses, and agriculture. Since the $ 748,000 levees were constructed in 1949, there have been several instances of flooding from severe weather events and failed levees. In 1963, the USACE (United States Army Corps of Engineers) acknowledged poor planning in levee design, and congress authorized re-construction of
9737-537: The term español (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, español derives from the Occitan word espaignol and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin * hispaniolus ('of Hispania'). Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula . There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that
9844-444: The theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal , local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos , and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo , where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century. In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese , and, according to some authors,
9951-768: The third most used language on the Internet , after English and Chinese. Spanish is the official language of Spain . Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred. Hard policies imposing
10058-719: The top employers in the county are: San Benito County receives media in Monterey County , including the major Monterey County TV and radio stations. The county also has several media outlets that serve the local community: CMAP TV - Community Media Access Partnership, based in Gilroy, operates Channels 17, 18, 19 & 20 on Charter/Spectrum Cable as well as streaming online, offering public access and educational programming to Gilroy and San Benito County as well as offering live civic meetings, including county government. San Benito County Express provides fixed route service in
10165-527: The unincorporated areas of San Benito County have a small Republican plurality in voter registration. The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense. The economy is statistically included in metro San Jose, though the dominant activity is agriculture. Agritourism is growing as the county has destination wineries, organic farms and quaint inns with views of cattle grazing. With concerns about how oil and gas operations could impact this sector of
10272-523: The unincorporated areas of the county. Hollister (the County Seat) has a municipal police department. The Sheriff is contracted to provide law enforcement service to the incorporated City of San Juan Bautista. San Benito is a Democratic -leaning county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Republican to win a majority in the county was George H. W. Bush in 1988 . San Benito
10379-469: The upper lake. This type of water body forms when the channel below is unable to keep up with the flow coming from upstream. The San Andreas Fault divides the watershed and is responsible for altering historical flow paths. San Felipe Lake lies just south of the Santa Clara County line in San Benito County, just south of Highway 152 east of Gilroy at the foot of the Diablo Range. The lake
10486-455: The watershed as a whole. The Pajaro River Bench Excavation Project which was approved in 2012 will remove excess sediment and vegetation from the bench in order to better allow flow through the levees to improve flood protection. Approximately 336,000 cubic yards will be removed. The project begins at Murphy's crossing, and extends 7.5 miles westward to the Pacific Ocean ending before highway 1. The state of California allocated $ 7.6 million to
10593-521: The watershed is unique. The river begins at Diablo range in the east. In the south, from the Gabilan mountains flows another tributary northward. From the north, tributaries flow from the Santa Cruz mountains southward to meet with the Pajaro. The climate of the region is Mediterranean. Watsonville annual high temperatures reach 68 °F and lows of 47 °F. The average temperature is around 57 °F and average annual precipitation (essentially all in
10700-631: The west and Monterey County on the southwest border. The county is also the location of the Mount Harlan and San Benito American Viticultural Areas . The latter contains the Cienega Valley , Lime Kiln Valley , and Paicines AVAs. Due to the varied topography, diverse geology, and varied climate from near-coastal to inland, San Benito County contains a high diversity of vegetation types. Common vegetation types include annual grasslands, coastal scrub , chaparral , and oak woodland . In
10807-585: The whole of Spain, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. "the other Spanish languages "). Article III reads as follows: El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. ... Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. ... The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities... The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ), on
10914-638: The world. Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences . Spanish is also the third most used language on the internet by number of users after English and Chinese and the second most used language by number of websites after English. Spanish is used as an official language by many international organizations , including the United Nations , European Union , Organization of American States , Union of South American Nations , Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , African Union , among others. In Spain and some other parts of
11021-634: Was developed in the cities of Toledo , in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid , from the 1570s. The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages , including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida ). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o —which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in
11128-622: Was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages ). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Reconquista , and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus , much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic -derived words, make up around 8% of the language today). The written standard for this new language
11235-713: Was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h- , still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many f -/ h - doublets in modern Spanish: Fernando and Hernando (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), ferrero and herrero (both Spanish for "smith"), fierro and hierro (both Spanish for "iron"), and fondo and hondo (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though fondo means "bottom", while hondo means "deep"); additionally, hacer ("to make")
11342-460: Was named after William Welles Hollister , namesake of the city of Hollister. Illacme plenipes , a millipede having more legs than any other millipede species , was discovered in the county in 1926. A California condor was found shot to death in the county on July 22, 2022, leading to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service posting a $ 5,000 reward for information on the killer. The 2010 United States Census reported that San Benito County had
11449-462: Was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff . In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken. Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period . Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in
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