Welcome to the Portal:California. Such a lovely place.
California
State of California
Map of the United States with California highlighted
California is a state in the Western United States , lying on the American Pacific Coast . It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With 39 million residents across an area of 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2 ), it is the most populous U.S. state, the third-largest by area, and most populated subnational entity in North America . The Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas are the nation's second- and fifth-most populous urban regions , with 19 million and 10 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is the state's most populous city and the nation's second-most , after New York . California's capital , Sacramento , is located in the Central Valley .
Prior to European colonization , California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America . European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization by the Spanish Empire . The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its successful war for independence , but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War . The California Gold Rush started in 1848 and led to social and demographic changes, including depopulation of indigenous peoples in the California genocide . The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state in 1850 , as a free state , following the Compromise of 1850 .
California's economy is the largest of any US state, with a $3.6 trillion gross state product . It is the largest sub-national economy in the world. California's agricultural industry has the highest output of any U.S. state, and is led by its dairy , almonds , and grapes . With the busiest port in the country (Los Angeles ), California plays a pivotal role in the global supply chain, hauling in about 40% of goods imported to the US. 84% of residents 25 or older hold a high school degree , the lowest high school education rate of all 50 states . Despite a continuing exodus of businesses from Downtown San Francisco and Downtown Los Angeles , California retains one of the largest number of Fortune 500 companies. (Full article... )
A 1946 Nixon campaign flyer
In
California's 12th congressional district election, 1946 , the candidates were five-term incumbent
Democrat Jerry Voorhis ,
Republican challenger
Richard Nixon , and former congressman and
Prohibition Party candidate
John Hoeppel . Nixon was elected with 56% of the vote, starting him on the road that would lead, almost a quarter century later, to the
presidency . For the 1946 election, Republicans sought a candidate who could unite the party and run a strong race against Voorhis in the Republican-leaning district. After failing to secure the candidacy of General
George Patton , they settled on Lieutenant Commander Richard Nixon, who had lived in the district prior to his World War II service. Various explanations have been put forward for Nixon's victory, from national political trends to
red-baiting on the part of the challenger. Some historians contend that Nixon received large amounts of funding from wealthy backers determined to defeat Voorhis, while others dismiss such allegations. (
Full article... )
The following are images from various California-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 Mission Santa Barbara , founded in 1786, was the first mission to be established by
Fermín de Lasuén . (from
History of California )
Image 3 Francis Drake 's 1579 landing in "
New Albion " (modern-day
Point Reyes ); engraving by
Theodor De Bry , 1590. (from
History of California )
Image 4 Portrait of an "
assimilated "
Maidu man in
Sacramento , 1867. (from
History of California )
Image 6 The
University of California, Berkeley is the flagship school of the University of California system. (from
Culture of California )
Image 10 Joaquín Murrieta , called the "
Robin Hood of California", was a notorious
outlaw during the
California Gold Rush . He served as inspiration for
Zorro , the famed Californian bandit-hero. (from
History of California )
Image 11 In-N-Out burgers (from
Culture of California )
Image 12 Advertisement for sailing to California, c. 1850. (from
History of California )
Image 13 Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo , established in 1770, was the headquarters of the
Californian mission system from 1797 until 1833. (from
History of California )
Image 14 Depiction of the revolt of the
Mission Indians against padre
Luis Jayme at
Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1775. (from
History of California )
Image 16 Portrait of a
Californio in traditional
vaquero clothing. Californios benefitted immensely by the establishment of the
ranchos of California , following the
Mexican secularization act of 1833 . (from
History of California )
Image 18 The Spanish founded
Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776, the third to be established of the
Californian missions . (from
History of California )
Image 19 The railway station in
Sacramento in 1874. (from
History of California )
Image 20 The 1835
Manifiesto a la República Mejicana , by
José Figueroa , was the first book published in California (from
Culture of California )
Image 23 General
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo reviewing his troops in
Sonoma in 1846. (from
History of California )
Image 25 Angustias de la Guerra played a crucial role in defending
women's property rights during the drafting of the Constitution of California. (from
History of California )
Image 26 California was often depicted as an island , due to the
Baja California peninsula , from the 16th to the 18th centuries, such as in this 1650 map by cartographer
Johannes Vingboons . (from
History of California )
Image 27 The
Treaty of Cahuenga , signed at the
Campo de Cahuenga in 1847 by Californio general
Andrés Pico and American general
John C. Frémont , proclaimed a ceasefire under an American victory. The
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , signed a year later in 1848, officially ended the
Mexican–American War and formally ceded
Alta California to the United States. (from
History of California )
Image 30 "Independent Gold Hunter on His Way to California", c. 1850 (from
History of California )
Image 31 The American capture of
San Diego by the
USS Cyane in 1846 (from
History of California )
Image 32 The 1562 map of the Americas, created by Spanish cartographer
Diego Gutiérrez , which applied
the name California for the first time. (from
History of California )
Image 35 Map of the
Butterfield Overland Mail routes through California, c. 1858. (from
History of California )
Image 37 San Francisco harbor,
c. 1850 –51. (from
History of California )
Image 38 Map of the route taken by the
Anza Expedition of 1775–76, from the
Presidio of Tubac to
San Francisco Bay . (from
History of California )
Image 40 Mission San Gabriel Arcángel , founded in 1771 by padres Pedro Benito Cambón and Ángel de la Somera. (from
History of California )
Image 41 Mission San Francisco Solano , founded in 1823 by order of Governor
Luis Antonio Argüello , was the last Californian mission established. (from
History of California )
Image 42 Map of Spain's
Manila galleon trade routes, showing routes between the
Spanish East Indies and
Acapulco passing along the
coast of California . (from
History of California )
Image 45 Depiction of the
Donner Party heading west on the
California Trail . (from
History of California )
Image 47 Between 1846 and 1873, U.S. government agents waged an extermination campaign against
Indigenous Californians , known as the
California genocide , resulting in as many as 100,000 deaths. (from
History of California )
Image 48 A Southern Pacific Train at
Arcade Depot , Los Angeles, 1891 (from
History of California )
Image 50 Forces raising the U.S. flag over the
Monterey Customhouse following their victory at the
Battle of Monterey (from
History of California )
Image 55 Founded by
Vicente Francisco de Sarría in 1817,
Mission San Rafael Arcángel , was the last mission founded during the Spanish period. (from
History of California )
Image 56 Bilingual English-Spanish sign in the
Colorado Desert of
Southern California . (from
Culture of California )
Image 58 California's first State Capitol building in
San Jose , which served as the capital of California 1850–51. (from
History of California )
I move between San Francisco and Paris [...] I have a wonderful beach house in California.
Image 1 John Whiteside Parsons (born
Marvel Whiteside Parsons ; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952) was an American
rocket engineer ,
chemist , and
Thelemite occultist . Associated with the
California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Parsons was one of the principal founders of both the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the
Aerojet Engineering Corporation . He invented the first
rocket engine to use a
castable ,
composite rocket propellant , and pioneered the advancement of both
liquid-fuel and
solid-fuel rockets.
Born in Los Angeles, Parsons was raised by a wealthy family on
Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena, California. Inspired by
science fiction literature , he developed an interest in rocketry in his childhood and in 1928 began
amateur rocket experiments with school friend
Edward Forman . He dropped out of
Pasadena Junior College and
Stanford University due to financial difficulties during the
Great Depression , and in 1934 he united with Forman and graduate
Frank Malina to form the Caltech-affiliated
Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (GALCIT) Rocket Research Group, supported by GALCIT chairman
Theodore von Kármán . In 1939 the GALCIT Group gained funding from the
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to work on
Jet-Assisted Take Off (JATO) for the U.S. military. After the U.S. entered World War II, they founded Aerojet in 1942 to develop and sell JATO technology; the GALCIT Group became JPL in 1943. (
Full article... )
Image 2 Nancy Patricia Pelosi (
pə-LOH -see ;
née D'Alesandro ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who served as the
52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023. A member of the
Democratic Party , she was the first woman elected as U.S. House Speaker and the first woman to lead a major political party in either chamber of
Congress , leading the
House Democrats from 2003 to 2023. A member of the House since 1987, Pelosi currently represents
California's 11th congressional district , which includes most of
San Francisco . She is the dean of
California's congressional delegation .
