Geographically, Marin County forms a large, southward-facing peninsula, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, San Pablo Bay, and San Francisco Bay to the east, and – across the Golden Gate – the city of San Francisco to the south.  With the ocean and the bay on three sides, Marin County has been called the San Francisco Bay Area’s park. Almost 85 percent of its land has been protected from development through open space purchases, federal parkland, watershed lands and strict agricultural zoning.