California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.
It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, and Arizona to the southeast, as well as by Baja California in Mexico to the south.
The most populous U.S. state, California's capital city is Sacramento, and its four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco.
California is known for its varied climate and geography, as well as for its ethnically diverse population. The state is divided into 58 counties.
Before becoming a part of the United States, Alta California was colonized by the Spanish Empire, beginning in 1769.
Alta California became a part of the newly independent nation of Mexico in 1821, and remained so until 1846.
That year, an independent California Republic was declared.
The Republic's first and only president was William B. Ide, who played a pivotal role during the Bear Flag Revolt. His term lasted twenty-five days and concluded when California was occupied by U.S. forces during the Mexican-American War.
Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, Mexico formally ceded California to the United States. California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state on September 9, 1850.
California is the third largest U.S. state by land area; it contains a diverse geography, which ranges from the sandy and rocky beaches of the Pacific coast, to the rugged snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the east, to desert areas in the southeast and the forests of the northwest. The center portion of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world and the largest of any U.S. state.
The Sierra Nevada mountains contain Yosemite Valley, famous for its glacially-carved domes, and Sequoia National Park, home to the giant sequoia trees, the largest living organisms on Earth.
The state is home to Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States, as well as the second lowest and hottest place in the Western Hemisphere, Death Valley.
Many of the trees located in the California White Mountains are the oldest in the world; one Bristlecone pine has an age of 4,700 years.
The California Gold Rush began in 1848, dramatically changing California with a large influx of people and an economic boom.
The early 20th century was marked by Los Angeles becoming the center of the entertainment industry, in addition to the growth of a large tourism sector in the state. Along with California's prosperous agricultural industry, other industries include aerospace, petroleum, and computer and information technology.
California ranks among the ten largest economies in the world, and were it a separate country, it would be 34th amongst the most populous countries, just behind Poland, as well as the world's sixth-largest economy.
Geography
California borders the Pacific Ocean, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and the Mexican state of Baja California.
With an area of 160,000 mi² (411,000 km²) it is the third largest state in the United States in size, after Alaska and Texas.
If it were a country, California would be the 59th largest in the world, between Iraq and Paraguay.
California's geography is rich, complex, and varied. In the middle of the state lies the California Central Valley, bounded by the coastal mountain ranges in the west, the Sierra Nevada to the east, the Cascade Range in the north and the Tehachapi Mountains in the south. The Central Valley is California's agricultural heartland and grows approximately one-third of the nation's food.
Divided in two by the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the northern portion, the Sacramento Valley serves as the watershed of the Sacramento River, while the southern portion, the San Joaquin Valley is the watershed for the San Joaquin River; both areas derive its name from the rivers that transit them. With dredging, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin Rivers have remained sufficiently deep that several inland cities are seaports.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta serves as a critical water supply hub for the state.
Water is routed through an extensive network of canals and pumps out of the delta, that traverse nearly the length of the state, including the Central Valley Project, and the State Water Project.
Water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta provides drinking water for nearly 23 million people, almost two-thirds of the state's population, and provides water to farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.
The Channel Islands are located off the southern coast.
The Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "snowy range") include the highest peak in the contiguous forty-eight states, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 ft (4,421 m), Yosemite National Park, and the deep freshwater lake, Lake Tahoe, the largest lake in the state by volume.
To the east of the Sierra Nevada are Owens Valley and Mono Lake, an essential migratory bird habitat.
In the western part of the state is Clear Lake, the largest freshwater lake by area entirely in California.
Though Lake Tahoe is larger, it is divided by the California/Nevada border. The Sierra Nevada falls to Arctic temperatures in winter and has several dozen small glaciers, including Palisade Glacier, the southernmost glacier in the United States.
Rolling hills of California
Rolling hills of California
About 35% of the state's total surface area is covered by forests, and California's diversity of pine species is unmatched by any other state. California contains more forestland than any other state except Alaska.
In the south is a large inland salt lake, the Salton Sea. Deserts in California make up about 25% of the total surface area.
The south-central desert is called the Mojave; to the northeast of the Mojave lies Death Valley, which contains the lowest, hottest point in North America, Badwater Flat.
The distance from the lowest point of Death Valley to the peak of Mount Whitney is less than 200 miles (322 km). Indeed, almost all of southeastern California is arid, hot desert, with routine extreme high temperatures during the summer.
