<P> The Inland Empire (I.E.) is a metropolitan area and region in Southern California . The term may be used to refer to the cities of western Riverside County and southwestern San Bernardino County . A broader definition will include eastern Los Angeles County cities in the Pomona Valley, and sometimes the desert communities of Palm Springs and the rest of the Coachella Valley; a much larger definition includes all of San Bernardino and Riverside counties . </P> <P> The U.S. Census Bureau - defined Riverside - San Bernardino - Ontario metropolitan area, which comprises Riverside County and San Bernardino County, California, covers more than 27,000 square miles (70,000 km) and has a population of approximately 4 million . Most of the area's population is located in southwestern San Bernardino County and northwestern Riverside County . At the end of the nineteenth century, the Inland Empire was a major center of agriculture, including citrus, dairy, and winemaking . However, agriculture declined through the twentieth century, and since the 1970s a rapidly growing population, fed by families migrating in search of affordable housing, has led to more residential, industrial, and commercial development . </P> <P> The term "Inland Empire" is documented to have been used by the Riverside Enterprise newspaper (now The Press - Enterprise) as early as April 1914 . Developers in the area likely introduced the term to promote the region and to highlight the area's unique features . The "Inland" part of the name is derived from the region's location, about 60 miles (97 km) inland from Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean . Originally, this area was called the Orange Empire due to the acres of citrus groves that once extended from Pasadena to Redlands during the first half of the twentieth century . The Inland Empire is a nebulous region, but is defined as the cities of western Riverside County and the cities of southwestern San Bernardino County; adjacent to the Los Angeles metropolitan area . A generally broader definition will include the desert community of Palm Springs and its surrounding area, and a much larger definition will include all of San Bernardino and Riverside counties . </P> <P> What is now known as the Inland Empire was inhabited for thousands of years, prior to the late eighteenth century, by the Tongva, Serrano, and Cahuilla Native Americans . With Spanish colonization and the subsequent Mexican era the area was sparsely populated at the land grant Ranchos, considering it unsuitable for missions . The first American settlers, a group of Mormon pioneers, arrived over the Cajon Pass in 1851 . Although the Mormons left a scant six years later, recalled to Salt Lake City by Brigham Young during the church's Utah War with the US government, other settlers soon followed . </P>

Why do they call it the inland empire
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