Palo Alto, California is located in a county.
Because California has the greatest diversity of climate and terrain, the state has six life zones which are the lower Sonoran Desert; upper Sonoran (foothill regions and some coastal lands), transition (coastal areas and moist northeastern counties); and the Canadian, Hudsonian, and Arctic Zones, comprising the state's highest elevations
 Many other functions, especially in unincorporated areas, are handled by special districts==== Counties ====California is divided into 58 counties

