The San Joaquin Valley /ˌsæn hwɑːˈkiːn/ is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven Northern California counties—all of Kings County; a majority of Fresno, Merced, Stanislaus counties; segments of Madera and Tulare counties—and all of Kern County, in Southern California. Although a majority of the valley is rural, it does contain urban cities such as Fresno, Bakersfield, Stockton, Modesto, Turlock, Porterville, Visalia, Merced, and Hanford.