California is located on the west coast of the USA and is the
most populous American state. It borders Oregon to the north,
Nevada and Arizona to the east, Mexico (Lower California) to the
south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and has an area of 410,000
km². It is located in the western region of the country, Pacific
division, bordering to the north with Oregon, to the east with
Nevada, to the southeast with the Colorado River that separates
it from Arizona, to the south with Baja California (Mexico) and
to the west with the Pacific Ocean. With 39,538,223 inhabitants,
according to the 2020 United States Census, it is the most
populous state and with 423,970 km², the third largest, behind
Alaska and Texas. It was admitted to the Union on September 9,
1850 as the 31st state.
Additionally, it has the second
and fifth most populated areas in the nation, Greater Los
Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, and eight of the most
populous cities in the country: Los Angeles, San Diego, San
Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach and Oakland.
The area was populated for millennia by Native Americans
before the first European expeditions in the 16th century. These
settlers were divided into 105 indigenous American towns that
spoke the languages of six different linguistic families. The
Spanish Crown colonized the coastal areas of the territory in
1769 before it became part of Mexico after the War of
Independence. Mexico (1810-1821). California was part of Mexican
territory until the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. At the
end of the war and as a condition for peace, the Mexican
Republic was forced to cede the territory to the United States
in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The Gold Rush in the period
1848-1849 caused an immigration of 90,000 Americans from the
rest of the country. Finally, California became the thirty-first
state of the United States in 1850.
If California were an
independent nation, it would be the fifth largest economy in the
world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of around $3.20
trillion (2021 data), which represents 12.0% of the United
States GDP, which amounts to a total of 20.5 billion dollars; In
addition, it would be the 37th most populated state in the
world. The main economic activities of the state are
agriculture, leisure, technology, electrical energy and tourism.
Some of the most important economic cities in the world are
located in California, such as Los Angeles (entertainment,
leisure), the Central Valley (agriculture), Silicon Valley
(computer science and high technology) and the Napa Valley
(wine).
Although it only represents 1.5% of the state's
economy, California's agricultural industry is the most
productive of all US states.
Notable contributions to popular
culture, for example in entertainment and sports, originate in
California. The state has also made notable contributions in the
fields of communication, information, innovation,
environmentalism, economics and politics. It is the headquarters
of Hollywood, the oldest and one of the largest film industries
in the world, which has had a profound influence on global
entertainment. It is considered the origin of the hippie
counterculture, beach and automobile culture, and the personal
computer, among other innovations.
Shasta Cascades
Hills and mountains in the Northeast that are
off the beaten track of major tourist destinations.
California north coast
Sequoias and wild stretches of
coastline.
Sacramento Valley
The northern continuation
of the longitudinal valley.
Sacramento
Gold Country
Historic passes to the Sierra Nevada.
Sierra Nevada
Ski region with Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe.
Bay Area
Metropolitan area around San Francisco.
san
francisco
San Joaquin Valley
The California Plains.
Bakersfield · Fresno
California Central Coast
Hilly
region on the Pacific characterized by wild stretches of
coastline, countless beaches, Mediterranean vegetation and an
even, mild climate. Vineyards and fruit growing inland. Those
wanting to experience the famous CA-1 Coastal Route, featured so
often in automobile commercials, will find its most scenic
stretch in Big Sur.
Santa Cruz Monterey San Luis Obispo Santa
Barbara
California desert
Palm trees, scorching sun
and holiday resorts.
PalmSprings
Southern California
Warm and crowded, the West Coast's largest metropolitan area
includes Los Angeles and San Diego.
Los Angeles · San Diego
1 Los Angeles - largest city in California and the entire West Coast,
world capital of film, one of the most important and progressive
cultural centers in the country
2 San Francisco – multicultural
metropolis with a liberal way of life and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge
3 San Diego - In sunny Southern California, not far from the Mexican
border, historic gas lamp district, colonial-style Balboa Park
4
Sacramento – the state capital is far from the largest city, but it is
one of the oldest
5 Eureka - historic port city in northern
California, old town with 19th century Victorian houses
6
Monterey –
Port city on the Central Coast
7 San José – City of millions on the
edge of Silicon Valley, historical park from Victorian times
8
Santa
Barbara – Former Spanish Mission on the Central Coast
9
Santa Cruz -
Spanish Mission and boardwalk with amusement park
Bodie Ghost Town in California is one of the largest and best preserved ghost towns in United States.
Channel Islands National Park is a group of islands of various sizes just of the coast of California. It covers a total area of 249,561 acres.
Darwin Ghost Town takes its name from Dr. E. Darwin French who lead an expedition in 1860 in search of legendary Lost Gunsight lode.
Death Valley despite its name draws thousands of tourists to view unique and majestic landscapes that can't be found anywhere else.
Fort Ross was found here as a fortress post for the Russian empire in 1812 it was intended protect the possessions of the Russian tsars in the New World.
Joshua Tree National Park is situated in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in California, United States. It covers an area of 789,745 acres.
Kings Canyon National Park is situated in Fresno county, California in United States. It covers a total area of 462,901 acres.
Lassen Volcanic National Park is situated in Lassen, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama Counties of California state in United States.
La Purisima Mission is the only Spanish Catholic mission structure in California in United States. Rumors still persist that this historical complex is haunted by the spirits of people who once lived and died here.
Randsburg Ghost Town is situated in Kern County, off the US Highway 395 in California. The settlement was found in 1895 around gold mines.
Redwood National Park that covers Del Norte and Humboldt Counties of California became an inspiration for planet Endor in the Star Wars movies.
Sequoia National Park situated in Tulare county covers a large area of virgin forests that consists largely of giant Sequoia trees.
Six Rivers National Forest/ Big Foot Video Six Rivers National Forest situated in California is most famous for Patterson-Gimlin film of the Bigfoot.
Yosemite National Park is located in Tuolumne, Mariposa, Madera Counties of California. It covers an area of 761,266 acres.
Route 66, legendary travel route
California State Route 1 -
very scenic route; meanders from Fort Bragg via San Francisco,
through Big Sur and the "Middle Kingdom" to Los Angeles, always
directly along the Pacific coast with fantastic views
Santa Clarita/Valencia, 30 miles north of LA: Six Flags Magic
Mountain amusement park. Roller coaster paradise, not
necessarily suitable for small children as there are some
extreme rides. Next door is the Six Flags Hurrican Harbor water
park, great for cooling off after MM. There's the ultimate dare
waterslide, Venom Drop, at Black Snake Summit.
One of
California's main attractions is its countless beaches, most of
which are rarely overly crowded, even in summer. The sea water
is too cold for swimming almost everywhere due to the California
Current, which carries ice-cold water south from Alaska. Even in
San Diego, just before the Mexican border, you have to be
content with water temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius even in
midsummer. However, one of the most popular water sports
anywhere on the California coast is surfing.
The Spaniards called the current state of California Alta California
("Upper California"), in contrast to the peninsula of Lower California.
California is the third largest and by far the most populous state
in the United States. In terms of its size, population and economic
importance, it could well be its own nation state: it is larger than
Germany and Switzerland together and has about as many inhabitants as
Poland. If California left the United States, it would be the sixth
largest economy in the world - ahead of France.
Californian English is not a problem for Europeans who have learned
English at school, but it does have some special features that make this
dialect so different from other American accents that those who are
sensitive to the language can certainly perceive them. For example, all
vowels are pronounced a bit differently than elsewhere; kettle z. B. is
pronounced like cattle, stock like stalk, book like buck etc. m. (=
Californian sound shift). Californian English also has many unique words
and usages. Current Californian slang includes gnarly, hella, stoked,
legit, for real, and the industry. and television business in
Hollywood"). Deviating from common usage, highway names are used with
the definite article ("there was an accident on the [!] 101"). The
Californian quirk of excessively using the phrases kind of and like (she
has kind of like a schoolgirl crush on him) and ending declarative
sentences like interrogative sentences in a rising tone has now spread
across the country.
However, less than two-thirds of Californians
speak English well and use it on a daily basis. California has more
language diversity than any other state: in addition to English, there
are 16 other languages spoken by more than 100,000 native speakers.
Almost 26% of Californians are native Spanish speakers. A further 6% are
distributed among Asian languages (e.g. Chinese languages, Vietnamese,
Tagalog), which are particularly widespread in the San Francisco Bay
Area.
