When you picture California, you're probably seeing Los Angeles beaches or San Francisco tech hubs.
But trapped right in between them, hidden behind massive mountain walls, is an invisible empire.
Over 4 million people live here.
It produces a quarter of America's food.
And if it were its own state, it would have a larger population than Oklahoma or Connecticut.
Yet almost nobody talks about it.
Welcome to California's Forgotten Mega Region, and why the rest of the country completely ignores it.
I'm Jeff, and this is the untold story behind California's Hidden Empire.
To understand why this massive region in California is so easily overlooked, you first have to understand the extreme physical geography of California itself.
Look at a topographic map, and California stands out as a geographic fortress of sorts, defined by massive, imposing walls.
