California
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Wikipedia.
California
California State Information
www.ca.gov
Area (sq mi):: 163695.57 (land 155959.34; water 7736.23) Population per square mile: 231.70
Population 2005: 36,132,147 State rank: 0 Population change: 2000-20005 6.70%; 1990-2000 13.80% Population 2000: 33,871,648 (White 46.70%; Black or African American 6.70%; Hispanic or Latino 32.40%; Asian 10.90%; Other 22.80%). Foreign born: 26.20%. Median age: 33.30
Income 2000: per capita 22,711ドル; median household 47,493ドル; Population below poverty level: 14.20% Personal per capita income (2000-2003): 32,464ドル-33,415ドル
Unemployment (2004): 6.20% Unemployment change (from 2000): 1.30% Median travel time to work: 27.70 minutes Working outside county of residence: 17.10%
List of California counties:
California Parks
- US National Parks Cabrillo National Monument
Channel Islands National Park
Death Valley National Park
Devils Postpile National Monument
Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site
Fort Point National Historic Site
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
John Muir National Historic Site
Joshua Tree National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Lava Beds National Monument
Manzanar National Historic Site
Mojave National Preserve
Muir Woods National Monument
Pinnacles National Monument
Point Reyes National Seashore
Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Redwood National and State Parks
Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area
Yosemite National Park
- Urban Parks Alum Rock Park
Anderson Lake County Park
Balboa Park
Black Mountain Open Space Park
Del Paso Park
El Dorado East Regional Park
El Dorado Park West
Elysian Park
Golden Gate Park
Griffith Park
Joaquin Miller Park
John McLaren Park
Kelley Park
Lake Cunningham Regional Park
Lake Merced
Lakeside Park
Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve
Mission Bay Park
Mission Trails Regional Park
O'Melveny Park
Recreation Park
Regional Sports Park
Roeding Regional Park
Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area
Tilden Park
William Land Park
Woodward Regional Park
- State Parks Admiral William Standley State Recreation Area
Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park
Anderson Marsh State Historic Park
Andrew Molera State Park
Angel Island State Park
Annadel State Park
Año Nuevo State Reserve
Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve
Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve
Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park
Asilomar State Beach & Conference Grounds
Auburn State Recreation Area
Austin Creek State Recreation Area
Azalea State Reserve
Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park
Bean Hollow State Beach
Benbow Lake State Recreation Area
Benicia Capitol State Historic Park
Benicia State Recreation Area
Bethany Reservoir State Recreation Area
Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park
Bidwell-Sacramento River State Park
Big Basin Redwoods State Park
Bodie State Historic Park
Bolsa Chica State Beach
Border Field State Park
Bothe-Napa Valley State Park
Brannan Island State Recreation Area
Burleigh H. Murray Ranch
Burton Creek State Park
Butano State Park
Calaveras Big Trees State Park
California Citrus State Historic Park
California State Capitol Museum
California State Indian Museum
California State Mining & Mineral Museum
California State Railroad Museum
Candlestick Point State Recreation Area
Cardiff State Beach
Carlsbad State Beach
Carmel River State Beach
Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area
Carpinteria State Beach
Caspar Headlands State Beach & State Reserve
Castaic Lake State Recreation Area
Castle Crags State Park
Castle Rock State Park
Caswell Memorial State Park
Cayucos State Beach
China Camp State Park
Chino Hills State Park
Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park
Clay Pit State Vehicular Recreation Area
Clear Lake State Park
Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park
Columbia State Historic Park
Colusa-Sacramento River State Recreation Area
Corona del Mar State Beach
Crystal Cove State Park
Cuyamaca Rancho State Park
Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park
Delta Meadows
DL Bliss State Park
Dockweiler State Beach
Doheny State Beach
Donner Memorial State Park
Eastshore State Park
Edward Z'Berg Sugar Pine Point State Park
El Capitan State Beach
El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park
Emerald Bay State Park
Emma Wood State Beach
Empire Mine State Historic Park
Estero Bay State Beach
Folsom Lake State Recreation Area
Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park
Forest of Nisene Marks State Park
Fort Humboldt State Historic Park
Fort Ord Dunes State Park
Fort Ross State Historic Park
Fort Tejon State Historic Park
Franks Tract State Recreation Area
Fremont Peak State Park
Garrapata State Park
Gaviota State Park
George J. Hatfield State Recreation Area
Governor's Mansion State Historic Park
Gray Whale Cove State Beach
Great Valley Grasslands State Park
Greenwood State Beach
Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park
Grover Hot Springs State Park
Half Moon Bay State Beach
Harry A. Merlo State Recreation Area
Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument
Heber Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area
Hendy Woods State Park
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
