The independent city state of Night City and its immediate surroundings are comprised of six districts as well as the Badlands region just beyond the city borders, where nomads and various undesirables eke out a living from the harsh wasteland. Named after its founder Richard Night rather than the time of day, Night City was conceived as a perfect futuristic utopia, a golden standard for huge metropolises that all other cities would aspire to. Richard Night got pretty far along towards realizing his dream - it was called Coronado City at the time, after the Del Coronado Bay in which it was situation - before being assassinated due to corporate intrigue. The city was constructed regardless, but its history was highly turbulent. It was briefly ruled by the mob, after which several wars were fought between criminal gangs and various corporations for control over the city. One of these conflicts even saw the detonation of a small nuclear warhead in the corporate center. After which the Arasaka Corporation swooped in and snatched control by the time, rebuilding the city and governing it as an independent state separate from the greater United States. Arasaka controls just about everything in Night City, with the gangs overseeing what little the corporation doesn't. Arasaka guards patrol the border, the corporation is the government, its buildings the centers of power. Night City is considered a paradise by the wealthy and famous, while being a hellhole for the poor, having been voted 'the worst place to live in America'. Even so, it has been the center of most major events in the Cyberpunk timeline, and anyone who is anyone lives here.