CALIFORNIA

California. constituent state of the United States of America, lying on the Pacific Ocean and bounded by Oregon on the north, Nevada and Arizona on the east, and the Mexican state of Baja California Norte on the south. The capital is Sacramento. The third largest state in area (after Alaska and Texas), it extends for about 800 miles (1,300 km) from north to south and 250 miles (400 km) from east to west. The earliest inhabitants of California were Indians who, unlike other North American Indian groupings, had no centralized governmental structures. Instead, each group had its own independent territorial and political units. At the time of initial European exploration the major language groupings in the area were the Na-Den, Hokan, Penutian, and Aztec-Tanoan. The region received scant attention from Europeans for more than three centuries after its first sighting in 1542 by the Spanish navigator Juan Cabrillo. The Franciscan friar Junpero Serra established the first mission at San Diego in 1769. The 21 missions established by Serra and his successors drew large Indian populations and were centres for farming and ranching. Mexico became independent from Spain in 1821, and the mission properties were parceled out to political favourites by the Mexican government in 183340. The first organized group of U.S. settlers arrived in 1841, having traveled by wagon train from Missouri. In 1846 American settlers at Sonoma seized control and proclaimed an independent California republic. The U.S. flag was raised at Monterey after the United States declared war on Mexico during the same year, and, following the end of the Mexican War in 1848, the territory was ceded to the United States. The discovery of gold in 1848 caused immediate, extensive population growth, and in 1850 California became the 31st state. Physiographically California can be divided into four main regions: (1) the coastal mountain ranges, extending 20 to 40 miles (32 to 64 km) inland and rising to 8,000 feet (2,440 m); (2) the Sierra Nevada, running 430 miles (690 km) north to south and rising above 14,000 feet (4,300 m); (3) the Central Valley, containing the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers; and (4) part of the Great Basin of the Basin and Range Province, containing the eastern deserts. Within 85 miles (137 km) of each other lie Mount Whitney and Death Valley, respectively the highest (14,494 feet ) and lowest (282 feet below sea level) points in the 48 coterminous states. The California climate is diverse. The moderate coastal climate has been a major factor in the concentration of settlement along the coast, where temperatures seldom exceed 90 F (32 C) or drop to freezing. The Colorado Desert of southeastern California has summer temperatures up to 130 F (54 C), with annual rainfall averaging 3 to 4 inches (75 to 100 mm). Redwood forests thrive in the northwestern coastal ranges, where annual rainfall exceeds 70 inches (1,778 mm) and annual temperatures average 55 F (13 C). Climate changes rapidly with altitude, and the coastal cities are only hours away from mountain skiing or desert sports. Between 1860 and 1960 California's population nearly doubled on the average of once every two decades, and by 1970 it had become the nation's most populous state. Although predominantly white, the ethnic mix is pronounced. Of the 50 states California has the largest populations of Spanish speakers, American Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, and Vietnamese and the second largest populations of blacks and Asian Indians. The urban population exceeds 91 percent, a higher ratio than any other state. More than three-quarters of the population lives in the three largest urban complexesLos AngelesLong BeachAnaheim, San FranciscoOaklandSan Jose, and San Diego. In economic terms California is more aptly compared with nations than with other U.S. states. The total value of its goods and services is surpassed only by the United States as a whole and a few other industrialized nations. It is the United States' leading agricultural producer. More than four-fifths of its cropland is irrigated. In nearly 50 crop and livestock commodities, California production exceeds that of any other state, and, for some specialty crops, California is the sole domestic source. Important farm products in which it ranks high are almonds, broccoli, dates, figs, flowers and nursery products, grapes, lemons, lettuce, peaches, prunes, strawberries, sugar beets, tomatoes, walnuts, eggs, cotton, oranges, rice, milk, turkeys, and wool. Petroleum and natural gas are the leading mineral resources. Boron, cement, and sand and gravel are also important. The largest manufacturing sector is aerospace-defense. Electric and electronic equipment, transportation equipment, machinery, and processed food are the most important manufactured products. An enormous economic impact is made by the spending each year of millions of tourists who travel from other states and countries. California has the greatest concentration of motor vehicles in the world and the most extensive system of multilane divided highways. The development of mass transit, however, with the exception of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) of the San Francisco area and the trolley systems of San Diego and Sacramento, has been neglected, leaving urban transit for the most part to buses and private cars; consequently, there are enormous problems arising from smog and air pollution. Air service, especially along the coastal corridor, is extensive. Transport of goods is primarily by trucks, although coastal shipping is becoming increasingly important. Lavish expenditures have been made to support theatre, dance, symphony, opera, and art. California attracts some of the finest artists and performers, as well as a considerable number of those with aspirations to be such. Hollywood, with its movie and television industry, continues to be an international symbol of glamour. California's higher-education system is oriented toward tax-supported, public institutions. Interactions with private industry in the areas of research and development have contributed heavily to its economic growth. Institutions of higher education include the outstanding University of California and California State University systems, numerous private universities, many of them of the highest quality, and a large number of community colleges. Area 158,706 square miles (411,049 square km). Pop. (1990) 29,760,021. constituent state of the United States of America. It has an area of 158,706 square miles (411,049 square kilometres), exceeded only by Alaska and Texas. The state is bounded on the north by Oregon, on the east by Nevada and Arizona, on the south by the Mexican state of Baja (Lower) California, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The capital is Sacramento. No version of the origin of California's name has been fully accepted, but there is wide support for the contention that it derived from a Spanish novel that described a paradisiacal island called California. Admitted to the Union on September 9, 1850, as the 31st state, California is a land of stunning physical contrasts: from the rainy northern coast to the parched Colorado Desert of the south. The Sierra Nevada exceed the Rocky Mountains in height. Within 85 miles (137 kilometres) of each other lie Mount Whitney and Death Valley, respectively, 14,494 and 282 feet (4,418 and 86 metres) above and below sea level, the highest and lowest points in the 48 coterminous states. Despite its urbanization, California is also the principal agricultural state of the nation, though only about 15 percent of its area is cultivated. Almost half of its land is federally owned, with national parks and monuments in every part of the state devoted to irreplaceable forest, desert, mountain, and other natural resources. California is the most populous state in the Union, and its personal income per capita is one of the highest in the world. The fluid nature of the state's social, economic, and political life, shaped so largely by the influx of people from other states, gives California the aura of a laboratory for testing new modes of living. Californians make up the most urban population in the nation, centred mainly along the coast, with more than three-fourths of its people living in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego metropolitan areas.