California
California is a state located in the western United States, bordering the Pacific Ocean. It is the most populous and third largest state in the U.S., has a population roughly the size of Canada and it is the sixth largest economy in the world. California is both physically and demographically diverse. The state's official nickname of "The Golden State" is often thought to be a reference to California’s 1849 gold rush but is in fact reference to the native grasses that turn a golden color during the dry season. California's U.S. postal abbreviation is CA, and its Associated Press abbreviation is Calif. Southern California is highly populated, while the larger northern California is less densely populated. The vast majority of the population lives within 50 miles (80 km) of the Pacific Ocean. California dominates American culture and economy, contributing significant advances in technology and law, in addition to paying significantly more to the federal system than it receives in benefits. The entire region originally known as California was composed of the Mexican peninsula now known as Baja California and the land in the current states of California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona and Wyoming, known as Alta California. In these early times, the boundaries of the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific coast were only partially explored and California was shown on early maps as an island. The name comes from Las sergas de Espladián (Adventures of Spladian), a 16th century novel, by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, where there is an island paradise called California. (For further discussion, see: Origin of the name California.)
History
The first European to explore parts of the coast was the Portuguese Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542. The first to explore the entire coast and claim possession of it was Francis Drake in 1579. Beginning in the late 1700s, Spanish missionaries set up tiny settlements on enormous grants of land in the vast territory north of Baja California. Upon Mexican independence from Spain, the chain of missions became the property of the Mexican government, and they were quickly dissolved and abandoned. In 1846, at the outset of the Mexican-American War, a California Republic was founded and the Bear Flag was flown that featured a golden bear and a star. The Republic came to a sudden end when Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into San Francisco Bay and claimed California for the United States. Following the Mexican-American War, the region was divided between Mexico and the United States. The Mexican portion, Baja (lower) California was later divided into the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur. The western part of the U.S. portion, Alta (upper) California, was to become the state of California. In 1848, the Spanish-speaking population of distant upper California numbered around 4,000. But after gold was discovered, the population burgeoned with Americans and a few Europeans in the great California gold rush. In 1850, the state was admitted to the Union. During the American Civil War, popular support was divided 70% for the South and 30% for the North, and although California officially entered on the side of the North, many troops went east to fight with the Confederacy. The connection of the far Pacific West to the eastern population centers came in 1869 with the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. Out West, residents were discovering that California was extremely well suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general. Citrus, oranges in particular, were widely grown, and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production of today. In the period from 1900 to 1965 the population grew from fewer than one million to become the most populous state in the Union, sending the most electors to the Electoral College to elect the President. From 1965 to the present, this population completely changed and became one of the most diverse in the world. The state is liberal-leaning, technologically and culturally savvy, and a world center of engineering businesses, the film and television industry and, as mentioned above, American agricultural production. Law and government
California is governed as a republic, with three branches of government, the executive branch consisting of the Governor of California and the other elected constitutional officers, the legislative branch consisting of the Assembly and Senate, and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of California and lower courts. The State also allows direct participation of the electorate by referendum, recall, and ratification. The Governor of California and the other state constitutional officers serve four-year terms and may be reelected only once. The California State Legislature consists of a 40 member Senate and 80 member Assembly. Senators serve four year terms and Assembly members two. The terms of the Senators are staggered so that half the membership is elected every two years. The Senators representing the odd-numbered districts are elected in years evenly divisible by four, i.e., presidential election years. The Senators from the even-numbered districts are elected in the intervening even-numbered years, in the gubernatorial election cycle. For the 2005-2006 session, there are 48 Democrats and 32 Republicans in the Assembly. In the Senate, there are 25 Democrats and 15 Republicans. The current Governor is the Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose current term lasts through January 2007. Schwarzenegger was only the second person in the history of the United States to be put into office by a recall of a sitting Governor (the first was the 1921 recall of North Dakota Governor Lynn J. Frazier). Schwarzenegger replaced Governor Gray Davis (1999-2003) who was removed from office by the October 2003 California recall election. The state's capital is Sacramento. In California's early history, the capital was located in Monterey (1775-1849), San Jose (1849-1851), Vallejo (1852-1853), Benicia (1853-1854), and San Francisco (1862). The capital moved to Sacramento temporarily in 1852 when construction on a State House could not be completed in time in Vallejo. The capital moved to Sacramento for good on February 25, 1854, except for a four-month temporary move in 1862 to San Francisco due to severe flooding in Sacramento. California's giant judiciary is supervised by the seven Justices of the Supreme Court of California. California judges are always appointed by the Governor but must be regularly reconfirmed by the electorate. California's legal system is explicitly based on English common law but carries a few features from Spanish civil law. At the national level, California is represented by two senators and 53 representatives. It has 55 electoral votes in the U.S. Electoral College. California has the most Congressmen and Presidential Electors of any state. The two U.S. Senators from California are Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. 33 Democrats and 20 Republicans represent the state in the U.S. House of Representatives. While California is among the most Democratic and liberal states in the nation, there are areas of California which are politically very conservative, notably Orange and San Diego counties. In 2004, George W. Bush received a majority of votes in more than half the counties, but still lost California by 9%.
