Mountain View is a city located in Santa Clara County in the California, USA. Its name is derived from the view of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Its sister cities include Iwata, Japan and Hasselt, and Belgium. It is located at the north end of State Route 85 and the historic route El Camino Real runs through the city. It is bounded by Palo Alto in the northwest, Los Altos in the southwest, Sunnyvale in the southeast, and San Francisco Bay in the northeast. AS of 2000, the city population amounted to 70,708.

The city of Mountain View came about after the former rancho of Don Mariano Castro was split. The south became the city of Sunnyvale while the north became the city of Mountain View. From the 1940s to the 1960s, Mountain View was mostly agricultural. During the Cold War, Moffett Field served as the home of squadrons.

Both locals and tourists enjoy the city's pedestrian-friendly downtown along Castro Street which is lined with a variety of restaurants. South of the central downtown area, people can find the City Hall, the Center for Performing Arts as well as the Mountain View Public Library. Many locals enjoy going to the Pioneer Park, a quiet environment despite the noise from Castro Street. Mountain View is also known as one of the major cities that make up Silicon Valley and is home to many notable Silicon Valley companies such as AOL, Google headquarters, Mozilla Foundation, Nokia, and many more.