Pala, California

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Pala
Census-designated place
San Antonio de Pala
San Antonio de Pala Asistencia
Location in San Diego County, California
Pala Location within the state of California Show map of California Pala Pala (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 33°21′55″N 117°4′36″W / 33.36528°N 117.07667°W / 33.36528; -117.07667
Country	United States
State	California
County	San Diego
Population  (2020)[1]
• Total	1,490
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	92059
Area codes	442/760

Pala is a small, mostly Native American community and census-designated place located within the Pala Indian Reservation in San Diego County, California. For centuries a traditional gathering place of native peoples, it was selected in the early 19th century by Spanish Franciscan missionaries as the site of a mission to indoctrinate the Native Americans.

The community is north of Escondido in the San Diego-Carlsbad metro area. In the National Geographic Names database, it is officially catalogued as feature number 1661174. The community is in ZIP Code 92059, and inside area code 760.

The community name may be derived from the Native American Cupeño or Luiseño language term pal, meaning "water." Another possible origin of the name is the Spanish word pala, which means "shovel."

The community is in the Pacific time zone. Pala is at an altitude of 404 feet, located at 33°21′55″N 117°04′36″W / 33.36528°N 117.07667°W / 33.36528; -117.07667 (latitude 33.365N, longitude 117.075W).