Along the California coast are several major metropolitan areas, including Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and San Diego.
California is famous for earthquakes due to a number of faults, in particular the San Andreas Fault.
It is vulnerable to tsunamis, floods, droughts, Santa Ana winds, wildfires, and landslides on steep terrain, and has several volcanoes.
Climate
California climate varies from Mediterranean to subarctic. Much of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with cool, rainy winters and dry summers.
The cool California Current offshore often creates summer fog near the coast. Further inland, one encounters colder winters and hotter summers.
Northern parts of the state average higher annual rainfall than the south.
California's mountain ranges influence the climate as well: some of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes.
Northwestern California has a temperate climate, and the Central Valley has a Mediterranean climate but with greater temperature extremes than the coast.
The high mountains, including the Sierra Nevada, have a mountain climate with snow in winter and mild to moderate heat in summer.
The east side of California's mountains has a drier rain shadow.
The low deserts east of the southern California mountains experience hot summers and nearly frostless mild winters; the higher elevation deserts of eastern California see hot summers and cold winters.
In Death Valley, the highest temperature in the Western Hemisphere, 134 °F (56.6 °C), was recorded July 10, 1913.
History
Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America; the area was inhabited by more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans.
Large, settled populations lived on the coast and hunted sea mammals, fished for salmon, and gathered shellfish, while groups in the interior hunted terrestrial game and gathered nuts, acorns, and berries.
California groups also were diverse in their political organization with bands, tribes, villages, and on the resource-rich coasts, large chiefdoms, such as the Chumash, Pomo and Salinan.
Trade, intermarriage, and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups. The first European to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was the Portuguese Joao Rodrigues Cabrilho, in 1542, sailing for the Spanish Empire.
Some 37 years later, the English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed an undefined portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila Galleons on their return trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565.
Sebastián Vizcaíno explored and mapped the coast of California in 1602 for New Spain. Spanish missionaries began setting up twenty-three California Missions along the coast of what became known as Alta California (Upper California), together with small towns and presidios. The first mission in Alta California was established at San Diego in 1769.
In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence gave Mexico (including California), independence from Spain; for the next twenty-five years, Alta California remained a remote northern province of the nation of Mexico. Cattle ranches, or ranchos, emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California.
After Mexican independence from Spain, the chain of missions became the property of the Mexican government, and were secularized by 1832. The ranchos developed under ownership by Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians) who had received land grants and traded cowhides and tallow with Boston merchants. Beginning in the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United States and Canada began to arrive in Northern California, harbingers of the great changes that would later sweep the Mexican territory.
These new arrivals used the Siskiyou Trail, California Trail, Oregon Trail and Old Spanish Trail to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts surrounding California. In this period, Imperial Russia explored the California coast, and established a trading post at Fort Ross. The Bear Flag of the Republic of California The Bear Flag of the Republic of California In 1846, settlers rebelled against Mexican rule during the Bear Flag Revolt. Afterwards, rebels raised the Bear Flag (featuring a bear, a star, a red stripe, and the words "California Republic") at Sonoma.
“ [we] overthrow a Government which has seized upon the property of the Missions for its individual aggrandizement; which has ruined and shamefully oppressed the laboring people of California ” —William Ide,
Declaration from the Bear Flag Revolt However, the California Republic was to be short lived.
The same year marked the outbreak of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).
When Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into Monterey Bay and began the military occupation of California by the United States.
Northern California capitulated in less than a month to the US forces. Following a series of defensive battles in Southern California, including; The Siege of Los Angeles, the Battle of Dominguez Rancho, the Battle of San Pascual, the Battle of Rio San Gabriel and the Battle of La Mesa, the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed by the Californios on January 13, 1847, securing American control in California.
Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the war, the region was divided between Mexico and the United States; the western territory of Alta California, was to become the U.S. state of California, and the Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah Territories, while the lower region of California, Baja California, remained in the possession of Mexico. In 1848, the non-native population of California has been estimated to be no more than 15,000.
But after gold was discovered, the population burgeoned with U.S. citizens, Europeans, and other immigrants during the great California Gold Rush. On September 9, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, California was admitted to the United States as a free state (one in which slavery was prohibited).