Pelosi was born and raised in
Baltimore , and is the daughter of mayor and congressman
Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. She graduated from
Trinity College, Washington in 1962 and married businessman
Paul Pelosi the next year; the two had met while both were students. They moved to New York City before settling down in San Francisco with their children. Focused on raising her family, Pelosi stepped into politics as a volunteer for the Democratic Party in the 1960s. After years of party work, rising to chair the state party, she was first elected to Congress in a
1987 special election and is now in her 19th term; she is the longest-serving member of California's Congressional delegation. Pelosi steadily rose through the ranks of the House Democratic Caucus to be elected
House minority whip in 2001 and elevated to
House minority leader a year later, becoming the first woman to hold each of those positions in either chamber of Congress. (
Full article... )
Image 4 Picture of Stafford from the New York Sunday News , September 21, 1947
Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917 – July 16, 2008) was an American
traditional pop singer, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classical training to become an
opera singer before following a career in popular music, and by 1955 had achieved more worldwide record sales than any other female artist. Her 1952 song "
You Belong to Me " topped the charts in the United States and United Kingdom, becoming the second single to top the
UK Singles Chart , and the first by a female artist to do so.
Born in remote oil-rich
Coalinga, California , near Fresno in the
San Joaquin Valley , Stafford made her first musical appearance at age 12. While still at high school, she joined her two older sisters to form a vocal trio named the Stafford Sisters, who found moderate success on radio and in film. In 1938, while the sisters were part of the cast of
Twentieth Century Fox 's production of
Alexander's Ragtime Band , Stafford met the future members of
the Pied Pipers and became the group's lead singer. Bandleader
Tommy Dorsey hired them in 1939 to perform vocals with his orchestra. From 1940 to 1942, the group often performed with Dorsey's new male singer, Frank Sinatra. (
Full article... )
Image 5 Melvin Jerome Blanc (born
Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the
Golden Age of Radio , he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy radio programs, including those of
Jack Benny ,
Abbott and Costello ,
Burns and Allen ,
The Great Gildersleeve ,
Judy Canova , and his own
short-lived sitcom .
However, he became known worldwide for his work in the
Golden Age of American Animation as the voices of
Bugs Bunny ,
Daffy Duck ,
Tweety ,
Sylvester the Cat ,
Yosemite Sam ,
Foghorn Leghorn , the
Tasmanian Devil , and numerous other characters from the
Looney Tunes and
Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoons . Blanc also voiced the
Looney Tunes characters
Porky Pig and
Elmer Fudd after replacing their original performers
Joe Dougherty and
Arthur Q. Bryan , respectively, although he occasionally voiced Elmer during Bryan's lifetime as well. He later voiced characters for
Hanna-Barbera 's television cartoons, including
Barney Rubble and
Dino on
The Flintstones ,
Mr. Spacely on
The Jetsons ,
Secret Squirrel on
The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show , the title character of
Speed Buggy , and Captain Caveman on
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels and
The Flintstone Kids . (
Full article... )
Image 7 Major Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the
British South Africa Company and to the
British Army in
colonial Africa , and for teaching
woodcraft to
Robert Baden-Powell in
Rhodesia . Burnham helped inspire the founding of the international
Scouting Movement .
Burnham was born on a
Dakota Sioux Indian reservation in Minnesota, in the small village of Tivoli near the city of Mankato; there he learned the ways of
American Indians as a boy. By the age of 14, he was supporting himself in California, while also learning scouting from some of the last of the cowboys and frontiersmen of the
American Southwest . Burnham had little formal education, never finishing high school. After moving to the
Arizona Territory in the early 1880s, he was drawn into the
Pleasant Valley War , a feud between families of ranchers and sheepherders. He escaped and later worked as a civilian tracker for the
United States Army in the
Apache Wars . Feeling the need for new adventures, Burnham took his family to southern Africa in 1893, seeing
Cecil Rhodes 's
Cape to Cairo Railway project as the next undeveloped frontier. (
Full article... )
Image 8 Nancy Davis Reagan (; born
Anne Frances Robbins ; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and the
First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President
Ronald Reagan , the 40th president of the United States.
