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is the county seat of Modoc County, California, United States. As the county seat, the town is a home to regional government offices, including a California Highway Patrol office and a state Department of Motor Vehicles office. Modoc Subdivision track of the Union Pacific Railroad, and the Lake County Railroad, (of Lake County, Oregon) serve the area.
The population was 2,892 at the 2000 census, and the ZIP code for the community is 96101.
Alturas straddles the North Fork of the Pit River, near its confluence with the South Fork in the north end of South Fork Valley, in the extreme northeastern corner of California at (41.488814, -120.545935). The tall Warner Mountains lie to the east, the wetlands and wild rice fields of South Fork Valley to the south, and the extensive Modoc Plateau to the north.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²) and none of it is covered by water.