California

California
State
Country	United States
Before statehood	California Republic
Admitted to the Union	September 9, 1850 (31st)
Capital	Sacramento
Largest city	Los Angeles
Largest county or equivalent	San Bernardino, California
Government
• Governor	Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)
• Upper house	{{{Upperhouse}}}
• Lower house	{{{Lowerhouse}}}
U.S. senators	Dianne Feinstein (D) Barbara Boxer (D)
Population
• Total	33,871,648
• Density	217.2/sq mi (83.85/km2)
• Median household income	US$49,894
• Income rank	13th
Language
• Official language	English
Traditional abbreviation	Calif.
Latitude	32°30'N to 42°N
Longitude	114°8'W to 124°24'W

For other uses, see the U.S. state.

The State of California (IPA: /[[IPA chart for English|ˌkʰæ.lɪˈfɔɹ.nʲʌ]]/) is the most populous state of the United States of America. Located on the Pacific coast of North America, it is bordered by Oregon, Nevada and Arizona in the United States, and Baja California in Mexico. The state's four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco. California is known for its diverse climate and ethnically diverse population. The state has 58 counties. California is also classified as a Western state, which is a more well-suited designation for the Sierra Nevada region.

Inhabited by indigenous people for millennia, Alta California was first colonized by the Spanish Empire in 1769, and after Mexican independence in 1821, continued as part of Mexico. Following one brief week as the independent California Republic in 1846, and the conclusion of the Mexican-American war in 1848, California was annexed by the United States and was admitted to the Union as the thirty-first state on September 9, 1850.

California's diverse geography ranges from the sandy beaches of the Pacific coast to the rugged, snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the east. The central portion of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. The Sierra Nevada contains Yosemite Valley, famous for its glacially-carved domes, and Sequoia National Park, home to the largest living organisms on Earth, the giant sequoia trees, and the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. The tallest living things on Earth, the ancient redwood trees, dot the coastline, mainly north of San Francisco. California is also home to the second lowest and hottest place in the Western Hemisphere, Death Valley. Bristlecone pines located in the White Mountains are the oldest known trees in the world; one has an age of 4,700 years.

The California Gold Rush, beginning in 1848, dramatically changed California with an influx of population and an economic boom, and San Francisco became a financial and cultural center. The early 20th century was marked by Los Angeles becoming the center of the entertainment industry, in addition to the growth of a large tourism sector in the state. The Central Valley is home to California's agricultural industry, the largest of any state. Other major industries include aerospace and petroleum, computer and information technology. California's ranks among the ten largest economies in the world, and 35^th amongst the most populous countries behind Kenya.

Name

Main article: Origin of the name California

Symbols

The word California originally referred to the entire region composed of the current U.S. state of California, plus all or parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Wyoming, and the Mexican peninsula now known as Baja California.

The name California is most commonly believed derived from a storied paradise peopled by black Amazons and ruled by Queen Califia. The myth of Califia is recorded in a 1510 work The Exploits of Esplandian, written as a sequel to Amadís de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer García Ordoñez Rodriguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Califia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a remote land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts and rich in gold.

Know ye that at the right hand of the Indies there is an island named California, very close to that part of the terrestrial Paradise, which was inhabited by black women, without a single man among them, and that they lived in the manner of Amazons. They were robust of body, with strong and passionate hearts and great virtues. The island itself is one of the wildest in the world on account of the bold and craggy rocks. Their weapons were all made of gold. The island everywhere abounds with gold and precious stones, and upon it no other metal was found.

It is thought that the myth of Califia later helped fuel Spanish exploration in the New World. According to this theory, the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés heard stories of an island populated by women warriors and filled with riches, off the northwest coast of today's Mexico. Beginning in 1535, he sponsored three expeditions to what is now known as the Baja California Peninsula in search of this island. While Cortés is credited with the discovery of Baja California, he found no such island of riches and Amazons. In official reports about Cortés's discoveries written in the early 1540s, these new lands are referred to as "California" — likely alluding to Montalvo's imaginary island. These reports were written by Cortés's political rivals, and it is unclear whether the allusions to California in these reports were meant as mockery of Cortés — that is, Cortés went seeking riches and Amazons, but found only the deserts of Baja California; these rivals then derisively refer to Cortés's discovery by the well-known name of "California." Others suggest the word California may come from the early Spanish explorers who entered California via the hot southern regions and referred to California as being "hot as an oven" or a "lime oven" ("cali > hot", "fornus->forno > oven" + ending "ia" for a place; or with "cal > lime"). It may be derived from caliente fornalia, Spanish for hot furnace, or it may come from calida fornax, Latin for hot climate.

