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  • This page is about the fictional State of San Andreas in the HD Universe.

                                                                                                                                                                                       

The State of San Andreas, formerly known as the San Andreas Republic, is a fictional state located in the southwestern United States of America, featured in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online. However, only the southern region of San Andreas is the location in which the player can explore. San Andreas is closely based off of real-life California. When compared to its predecessor, San Andreas is much more accurate in terms of geography and size.

San Andreas is a large, populous state. Its diverse climate makes it unique, ranging from grassy plains to arid deserts. The forests of San Andreas are dominated by the mighty Redwood trees, standing tall over the ground. San Andreas is located on the West Coast of the United States, and is the birthplace of several new pop culture trends, including celebrity fallouts. The state sits on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

The explorable area of San Andreas consists of two counties: Los Santos County and Blaine County. It can be assumed, however, that Red County also exists in the state, since it is mentioned in Grand Theft Auto IV. San Fierro is also mentioned numerous times. Trevor also mentions, during a chase mission, that the island landmass is called "South San Andreas" which means that there is thus a "Northern San Andreas."

San Andreas is unique in which it is the first setting in the Grand Theft Auto series to not have any part of the map restricted, except for the city airport, the Humane Labs and Research chemical laboratories, the military base, and the state prison. This means that even in the beginning of the story, players can explore and discover the world to their heart's content. However, some locations, such as Blaine County, do not play a role in the storyline until a certain point in the game is reached.

History

Not much is known about the history of San Andreas, but it can be assumed that it mirrors the history of real life California. Throughout the story, it is revealed in bits and pieces of dialogue that San Andreas used to be a territory of Mexico in the 1800s, which explains the large Mexican population and some Spanish geographic names. The city of Los Santos, however, was founded in 1781, which was when the Spanish Empire was still in control. Old Mexican bloodlines like Manuel's have lived here for over 200 years, and consider themselves more American than Americans themselves. Blaine County was established in 1823, only two years after Mexico gained independence.

Judging from the state flag, it is possible that the American settlers came to San Andreas and defeated Mexico, thus establishing the San Andreas Republic. Los Santos County was established in 1889, several years after the founding of Blaine County. In the 20th century, San Andreas became the centre of culture in America and gave birth to the famous Vinewood film culture, resulting in classics like Vinewood Zombie. In Grand Theft Auto IV, it is stated that Los Santos experienced riots in the 1990s, just like the Los Angeles Riots.

Counties

San Andreas has 3 known counties: Los Santos County, Blaine County, and Red County. However, Red County is not featured and only mentioned.

File:Mapp2.jpg

Map showing the boundaries of the City of Los Santos, Los Santos County, and Blaine County.

Los Santos County

See main article : Los Santos County

Los Santos County is the southernmost county in the state, and is also the most developed. It consists of the cities of Los Santos and Davis, along with a large variety of highlands, beaches, and interconnected highways. The town of Chumash is located in the western side of the county along with a large beach. It is bordered by Blaine County to the north by Route 68. Los Santos County is the urban area of San Andreas.

Blaine County

See main article : Blaine County

Blaine County is the northern county of the state, mostly known for its wildlife, including a large desert, highlands, a sea, and forests. There are three towns in the county: Sandy Shores, Grapeseed, and Paleto. One of the most visited landmarks in the county is Mount Chiliad. Blaine County is the rural area of San Andreas.

Major Cities

Towns

The state features four known towns:

Ajmsandyshoresmainave

Downtown Sandy Shores.

Sandy Shores

See main article : Sandy Shores.

The town of Sandy Shores is the most notable due to this being the home of one of the protagonists, Trevor Philips. The town is located in the center of the Grand Senora Desert, bordering the Alamo Sea to the north.

Pacific Bluffs

Chumash.

Chumash

See main article : Chumash.

Chumash is a town mostly based off of Malibu, California. It is supposedly populated by hipsters, as stated by Dave Norton. There are many beachfront homes and some docks. It is bordered by the Great Ocean Highway.

Paleto Bay

File:Paleto Aerial.jpg

Paleto Bay.

See main article : Paleto Bay.

Paleto Bay is the northernmost town in the state. Paleto Bay is known for being a visited landmark for people who like base-jumping from Mount Chiliad. Paleto Bay is a good rest stop for truckers on the Great Ocean Highway due to it holding various services such as a bank or a gas station.

Grapeseed

Grapeseed-east

Grapeseed.

See main article : Grapeseed.

Grapeseed is a town located at the northeast of the Alamo Sea, the town contains a lot of farms and is the second biggest town in the state, just behind the nearby town of Sandy Shores.

Unincorporated communities

Dignity Village

Dignity Village, a large homeless encampment.

This is a list of communities that usually have no local government or services and are generally unrecognised as official territories.

