Santa Catalina Island

Santa Catalina Island is a rocky island off the coast of Southern California in the Gulf of Santa Catalina. The island name is often shortened to Catalina Island or just Catalina. The island is 22 mi long and 8 mi across at its greatest width. The island is located about 29 mi south-southwest of Long Beach, California. The highest point on the island is Mount Orizaba ). Santa Catalina is part of the Channel Islands of California archipelago and lies within Los Angeles County. Catalina Island is the easternmost of the Channel Islands.

Catalina was originally settled by the Tongva, who called the island Pimuu'nga or Pimu and referred to themselves as Pimugnans or Pimuvit. The first Europeans to arrive on Catalina claimed it for the Spanish Empire. Over the years, territorial claims to the island transferred to Mexico and then to the United States. During this time, the island was sporadically used for smuggling, otter hunting, and gold-digging, before successfully being developed into a tourist destination by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. beginning in the 1920s. Since the 1970s, most of the island has been administered by the Catalina Island Conservancy.

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