Santa Clara is a city in Santa Clara County, California, named after the Spanish mission that was established there in 1777. The city's population was 116,468 at the 2010 United States Census, making it the ninth-most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Located 45 miles southeast of San Francisco, the city was founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the grounds of Santa Clara University. Saint Clare is the patron saint of Santa Clara.

Santa Clara is located in the center of Silicon Valley and is home to the headquarters of several high-tech companies such as Intel. It is also home to Santa Clara University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of California. Levi's Stadium, the home of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, the site of Super Bowl 50, and the site of the 2019 College Football Playoff title game, is located in the city. It is bordered by San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino.