n.
City (pop., 2000: city, 247,057; metro. area, 661,645), southern California, U.S. Situated on the Kern River in the San Joaquin Valley, it was founded in 1869 by Thomas Baker.
It was an agricultural area when the discovery of the Kern River oil fields in 1899 sparked a petroleum boom. The city was quickly rebuilt after a major earthquake in 1952. Nearby vineyards produce about a quarter of the wine made in California.