UC Riverside is located within the part of Southern California known as the Inland Empire, which consists of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The population was estimated at 4.1 million in 2007.
The Inland Empire is one of the fastest growing regions in the country – between 2000 and 2007, the population of the Inland Empire experienced a robust growth rate of 25 percent, adding over 800,000 new residents. Growth is expected to slow to an annual average rate of 1.9 percent through 2010. In the longer term, the Inland Empire is projected to add 2.5 million residents between 2007 and 2020.
