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Situated in the southernmost part of California, and lying 50 feet below sea level, El Centro is located 115 miles east of San Diego, 86 miles south of Indio, 60 miles west of Yuma, Arizona, and just 10 miles north of Mexicali, Mexico. This multi-cultural community has a history rich in agriculture and is the center of one of Southern California's most promising new commercial and industrial areas. The Imperial Valley, once a vast uninhabited desert area, was transformed by the vision of early pioneers into an agricultural wonderland. El Centro is surrounded by thousands of acres of prime farmland that has transformed the desert into one of the most productive farming regions in California. More than 500,000 acres are currently under production with an annual crop of over $1 billion. Sharing a vast border with Mexico, the Imperial Valley has greatly benefited from the international trade that has developed south of the border over the past three decades. While the population of the Imperial Valley is approximately 150,000, the population of Mexicali nears 1.25 million. In 1996, seven miles east of neighboring Calexico, the governments of Mexico and the United States opened a massive port of entry for trucks, designated as the west port of entry for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). With festivals, fiestas, a cattle call and parades, every month is special in El Centro.
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