Reagan was born in New York City. After her parents separated, she lived in
Maryland with an aunt and uncle for six years. When her mother remarried in 1929, she moved to Chicago and later was adopted by her mother's second husband. As
Nancy Davis , she was a Hollywood actress in the 1940s and 1950s, starring in films such as
The Next Voice You Hear... ,
Night into Morning , and
Donovan's Brain . In 1952, she married Ronald Reagan, who was then president of the
Screen Actors Guild . He had two children from his previous marriage to
Jane Wyman and he and Nancy had two children together. Nancy Reagan was the first lady of California when her husband was
governor from 1967 to 1975, and she began to work with the
Foster Grandparents Program . (
Full article... )
Image 9 Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (
JIL -ən-hawl,
Swedish: [ˈjʏ̂lːɛnˌhɑːl] ; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor. Born into the
Gyllenhaal family , he is the son of film director
Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter
Naomi Foner , and the younger brother of actress
Maggie Gyllenhaal . He began acting as a child, making his acting debut in
City Slickers (1991), followed by roles in his father's films
A Dangerous Woman (1993) and
Homegrown (1998). His breakthrough roles were as
Homer Hickam in the biographical drama film
October Sky (1999) and as a psychologically troubled teenager in the science fiction psychological thriller film
Donnie Darko (2001).
Gyllenhaal starred in the 2004 science fiction disaster film
The Day After Tomorrow . He played
Jack Twist in
Ang Lee 's 2005 romantic drama
Brokeback Mountain , for which Gyllenhaal won a
BAFTA Award and was nominated for an
Academy Award . His career progressed with starring roles in the thriller
Zodiac (2007), the romantic comedy
Love & Other Drugs (2010), and the science fiction film
Source Code (2011). Further acclaim came with his roles in
Denis Villeneuve 's thrillers
Prisoners (2013) and
Enemy (2013), and he received nominations for the
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performances as a manipulative journalist in
Nightcrawler (2014) and a troubled writer in
Nocturnal Animals (2016). His highest-grossing release came with the
Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), in which he portrayed
Quentin Beck / Mysterio . He has since starred in
Wildlife (2018),
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019),
The Guilty (2021), and
Ambulance (2022). (
Full article... )
Image 11 Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024) was an American
football player, actor, and media personality who played in the
National Football League (NFL) as a
running back for the
Buffalo Bills from 1969 to 1977 and for the
San Francisco 49ers from 1977 to 1979. Often regarded as one of the greatest
running backs of all time, his professional success was overshadowed by
his trial and controversial acquittal for the murders of his former wife
Nicole Brown and her friend
Ron Goldman in 1994.
Simpson played
college football for the
USC Trojans , where he won the
Heisman Trophy as a senior, and was selected
first overall by the Bills in the
1969 NFL/AFL draft . During his nine seasons with the Bills, he received five consecutive
Pro Bowl and first-team
All-Pro selections from 1972 to 1976. He also led the league in
rushing yards four times, in rushing
touchdowns twice, and in points scored in 1975. Simpson became the first NFL player to rush for more than
2,000 yards in a season, earning him
NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP), and is the only NFL player to do so in a 14-game
regular season . He holds the record for the single-season yards-per-game average at 143.1. After retiring with the
San Francisco 49ers in 1979, he acted in film and television, became a
sportscaster , and was a spokesman for a wide variety of products and companies, notably
Hertz . He was inducted to the
College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the
Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. (
Full article... )
Image 12 Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five
Primetime Emmy Awards and two
Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the
CBS sitcom
Murphy Brown (1988–1998, 2018). She is also known for her role as
Shirley Schmidt on the
ABC drama
Boston Legal (2005–2008). In films, Bergen was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for
Starting Over (1979) and for the
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for
Gandhi (1982).
Bergen began her career as a fashion model and appeared on the cover of
Vogue before she made her screen debut in the film
The Group (1966). She starred in
The Sand Pebbles (1966),
Soldier Blue (1970),
Carnal Knowledge (1971), and
The Wind and the Lion (1975). She made her
Broadway debut in the 1984 play
Hurlyburly and starred in the revivals of
The Best Man (2012) and
Love Letters (2014). From 2002 to 2004, she appeared in three episodes of the
HBO series
Sex and the City . Her other film roles include
Miss Congeniality (2000),
Sweet Home Alabama (2002),
The Women (2008),
Bride Wars (2009),
Book Club (2018) and
Let Them All Talk (2020). (
Full article... )
Image 13 Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the
Western TV series
Rawhide , Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "
Man with No Name " in
Sergio Leone 's
Dollars Trilogy of
spaghetti Westerns during the mid-1960s and as
antihero cop
Harry Callahan in the five
Dirty Harry films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These roles, among others, have made Eastwood an enduring
cultural icon of
masculinity . Elected in 1986, Eastwood served for two years as the mayor of
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California .