The largest airports in California are Los Angeles (LAX) and San
Francisco (SFO), which also have direct flights from Europe. In third
place is San Diego (SAN), to which there are few, seasonal connections
from Europe, but mostly you have to change trains. Although San José
Airport (SJC) is significantly smaller, it is of greater international
importance due to its proximity to Silicon Valley. Also worth mentioning
are Oakland (OAK), Santa Ana-John Wayne in Orange County (SNA) and
Sacramento (SMF), which are mainly served by domestic flights.
You can also reach California by land. For example, the largest US rail
company Amtrak offers the California Zephyr lines from Chicago via
Denver to San Francisco (journey time for the entire route over 51
hours), Sunset Limited from New Orleans via San Antonio to Los Angeles
(48 hours), Southwest Chief from Chicago via Albuquerque to Los Angeles
(43 hours) and Coast Starlight from Seattle along the Pacific coast to
Los Angeles (35 hours). These connections are obviously not about
getting from A to B as quickly as possible, but about experiencing the
vastness and beauty of the country - the journey is the goal. This is
made as comfortable as possible with trains that are similar to rolling
hotels (and cost accordingly).
There are control stations at all
important road access points and airports (also from other US states),
which are intended to prevent the import of certain types of fruit and
vegetables, since biological contact with the local farms in the San
Joaquin Valley is not desired. Travelers are often screened (rather
severe in domestic traffic) and asked if they've been to a farm or have
any relevant food on them. These measures are necessary to prevent the
spread of alien plant (and animal) species (Neozoa).
California is the third largest state in the United States by area
and is larger than many nation states in the world. Still, traveling can
be very easy. When it comes to interstate and US highways, California
has the most expensive transportation system in the United States. As in
all other parts of the country, traveling by car is the best option to
get around and reach all the sights. Even so, the journey from the
extreme north to the extreme south can take more than 10 hours. It takes
almost six hours to drive between Los Angeles and San Francisco, which
are so close together on the world map.
A serious alternative, at
least for travel between the northern and southern parts of the state,
is therefore by plane. Many scheduled (like American and United
Airlines) and low-cost airlines (like jetBlue and Southwest) connect
airports within California.
For those who want to travel without
hectic and enjoy the beautiful landscape, the rail network run by
various companies is ideal. Union Station in Los Angeles has trains
running along the coast towards San Diego, as well as the Coast
Starlight from here towards San Jose and San Francisco. This trip takes
you through nature that has hardly been touched in many places and only
a few meters away from the ocean surf. The state capital of Sacramento,
the Shasta Cascades of far northern California, the Sierra Nevada and
the desert of the southeast are also accessible by long-distance Amtrak
trains.
The cheapest means of transport are ultimately the
long-distance buses, which connect all major cities. For example, with
providers such as Boltbus or Megabus for the route between Los Angeles
and San Francisco you only pay $22 on cheap days if you book in good
time - but then you're crammed into a bus for 7-8 hours.
It is helpful to know that a "bakery" in California in most cases
does not mean a bakery, but a pastry shop. If you want to buy bread that
meets German expectations, it is best to look first in a quality
supermarket, in an organic supermarket (Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole
Foods Market, Trader Joe's) or at Panera Bread. In places with high
levels of education and income, there are also isolated independent
bakeries that offer sourdough bread, a California specialty that began
to spread during the San Francisco Gold Rush.
California is one
of the states where alcoholic beverages are largely free, i. H. also
available in supermarkets.
A special feature of the state is the
bottle and can deposit system, which differs in a unique way from the
corresponding systems in Oregon or New York. Retailers charge a deposit
for many beverage containers (bottles, cans), the amounts are set by law
(California Refund Value, CRV for short). The participating containers
can be recognized by a corresponding imprint. De jure, selected
retailers are obliged to take back the containers in exchange for the
deposit amount. Addresses can be found on the web; the retailers in
question are often identified by a sign that they have to put up in the
entrance area. In fact, however, there is no infrastructure for the
return; retailers are left with returned containers. In the end, they
definitely end up in the recycling system. Because retailers
understandably try to evade their take-back obligation by any means
necessary, it is very rare for consumers to actually bring their empties
back to a store.
Those interested in culture can play through the
procedure for their own education, edification and entertainment. Since
retailers are required to pay the deposit money they receive from
consumers to the state of California, but under no circumstances will
they get it back, the state makes about $300 million a year from the
situation that is detrimental to consumers and retailers (newspaper
article).
Californian cuisine is some of the best, most interesting and diverse
in the country. In particular, fans of innovative, vegetarian and vegan
cuisine get their money's worth here more than anywhere else in the USA.
The state is also home to Californian cuisine, a chef-centric style of
cooking that originated in Berkeley in 1971 and works eclectically with
fresh, locally produced ingredients. In the wake of this cuisine,
countless farm-to-table restaurants have sprung up in California, many
of which charge prices that even average earners can afford. In
addition, Mexican cuisine is also well represented in California, but
mostly adapted to the Tex-Mex taste; if you want something authentic,
you have to search a bit.
Must-eats when visiting California
include Cobb Salad, Cioppino, Dungeness Crab, California-style Pizza,
Avocado Toast and Nitrogen Ice Cream. Those traveling on a small budget
but with a big appetite may not be able to avoid the deliciously filled
Mexican burritos.
Many Germans miss their usual bread in the USA;
Californian sourdough bread fresh from the specialized baker need not
fear comparison with German products.
California is also the
state that produces 85% of all American wine production. Visitors have a
choice of 4,501 wineries to visit for wine tasting.
In the summer months there are always forest fires or wildfires. In rural areas, this can lead to roads or entire areas being closed to the public. Columns of emergency services are on the move around such events and hotels are not available at short notice because they are occupied by the firefighters. It is important to stay informed: For example, via the Cal Fire website and to follow the instructions of the local authorities. If you are outside of areas that are actually or foreseeably affected, you should be guided by the relative composure of the population. Everyday life goes on here and visitors are still welcome. The problem is the smoke that these fires cause, which can spread far across the landscape. This depends heavily on the weather development and is difficult to predict. Anyone who does not want to expose themselves to the risk or already has corresponding health problems should actually think about avoiding the proximity of such events over a large area.
The origin of the name California is disputed. According to a
well-known hypothesis, the name already existed in European literature
before it was discovered. In 1510, the Spaniard Garci Rodríguez de
Montalvo published a novel that featured an island full of gold called
California, inhabited by beautiful Amazons ruled by Queen Califia. When
Hernán Cortés' soldiers came to Baja California in 1535, they believed
it was an island and named it after Montalvo's book.
When it
comes to the names of US states, California is the only Germanization
that has survived in German usage to this day. Other Germanized terms
such as New York, Southern Karolinien, Virginia or Pennsylvania are
unusual today, but were used until the 1960s.
California itself
is the namesake for the chemical element californium, which was
discovered there in 1950.
California has 37,253,956 inhabitants (as of: U.S. Census 2010), of
which 61.6% are white, 14.9% Asian, 7.2% black and Afro-American, 1.9%
Native American, 0.8% Hawaiian (multiple answers were authorized).
Regardless of “race,” 37.6% identify as Hispanic. There are 12,577,498
households.
California has the largest number of white Americans
in the United States at 22,953,374. The state has the fifth largest
African American population in absolute terms (2,683,914). Approximately
5.56 million citizens of Asian descent live in California, about
one-third of the total Asian population of the United States. Native
Americans are also more represented at 723,225 people than in any other
state.
According to 2006 estimates, 57% of the population belong
to minorities. The proportion of non-Hispanic, white population fell
from 80% (1970) to 43% now. Only New Mexico and Texas have a higher
percentage of Hispanics, but California has the most in absolute terms.
Hawaii is the only state with a higher percentage of Asian Americans
than California. Especially among Americans of Japanese and Chinese
descent, New York has just replaced California as the largest state.
25% of the population is of Mexican descent. Mexico is the largest
country of origin for Californians. They represent the largest group
within the Hispanic/Latino population, totaling 32.4% of the total
population.
Almost 10.0% of the residents are of German descent,
making them the largest group within the white population, which made up
59.5% of the total population in the 2000 census. This is followed by
the groups of Irish (7.8%), English (7.1%) and Italian (4.3%) origins.
Mexican-Americans live primarily in Southern California. Los Angeles
has been the largest Mexican community in the United States since 1900.
The Imperial Valley on the border with Mexico also has a high proportion
(70 to 75%) of Latinos. Riverside County has a high Hispanic population,
especially in the east. Many Hispanics also live in the Long Valley and
in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Most Hispanics are of Mexican
background, although many are also from Central America, the Caribbean
(Cuba or Puerto Rico), or South America. In Los Angeles County,
Hispanics make up 40% of the population.