Geography

Main article: Geography of California

California borders the Pacific Ocean, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and the Mexican state of Baja California. With an area of 160,000 mi² (411,000 km²) it is the third largest state in the United States and is a little larger than Germany in size.

California's geography is rich, complex, and varied. In the middle of the state lies the California Central Valley, bounded by the coastal mountain ranges in the west, the Sierra Nevada to the east, the Cascade Range in the north and the Tehachapi Mountains in the south. The Central Valley is California's agricultural heartland and grows approximately one-third of the nation's food. Divided in two by the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the northern portion, the Sacramento Valley serves as the watershed of the Sacramento River, while the southern portion, the San Joaquin Valley is the watershed for the San Joaquin River; both areas derive its name from the rivers that transit them. With dredging, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin Rivers have remained sufficiently deep that several inland cities are seaports. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta serves as a critical water supply hub for the state. Water is routed through an extensive network of canals and pumps out of the delta, that traverse nearly the length of the state, including the Central Valley Project, and the State Water Project. Water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta provides drinking water for nearly 23 million people, almost two-thirds of the state's population, and provides water to farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The Channel Islands are located off the southern coast.

The Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "snowy range") include the highest peak in the contiguous forty-eight states, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 ft (4,421 m), Yosemite National Park, and the deep freshwater lake, Lake Tahoe, the largest lake in the state by volume. To the east of the Sierra Nevada are Owens Valley and Mono Lake, an essential migratory bird habitat. In the western part of the state is Clear Lake, the largest freshwater lake by area entirely in California. Though Lake Tahoe is largerger, it is divided by the California, Nevada border. The Sierra Nevada falls to Arctic temperatures in winter and has several dozen small glaciers, including Palisade Glacier, the southernmost glacier in North America.

About 35% of the state's total surface area is covered by forests, and California's diversity of pine species is unmatched by any other state. California contains more forestland than any other state except Alaska. In the south is a large inland salt lake, the Salton Sea. Deserts in California make up about 25% of the total surface area. The south-central desert is called the Mojave; to the northeast of the Mojave lies Death Valley, which contains the lowest, hottest point in North America, Badwater Flat. The distant from lowest point of Death Valley and the peak of Mount Whitney is less than 200 miles (322 km). Indeed, almost all of southeastern California is arid, hot desert, with routine extreme high temperatures during the summer.

Along the California coast are several major metropolitan areas, including San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, Los Angeles-Long Beach, Santa Ana-Irvine-Anaheim, and San Diego.

California is famous for earthquakes due to a number of faults, in particular the San Andreas Fault. It is vulnerable to tsunamis, wildfires, and landslides on steep terrain, and has several volcanoes.

Climate

Main article: Climate of California

California climate varies from Mediterranean to subarctic. Much of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with cool, rainy winters and dry summers. The cool California Current offshore often creates summer fog near the coast. Further inland, the climate has colder winters and hotter summers.

Northern parts of the state average higher annual rainfall than the south. California's mountain ranges influence the climate as well: some of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes. Northwestern California has a temperate climate and the Central Valley has a Mediterranean climate but with greater temperature extremes than the coast. The high mountains, including the Sierra Nevada, have a mountain climate with snow in winter and mild to moderate heat in summer.

File:SSPX0234 edited-1.jpg

This mountain is characteristic of the Mojave Desert in southern California.

The east side of California's mountains has a drier rain shadow. The low deserts east of the southern California mountains have hot summers and nearly frostless mild winters; the higher elevation deserts of eastern California have hot summers and cold winters. In Death Valley, the highest temperature in the Western Hemisphere, 134 °F (56.6 °C), was recorded July 10, 1913.

