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Monterey County is a county
located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of
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Monterey Bay. (Santa Cruz County forming the northern half). As of 2000, the population was 401,762. The county seat is Salinas.
The beautiful coastline of the county,
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including Big Sur, California
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State Route 1 and the 17 Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula, has made the county world famous. Monterey County is also the site of a Monarch butterfly preserve in the city of Pacific Grove.
Monterey County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the county were given to San Benito County in 1874.
The county derived its name from Monterey Bay. The word itself is composed of the Spanish words monte and rey, which literally means "king of the mountain." The bay was named by Sebastian Vizcaino in 1602, in honor of Gaspar de Zuniga y Acevedo, Conde de Monterrey, the Viceroy of New Spain.