Around 2020, Hispanics
will make up the majority of California's population. Some demographers
anticipate that California will become a Latino, mostly Spanish-speaking
area along with the entire Southwestern United States. Other
demographers, however, assume that Hispanics in the US will integrate
like other immigrant groups and will be English-speaking and assimilated
by the third generation at the latest.
California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse
areas of pre-Columbian North America. Historians agree that at least
300,000 people lived in California before European colonization. Among
the indigenous peoples of California were more than 70 different ethnic
groups, inhabiting environments ranging from mountains and deserts to
islands and redwood forests.
Living in these diverse geographical
areas, indigenous people developed complex forms of ecosystem
management, including forest gardening to ensure the regular
availability of food and medicinal plants, which was a form of
sustainable agriculture. To mitigate the large destructive wildfires
that ravaged the natural environment, indigenous peoples developed the
practice of controlled burning, the benefits of which were recognized by
the California government in 2022.
These groups were also 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, craft specialists, and military
alliances fostered social and economic relationships between many
groups. Although nations sometimes went to war, most armed conflicts
occurred between groups of men out of revenge. The acquisition of
territory was not usually the goal of these small-scale battles.
Men and women generally played different roles in society. Women
were usually responsible for weaving, harvesting, processing, and
preparing food, while men were involved in hunting and other forms of
physical labor. Most societies also had functions for people the Spanish
referred to as jewels, whom they saw as "men who dressed as women."
Jewelry was responsible for death, burial and mourning rituals and
performed women's social functions. Indigenous societies had their own
terms to refer to them. The Chumash referred to them as 'aqi'. The first
Spanish settlers hated them and tried to eliminate them.
The first Europeans to explore the California coast were members of a
Spanish maritime expedition led by Spanish captain Juan Rodríguez
Cabrillo in 1542. Cabrillo was commissioned by Antonio de Mendoza,
viceroy of New Spain, to lead an expedition along the coast of
California. Pacific looking for business opportunities; They entered San
Diego Bay on September 28, 1542 and reached at least as far as San
Miguel Island. The privateer and explorer Francis Drake explored and
claimed an undefined portion of the California coast in 1579, a
territory in possession of the Hispanic Crown at that time. His claims
did not have any success or impact, nor did they lead to the
establishment of any population, since Shortly after, the Spaniard
Sebastián Vizcaíno explored and mapped the California coast in 1602 for
Spain, landing in Monterrey. Something that had already been carried out
by Domingo del Castillo, a member of Hernan Cortés' last expedition in
1539, who created maps that perfectly reflect the peninsular shape of
Baja California. The secrecy in which the Hispanic Crown kept its
discoveries and maps , led English and French cartographers to prepare
erroneous maps that remained in use in Europe until well into the 18th
century. The correct cartography and knowledge of the seas on the
Spanish part caused the Hispanic Crown to maintain dominance in the
Pacific Ocean. and its coasts for centuries.
The Portolá
Expedition of 1769-70 was a pivotal event in the Spanish colonization of
California, resulting in the establishment of numerous missions,
presidios, and towns. The military and civilian contingent of the
expedition was led by Gaspar de Portolá, who traveled by land from
Sonora to California, while the religious component was headed by
Junípero Serra, who arrived by sea from Baja California. In 1769,
Portolá and Serra established the Mission of San Diego de Alcalá and the
Presidio of San Diego, the first religious and military settlements
founded by the Spanish in California. At the end of the expedition, in
1770, they would establish the Presidio of Monterrey and the Mission of
San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo in Monterrey Bay.
Following the
Portolá expedition, Spanish missionaries led by Father-President Serra
set out to establish 21 Spanish California missions along El Camino Real
and the California coast, 16 of whose locations had been chosen during
the Portolá expedition. . Numerous important cities in California
emerged from missions, such as San Francisco (Mission San Francisco de
Asís), San Diego (Mission San Diego de Alcalá), Ventura (Mission de San
Buenaventura) or Santa Bárbara (Mission de Santa Bárbara), among others.
Juan Bautista de Anza led an equally important expedition through
California in 1775-76, which would extend further into the interior and
northern California. The Anza expedition selected numerous locations for
missions, presidios and towns, which would later be established by
settlers. Gabriel Moraga, a member of the expedition, would also name
many of the most important rivers in California after him in 1775-1776,
such as the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River. After the
expedition, Gabriel's son, José Joaquín Moraga, would found the town of
San José in 1777, making it the first civil city in California.
During this same period, sailors from the Russian Empire explored the
northern coast of California. In 1812, the Russian-American Company
established a trading post and small fortification at Fort Ross on the
north coast. Fort Ross was used primarily to supply supplies to the
Russian colonies in Alaska. The settlement was not very successful,
failing to attract settlers or establish long-term commercial viability,
and was abandoned in 1841.
During the Mexican War of
Independence, Alta California was not affected or involved in the main
actions of the revolution, although many Californians supported
independence from Spain, which many believed had neglected California
and limited its development. The commercial monopoly Spanish over
California had limited the commercial prospects of Californians. After
Mexican independence, Californian ports were able to trade freely with
foreign merchants. Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá presided over the
transition from Spanish colonial rule to independent Mexican government.
In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence granted the Mexican Empire
(which included California) independence from Spain. For the next 25
years, Alta California remained a remote, sparsely populated
northwestern administrative district of the newly independent country of
Mexico, which shortly after independence became a republic. The
missions, which controlled most of the best land in the state, were
secularized in 1834 and became property of the Mexican government. The
governor granted many square leagues of land to other people with
political influence. These enormous ranches or cattle ranches emerged as
the dominant institutions of Mexican California. The ranches developed
under the ownership of Californios (Hispanic natives of California) who
traded cow hides and tallow with Boston merchants. Beef did not become a
commodity until the California Gold Rush of 1849.
Beginning in
the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United States and Canada began
arriving in Northern California. These newcomers used the Siskiyou
Trail, the California Trail, the Oregon Trail, and the Old Spanish Trail
to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts of California. and its
surroundings. The initial government of the newly independent Mexico was
very unstable, and as a reflection of this, beginning in 1831,
California also experienced a series of armed disputes, both internally
and with the central Mexican government. During this tumultuous
political period, Juan Bautista Alvarado managed to gain the
governorship between 1836 and 1842. The military action that brought
Alvarado to power had momentarily declared California an independent
state, and had counted on the help of Anglo-American residents of
California, among them them Isaac Graham. In 1840, one hundred of those
residents who did not have passports were arrested, leading to the
Graham Affair, which was resolved in part through the intercession of
Royal Navy officers.
One of California's greatest ranchers was
John Marsh. After failing to obtain justice from the Mexican courts
against the illegal occupants of his land, he decided that California
should become part of the United States. Marsh conducted a
letter-writing campaign in which he advocated for California's climate,
soil, and other reasons for settling there, as well as the best route to
follow, which became known as "Marsh's Route." His letters were read,
reread, spread and printed in newspapers across the country, and the
first caravans to California began. He invited immigrants to stay at his
ranch until they could settle, and helped them obtain passports.
After beginning the period of organized emigration to California, Marsh
found himself involved in a military battle between the hated Mexican
general Manuel Micheltorena and the governor of California whom he had
replaced, Juan Bautista Alvarado. Their armies met at the Battle of
Providencia, near Los Angeles. Marsh had been forced against his will to
join Micheltorena's army. Ignoring his superiors, during the battle, he
signaled to the other side to parley. There were many American settlers
fighting on both sides. He convinced the two sides that they had no
reason to fight each other. As a result of Marsh's actions, they
abandoned the fight, Micheltorena was defeated, and Californian Pío Pico
returned to the governorship. This paved the way for the final
acquisition of California by the United States.
In 1846, a group of American settlers from Sonoma and the surrounding
area rebelled against Mexican rule during the Bear Flag Revolt. Rebels
later raised the Bear Flag (featuring a bear, a star, a red stripe, and
the words "California Republic") in Sonoma. The only president of the
Republic was William B. Ide, who played a key role during the Bear Flag
Revolt. This revolt by American settlers served as a prelude to the
subsequent US military invasion of California and was closely
coordinated with nearby US military commanders.
The California
Republic was short-lived; That same year the Mexican-American War
(1846-48) broke out.
Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States
Navy sailed into Monterey Bay in 1846 and began the American military
invasion of California, capitulating Northern California in less than a
month to American forces. In Southern California, Californios continued
to resist American forces. Notable military engagements of the conquest
include the Battle of San Pasqual and the Battle of Rancho Dominguez in
southern California, as well as the Battle of Olómpali and the Battle of
Santa Clara in northern California. After a series of defensive battles
in the south, the Californians signed the Treaty of Cahuenga on January
13, 1847, securing censorship and establishing de facto American control
in California.
In the 20th century, thousands of Japanese emigrated to the United
States and California to try to buy and own land in the state. However,
in 1913 the state passed the Alien Land Law, which excluded Asian
immigrants from owning land. During World War II, Japanese-Americans in
California were interned in concentration camps such as Tule Lake and
Manzanar. In 2020, California officially apologized for this
internment.
Migration to California accelerated in the early
20th century with the completion of major transcontinental highways such
as the Lincoln Highway and Route 66. In the period between 1900 and
1965, the population grew from less than a million inhabitants to
largest of the Union. In 1940, the Census Bureau reported that
California's population was 6.0% Hispanic, 2.4% Asian, and 89.5%
non-Hispanic white.
During the 20th century, two major disasters
occurred in California. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1928
San Francisco Dam flood remain the deadliest in U.S. history.
After World War II, California's economy grew enormously due to the
strength of the aerospace and defense industries, which declined in size
after the end of the Cold War. Stanford University and its dean of
engineering Frederick Terman began encouraging faculty and graduates to
stay in California rather than leave the state, and to develop a
high-tech region in the area now known as Silicon Valley. As a result of
these efforts, California is considered a global center for the
entertainment and music industries, technology, engineering and
aerospace industries, and the center of American agricultural
production. Just before the dot-com bust, California had the world's
fifth-largest economy among nations.
Although air pollution
problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution
have continued. The brown haze known as "smog" has been substantially
reduced following the passage of federal and state restrictions on
automobile exhaust.
In the 21st century, frequent droughts and
wildfires attributed to climate change have occurred in the state. From
2011 to 2017, the persistent drought was the worst in its history. The
2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive in the
state, highlighted by the Camp Fire.
California is the third largest state in the United States by area,
after Alaska and Texas. California is often divided geographically into
two regions, Southern California, which comprises the 10 southernmost
counties, and Northern California, which comprises the 48 northernmost
counties. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east and
northeast, Arizona to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and
shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California
to the south (with which it is part of the Californian region of North
America. along with Baja California Sur).
In the center of the
state is California's Central Valley, surrounded by the Sierra Nevada to
the east, the coastal ranges to the west, the Cascade Range to the
north, and the Tehachapi Mountains to the south. The Central Valley is
the productive agricultural heart of California.
The Sierra
Nevada encompasses Yosemite Valley, famous for its rocks carved by
glacial erosion, and Sequoia National Park, home to the giant sequoias,
the largest living organisms on Earth, and Lake Tahoe, the largest lake
in the world. state by volume.
The state of California is a very
diverse territory roughly divided by the Sierra Nevada mountain range,
the coast and a large central valley. California is home to the highest
point (Mount Whitney) and the lowest point (Death Valley) of the 48
contiguous states.
The state is divided between Northern
California and Southern California, although the border between the two
regions is not very well defined. San Francisco is considered a city in
Northern California and Los Angeles is considered a city in Southern
California, but some areas between the two do not share that same
identity. The United States Geological Survey defines the geographic
center of the state at the point near North Fork.
Geographers
usually divide the state into eleven geomorphological provinces with
clearly defined boundaries. They are, from north to south, the Klamath
Mountains, the Cascade Range, the Modoc Plate, the basins and ranges,
the Pacific Coast Range, the Central Valley, the Sierra Nevada, the
Transverse Ranges, the Mojave Desert, the mountain ranges Peninsulars,
and the Colorado desert. For purposes of explanation, it is also useful
to recognize the Los Angeles basin, the Northern Archipelago, and the
Pacific Ocean.
Although most of the state has a Mediterranean climate, due to the
state's large size, the climate varies from arid to subarctic, depending
on latitude, elevation, and proximity to the coast. The cool offshore
California Current often creates a summer fog near the coast. Further
inland, there are colder winters and hotter summers. Maritime moderation
makes summer temperatures along the coast of Los Angeles and San
Francisco the mildest of all major metropolitan areas in the United
States and especially cool compared to areas at the same latitude
inland.
The northern parts of the state receive more rain than
the south. California's mountain ranges also influence the climate: some
of the rainiest parts of the state are the west-facing mountain slopes.
Northwestern California has a temperate climate, and the Central Valley
has a Mediterranean climate but with higher temperatures than the coast.
The high mountains, including the Sierra Nevada, have an alpine climate
with notable snowfall in winter and mild to moderate heat in summer.
California's mountains produce rain shadows in the eastern part,
creating extensive deserts. The higher-altitude deserts of eastern
California have hot summers and cold winters, while the low-lying
deserts east of the mountains of Southern California have hot summers
and mild winters with almost no frost. Death Valley, a desert with large
expanses below sea level, is considered the hottest place in the world;
The world's highest temperature, 134 °F (56.7 °C), was recorded there on
July 10, 1913. The lowest temperature in California was -43 °C (-45 °F)
on July 20. January 1937, in Boca.
The great variety of climates
causes a great demand for water. Over time, droughts and forest fires
have been increasing due to climate change and over-extraction, becoming
less seasonal and more year-round, further straining electricity supply
and security. California's water crisis and has had an impact on
California's commerce, industry, and agriculture.
In 2022, a new
state program was created in collaboration with California's indigenous
peoples to restore the practice of prescribed burning as a way to remove
excess forest residue and make landscapes more resistant to wildfires.
The use of fire in ecosystem management by Native Americans was banned
in 1911, but has now been recognized.
The state's nickname is The Golden State, a name that some assume perhaps comes from the numerous days on which the sun shines during the year, or perhaps from the golden color that the mountains can take on at certain times of the day ( as occurs in many other parts of the world), although the most certain probability of such a nickname (in the same way as that of the nickname given to the mouth of San Francisco Bay: Golden Gate) refers to the period of the fever of gold.
California's most prominent river system is formed by the Sacramento
River and the San Joaquin River, fed primarily by snowmelt from the
western slope of California's Sierra Nevada, and draining respectively
the northern and southern halves of the Central Valley. Both rivers join
in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and flow into the Pacific
Ocean through San Francisco Bay. Many major tributaries feed the
Sacramento-San Joaquin system, such as the Pit River, Feather River, and
Tuolumne River.
The Klamath and Trinity rivers drain a large area
in the far northwest of California. The Eel River and Salinas River
drain parts of the California coast, north and south of San Francisco
Bay, respectively. The Mojave River is the main waterway of the Mojave
Desert, and the Santa Ana River drains much of the Tra Mountain Range
nversal by dividing Southern California. The Colorado River forms
the state's southeastern border with Arizona.
Most of
California's major rivers are dammed in two large water projects: the
Central Valley Project, which supplies water to Central Valley
agriculture, and the California State Water Project, which diverts water
from the north to the south. Of California. The state's coasts, rivers
and other bodies of water are regulated by the California Coastal
Commission.
California is one of the most ecologically rich and diverse areas in
the world, and includes some of the most endangered ecological
communities. California is part of the Nearctic realm and encompasses
several terrestrial ecoregions.
California's large number of
endemic species includes relict species, extinct elsewhere, such as the
Catalina ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus). Many other endemic species
originated by differentiation or adaptive radiation, whereby multiple
species develop from a common ancestor to take advantage of diverse
ecological conditions, such as the California lilac (Ceanothus). Many
California endemisms have become endangered species as urbanization,
logging, overgrazing, and the introduction of exotic species have
encroached on their habitat.
California's high mountains prevent
most moisture from reaching the eastern parts of the state, which are
home to California's desert and xeric shrub ecoregions. The low desert
of southeastern California is part of the Sonoran Desert ecoregion,
which extends into Arizona and parts of northern Mexico. California has
two high deserts: the Mojave Desert and the Great Basin Desert. The
Mojave Desert ecoregion is marked by the presence of Joshua trees.
California's dry, cold Great Basin Desert consists of the Owens Valley,
and is classified in the Great Basin shrub steppe by the WWF, and in the
Central Basin and Cordillera ecoregion by the EPA.
