About El Centro, California

El Centro is the county seat of Imperial County, California. It is the largest city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban area and principal city of the El Centro metropolitan area which encompasses all of Imperial County. El Centro is also the largest American city to lie entirely below sea level (−42 feet or −13 meters). The City had a population of 44,079 as of 2019. It is accessible via Interstate 8, State Highway 86 and State Highway 111.

The City was founded in 1906 by W. F. Holt and C.A. Barker, who purchased the land on which El Centro was eventually built. El Centro is the center of one of Southern California’s most promising new commercial and industrial regions. There are also two international border crossings nearby for commercial and non-commercial vehicles.