Eastwood's greatest commercial successes are the adventure comedy
Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and its action comedy sequel
Any Which Way You Can (1980). Other popular Eastwood films include the Westerns
Hang 'Em High (1968),
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and
Pale Rider (1985), the action-war film
Where Eagles Dare (1968), the prison film
Escape from Alcatraz (1979), the war film
Heartbreak Ridge (1986), the action film
In the Line of Fire (1993), and the romantic drama
The Bridges of Madison County (1995). More recent works include
Gran Torino (2008),
The Mule (2018), and
Cry Macho (2021). Since 1967, Eastwood's company
Malpaso Productions has produced all but four of his American films. (
Full article... )
Image 14 Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (; born October 20, 1971), known professionally as
Snoop Dogg (previously
Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly
Snoop Lion ), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. His initial fame dates back to 1992 following his guest appearance on
Dr. Dre 's debut solo single, "
Deep Cover ", and later on Dre's debut album,
The Chronic that same year. Broadus has since sold over 23 million albums in the United States, and 35 million albums worldwide.
His accolades include an
American Music Award , a
Primetime Emmy Award , and 17
Grammy Award nominations.
Produced entirely by Dr. Dre, Broadus' debut studio album,
Doggystyle (1993) was released by
Death Row Records and debuted atop the
Billboard 200. Selling 800,000 copies in its first week, the album received
quadruple platinum certification by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) the following year and spawned the
Billboard Hot 100-top ten singles "
What's My Name? " and "
Gin and Juice ". He was the lead performer on Death Row's
soundtrack album for the 1994 short film
Murder Was the Case , wherein Broadus made his acting debut. His second album,
Tha Doggfather (1996) likewise debuted atop the chart and received double platinum certification. In 1998, he parted ways with Death Row in favor of
Master P 's
No Limit Records , through which he saw largely continued success with his albums
Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (1998),
No Limit Top Dogg (1999), and
Tha Last Meal (2000). He then signed with
Priority ,
Capitol , and
EMI Records to release his sixth album
Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss (2002), which was further commercially-oriented. This effectively continued upon him signing with
Geffen Records to release his next three albums:
R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (2004),
Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006), and
Ego Trippin' (2008); the former spawned the single "
Drop It Like It's Hot " (featuring
Pharrell ), which became his first to peak atop the
Billboard Hot 100. He then returned to Priority and Capitol—upon his hiring as chairman of the former label—to release his tenth and eleventh albums,
Malice 'n Wonderland (2009) and
Doggumentary (2011), both of which saw mild critical and commercial response. (
Full article... )
Image 15 Francis Ford Coppola (
KOH -pə-lə,
Italian: [ˈkɔppola] ; born 7 April 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the leading figures of the
New Hollywood film movement of the 1960s and 1970s and is widely considered one of the greatest directors of all time.
Coppola is the recipient of five
Academy Awards , six
Golden Globe Awards , two
Palmes d'Or , and a
British Academy Film Award (BAFTA).
After directing
The Rain People in 1969, Coppola co-wrote
Patton (1970), which earned him the
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay along with
Edmund H. North . Coppola's reputation as a filmmaker was cemented with the release of
The Godfather (1972), which revolutionized the
gangster genre of filmmaking, receiving strong commercial and critical reception.
The Godfather won three Academy Awards:
Best Picture ,
Best Actor and
Best Adapted Screenplay (shared with
Mario Puzo ).
The Godfather Part II (1974) became the first sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Highly regarded by critics, the film earned Coppola two more Academy Awards, for Best Adapted Screenplay and
Best Director , making him the second director (after
Billy Wilder ) to win these three awards for the same film. (
Full article... )
... that the memorabilia of Jennie Scott Griffiths , a Texan who died in California, are housed in the National Library of Australia ?
... that the founder of a California radio station "didn't want to do background music"?
... that Cypress College basketball coach Don Johnson , who was an All-American at UCLA , developed two players with minimal experience who later played for his alma mater and set records in the NBA ?
... that a California sea lion , later named Freeway, was thought to have traveled up Chollas Creek before getting onto California State Highway 94 ?
... that when the U.S. government wanted to remove Chain Island , a group of "California capitalists" offered to do it for free, recouping expenses by mining it for gold?
