California City is a unique city located in the Mojave Desert of California, USA. It's known for being one of the state's largest cities by land area but relatively sparsely populated. The city was planned and developed in the 1950s by real estate developer and sociology professor Nat Mendelsohn. The population was 14,973 at the 2020 census.

The Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area is a 39.5 square mile protected area. The Natural Area was created for the purpose of protecting the desert ecosystem and the populations of wild tortoises that inhabit it.