Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2000, the population was 247,289. The county seat is San Rafael. Marin County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,145 km² (828 mi²). 1,346 km² (520 mi²) of it is land and 799 km² (308 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 37.24% water. As of the census2 of 2000, there were 247,289 people, 100,650 households, and 60,691 families residing in the county. The population density was 184/km² (476/mi²). There were 104,990 housing units at an average density of 78/km² (202/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.03% White, 2.89% Black or African American, 0.43% Native American, 4.53% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 4.50% from other races, and 3.47% from two or more races. 11.06% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.