Ecosystems

San Andreas has a rich and diverse variety of ecosystems ranging from mountains to canyons. These include locations throughout San Andreas that are typically unsettled by humans and populated by different animals.

File:MtChiliadTrainV.jpg

A beautiful view of Raton Canyon.

Wildlife

San Andreas is home to many different species of animals. From dogs to seagulls, San Andreas has it all. Animals are not present in Grand Theft Auto Online, however.

File:Shark-GTAV.jpg

A shark swimming with a scuba diver in the background

Highway System

Route 68

The famous Route 68.

See main article: Numbered Highways in San Andreas

San Andreas has a complex highway system that contains many elaborate routes, interstates, and freeways. The system reaches all throughout the state and is the most developed highway system in the Grand Theft Auto series to date.

Grand Theft Auto IV + Episodes

There are numerous references to San Andreas in GTA IV and its episodes. These include characters mentioning locations, TV shows, and radio, but however, it is hinting towards the GTA SA Rendition of San Andreas instead of the current.

As seen by character dialogues and internet sites, the city names Los Santos (including Vinewood), Red County, San Fierro, and Las Venturas are still used, confirming that these locations exist in the HD Universe, though it's possible that these cities are a part of the State of San Andreas but are not included in the Grand Theft Auto V rendition.

References

Grand Theft Auto IV

VPC

The logo of Venturas Poker Challenge.

In Grand Theft Auto IV, the stats can say "miles traveled from Liberty City to Los Santos". In The Ballad of Gay Tony, it says "miles traveled from Liberty City to Las Venturas". Also, when you hear other pedestrians on the sidewalk or the street talking on the phone, you may hear them mention San Andreas.

File:Ck ap flyus 01.png

Visit Las Venturas from $200.

Episodes From Liberty City

  • At the end of the mission Shifting Weight, Malc jokes that he and Johnny should get a room at the Jefferson Motel, a motel in Los Santos.
  • During gang wars against the Angels of Death, Johnny will sometimes yell "Go back to San Fierro!"

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

  • The in-game description of cocaine says how it can make you "party like the guys in Vinewood."

Distance away from each other

File:Ck ap flyus 02.png

Visit Los Santos from $299.

Considering the price difference between the two (as seen in the images at right), San Andreas in the HD Universe is farther away from each other. In reality, that is true as Los Angeles is in Southern California, San Francisco is in Northern California, and Las Vegas is in Nevada, making each city more than 100 miles away from each other.

Trivia

  • On November 3rd of 2011, Rockstar Games revealed that San Andreas' Grand Theft Auto V rendition will be bigger and contain rural areas, valleys, and beaches. (Source)
  • So far, San Andreas is the largest setting ever featured in the Grand Theft Auto series, with a total area of 49 square miles.
  • Throughout GTA V, San Andreas is often accused of stereotypes that mirror real-life Californians. For example, the people of San Andreas are described as "illegal immigrants", "hipsters", and "fake plastic people".
  • Just like its predecessor, San Andreas seems to be just a large island isolated from the rest of America. However, the in-game US maps seem to show a normal-looking America, with the exception of a state which is in place of where California should be and has the same shape as the real life state, the only exception being the southern part of the state being gone, as the map that the game is in is based off that area.
  • Its confirmed through Rockstar that the present area the player can explore in GTA V is not the whole state of San Andreas but just the southern portion of it. This might explain the lack of a designated state capital.
  • San Andreas is the first fictional state in the GTA series to be featured with its own state flag. The flag resembles California's flag except that the red stripe and star is now blue and the bear is replaced by a beaver.
  • It may be that the beaver is the official state animal of San Andreas as seen on its flag. In real life, the official state animal of California is a bear.
  • California and its locations are mentioned several times in the radio. There is also a California license plate on a wrecked car in the Grand Senora Desert.
  • San Andreas' motto is "We will never be a broken hypocrite," said to be on a San Andreas Tourism Board commercial.
[ ve ]Grand Theft Auto V
LocationsState of San Andreas (Los Santos (County) and Blaine County) | State of North Yankton (Ludendorff)
CharactersMichael De Santa | Trevor Philips | Franklin Clinton | Lamar Davis | Amanda De Santa | Jimmy De Santa | Tracey De Santa | Chop | Simeon Yetarian | Martin Madrazo | Lester Crest | Ron Jakowski | Wade Hebert | Dave Norton | Steve Haines | Devin Weston | Stretch | Wei Cheng
ContentMissions | Strangers and Freaks | Random Events | Vehicles | Weapons | Properties | Safehouses | Characters | Clothing | Tattoo Parlors | Radio Stations | Internet | TV Shows
Information100% Completion | Achievements/Trophies | Cheats | Trailers | Screenshots | Artworks | Snapmatic | Rockstar Editor | Grand Theft Auto Online
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