Tarzana is a community in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. It is surrounded by Reseda in the north, Woodland Hills in the west, Encino in the east, and the Santa Monica Mountains in the south. Major thoroughfares include Victory Blvd., Winnetka Ave., Reseda Blvd., Tampa Ave., and the commercial backbone of the south San Fernando Valley, Ventura Blvd. Most of Tarzana's inhabitants live in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains south of Ventura Blvd. North of Ventura, there is a uniquely designed area meant to emulate a more rural lifestyle called Melody Acres. Tarzana includes two country clubs (with golf courses) nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains- El Caballero Country Club and Braemar Country Club. At the remote southern end of Reseda Blvd., there are a number of luxurious gated communities, including Mulholland Park. The majority of Tarzana residents tend to be fairly affluent and, ethnically, there is a notable contingent of Persian residents and considerable amount of Caucasians, but few minorities otherwise. North of the boulevard, where more apartment buildings appear and a smaller population lives, the culture changes suddenly as the median income drops dramatically and ethnic diversity rises. Tarzana extends to Victory Blvd and, although it's a minority of the population that lives in this area which is more commercial and industrial than the foothills, it's a very different Tarzana than than the southern portion.

The town now known as Tarzana was founded in 1922 as Runnymede but when a post office was needed, the residents' request was denied because there was already a Runnymede in California. Due to the presence of the adjacent Tarzana Ranch and Tarzana Tract, which was donated from part of the ranch by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1923, the town voted and officially named the town Tarzana in 1927.

The rumour that Tarzana was named after "Tarzan of the Apes" because the author of the Tarzan series, Burroughs, was owner of the Tarzana Ranch is true. Harrison Gray Otis originally bought the ranch in 1911 and sold it to Burroughs in 1919, when it was named Tarzana, 7 years after the first Tarzan publication in 1912.