California
deserts receive between 2 and 10 inches (51 and 254 mm) of rain
annually. The plants of these deserts are shrubs and bushes, adapted to
the lack of rainfall. Common plant species include creosote bush,
blackbrush, greasewood, saltbush, big sagebrush, low sagebrush, and
shad. Higher elevations receive more precipitation, allowing for growth
of drought-resistant trees, such as western juniper and stone pine.
The colder, wetter mountains of Northern California are covered by
forest ecoregions. Both the WWF and the EPA divide the mountains into
three ecoregions: the Sierra Nevada, the Klamath Mountains, and the
slopes and foothills of the Eastern Cascades (found on the Modoc
Plateau).
The Sierra Nevada is home to half of California's
vascular plant species, with 400 species endemic to the region. Like
many mountain ranges, plant communities in the Sierra are grouped into
biotic zones based on altitude, because the climate is increasingly
harder as altitude increases. These biotic zones include the montane
forest, dominated by conifers such as Jeffrey pine and Lodgepole pine,
the subalpine forest, dominated by whitebark pine, to the alpine tundra,
which cannot support trees. The Sierra is also notable for its giant
sequoias. : the largest on the planet.
The Klamath and Siskiyou
Mountains are a notable biodiversity hotspot, containing one of the four
most biodiverse temperate forests in the world. The diversity is due to
the ecoregion being adjacent to several other ecoregions, soil
diversity, and refugia caused by isolation in the last ice age. Some
species endemic to the Klamath Mountains are limited to a single
mountain or valley.
The eastern Cascades slopes of the Modoc
Plateau are characterized by a mosaic of open ponderosa pine forests,
grasslands, and shrublands. Although high, these slopes and mountains
are in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range and are therefore drier and
more open.
The California coast north of San Francisco contains
the northern California coastal forests (as defined by the WWF) and the
southern section of the Coast Range ecoregion (as defined by the EPA).
This ecoregion is dominated by redwood forests, which contain the
tallest and some of the oldest trees in the world.
Redwood
forests grow in a thin strip up to 56 km wide along the coast, where the
trees are kept moist by winter rains and summer fog. Redwood forests are
also noted for having the highest forest productivity in the world.
world.
California boasts several superlatives in its collection of flora:
the largest, the tallest, and the oldest trees. California's native
grasses are perennial plants, and there are nearly one hundred succulent
species native to the state. Following European contact, these were
generally replaced by invasive species of European annual grasses; and,
in modern times, the hills of California turn a characteristic golden
brown color in summer.
Because California has the greatest
diversity of climate and terrain, the state has six life zones which are
the lower Sonoran Desert; Upper Sonoran (foothill regions and some
coastal lands), transition (coastal areas and humid northeastern
counties); and the Canadian, Hudsonian and Arctic Zones, which comprise
the highest elevations of the state.
Plant life in the dry
climate of lower Sonora contains a diversity of native cacti, mesquite,
and paloverde. The Joshua tree is found in the Mojave Desert. Flowering
plants include the dwarf desert poppy and a variety of asters. Fremont
cottonwood and valley oak thrive in the Central Valley. The upper
Sonoran zone includes the chaparral belt, characterized by forests of
small shrubs, stunted trees, and herbaceous plants. Nemophila, mint,
Phacelia, Viola and the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica, the
state flower) also bloom in this area, along with lupine, of which more
species occur here than anywhere else in the world.
The
transition zone includes most of California's forests, with the redwood
(Sequoia sempervirens) and the "big tree" or giant sequoia
(Sequoiadendron giganteum), one of the oldest living things on Earth
(said to be some have lived at least 4,000 years). Oaks, California
laurels, sugar pines, strawberry trees, broadleaf maples, and Douglas
firs also grow. The forest floor is covered with cattail ferns, alum
roots, barrenwort and trillium, and there are thickets of blueberries,
azaleas, elderberries and wild currants. Characteristic wildflowers
include varieties of butterfly, tulip, and tiger and leopard lilies.
The high elevations of the Canadian area allow Jeffrey pine, red
spruce, and lodgepole pine to thrive. In the scrub areas, dwarf
manzanita and ceanothus are abundant; The unique puffball saw is also
found here. Just below the timberline, in the Hudsonian zone, whitebark,
foxtail, and silver pines grow. At about 3,200 m the Arctic zone begins,
a treeless region whose flora includes numerous wildflowers, such as the
mountain primrose, the yellow columbine, the alpine buttercup and the
alpine shooting star.
Among the plants introduced to the state
are eucalyptus, acacia, pepper tree, geranium and Scotch broom. Species
federally classified as endangered are Contra Costa wallflower, Antioch
dune evening primrose, Solano grass, San Clemente Island delphinium,
saltmarsh birdbeak , McDonald's cress and the Santa Barbara Island
plant. As of December 1997, 85 plant species were listed as threatened
or endangered.
In the deserts of the lower Sonoran area, the mammals are the hare,
the kangaroo rat, the squirrel and the opossum. Common birds include the
owl, roadrunner, cactus wren, and several species of hawk. Among the
reptiles in the area are the long-nosed viper, the desert tortoise and
the horned toad. The upper Sonoran area has mammals such as antelope,
brown-footed wood rat, and ring-tailed cat. Birds exclusive to this area
are the California buzzard, the bushtit, and the California condor.
In the transition zone there are Colombian black-tailed deer, black
bears, gray foxes, pumas, lynx and Roosevelt elk. Reptiles such as the
garter snake and the rattlesnake live in the area. Additionally,
amphibians such as the water pup and the redwood salamander are also
common. Birds such as the kingfisher, the tit, the bullfinch and the
hummingbird also thrive here.
Among the mammals in the Canadian
area, the mountain weasel, the snowshoe hare and several species of
chipmunks stand out. Among the most striking birds are the blue jay,
great tit, hermit thrush, dipper and Townsend's solitaire. As you ascend
to the Hudson area, the birds become scarcer. Although the gray-crowned
rosy finch is the only bird native to the high Arctic region, there are
other species of birds such as Anna's hummingbird and Clark's
nutcracker[citation needed] Among the main mammals of this region are
the rabbit. the sierra, the white-tailed hare and the bighorn sheep. In
April 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the bighorn
sheep endangered. Fauna found in various areas include mule deer,
coyote, cougar, northern flicker, and several species of hawk and
sparrow.
California had a population of 37,253,956 as of the 2010 census. Between
the years 2000 and 2010, the population grew by 3,382,308, an increase
of 10%. As of mid-2017, the US Census Bureau estimates the population at
39,536,653. About 12% of all Americans live in California.
Eight
of the 50 largest cities in the state are in California. Los Angeles is
the second largest city in the United States with 3,792,621 inhabitants
(2010 Census), followed by San Diego (8th), San José (10th), San
Francisco (14th), Fresno (35th), Long Beach (36th), Sacramento (37th)
and Oakland (45th).
One of the North American cultural areas for
structuring the Indian population according to (mostly historical)
cultural characteristics is called "California". Although California
Indians have very small reservations, many of them strive to uphold
their traditions.
The age structure of California is
composed as follows:
up to 18 years: 9,531,046 (26.1%)
18 to 64
years: 22,998,673 (63.1%)
65 and over: 3,927,830 (10.8%)
The
median age is 34.4 years.
The capital of California is Sacramento. The state is organized into
three branches of government: the executive branch, made up of the
governor and other independently elected constitutional officials; the
legislative branch, made up of the Assembly and the Senate; and the
judicial branch, made up of the California Supreme Court and lower
courts. The state also allows electoral propositions: direct
participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, revocation
and ratification.
Prior to the passage of California Proposition
14 (2010), California allowed each political party to choose whether to
hold a closed primary or a primary in which only party members and
independents voted. After June 8, 2010, the date Proposition 14 was
passed, with the exception of only the President of the United States
and county central committee positions, all primary election candidates
are listed on the ballot with their party affiliation preferred, but
they are not the official candidate of that party. In the primary
election, the two candidates with the most votes will advance to the
general election, regardless of their party affiliation. If in a
special primary election, a candidate receives more than 50 % of all
votes cast, will be elected to fill the vacancy and no special general
election will be held.
California's legal system is explicitly based on English common law
but incorporates many features of Spanish civil law, such as community
property. California's prison population rose from 25,000 people in 1980
to more than 170,000 in 2007. Capital punishment is a legal form of
punishment and the state has the largest "death row" in the country
(although Oklahoma and Texas are much larger). active in carrying out
executions). California has carried out 13 executions since 1976, the
last in 2006.