Geography
  California borders the Pacific Ocean, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and the Mexican state of Baja California. The state has striking natural features, including an expansive central valley, high mountains, and hot dry deserts. With an area of 410,000 km² it is the third largest state in the U.S. Most major cities cling to the cool seacoast along the Pacific, notably San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Santa Ana/Orange County, and San Diego. However, the capital, Sacramento is in the Central Valley. California has extremely varied geography. Down the center of the state lies the Central Valley, a huge, fertile valley bounded by the coastal mountain ranges in the west, the granite Sierra Nevada to the east, the volcanic Cascade Range in the north and the Tehachapi Mountains in the south. Mountain-fed rivers, dams, and canals provide water to irrigate the Central Valley. With dredging, several of these rivers have become sufficiently large and deep that several inland cities, notably Stockton, California, are seaports. In the center and east of the state are the Sierra Nevada, containing the highest peak in the continental U.S., Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4421 m). Also located in the Sierra are the world famous Yosemite National Park and a deep freshwater lake, Lake Tahoe, the largest lake in the state by volume. To the east of the Sierra are Owens Valley and Mono Lake, an essential seabird habitat. To the west is Clear Lake, California's largest freshwater lake by area. In the south lie the Transverse Ranges and a large salt lake, the Salton Sea. 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. California is famous for its earthquakes due partly to the presence of the San Andreas Fault. While more powerful earthquakes in the United States have occurred in Alaska and along the Mississippi River, California earthquakes are notable in their frequency and location in highly populated areas. Popular legend has it that, eventually, a huge earthquake will result in the splitting of coastal California from the continent, either to sink into the ocean or form a new landmass. The fact that this scenario is completely implausible from a geologic standpoint does not lessen its acceptance in public conventional wisdom, or its exploitation by the producers of science fiction and fantasy media. Notable movies in which the possible destruction of much of California by an earthquake includes the titles Earthquake, A View to a Kill, Escape from L.A. and Superman. California is also home to several volcanoes, some active such as Mammoth Mountain. Other volcanoes include Lassen Peak, which erupted from 1914 and 1921, and Mount Shasta. ClimateDifferent regions of California have very different climates, depending on their latitude, elevation, and proximity to the coast. Most of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with rainy winters and dry summers. The influence of the ocean generally moderates temperature extremes, creating cooler summers and warmer winters, and the cold oceanic California Current offshore often creates summer fog near the coast. As one moves away from the coast, the climate becomes more continental, with hotter summers and colder winters. Westerly winds from the ocean also bring moisture, and the northern parts of the state generally receive higher rainfall than the south. California's mountain ranges influence the climate as well; moisture-laden air from the west cools as it ascends the mountains, dropping moisture; some of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes. Northwestern California has a temperate climate with rainfall of 15-40 inches (38-102 cm) per year. The Central Valley has a Mediterranean climate, but with greater temperature extremes than the coastal areas; parts of the valley are often filled with thick fog, similar to that found in the coastal valleys. The high mountains, including the Sierra Nevada, have a mountain climate with snow in winter and moderate heat in summer. On the east side of the mountains is a drier "rain shadow". California's desert climate regions lie east of the high Sierra Nevada and southern California's Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges. The low deserts east of the southern California mountains, including the Imperial and Coachella valleys and the lower Colorado River, are part of the Sonoran Desert, with hot summers and mild winters; the higher elevation deserts of eastern California, including the Mojave Desert, Owens Valley, and the Modoc Plateau, are part of the Great Basin region, with hot summers and cold winters. Ecology
