Riverside

City in southern California, USA, on the Santa Ana River, 16 km/10 mi west of San Bernadino and 90 km/56 mi east of Los Angeles; population (1996 est) 255,100. The seedless navel orange was developed here in 1873, and the city is at the centre of a citrus-growing district, although recently the city has encroached on the fruit groves. Manufactured products include irrigation and electronic equipment, aircraft engines, paper products, and plastics.

Riverside was laid out in 1870 by a land-development company. The city's low-lying position makes it susceptible to smog pollution.

In the 1940s, Riverside's Citrus Research Center and Agricultural Experiment Station, now part of the University of California-Riverside, saved the state's orange trees from obliteration by a virus. The city is also the seat of the Southern Baptist College.