California's judicial system is the largest in the
United States, with a total of 1,600 judges (the federal system only has
about 840). At the top is the seven-member California Supreme Court,
while the California Courts of Appeal are the main appellate courts and
the California Superior Courts are the main trial courts. Judges of the
Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal are appointed by the governor,
but are subject to re-election by the electorate every 12 years.
Administration of the state's judicial system is controlled by the
Judicial Council, composed of the chief justice of the California
Supreme Court, 14 judicial officers, four representatives of the
California State Bar, and one member of each chamber of the state
legislature.
In fiscal year 2020-21, the state's 2,000 judicial
officers and 18,000 judicial branch employees processed approximately
4.4 million cases.
California's executive branch consists of the governor and seven
other elected constitutional offices: lieutenant governor, attorney
general, secretary of state, state comptroller, state treasurer,
insurance commissioner, and state superintendent of public instruction.
Their term lasts four years and they can only be re-elected once.
The total number of employees is 227,536, excluding the California
State Universities. In 2004, there were 4,462 job classifications, many
of which had no employees filling the position, as a workaround for
certain hiring practices. As Part of a civil service reform initiative
starting in 2013, 700 job titles were eliminated.
The California
Department of Human Resources primarily oversees the state's civil
service system, with some additional functions performed by the
California State Personnel Board.
In 2012, the California
Department of Human Resources was created by combining the functions of
the former Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) with most of the
operations of the State Personnel Board, largely implementing the
recommendations of experts from the previous decades.
In 2012,
Governor Jerry Brown created the California Government Operations
Agency. Its director, Marybel Batjer, launched a civil service reform
initiative aimed at making state employment more attractive to talented
employees relative to the private sector.
In 2015, the first
state employee engagement survey was conducted with a sample of 5,000.
The survey showed that employees largely believed their work was
important, but did not strongly believe that workers were accountable or
received appropriate recognition for their good work.
In 2016,
the State launched a new recruitment website, which for the first time
allowed for the electronic submission of employment applications for
State positions. Unusually, it was programmed by state employees rather
than an outside contractor.
The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature
consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80
members, and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40. Both
chambers of the Legislature are meet at the California State Capitol in
Sacramento. The California state legislature is one of ten full-time
state legislatures in the United States. The chambers are distinguished
by the colors of the carpet and decorations of each of them. The Senate
is distinguished by red and the Assembly by green, inspired by the House
of Lords and the House of Commons respectively.
Currently, the
Democratic Party holds a veto-proof majority in both chambers of the
California State Legislature. The Assembly is made up of 62 Democrats
and 18 Republicans, while the Senate is made up of 32 Democrats and 8
Republicans. . Except for a brief period between 1995 and 1996, the
Assembly has been in Democratic hands since the 1970 elections. The
Senate has been continuously under Democratic control since 1970.
New legislators meet each new two-year session to organize, in the
Assembly and Senate chambers, respectively, at noon on the first Monday
in December following the elections.
After the organizational
meeting, both chambers go into recess until the first Monday in January,
except when the first Monday is January 1 or January 1 is a Sunday, in
which case they meet on the following Wednesday. Aside from recess, the
legislature is in session year-round.
The state of California, in the United States, is divided into 58 counties. Counties have their own elections, collection of property taxes, maintenance of records such as property deeds, and local courts within their territory, as well as law enforcement (through the sheriffs of each county and their assistants) in areas that are not incorporated into cities.
General law municipalities owe their existence to state legislation and, consequently, are governed by it; For their part, statutory municipalities are governed by their own municipal statutes. Municipalities established in the 19th century are usually statutory municipalities. The ten most populated cities in the state are autonomous cities. Most small cities have a council-manager form of government, in which the elected council appoints a city manager to oversee city operations. Some larger cities have a directly elected mayor who oversees city government. In many of these cities, the city council elects one of its members as mayor, sometimes by rotation, but this type of position is primarily ceremonial. The Government of San Francisco is California's only consolidated city-county, where both city and county governments have been merged into a unified jurisdiction.
The state of California sends 53 members to the House of
Representatives, the largest state congressional delegation in the
country. Consequently, California also has the largest number of
electoral votes in national presidential elections, with 55. The current
speaker of the House of Representatives is the representative of
California's 20th district, Kevin McCarthy.
California is
represented by US Senators Dianne Feinstein, a native and former mayor
of San Francisco, and Alex Padilla, a native and former Secretary of
State of California. Former San Francisco native and former U.S. Senator
Kamala Harris, former Attorney General of California, resigned on
January 18, 2021 to take office as the current Vice President of the
United States. In the 1992 US Senate elections, California became the
first state to elect an all-female Senate delegation, thanks to the
victories of Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Set to succeed the Vice
President-elect, the Governor Newsom appointed Secretary of State Alex
Padilla to finish out the remainder of Harris' term, which ends in 2022,
Padilla has committed to running for the full term in that election
cycle. Padilla was sworn in on January 20, 2021, the same day as
President-elect Joe Biden and Harris were inaugurated.
The United States Census Bureau estimates that California's
population was 38,041,430 as of July 1, 2012, a 2.1% increase since the
2010 census. Between 2000 and 2009, there was a natural increase of
3,090,016 (5,058,440 births minus 2,179,958 deaths). During this period,
international migration produced an increase of 1,816,633 people, while
internal migration produced a decrease of 1,509,708, resulting in a net
immigration of 306,925 people. California State statistics show a
population of 38,292,687 as of January 1, 2009. However, according to
the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, since 1990 almost 3.4
million Californians have moved to other states.
California is
the second most populous subnational entity in the Western Hemisphere
and the American continent, after the state of São Paulo, in Brazil. In
addition, Los Angeles County has held the title of most populous county
in the United States for decades, in fact populous than 42 of the
American states. California is home to eight of the 50 most populous
cities in the United States: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San
Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, and Oakland. The state's
population center is located in the town of Buttonwillow, Kern County.
The official language is English, spoken at home by 60.5% of the
Californian population. Spanish is the second language in number of
speakers, with 35.8% of the population. Section 1632 of the California
Civil Code recognizes the Spanish language, hence the Dymally-Alatorre
law on bilingual services institutes English-Spanish bilingualism,
without the necessary exclusion of other languages. The rest of the
languages, such as Chinese, Tagalog, and Vietnamese, reach 6.08% of the
total.
The indigenous languages of the state, which barely
account for a few tens of thousands of speakers, belonging mainly to the
Hokano and Penutio groups, are endangered languages: many of them are
spoken only by the older generations who are bilingual, while many
Amerindian children They are monolingual in English.
The largest religious denominations by number of faithful as a
percentage of the California population in 2014 were the Catholic
Church, with 28%, evangelical Protestants, with 20%, and traditional
Protestants, with 10%. Together, all types of Protestants represented 32
percent. Those unaffiliated with any religion represented 27 percent of
the population. The breakdown of other religions is 1% Muslims, 2%
Hindus and 2% Buddhists. which represents a change compared to 2008,
when the population identified their religion with the Catholic Church,
with 31%. ; evangelical Protestants, with 18%; and mainline Protestants,
with 14%. In 2008, those not affiliated with any religion represented
21% of the population. The breakdown of other religions in 2008 was 0.5
percent Muslim, 1 percent Hindu, and 2 percent Buddhist. The American
Jewish Year Book placed California's total Jewish population at around
1,194. 190 people in 2006. According to the Association of Religion Data
Archives (ARDA), the largest confessions by number of faithful in 2010
were the Catholic Church, with 10,233,334; the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, with 763,818; and the Southern Baptist Convention,
with 489,953.
The first priests to arrive in California were
Catholic missionaries from Spain. Catholics founded 21 missions along
the California coast, as well as the cities of Los Angeles and San
Francisco. California continues to have a large Catholic population due
to the large number of Mexicans and Central Americans living within its
borders. California has twelve dioceses and two archdioceses, the
Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the
former being the largest archdiocese in the United States.
A Pew
Research Center survey revealed that California is somewhat less
religious than the rest of the states: 62% of Californians say they are
"absolutely sure" of their belief in God, while 71% in the country say
so. The survey also found that 48% of Californians say religion is "very
important," compared to 56% nationally.
California is the state with the most students enrolled in school in
the country, with more than 6.2 million in the 2005-06 academic year,
which is more students enrolled in school than the total population of
36 states and one of the highest expected enrollments in the country.