Ecologically, California is one of the richest and most diverse parts of the world, and includes some of the most endangered ecological communities. California's diverse geography, geology, soils and climate have generated a tremendous diversity of plant and animal life. The state of California is part of the Nearctic ecozone, and spans a number of terrestrial ecoregions, and is perhaps the most ecologically diverse state in the United States. California has a rather high percentage of endemic species. California endemics include relict species that have died out elsewhere, including the redwoods and the Catalina Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus). Many other endemics originated through differentiation or adaptive radiation, whereby multiple species develop from a common ancestor to take advantage of diverse ecological conditions. California's great abundance of species of California lilac (Ceanothus) is an example of adaptive radiation. Many California endemics have become endangered, as urbanization, logging, overgrazing, and the introduction of exotic species have encroached on their habitat. EconomyCalifornia is responsible for 14% of the United States' gross domestic product (GDP). The state's GDP, which at $1.4 trillion USD (as of 2003), is greater than that of every other U.S. state, and every country in the world (by Purchasing Power Parity) except for the other combined 49 United States, China, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. If California was considered as an independent self-sufficient economy, it would be ranked the 6th, ahead of France. (GDP is nominally almost $2 trillion USD as of 2005) The predominant industry, more than twice as large as the next largest, 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; and light manufacturing including computer hardware and software, and the mining of borax. Per capita personal income is $33,415 as of 2003, ranking 12th in the nation. Per capita income varies widely by geographic region and profession. The Central Valley has the most extreme contrasts of income, with migrant farm workers making less than minimum wage, contrasted with farmers who frequently manage multimillion-dollar farms. Most farm managers are highly educated, most with at least master's degrees. While some coastal cities include some of the wealthiest per-capita areas in the U.S., notably San Francisco and Marin County, the non-agricultural central counties have some of the highest poverty rates 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 depression caused by the dot.com bust, which caused the loss of over 250,000 jobs in Northern California alone. Recent (Spring 2005) economic data indicates that economic growth has resumed in California, although still slightly below the national annualized forecast of 3.9%. See also: California unemployment statistics Demographics The U.S. Census Bureau reports California's 2000 population as 33,871,648, and estimates its 2003 population as 35,484,453. California is the most populous state in the U.S., and contains about 12% of the U.S.'s population. RaceThe racial makeup of the state of California is:
California lacks a majority ethnic group. It is the third minority-majority state, after Hawaii and New Mexico. Non-Hispanic Whites are still the largest group, but are no longer a majority of the population due to high levels of immigration in recent years. Hispanics make up almost one-third of the population; in order, other groups are Asians, Blacks and American Indians. Because of high levels of immigration from Latin America, especially Mexico, and higher birth rates among the Hispanic population, Hispanics are predicted to become a majority in the state around 2040. California has the second-largest Asian population (percentage-wise) of any state, Hawaii having the largest. The largest ancestries in California are Mexican (25%), Asian, British, German, and Irish. Mexicans, Chicanos, and Mexican-Americans predominate in Southern California, the Central Valley, Salinas, and parts of the San Francisco Bay area. White Anglos of British ancestry are dominant in the eastern Sierra Nevada, the far north, and the North Coast. San Francisco has the greatest concentration of Asians in the continental United States, with Chinese numerous in San Francisco, Alameda, and Santa Clara counties and Filipinos particularly numerous in San Mateo county. Age and SexThe state is:
7.3% of the population is under 5, 27.3% of the population is under 18, 10.6% of the population is over 65. RankingsAmong the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California ranks:
ReligionThe religious affiliations of the people of California are as follows:
As with many other western states, the percentage of California's population identifying themselves as "non-religious" (an umbrella term which is sometimes synonymous with or includes elements of atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, freethought, humanism, secular humanism, heresy, logical positivism, and even apathy) is comparatively high in relation to the rest of the U.S. Important cities and towns     The state of California has many cities, and the majority of them are within one of the large metropolitan areas below.
25 wealthiest places in CaliforniaThanks to the state's powerful economy, certain California cities are among the wealthiest on the planet, as evidenced by large numbers of extravagant mansions, sports cars, and beautiful people. The following list is ranked by per capita income: 1 Belvedere, California - Marin County - $113,595 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
