Santa Barbara

City in southern California, USA, on the Santa Barbara Channel, in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains; population (2000) 92,300. It is a popular resort and retirement centre, and the headquarters of research, cultural, and religious foundations. Industries include fishing and fish-canning, off-shore oil production, and the manufacture of aircraft and aerospace equipment, precision instruments, and electronic components. Orchard products are processed from local areas of intensive irrigation agriculture.

A Spanish presidio (military post) was established in 1782; the Franciscan mission, founded in 1786 above the city, remains in use. In 1925 Santa Barbara was devastated by an earthquake, and was completely rebuilt in Spanish Colonial style. El Cuartel, the barracks of the presidio and one of the few remaining original structures, is now a museum.

The seat of a campus of the University of California (1898) is located in the city, and Vandenburg air force base is situated 80 km/50 mi to the northwest.

Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaino named the site after the feast day of St Barbara (4 December), when he rested in the channel in 1602.