Brea is a city in northern Orange County, California, about 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Its population is about 47,300. The city sits on a plateau at the foot of the Puente Hills, at the northern tip of the county. Brea's name means "tar" in Spanish, and the city's origins are tied to crude oil. Early settlers and Native peoples gathered chunks of oil-soaked earth from the hills for fuel, and commercial oil production followed, making Brea a center of the region's early petroleum industry. Oil-based industries developed around the Brea Canyon, and the city incorporated in 1917 as the eighth city in Orange County, with a population of just over 700 people. Today Brea is best known as a retail and dining destination. The Brea Mall is a premier regional shopping center in North Orange County, with major department stores and a broad mix of retail and restaurants. Downtown Brea, with its restaurants, entertainment, and public spaces, gives the city a lively social core that draws visitors from across the region, and the city is known as North Orange County's destination for dining and shopping. The Brea Olinda Unified School District serves the community, operating six elementary schools, a junior high, a high school, and an alternative high school. For residents, the appeal is a well-rounded suburban city with oil-town history, strong schools, a hillside setting, and an unusually rich mix of shopping, dining, and entertainment, all within reach of the employment and culture of the greater Los Angeles and Orange County region.