Henry W. Coe State Park
Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area
Humboldt Lagoons State Park
Humboldt Redwoods State Park
Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area
Huntington State Beach
Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park
Indio Hills Palms
Jack London State Historic Park
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
John Little State Reserve
John Marsh Home
Jug Handle State Reserve
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area
Kings Beach State Recreation Area
Kruse Rhododendron State Reserve
La Purisima Mission State Historic Park
Lake Del Valle State Recreation Area
Lake Oroville State Recreation Area
Lake Perris State Recreation Area
Lake Valley State Recreation Area
Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park
Leo Carillo State Park
Leucadia State Beach
Lighthouse Field State Beach
Limekiln State Park
Little River State Beach
Los Angeles State Historic Park
Los Encinos State Historic Park
Los Osos Oaks State Reserve
MacKerricher State Park
Maillard Redwoods State Reserve
Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park
Malibu Creek State Park
Malibu Lagoon State Beach
Manchester State Park
Mandalay State Beach
Manresa State Beach
Marconi Conference Center State Historic Park
Marina State Beach
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park
McConnell State Recreation Area
McGrath State Beach
Mendocino Headlands State Park
Mendocino Woodlands State Park
Millerton Lake State Recreation Area
Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve
Montaña de Oro State Park
Montara State Beach
Monterey State Beach
Monterey State Historic Park
Montgomery Woods State Reserve
Moonlight State Beach
Morro Bay State Park
Morro Strand State Beach
Moss Landing State Beach
Mount Diablo State Park
Mount San Jacinto State Park
Mount Tamalpais State Park
Natural Bridges State Beach
Navarro River Redwoods State Park
New Brighton State Beach
Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area
Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area
Old Sacramento State Historic Park
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
Olompali State Historic Park
Pacheco State Park
Pacifica State Beach
Palomar Mountain State Park
Patrick's Point State Park
Pelican State Beach
Pescadero State Beach
Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
Picacho State Recreation Area
Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park
Pio Pico State Historic Park
Pismo State Beach
Placerita Canyon State Park
Plumas-Eureka State Park
Point Dume State Beach
Point Lobos Ranch
Point Lobos State Reserve
Point Montara Light Station
Point Mugu State Park
Point Sal State Beach
Point Sur State Historic Park
Pomponio State Beach
Portola Redwoods State Park
Prairie City State Vehicular Recreation Area
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
Providence Mountains State Recreation Area
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park
Red Rock Canyon State Park
Refugio State Beach
Richardson Grove State Park
Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach
Robert Louis Stevenson State Park
Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach
Russian Gulch State Park
Saddleback Butte State Park
Salinas River State Beach
Salt Point State Park
Salton Sea State Recreation Area
Samuel P. Taylor State Park
San Bruno Mountain State Park
San Buenaventura State Beach
San Clemente State Beach
San Elijo State Beach
San Gregorio State Beach
San Juan Bautista State Historic Park
San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area
San Onofre State Beach
San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park
San Simeon State Park
Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park
Santa Monica State Beach
Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park
Schooner Gulch State Beach
Seacliff State Beach
Shasta State Historic Park
Silver Strand State Beach
Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area
Sinkyone Wilderness State Park
Smithe Redwoods State Reserve
Sonoma Coast State Beach
Sonoma State Historic Park
South Carlsbad State Beach
South Yuba River State Park
Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
Sunset State Beach
Sutter Buttes State Park
Sutter's Fort State Historic Park
Tahoe State Recreation Area
Tolowa Dunes State Park
Tomales Bay State Park
Tomo-Kahni State Historic Park
Topanga State Park
Torrey Pines State Beach
Torrey Pines State Reserve
Trinidad State Beach
Tule Elk State Reserve
Turlock Lake State Recreation Area
Twin Lakes State Beach
Van Damme State Park
Verdugo Mountains
Ward Creek
Washoe Meadows State Park
Wassama Round House State Historic Park
Watts Towers of Simon Rodia State Historic Park
Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park
Westport-Union Landing State Beach
Wilder Ranch State Park
Will Rogers State Beach
Will Rogers State Historic Park
William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park
William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach
Woodland Opera House State Historic Park
Woodson Bridge State Recreation Area
Zmudowski State Beach
- Parks and Conservation-Related Organizations - US American Trails
California Park & Recreation Society (CPRS)
California State Parks Foundation
Camping Women
Earth Island Institute
Earthjustice
Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC)
Environmental Traveling Companions (ETC)
