How this list was compiled: Items made on 2026-09-26; names, ids and accepted spellings are Natural Earth's. Licence: public domain (work of the United States government, 17 U.S.C. 105): https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2023/TGRSHP2023_TechDoc_Ch1.pdf; public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)
The drawing: Drawn for this site from U.S. Census Bureau 2023 cartographic boundary file cb_2023_us_county_5m (scale 1:5,000,000), https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2023/shp/cb_2023_us_county_5m.zip, downloaded 2026-09-19. Surrounding land from U.S. Census Bureau 2023 cartographic boundary file cb_2023_us_state_5m (scale 1:5,000,000), https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/GENZ2023/shp/cb_2023_us_state_5m.zip, downloaded 2026-09-19 and from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_admin_0_countries_lakes (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_0_countries_lakes.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Albers equal-area conic projection, central meridian 120.3°W, standard parallels 34.1°N and 40.4°N. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (work of the United States government, 17 U.S.C. 105): https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/data/tiger/tgrshp2023/TGRSHP2023_TechDoc_Ch1.pdf; public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)
How it works
This blank map of Southern California numbers ten counties, from San Luis Obispo, Kern and San Bernardino south to San Diego and Imperial. The counties to the north are drawn without numbers.
Read the full guide
Blank, numbered or named
The sheet opens blank. Choose Numbered to put a number on each of the ten counties, or Named for their names, then press Print this map. Print the answer key gives the names on a sheet of its own.
The south of the state, closer in
San Bernardino County is the largest shape on the sheet and Orange County the smallest. Los Angeles County sits on the coast between Ventura and Orange. Imperial County, in the southeast corner, touches both Arizona and Mexico.
Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino are the five most populous counties in California. Have students label those five first.
Questions and answers
Which counties are in Southern California?
The usual list has ten: Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. All ten are numbered on this map.
Where does Southern California begin?
There is no official line. The ten-county list starts at the northern edges of San Luis Obispo, Kern and San Bernardino counties. Another definition starts farther south, at Point Conception and the Tehachapi Mountains.
Can I print all of California instead?
Yes, from the California map printable, which numbers all 58 counties on one sheet. This page prints the ten southern counties larger, so that Orange County has room for a name.