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( in English or in Spanish) is a city located in southern Santa Barbara County, California, USA. It was incorporated as a new city in 2002, after a long time as being the largest unincorporated, populated area in the county. As of the 2000 census, the CDP (Census-designated place) had a total population of 55,204, however, a significant portion of the census territory of 2000 did not incorporate into the new city. The Census Bureau's official estimate as of July 1, 2006 was 29,182 inhabitants within city limits.
It is known for being close to the University of California, Santa Barbara campus, although the CDP of Isla Vista is closer.
Goleta is about west of the city of Santa Barbara, along the coast (the coast runs east to west in this portion of southern California). Nearby is the Santa Barbara campus of the University of California and the student community of Isla Vista.
The city's geography at the feet of the Santa Ynez Mountains has made it subject to sudden, extremely hot winds locally called "sundowners", similar to the more famous Santa Ana winds in the Los Angeles and San Diego regions. They are caused by high pressure drawing dry air from the inland side of the mountains, whereupon they can become superheated as they rush down the city's side. On June 17, 1859, a sundowner wind rushed through Goleta and rapidly raised the temperature to 133 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 56 degrees Celsius) in a matter of minutes. People were forced to take shelter immediately; when they emerged they saw that most animals and plants had been killed. It was the highest temperature recorded in the United States until 1913.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 26.4 square miles (68.3 km²), of which, 26.3 square miles (68.0 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (0.38%) is water.