... that Eric Schmidt developed Berknet , an early wide area network system, in 1978 while he was a student at Berkeley University ?
... that in 1948, Thomas Yarborough became the first African American to be elected as a city council member in California?
... that in the late 2000s the Campbell Soup Company began producing a spicier canned cheese sauce in their California and Texas plants than they did elsewhere to cater for different consumer tastes?
The ghost town of Bodie, California
A view of Industrial, California
Industry (or City of Industry ) is a city in the San Gabriel Valley section of Los Angeles County , California , United States . It was incorporated June 18, 1957. The population was 777 at the 2000 census. The city was incorporated to prevent surrounding cities from annexing industrial land for tax revenue.
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories
Extended content
This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs ) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{ WikiProject California }} ) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.
Featured articles
Featured lists
A-Class articles
Featured portals
Featured pictures
File:1967 Mantra-Rock Dance Avalon poster.jpg
File:2010 mavericks competition.jpg
File:20070616 Chris Young visits Wrigley (4)-edit3.jpg
File:Acorn woodpecker holding a nut in its beak-0225.jpg
File:Agassiz statue Mwc00715.jpg
File:Albert Bierstadt - Among the Sierra Nevada, California - Google Art Project.jpg
File:Albino Alligator 2008.jpg
File:Alcatraz03182006.jpg
File:Alice Park - Records of the National Woman's Party.jpg
File:Amboy (California, USA), Hist. Route 66 -- 2012 -- 1.jpg
File:Ansel Adams and camera.jpg
File:Beulah Ream Allen receiving the Medal of Freedom (1945).jpg
File:Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), Corte Madera.jpg
File:Boats on Lake Oroville during the 2021 drought.jpg
File:Bodie ghost town.jpg
File:Border USA Mexico.jpg
File:Brown pelican in flight (Bodega Bay).jpg
File:Burned mobile home neighborhood in California edit.jpg
File:Buteo jamaicensis in flight at Llano Seco-1520.jpg
File:CA-84 Woodside April 2023 002.jpg
File:CA Ground Squirrel on rock.jpg
File:CID Array.jpg
File:Cable Car No. 1 and Alcatraz Island.jpg
File:California island Vinckeboons5.jpg
File:California sea lion in La Jolla (70568).jpg
File:California state coat of arms (illustrated, 1876).jpg
File:CampanileMtTamalpiasSunset-original.jpg
File:Cervus canadensis nannodes at Tomales Point.jpg
File:Chemerinsky during Hyatt III sketch.jpg
File:Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889.jpg
File:Crystal Mountains CA02.jpg
File:Cynthia Woodhead 1980 - Restoration.jpg
File:Deathvalleysky nps big.jpg
File:Devastation in San Bruno.jpg
File:Donner Lake as seen from Donner Pass.jpg
File:Double-crested cormorant at Sutro Baths-6460.jpg
File:Dungeness crab face closeup.jpg
File:EdwardTeller1958 fewer smudges.jpg
File:Egretta thula at Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds.jpg
File:Elephant seals fighting.jpg
File:Eureka Inn, Entrance Hall.jpg
File:European starling at Bodega Head-1209.jpg
File:Fort Baker and Angel Island.jpg
File:Fort Mason Center and Downtown San Francisco.jpg
File:GGB reflection in raindrops.jpg
File:GREIDER Carol 2014 - Less vignetting.jpg
File:Gateway Generating Station rectified.jpg
File:Giant Marbles in Joshua Tree National Park.jpg
File:GoldenGateBridge BakerBeach MC.jpg
File:Grauman's Chinese Theatre, by Carol Highsmith fixed & straightened.jpg
File:Greater Yellowlegs2.jpg
File:Greater white-fronted goose in flight-1045.jpg
File:Gull ca usa.jpg
File:Hawk eating prey.jpg
File:Heinrich Berann NPS Panorama of Yosemite without labels.jpg
File:Hotel Del c1900b.jpg
File:Igor Stravinsky LOC 32392u.jpg
File:Jane Russell in The Outlaw.jpg
File:JetBlue292Landing.jpg
File:Jfader dryden.jpg
File:JohnShea.jpg
