California’s Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of California. It is 40 to 60 miles (to km) wide and stretches approximately 450 miles from northwest to southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. It covers approximately 22,500 square miles, about 13.7% of California’s total land area (slightly smaller than the state of West Virginia), and is home to some of California’s most productive agricultural areas.