Coalinga is a city in Fresno County, California, set in Pleasant Valley at the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley, about 80 miles southeast of Salinas. Its population is roughly 17,500. The city's unusual name reflects its origin as a coaling station on the railroad — it was known successively as Coaling Station A, Coalingo, and Coalinga Station before becoming Coalinga. Oil has defined much of Coalinga's modern history. The surrounding Coalinga Oil Field, operated by companies including Chevron and Aera Energy, ranks among California's largest, and the nearby Guijarral Hills Oil Field adds to the local energy economy. For generations, the oil industry has provided employment and shaped the town's character, alongside agriculture and, more recently, correctional and health facilities. Agriculture is the other pillar. The region originally centered on grazing, but the arrival of canal water in 1972 transformed the landscape, bringing orchards and row crops to the valley floor. Today farming, oil, and the state institutions that anchor the local employment base define the working economy. Coalinga is also home to Pleasant Valley State Prison and Coalinga State Hospital, the latter opened in 2005. These facilities are among the city's largest employers and give the community an institutional dimension unusual for a town of its size. The city sits beneath the Diablo Range, with Interstate 5 running just to the east, placing it on the primary highway corridor between Northern and Southern California. That location gives Coalinga a role as a highway stop as well as a working town. Its combination of oil fields, farmland, foothill scenery, and state facilities makes it a distinct, hard-working community in the western valley, where schools, a local museum, and civic life reflect both its pioneer and industrial heritage.