Public secondary education consists of institutes that teach
elective courses in trades, languages, and liberal arts with pathways
for gifted, university, and industrial arts students. California's
public education system is supported by a unique constitutional
amendment that requires a minimum level of annual funding for grades
K-12 and community colleges that grows with the economy and student
enrollment numbers.
In 2016, per-pupil spending in California's
K-12 public schools ranked 22nd in the nation ($11,500 per student vs.
$11,800 for the United States average).
For 2012, California K-12
public schools ranked 48th in the number of employees per student, at
0.102 (the US average was 0.137), while paying the seventh most per
employee, $49,000 (US average was $39,000).
A 2007 study
concluded that California's public school system was "broken" by alleged
overregulation.
California postsecondary public education is
organized into three separate systems:
The state's public research
university system is the University of California (UC). As of fall 2011,
the University of California had a total of 234,464 students and ten
campuses. Nine are general campuses offering undergraduate and graduate
programs leading to the award of bachelor's, master's, and doctoral
degrees. There is a specialized campus, UC San Francisco, that is
dedicated entirely to graduate health care education and is home to UCSF
Medical Center, the highest-ranked hospital in California. The system
was originally conceived to accept one-eighth of California's best high
school students, but several of the campuses have become even more
selective. The UC system has historically had exclusive authority to
grant the doctorate, but this has since changed and the CSU now has a
limited statutory authority to grant a handful of types of doctoral
degrees independently of UC.
The California State University
(CSU) system has nearly 430,000 students. CSU (which uses the definite
article in its short form, while UC does not) was originally intended to
accept the top third of California high school students, but several of
its campuses have become much more selective. Initially, the CSU was
only authorized to grant bachelor's and master's degrees, and could only
grant doctorates as part of joint programs with the UC or private
universities. Since then, CSU has been granted the authority to
independently grant various doctoral degrees (in specific academic
fields that do not encroach on UC's traditional jurisdiction).
The California Community College system offers lower division courses
leading to an associate's degree, as well as basic and workforce
training leading to various types of certificates. (Fifteen California
community colleges now offer four-year bachelor's degrees in in-demand
disciplines in their geographic area.118 It is the largest higher
education network in the U.S., comprised of 112 colleges serving a
student population of more than 2 .6 million students.
California
is also home to such notable private universities as Stanford
University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), University of
Southern California, Claremont Colleges, Santa Clara University, Loyola
Marymount University, University of San Diego, the University of San
Francisco, Chapman University, Pepperdine University, Occidental
College, and the University of the Pacific, among numerous other private
colleges and universities, including many religious and special purpose
institutions. California has an especially high density of art colleges,
including California College of the Arts, California Institute of the
Arts, San Francisco Art Institute, Art Center College of Design, and
Academy of Art University, among others.
California's economy is one of the largest in the world. In 2021, the
gross state product (GSP) was $3.3 trillion ($85,500 per capita), the
largest in the United States. California is responsible for one-seventh
of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). As of 2018, California's
nominal GDP is larger than all but four countries (the United States,
China, Japan, and Germany). In terms of purchasing power parity (PPP),
it is larger than all countries. except eight (United States, China,
India, Japan, Germany, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia). California's
economy is larger than Africa and Australia and is almost as large as
South America. The state recorded total employment non-agricultural of
16,677,800, in September 2021 among 966,224 employer establishments.125
(in 2019).
The five largest employment sectors in California are
commerce, transportation and utilities; government; professional and
business services; education and health services; and leisure and
hospitality. In terms of production, the five most important sectors are
financial services, followed by trade, transportation and public
services; education and health services; public administration; and
industry. California has an unemployment rate of 3.9% as of September
2022.
California's economy depends on trade, and international
trade accounts for about a quarter of the state's economy. In 2008,
California exported $144 billion worth of goods, up from $134 billion in
2007 and $127 billion in 2006. Computers and electronics are
California's top export, accounting for 42% of all exports. state
exports in 2008.
Agriculture is an important sector in
California's economy. Agriculture-related sales have more than
quadrupled over the past three decades, rising from $7.3 billion in 1974
to nearly $31 billion in 2004. This increase has occurred despite a 15%
decline in acreage dedicated to agriculture. agriculture during the
period, and that the water supply suffers from chronic instability.
Factors contributing to per-acre sales growth include more intensive use
of active farmland and technological improvements in crop production. In
2008, California's 81,500 farms and ranches generated $36.2 billion in
product revenue. In 2011, that figure grew to $43.5 billion. The
agricultural sector accounts for two percent of the state's GDP and
employs about three percent of its total workforce. According to the
USDA in 2011, the three agricultural products California's largest by
value were milk and cream, shelled almonds, and grapes.
The GDP
per capita in 2007 was $38,956, the eleventh in the country. Per capita
income varies greatly by geographic region and profession. The Central
Valley is the most impoverished, with migrant farm workers earning less
than the minimum wage. According to a 2005 report by the Congressional
Research Service, the San Joaquin Valley was characterized as one of the
most economically depressed regions in the United States, on par with
the Appalachian region. Using the supplemental poverty measure,
California It has a poverty rate of 23.5%, the highest of any state in
the country. However, using the official measure, the poverty rate was
only 13.3% in Many coastal cities include some of the areas richest per
capita in the United States. Northern California's high-tech sectors,
specifically Silicon Valley in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, have
emerged from the economic downturn caused by the dot-com bust.
In
2019, there were 1,042,027 millionaire households in the state, more
than any other state in the nation. In 2010, California residents ranked
first among states with the best average credit score, 754.
State
spending increased from $56 billion in 1998 to $127 billion in 2011.
California has the third largest per capita spending on welfare among
states, as well as the largest spending on welfare at $6.67 billion. As
of January 2011, California's total debt was at least $265 billion. On
June 27, 2013, Governor Jerry Brown signed a balanced (no deficit)
budget for the state, the first in decades; However, the state's debt
remains at $132 billion.
With the passage of Proposition 30 in
2012 and Proposition 55 in 2016, California now applies a top marginal
income tax rate of 13.3% with ten tax brackets, ranging from 1% at the
bottom of $0 individual annual income up to 13.3% for individual annual
income over $1,000,000 (although the higher brackets are only temporary
until Proposition 55 expires at the end of 2030). Although Proposition
30 also enacted a 7.5% minimum state sales tax, this sales tax increase
was not extended by Proposition 55 and reverted to the previous minimum
state sales tax rate of 7.25%. in 2017. Local governments can and do
collect sales taxes in addition to this minimum rate.
All real
estate is taxed annually; The ad valorem tax is based on the fair market
value of the property at the time of purchase or the value of new
construction. Property tax increases are limited to 2% annually or the
rate of inflation (whichever is lower), in accordance with Proposition
13.
As the most populous state in the United States, California is one of
the largest energy consumers in the country. However, due to its high
energy rates, conservation mandates, the temperate climate of the
largest population centers, and the strong environmental movement, its
per capita energy consumption is one of the lowest of all US states.
Due to high demand for electricity, California imports more
electricity than any other state, primarily hydroelectric power from the
Pacific Northwest states (via Route 15 and Route 66) and coal and
natural gas production from the desert Southwest to via Route 46. The
state's crude oil and natural gas fields are found in the Central Valley
and along the coast, including the large Midway-Sunset oil field.
Natural gas power plants typically account for more than half of the
state's electricity generation.
As a result of the state's strong
green movement, California has some of the most aggressive renewable
energy goals in the United States, with the goal of California getting
one-third of its electricity from renewable energy by 2020. Today ,
several solar power plants are located in the Mojave Desert, such as the
Solar Energy Generating Systems facility. California wind farms include
Altamont Pass, San Gorgonio Pass and Tehachapi Pass. The Tehachapi area
is also home to the Tehachapi Energy Storage Project. Several dams
throughout the state provide hydroelectric power. It would be possible
to convert the entire supply to 100% renewable energy, including
heating, cooling and mobility, by 2050.
California is also home
to two large nuclear power plants: Diablo Canyon and San Onofre, the
latter closed in 2013. More than 1,700 tons of radioactive waste are
stored at San Onofre, which is located in an area where tsunamis have
been recorded in the past. . Voters have prohibited the approval of new
nuclear power plants since the late 1970s due to concerns about
radioactive waste disposal. In addition, several cities such as
Oakland, Berkeley, and Davis have declared themselves nuclear-free
zones.
California's vast terrain is connected by an extensive system of
controlled access highways ("freeways"), limited access highways
("expressways") and expressways. California is known for its car
culture, giving its cities a reputation for serious traffic congestion.