Friends of the River
League to Save Lake Tahoe
Mountain Lion Foundation
National Forest Recreation Association (NFRA)
National Pony Express Association
Ocean Futures Society
Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA)
Rainforest Action Network (RAN)
Save-the-Redwoods League
Sierra Club
Trust for Public Land (TPL)
Yosemite Association (YA) - National Wildlife Refuges Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge
Bear Valley National Wildlife Refuge
Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge
Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge
Clear Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge
Colusa National Wildlife Refuge
Delevan National Wildlife Refuge
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge
Farallon National Wildlife Refuge
Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge
Havasu National Wildlife Refuge
Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge
Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Kern National Wildlife Refuge
Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge
Merced National Wildlife Refuge
Modoc National Wildlife Refuge
Pixley National Wildlife Refuge
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge
Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge
Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge
San Diego National Wildlife Refuge
San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge
San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge
Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge
Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
Sutter National Wildlife Refuge
Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge
Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge - National Trails
- National Scenic Byways
- National Grasslands
- National Forests Angeles National Forest
Cleveland National Forest
Eldorado National Forest
Inyo National Forest
Klamath National Forest
Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit
Lassen National Forest
Los Padres National Forest
Mendocino National Forest
Modoc National Forest
Plumas National Forest
San Bernardino National Forest
Sequoia National Forest
Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Sierra National Forest
Six Rivers National Forest
Stanislaus National Forest
Tahoe National Forest
- Marine Sanctuaries
California
Thirty-first state; admitted on September 9, 1850
City and state offices, banks, and public schools close in California to mark this legal holiday on the first Monday in September. Two organizations—the Native Sons of the Golden West and the Native Daughters of the Golden West—have sponsored annual programs in different locations throughout the state each year. In addition, many communities hold festivities of their own, including parades, music, food, and dancing.
State capital: Sacramento
Nickname: The Golden State
State motto: Eureka (Greek “I Have Found It”)
State animal: California grizzly bear (Ursus (arctos) horribilis)
State bird: California valley quail (Callipepla californica)
State colors: Yale blue and golden yellow
State dance: West Coast swing dance
State fife and drum band: The California Consolidated Drum Band
State fish: South Fork golden trout (Salmo aguabonita)
State folk dance: Square dance
State fossil: California saber-toothed cat (Smilodon californicus)
State flower: California poppy (Eschscholtzia californica)
State gemstone: Benitoite
State gold rush ghost town: Bodie
State grass: Purple needlegrass (Nassella pulchra)
State insect: California dog-face butterfly (flying pansy)
State marine fish: Garibaldi
State marine mammal: California gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus)
State military museum: The California State Military Museum and Resource Center
State mineral: Native gold
State prehistoric artifact: Chipped stone bear
State reptile: California desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
State rock: Serpentine
State silver rush ghost town: Calico
State soil: San Joaquin soil
State song: “I Love You, California”
State tall ship: Californian
State tartan: California State Tartan
State theater: Pasadena Playhouse
State trees: Two species of California redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens and Sequoia gigantea)
More about the state at:
www.learncalifornia.org/doc.asp?ID=678
SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 636 AnnivHol-2000, p. 152
CONTACT:
Native Daughters of the Golden West 543 Baker St. San Francisco, CA 94117-1405 800-994-6349 415-563-9091 fax: 415-563-5230 www.ndgw.org ndgwgpo@mindspring.com
Native Sons of the Golden West 414 Mason St. San Francisco, CA 94102 415-392-1223 fax: 415-392-1224 www.nsgw.org/sesqui.html nsgwgp@pacbell.net
STATE OFFICES:
State web site: www.ca.gov
Office of the Governor State Capitol 1st Fl Sacramento, CA 95814 916-445-2841 fax: 916-445-4633 www.governor.ca.gov
Secretary of State 1500 11th St Sacramento, CA 95814 916-653-6814 fax: 916-653-4620 www.ss.ca.gov
California State Library 914 Capitol Mall Sacramento, CA 95814 916-654-0261 fax: 916-654-0241 www.library.ca.gov
Legal Holidays:
California
a state on the Pacific coast of the USA, on the border with Mexico. Area, 411,000 sq km; population, 19.95 million (1970). The capital of the state is Sacramento; Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego are the largest cities. In 1970, 90.9 percent of the population was urban.