File:Joshua tree keys view pano more vertical.jpg
File:Juvenile pelecanus occidentalis in flight.jpg
File:Kobe Bryant 7144 adjusted.jpg
File:LAPD Bell 206 Jetranger.jpg
File:LagunaBeachCA photo D Ramey Logan.JPG
File:Lange-MigrantMother02.jpg
File:Langechildren2.jpg
File:Lansdowne Herakles Getty Museum.jpg
File:Line scan photo of nine car BART C1 train in 2017.jpg
File:Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.jpg
File:Los Angeles Pollution.jpg
File:Los angeles from getty panorama.jpg
File:LutraCanadensis fullres.jpg
File:Male northern pintail at Llano Seco.jpg
File:Male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) strutting.jpg
File:Map of Cathedral Peak Granodiorite.svg
File:Marilyn Monroe photo pose Seven Year Itch.jpg
File:Mary Pickford cph.3c17995u.jpg
File:McClure Tunnel west.jpg
File:Mission Santa Clara.jpg
File:Mono lake tufa.JPG
File:Mudpot at Lassen Volcanic National Park in August 2019.webm
File:NPG 2010 112 Lucia Chamberlain by Zaida Ben-Yusuf.jpg
File:Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981.jpg
File:Oppenheimer (cropped).jpg
File:Palace of Fine Arts (16794p).jpg
File:Parlos Verdes Light House Aug 2012.JPG
File:Pelecanus erythrorhynchos at Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds.jpg
File:Photograph of Members of the Mochida Family Awaiting Evacuation - NARA - 537505 - Restoration.jpg
File:Pigeon Point Lighthouse (2016).jpg
File:Pioneertown california saloon and bath house.jpg
File:Point Arena Lighthouse, Mendocino County.jpg
File:Point Reyes Lighthouse (April 2012).jpg
File:Post-and-Grant-Avenue-Look.jpg
File:Pyrosoma atlanticum (12256).jpg
File:Randy's donuts1 edit1.jpg
File:RiP2013 GreenDay Mike Dirnt 0002.JPG
File:Ronald Reagan with cowboy hat 12-0071M edit.jpg
File:Rosalind Goodrich Bates (1931).jpg
File:Russian chapel at Fort Ross (2016).jpg
File:Sacramento,-California---State-Capitol.jpg
File:Saint Teresa of Avila Church, Bodega (2023)-L1003432.jpg
File:Sally Ride (1984).jpg
File:San Francisco City Hall as seen from 100 Van Ness at dusk (wide).jpg
File:San Francisco International Airport at night.jpg
File:San Francisco in ruin edit2.jpg
File:San gorgonio pass wind farm california pano.jpg
File:SanFrancisco1851a.jpg
File:SanFranciscoharbor1851c sharp.jpg
File:Sea otter nursing02.jpg
File:Seaborg in lab - restoration.jpg
File:Sfearthquake3b.jpg
File:Sharon Tate Valley of the Dolls 1967 - Restoration.jpg
File:Shasta dam under construction new edit.jpg
File:Sonoma chipmunk at Samuel P. Taylor State Park.jpg
File:Spanish shawl.JPG
File:Steve Jobs and Macintosh computer, January 1984, by Bernard Gotfryd - edited.jpg
File:Strip photo of San Francisco Cable Car 10.jpg
File:Surfer in california 2.JPG
File:Tower Bridge Sacramento edit.jpg
File:Tracy Caldwell Dyson in Cupola ISS.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-Oakland-2248-1870-10-388-B.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-Petaluma-2193-1870-100-209-A.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-San Francisco-1741-1870-5-6758-B.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-San Francisco-1741-1870-20-2772-C.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-San Francisco-1741-1870-50-1616-A.jpg
File:USA Lassen NP Kings Creek CA edit3.jpg
File:Vernal Falls Rainbow.jpg
File:Victor Adam after Louis Choris - Vue du Presidio san Francisco, 1822.jpg
File:Vineyards of Napa Valley panorama.jpg
File:Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, CA, jjron 22.03.2012.jpg
File:Waxman during Hyatt III sketch.jpg
File:World War II woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, California 1942.jpg
Nicknames: The Golden State
Capital: Sacramento
Total area: 163,696 mi2
Land: 156,002 mi2
Water: 7,694 mi2
Highest elevation: 14,505 ft (Mount Whitney )
Population 39,250,017 (2016 est)
Admission to the Union: September 9, 1850 (31st )
State symbols:
Things you can do