The San Fernando Valley (locally known as "The Valley") is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, defined by the mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it. Home to 1.77 million people, it lies north of the larger and more populous Los Angeles Basin.
The Los Angeles satellite administrative center for the valley, The Civic Center Van Nuys, is in Van Nuys. The area in and around the Van Nuys branch of Los Angeles City Hall is home to a police station, municipal and superior courts and Los Angeles city and county administrative offices. Northridge is home to California State University, Northridge (originally named San Fernando Valley State College). Many branches of the Los Angeles Public Library are located in the Valley.
The Valley is home to numerous companies, the most well-known of which work in motion pictures, music recording, and television production. The former movie ranches were branches of original studios now consisting of CBS Studio Center, NBCUniversal, The Walt Disney Company (and its ABC television network), and Warner Bros. The Valley was previously known for advances in aerospace technology and nuclear research by companies such as Lockheed, Rocketdyne and its Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Atomics International, Litton Industries, Marquardt, and TRW's predecessor Thompson Ramo Wooldridge.