The state is mountainous: the Coast Ranges extend longitudinally in the west, with elevations above 2, 500 m (Mt. Pinos), and the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, including Mt. Whitney (4, 418 m), are in the east. In the north and south these mountain ranges are connected by rather low mountains that enclose the Central Valley, which is watered by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The Mojave, a sand desert, and deep tectonic depressions, such as Death Valley and the Salton Sea, are located in the extreme east and southeast. California is subject to earthquakes. The climate on the coast is Mediterranean, with a warm summer and a damp winter. The vegetation consists of mountain pine forests and sclerophyllous evergreen shrubbery. The climate on the interior slopes of the mountains and in the Central Valley is hot and dry. Most of the valley is under cultivation, and the southern districts and the foothills are covered with annual grasses and bushes. Located in California are the Yosemite, Lassen Volcanic, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.
California is the most rapidly developing state of the USA, the first in number of incoming settlers, and one of the most important economically. The settlement of the state in the middle of the 19th century was linked with the “gold rush.” California’s population grew from 1.5 million in 1900 to 10.6 million in 1950 and to 19.7 million in 1967, when it became the most populous state in the USA. The population grew by 48 percent from 1950 to 1960 and by 27 percent from 1960 to 1970. More than 90 percent of the population is concentrated in the coastal plains of southern and central California and in the Central Valley. California is first among the states of the USA in commercial agriculture and in the number of automobiles and is second in employment in manufacturing (1.6 million in 1970).
Approximately 50 million tons of oil and much natural gas are extracted annually, mainly in the Los Angeles area. Gold, mercury, potassium salts, and iron ore are also mined. The output of electric power plants in 1969 was 22 million kilowatts. California is a highly important center of military production. A leading position is occupied by the aviation, space and rocket, and radio-electronic industries, which fill mainly defense orders and which are located in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose. The oil-refining and chemical industries, shipbuilding, automobile assembly production, and other branches of machine building are also well developed. Ferrous metallurgy is located in Fontana, which is near Los Angeles, and in areas near San Francisco. California is first among the states in food processing, especially canning; this industry is based on local agricultural produce. The film industry is centered in southern California, in Hollywood and other suburbs of Los Angeles.
The agricultural economy is characterized by a combination of intensive agriculture, mainly on irrigated lands, and extensive cattle-raising. Approximately two-thirds of the commodity output is composed of agricultural products: various fruits and vegetables (mainly in the Central Valley), citrus fruits (in the Los Angeles area), and long-fiber cotton (in the Colorado River basin). There were approximately 4 million head of cattle and 1.5 million sheep in 1969. Fishing is also an important branch of the economy. In the north, logging (timber cutting) and the wood-products industry are of considerable importance. Tourism has great economic significance. There are approximately 13, 000 km of railway lines (1968) and 10 million automobiles (1969). Sea transport plays an important role. The principal ports are San Francisco and Los Angeles. US military bases are located within California.
Europeans first visited the territory of California in the 16th century. The colonization of California by the Spaniards began in the 18th century and was accompanied by the extermination of the local Indian population. Russian settlers played an important role in the exploration and economic development of California. After the proclamation of the independence of Mexico in 1821, the territory of California became part of that newly independent country. As a result of the war of aggression of the USA against Mexico in 1846-48, California was seized from Mexico and annexed to the USA. The territory became a state in 1850.