The seat of government for California under Mexican rule was located at Monterey from 1777 until 1835, when Mexican authorities abandoned California, leaving their missions and military forts behind.
In 1849, the Constitutional Convention was first held there.
Among the duties was the task of determining the location for the new State capital. The first legislative sessions were held in San Jose (1850-1851). Subsequent locations included Vallejo (1852-1853), and nearby Benicia (1853-1854), although these locations eventually proved to be inadequate as well. The capital has been located in Sacramento since 1854.
At first, travel between California and the central and eastern parts of the United States was time-consuming and dangerous. A more direct connection came in 1869 with the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad through Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains. After this rail link was established, hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens came west, where new Californians were discovering that land in the state, if irrigated during the dry summer months, was extremely well-suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general.
Vast expanses of wheat and other cereal crops, vegetable crops, cotton, and nut and fruit trees were grown (including oranges in Southern California), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production in the Central Valley and elsewhere.
During the early 20th century, migration to California accelerated with the completion of major transcontinental highways like the Lincoln Highway and Route 66.
In the period from 1900 to 1965, the population grew from fewer than one million to become the most populous state in the Union. From 1965 to the present, the population changed radically and became one of the most diverse in the world.
The state is regarded as a world center of technology and engineering businesses, the entertainment and music industries, and of U.S. agricultural production.
Economy
As of 2006, the gross state product (GSP) is about $1.727 trillion, the largest in the United States.
California is responsible for 13% of the United States gross domestic product (GDP). As of 2005, California's GDP is larger than all but seven countries in the world (and all but eight countries by Purchasing Power Parity).
California is also the home of several significant economic regions, such as Hollywood (entertainment), the California Central Valley (agriculture), the Silicon Valley and Tech Coast (computers and high tech), and wine producing regions, such as the Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley and Southern California's Santa Barbara and Paso Robles areas.
The predominant industry, more than twice as large as the next, is agriculture, (including fruit, vegetables, dairy, and wine).
This is followed by aerospace; entertainment, primarily television by dollar volume, although many movies are still made in California; music production and recording studios; light manufacturing, including computer hardware and software; and the mining of borax. Oil drilling has played a significant role in the development of the state.
Per capita personal income was $38,956 as of 2006, ranking 11th in the nation.Per capita income varies widely by geographic region and profession.
The Central Valley is the most impoverished, with migrant farm workers making less than minimum wage.
Recently, the San Joaquin Valley was characterized as one of the most economically depressed regions in the U.S., on par with the region of Appalachia.
Many coastal cities include some of the wealthiest per-capita areas in the U.S.
The high-technology sectors in Northern California, specifically Silicon Valley, in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, are currently emerging from economic downturn caused by the dot.com bust, which caused the loss of over 250,000 jobs in Northern California alone. As of spring 2005, economic growth has resumed in California at 4.3%.
California levies a 9.3% maximum variable rate income tax, with 6 tax brackets. It collects about $40 billion per year in income taxes. California's combined state, county and local sales tax rate is from 7.25 to 8.75%. The rate varies throughout the state at the local level.
In all, it collects about $28 billion in sales taxes per year. All real property is taxable annually, the tax based on the property's fair market value at the time of purchase. This tax does not increase based on a rise in real property values (see Proposition 13). California collects $33 billion in property taxes per year.
Population
By 2007, California's population has reached 37,700,000, making it the most populated state, and is the 13th fastest-growing state.
This includes a natural increase since the last census of 1,909,368 people (that is 3,375,297 births minus 1,465,929 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 774,198 people into the state.
Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 1,724,790 people, and migration within the country produced a net decrease of 950,592.
California is the second most populous state in the Western Hemisphere, exceeded only by São Paulo State, Brazil.
More than 12 percent of U.S. citizens live in California and its population is greater than that of all but 34 countries of the world.
California has eight of the top 50 US cities in terms of population.
Los Angeles is the nation's second-largest city with a population of 3,849,378 people, followed by San Diego (8th), San Jose (10th), San Francisco (14th), Long Beach (34th), Fresno (36th), Sacramento (37th) and Oakland (44th).
Los Angeles County has held the title of most populous county for decades, and is more populous than 42 US states.
The center of population of California is at the town of Buttonwillow in Kern County.
