Portal:California

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Introduction

California is a U.S. state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.5 million residents, California is the most populous state in the United States and the third largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 8.8 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second-most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County; its largest county by area, San Bernardino County; and its fifth most densely populated county, San Francisco.

California's $2.8 trillion economy is larger than that of any other state. If it were a country, California would be the 5th largest economy in the world (larger than the U.K. or France), and the 36th most populous . The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and third-largest urban economies ($1.253 trillion and $878 billion respectively ), after the New York City metropolitan area. The San Francisco Bay Area PSA had the nation's highest GDP per capita in 2017 (~$99,000), and is home to four of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization and four of the world's ten richest people.

California is considered a global trendsetter in popular culture, innovation, and politics. It is considered the origin of the American film industry, the hippie counterculture, the Internet, and the personal computer, among others. The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area are widely seen as the centers of the global technology and entertainment industries, respectively. California has a very diverse economy: 58% of the state's economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5% of the state's economy, California's agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.S. state.

California is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. The state's diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, and from the redwood–Douglas fir forests in the northwest to the Mojave Desert in the southeast. The Central Valley, a major agricultural area, dominates the state's center. Although California is well-known for its warm Mediterranean climate, the large size of the state results in climates that vary from moist temperate rainforest in the north to arid desert in the interior, as well as snowy alpine in the mountains. Over time, drought and wildfires have become more pervasive features.

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Yosemite National Park is a national park largely in Mariposa County, and Tuolumne County, California, United States. The park covers an area of 1,189 mi² (3,081 km²) and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain. Yosemite is visited by over 3.5 million visitors each year, with most only seeing the seven square miles of Yosemite Valley. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves, and biological diversity. About 89% of the park is designated Wilderness. It was also the first park set aside by the U.S. federal government. Although not the first designated national park, Yosemite was a focal point in the development of the national park idea, largely owing to the work of people like John Muir. Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals.

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The original of Todd's Bear Flag, photographed in 1890
Mission San Diego de Alcalá drawn as it was in 1848. Established in 1769, it was the first of the California Missions.
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hosted the Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, one of California's most famous landmarks
Hollywood film studios, 1922
The Russian Empire established their largest settlement in California at Fort Ross in 1812
The population density of California
Had California been an independent country in 2008 its gross domestic product would have been ranked between eighth and eleventh in the world.
California GDP by sector in 2015.
The "Birthplace of Silicon Valley" garage, where Stanford University graduates William Hewlett and David Packard developed their first product in the 1930s
Moss Landing Power Plant, the state's largest power production source (presently shut down)
Sunset at Venice Beach
The Hollywood Sign, a symbol of the American film industry
An aerial view of the Delta–Mendota Canal (left) and the California Aqueduct (right), at the Interstate 205 crossing west of Tracy, conveying water from Northern to Southern California
Mission San Diego de Alcalá, one of the first Spanish missions in California.
Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election.
Democrats Jerry Brown and Eric Garcetti, serving as Governor of California and Mayor of Los Angeles
Los Angeles is the second-most populous city in the U.S., after New York City.
Torrance High School is one of the oldest high schools in continuous use in California and a popular location for television and motion picture production.
Economic regions of California
A map of California tribal groups and languages at the time of European contact.
Caltrans builds tall "stack" interchanges with soaring ramps that offer impressive views
Group of California indigenous people.
The California State Capitol; in Sacramento, which has served as California's capital since 1854.
The coat of arms granted to The Californias by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza.
California per capita personal income by county in 2016.
Part of the 354 MW SEGS solar complex in northern San Bernardino County, California
A tree map depicting the distribution of occupations across the state of California

Selected quote

California is a fine place to live - if you happen to be an orange.

— Fred Allen

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Did you know?

...that William Penn Patrick, founder of companies Holiday Magic and Leadership Dynamics, ran against Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination for Governor of California?
..that Helen Hunt Jackson's 1884 novel Ramona was set at Rancho Camulos in Piru, California?
...that the Alameda Works Shipyard in Alameda, California, was one of the largest and best equipped shipyards in the United States?

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Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Senator Feinstein holds a number of "firsts"; she was the first female President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, San Francisco's first and only female mayor, the first woman to serve in the Senate from California, one of two female Jewish senators, the first woman to serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the first woman to chair the Rules and Administration committee of that body.

Feinstein was born Dianne Emiel Goldman in San Francisco to Betty Rosenburg, a former model, and Leon Goldman, a nationally renowned surgeon who was the first Jew made tenured physician at the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco. Feinstein's paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland, while her maternal grandparents, who were of the Russian Orthodox faith, left St. Petersburg, Russia after the 1917 Russian Revolution; Feinstein's maternal grandfather was an imperial army officer who was a convert from Judaism to Christianity. Feinstein attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart High School and was given a Catholic religious education, but also attended Hebrew school and was confirmed in the Jewish faith at the age of thirteen, having said that she has "always considered [herself] Jewish".

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State facts

Nicknames: The Golden State
Capital: Sacramento
Governor: Jerry Brown (D)
Lieutenant Governor: Gavin Newsom (D)
Secretary of State: Alex Padilla (D)
Attorney General: Xavier Becerra (D)

Senators: Dianne Feinstein (D), Kamala Harris (D)
Representatives: Doug LaMalfa (R), Jared Huffman (D), John Garamendi (D), Tom McClintock (R), Mike Thompson (D), Doris Matsui (D), Ami Bera (D), Paul Cook (R), Jerry McNerney (D), Jeff Denham (R), Mark DeSaulnier (D), Nancy Pelosi (D), Barbara Lee (D), Jackie Speier (D), Eric Swalwell (D), Jim Costa (D), Ro Khanna (D), Anna Eshoo (D), Zoe Lofgren (D), Jimmy Panetta (D), David Valadao (R), Devin Nunes (R), Kevin McCarthy (R), Salud Carbajal (D), Steve Knight (R), Julia Brownley (D), Judy Chu (D), Adam Schiff (D), Tony Cardenas (D), Brad Sherman (D), Pete Aguilar (D), Grace Napolitano (D), Ted Lieu (D), Jimmy Gomez (D), Norma Torres (D), Raul Ruiz (D), Karen Bass (D), Linda Sanchez (D), Ed Royce (R), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D), Mark Takano (D), Ken Calvert (R), Maxine Waters (D), Nanette Barragán (D), Mimi Walters (R), Lou Correa (D), Alan Lowenthal (D), Dana Rohrabacher (R), Darrell Issa (R), Duncan Hunter (R). Juan Vargas (D), Scott Peters (D), Susan Davis (D)

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 (31^st)

State symbols:

Insect: California Dogface Butterfly
Bird: California Valley Quail
Fossil: Saber-toothed cat
Dance: West Coast Swing
Colors: Blue & Gold
Animal: California Grizzly Bear
Flower: California Poppy
Gem: Benitoite
Rock: Serpentine
Fish: California Golden Trout
Songs: I Love You, California
Tree: California Redwood
Mineral: Gold

Related WikiProjects

Main Project

California

Sub-projects

Southern California • Los Angeles • San Francisco Bay Area • Santa Barbara County • California State Highways • California County Routes • University of California • California State University

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