Butte County is located in the Central Valley in California, north of state capital Sacramento. The county seat is Oroville. Butte County is the "Land of Natural Wealth and Beauty." It is the site of Feather Falls, the sixth largest waterfall in the United States. Butte County was one of California's first counties, created in 1850 and is the only California County whose name is a French word that signifies "a small hill or mound of earth detached from any mountain range." The county has a total area of 1,677 mi² and 98% of it is land and 2% is water.