The University of California, Berkeley (also referred to as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California, or simply Cal), is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The university occupies 1,232 acres (498.6 ha) on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay with the central campus resting on 178 acres (72.0 ha). Berkeley is the flagship institution of the 10 campus University of California system and one of only two UC campuses operating on a semester calendar, the other being UC Merced.