Palo Alto is a charter city of California located in the Santa Clara County in the United States. It was named after a tree named El Palo Alto. A number of Silicon Valley high tech companies make their home in Palo Alto. In 2007, the city had an estimated population of 61,200 people. A substantial increase from the 2000 census findings that showed the city had around 58,598 residents. Portions of the Stanford University are also located in Palo Alto.

The city is known for having a significant number of natural habitats that include riparian, estuarine and oak forest. Most of these habitats are found in the Foothill Park, which is owned by the city of Palo Alto. The city enjoys cool wet winters and warm dry summers pretty much like the rest of California. Politically, the city consistently votes democrat. Over 52% of those registered with any party being democrats.

Serving as a central economic focal point of the Silicon Valley, the city is home to over 6,000 businesses that employ more than 98,000. The economy of the city generally follows the trends of Silicon Valley. Some companies that have their headquarters in Palo Alto include A9.com of Amazon.com, Accenture, Facebook, Photobucket, Hewlett-Packard, Danger Inc, Better Place, wikiHow, The Wall Street Journal, Merrill Lynch, Xerox, and Varian Medical Systems.

Notable residents from Palo Alto include actor James Franco, actress Teri Hatcher, Stanford University President John L. Hennessy, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and the 2nd female commander of the Space Shuttle Pamela Melroy.