Ecology

Main article: Ecology of California

Ecologically, California is one of the richest and most diverse parts of the world and includes some of the most endangered ecological communities. California is part of the Nearctic ecozone and spans a number of terrestrial ecoregions.

California's large number of endemic species includes relic species which have died out elsewhere, such as the Catalina Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus). Many other endemics originated through 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 endemics have become endangered, as urbanization, logging, overgrazing, and the introduction of exotic species have encroached on their habitat.

California boasts several superlatives in its collection of flora; the largest trees, the tallest trees, and the oldest trees. California's native grasses are perennial plants. After European contact, these were generally replaced by invasive species of European annual grasses; and, in modern times, California's hills turn a characteristic golden brown in summer.

Rivers

The two most important rivers within California are the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River, which drain the Central Valley and flow to the Pacific Ocean through San Francisco Bay. Two other important rivers are the Klamath River, in the north, and the Colorado River, on the southeast border. For other rivers, see List of California rivers

National Parks and Monuments

Yosemite Valley

Main articles: List of areas in the National Park System of the United States, List of United States National Parks by state, and List of National Monuments of the United States

The U.S. National Park System controls a large and diverse group of California parks. The best known is Yosemite National Park. Half Dome, in Yosemite, figures prominently on the reverse side of the California state quarter. Other prominent parks are the Kings Canyon-Sequoia National Park complex, Redwood National Park, Joshua Tree National Park and the largest, Death Valley National Park. The nearest major city is Fresno, California, which is also the sixth largest city in California.

History

Main articles: History of California to 1899 and History of California 1900 to present

Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America; the area was inhabited by more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans. Large, settled populations lived on the coast and hunted sea mammals, fished for salmon, and gathered shellfish, while groups in the interior hunted terrestrial game and gathered nuts, acorns, and berries. California groups also were 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, and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups.

The first European to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was the portuguese Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542, sailing for the Spanish Empire. Some 37 years later, the English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed an undefined portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila Galleons on their return trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565. Sebastián Vizcaíno explored and mapped the coast of California in 1602 for New Spain.

Spanish missionaries began setting up twenty-three California Missions along the coast of what became known as Alta California (Upper California), together with small towns and presidios. The first mission in Alta California was established at San Diego in 1769. In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence gave Mexico (including California), independence from Spain; for the next twenty-five years, Alta California remained a remote northern province of the nation of Mexico. Cattle ranches, or ranchos, emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California. After Mexican independence from Spain, the chain of missions became the property of the Mexican government, and were secularized by 1832. The ranchos developed under ownership by Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians) who had received land grants and traded cowhides and tallow with Boston merchants.

Beginning in the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United States and Canada began to arrive in Northern California, harbingers of the great changes that would later sweep the Mexican territory. These new arrivals used the Siskiyou Trail, California Trail,Oregon Trail and Old Spanish Trail to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts surrounding California. In this period, Imperial Russia explored the California coast, and established a trading post at Fort Ross.

File:1stBearFlag.jpg

The Bear Flag of the Republic of California

In 1846, at the outset of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), the California Republic was founded and the Bear Flag (featuring a bear, a star, and the words "California Republic") was flown in an attempt to control Northern California. The attempt to form this republic came to a sudden end, however, when Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into San Francisco Bay and began the military occupation of California by the United States. Northern California capitulated in less than a month to the US forces.

Following a series of defensive battles in Southern California, including; The Siege of Los Angeles, the Battle of Dominguez Rancho, the Battle of San Pascual, the Battle of Rio San Gabriel and the Battle of La Mesa, the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed by the Californios on January 13, 1847, securing American control in California.

Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the war, the region was divided between Mexico and the United States; the western territory of Alta California, was to become the U.S. state of California, and the Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah Territories, while the lower region of California, Baja California, remained in the possession of Mexico.