The construction and maintenance of state highways and transportation
planning throughout the state are primarily the responsibility of the
California Department of Transportation, nicknamed "Caltrans." The
state's rapid population growth is straining all of its transportation
networks, and California has some of the worst roads in the U.S.
Reason's 19th Annual Report on the Performance of State Highway Systems
Foundation ranked California's roads as the third worst of any state,
with Alaska in second place and Rhode Island in first.
The state
has been a pioneer in the construction of highways. One of the state's
most visible landmarks, the Golden Gate Bridge, was the world's longest
span suspension bridge, spanning 1,300 m (4,200 ft) between 1937 (when
it opened) and 1964. With its orange paint and panoramic views of bay,
this road bridge is a popular tourist attraction and also accommodates
pedestrians and cyclists. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (often
abbreviated to "Bay Bridge"), completed in 1936, carries about 280,000
vehicles a day on two spans. Its two sections join on the island of
Yerba Buena through the largest diameter transportation tunnel in the
world, 23 m wide by 18 m high. The Arroyo Seco Parkway, which connects
Los Angeles and Pasadena, was inaugurated in 1940 as the first freeway
in the western United States. It was later extended south to the Four
Level Interchange in downtown Los Angeles, considered the first stacked
interchange ever built.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX),
the 4th busiest in the world in 2018, and San Francisco International
Airport (SFO), the 25th busiest in the world in 2018, are important hubs
for transpacific traffic and transcontinental. There are about a dozen
major commercial airports and many more general aviation airports
throughout the state.
California also has several major seaports.
The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, in Southern
California, are the largest and second largest seaport in the United
States, respectively, by volume of container cargo handled; In 2018,
they collectively handle 31.9% of all U.S. TEUs. The Port of Oakland and
the Port of Hueneme are the tenth and twenty-sixth largest seaports in
the United States, respectively, by number of TEUs handled.
The
California Highway Patrol is the largest employing U.S. state police
agency, with more than 10,000 employees. They are responsible for
providing any police-sanctioned services to anyone on California
state-maintained highways and state property.
At the end of 2021,
30,610,058 people in California had a driver's license or state
identification card issued by the California Department of Motor
Vehicles, and there were 36,229,205 registered vehicles, including
25,643,076 automobiles, 853,368 motorcycles, 8,981. 787 trucks and
trailers, and 121,716 miscellaneous vehicles (including historic
vehicles and agricultural equipment).
Amtrak California provides
intercity rail service; All three routes, Capitol Corridor, Pacific
Surfliner and San Joaquin, are funded by Caltrans. These services are
the busiest intercity rail lines in the United States outside the
Northeast Corridor, and ridership continues to break records. Routes are
becoming more popular, especially LAX-SFO. Integrated subway and light
rail networks are located in Los Angeles (Metro Rail) and San Francisco
(MUNI Metro). There are also light rail systems in San Jose (VTA), San
Diego (San Diego Trolley), Sacramento (RT Light Rail), and North San
Diego County (Sprinter). Additionally, there are commuter networks in
the San Francisco Bay Area (ACE, BART, Caltrain, SMART), Los Angeles
(Metrolink), and San Diego (Coaster).
In 1996, the State created
the California High-Speed Rail Authority to implement an extensive 1,300
km railway system. Its construction was approved by voters in the
November 2008 general election, and the first phase of construction is
estimated to cost $64.2 billion.
Almost all counties have bus
lines, and many cities also have their own city bus lines. Greyhound,
Megabus and Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach offer intercity bus travel.
California's interconnected water system is the largest in the world,
managing more than 40,000,000 acre-feet (49 km3) of water annually,
centered on six major water systems and infrastructure projects. Use
and Water conservation in California is a politically controversial
issue, as the state suffers from periodic droughts and has to balance
the demands of its large agricultural and urban sectors, especially in
the arid southern part of the state. The state's extensive water
redistribution also draws frequent scorn from environmentalists.
The California water war, a conflict between Los Angeles and the Owens
Valley over water rights, is one of the best-known examples of the fight
to ensure an adequate water supply. Former California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger He said: "We have been in crisis for quite some time
because now we are 38 million people and no longer 18 million as at the
end of the 60s." So it became a battle between environmentalists and
farmers and between south and north and between rural and urban. And
everyone has been fighting for the last four decades for water."
California hosted the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, the 1960 Squaw
Valley and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, as well as the 1994 Soccer World
Cup. It is currently preparing for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
California has twenty-one franchises in Major League professional
sports, many more than any other state. The San Francisco Bay Area has
seven teams in the major leagues in three cities, San Francisco, Oakland
and San Jose. While the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area is home to eleven
franchises in the professional Major Leagues. San Diego has two major
league teams, and Sacramento also has two.
Home to some of the
most prominent universities in the United States, California has long
had respected college sports programs. In particular, the athletic
programs of UC Berkeley, USC, UCLA, Stanford, and Fresno State are often
nationally ranked in several college sports. California is also home to
the oldest of the college bowl titles, the annual Rose Bowl, and the
Holiday Bowl, among others.
Many racing circuits in the United
States are located in California. The main ones are the Fontana oval,
the Long Beach street track, and the Laguna Seca and Sears Point
racetracks, as well as the now-defunct Riverside and Ontario racetracks.
In addition to hosting the main American motorsport and motorcycle
events, the Long Beach Grand Prix was a valid test for the Formula 1
World Championship and currently hosts the IndyCar Series and the United
SportsCar Championship, while Laguna Seca has hosted tests of the
Motorcycle World Championship and the Superbike World Championship.
Numerous golf tournaments are held in California, including the Los
Angeles Open and San Diego Open. The Pebble Beach and Olympic golf
courses have hosted several editions of the US Open.
In tennis,
the Indian Wells Masters belongs to the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and
WTA Premier, and the Stanford Tournament belongs to the WTA Premier.
Previously, the Los Angeles Tournament and the San José Tournament were
held.
In polo, the 1998 World Polo Championship was held in Santa
Barbara and in 2022 the XII version of the world championship will be
held in Indio.
The culture of California is a Western culture and has most clearly
its modern roots in the culture of the United States, but also,
historically, many Hispanic Californian and Mexican influences. As a
border and coastal state, Californian culture has been greatly
influenced by several large immigrant populations, especially Latin
Americans and Asians.
California has long been an object of
interest in the public mind and has often been promoted by its
proponents as a kind of paradise. In the early 20th century, thanks to
the efforts of state and local developers, many Americans saw the Golden
State as an ideal tourist destination, sunny and dry year-round, with
easy access to the ocean and mountains. In the 1960s, popular music
groups such as The Beach Boys promoted the image of Californians as
relaxed, tanned beachgoers.
The gold rush of the 1850s is still
considered a symbol of California's economic style, which tends to
generate technological, social, entertainment and economic fads and
booms, with their corresponding busts.
Hollywood and the rest of the Los Angeles area are a major global
entertainment center, with the "big five" US film studios (Columbia,
Disney, Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros.), as well as many studios
minor film companies based in or around the area.
The four major
American television networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) have production
facilities and offices in the State. The four, plus the two main
Spanish-language networks (Telemundo and Univisión), have at least two
of their own television channels in California, one in Los Angeles and
another in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The San Francisco Bay Area
is home to several prominent Internet and social media companies,
including three of the "Big Five" technology companies (Apple, Facebook
and Google), as well as other services such as Netflix, Pandora Radio,
Twitter , Yahoo! and YouTube.
KCBS (AM), one of the oldest radio
stations in the United States, was founded in 1909. Universal Music
Group, one of the Big Four record labels, is headquartered in Santa
Monica. California is also the birthplace of several international
musical genres, such as the Bakersfield Sound, Bay Area thrash metal,
g-funk, nu metal, stoner rock, surf music, West Coast hip hop and West
Coast jazz.
Nineteenth-century California is portrayed in the Californian Tales
(1922) by Adolfo Carrillo (1855-1926).
Life in 19th century
California is reflected in the film "The Mask of Zorro", directed by
Martin Campbell and starring Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta Jones and
Anthony Hopkins, as well as in its sequel "The Legend of Zorro", whose
The plot takes place during the incorporation of this territory into the
United States.
California is twinned with Alberta, Canada.
California is also recognized for having raised a large number of groups
of the nu metal movement, bands such as Deftones, Korn, System of a
Down, Papa Roach, Snot and Linkin Park were born in California.