In 1848, the non-native population of California has been estimated to be no more than 15,000. But after gold was discovered, the population burgeoned with U.S. citizens, Europeans, and other immigrants during the great California Gold Rush. In 1850, California was admitted to the United States as a free state (one in which slavery was prohibited).

The seat of government for California under Mexican rule was located at Monterey from 1777 until 1846, when Mexican authorities abandoned California at the outset of the Mexican-American war. In 1849, the Constitutional Convention was first held there. Among the duties was the task of determining the location for the new State capital. The first legislative sessions were held in San Jose (1850-1851). Subsequent locations included Vallejo (1852-1853), and nearby Benicia (1853-1854), although these locations eventually proved to be inadequate as well. The capital has been located in Sacramento since 1854.

At first, travel between California and the central and eastern parts of the United States was time-consuming and dangerous. A more direct connection came in 1869 with the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. After this rail link was established, hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens came west, where new Californians were discovering that land in the state, if irrigated during the dry summer months, was extremely well-suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general. Vast expanses of wheat and other cereal crops, vegetable crops, cotton, and nut and fruit trees were grown (including oranges in Southern California), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production in the Central Valley and elsewhere.

During the early 20th century, migration to California accelerated with the completion of major transcontinental highways like the Lincoln Highway and Route 66. In the period from 1900 to 1965, the population grew from fewer than one million to become the most populous state in the Union. From 1965 to the present, the population changed radically and became one of the most diverse in the world. The state is regarded as a world center of technology and engineering businesses, the entertainment and music industries, and of U.S. agricultural production.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of California

Population

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1850	92,597		—
1860	379,994		310.4%
1870	560,247		47.4%
1880	864,694		54.3%
1890	1,213,398		40.3%
1900	1,485,053		22.4%
1910	2,377,549		60.1%
1920	3,426,861		44.1%
1930	5,677,251		65.7%
1940	6,907,387		21.7%
1950	10,586,223		53.3%
1960	15,717,204		48.5%
1970	19,953,134		27.0%
1980	23,667,902		18.6%
1990	29,760,021		25.7%
2000	33,871,648		13.8%

California Population Density Map

By 2007, California's population has reached 37,700,000, making it the most populated state, and is the 13th fastest-growing state. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 1,909,368 people (that is 3,375,297 births minus 1,465,929 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 774,198 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 1,724,790 people, and migration within the country produced a net decrease of 950,592. According to the Sacramento News & Review, California's population will increase to 50 million people by 2025. Despite long held claims of overpopulation of California, it must be taken in relative terms. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh together add the equivalent of "a California" to their already massive populations every 15 months, or to put it another way, they add what California adds in a year in 5 days. (around 400,000 people, 2007, State Population Bureau)

California is the second most populous state in the Western Hemisphere, exceeded only by São Paulo State. More than 12 percent of U.S. citizens live in California and its population is greater than that of all but 34 countries.

California has eight of the top 50 US cities in terms of population. Los Angeles is the nation's second-largest city with a population of 4,018,000 people, followed by San Diego (8th), San Jose (10th), San Francisco (14th), Long Beach (34th), Fresno (36th), Sacramento (37th) and Oakland (44th). Los Angeles County has held the title of most populous county for decades, and is more populous than 37 US states.

The center of population of California is at the town of Buttonwillow in Kern County.

Racial and ancestral makeup

According to the 2005 US Census Bureau California's population is 60.9% White American, 6.1% Black or African American, 12.4% Asian American, 16.4% some other race, 0.7% American Indian, 3.1% mixed race. 35.5% are Hispanic or Latino (of any race). 43.3% of the population are non-Hispanic whites.

The largest named ancestries in California are Mexican (25%), German (9%), Irish (7.7%), English (7.4%) and Filipino (6%), but includes 65 other ethnicities from Albanian to Somali. There are substantial Chinese American communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County; there are large Korean American, Japanese American, Cambodian American, Vietnamese American, Thai American, Indian American, Pakistani American, Persian American, Armenian American, and Arab American communities in the Greater Los Angeles Area and in other areas of the state. There are also large concentrations of Russian-Americans in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento. The state has the nation's largest Bulgarian American population.

California has the fifth largest population of African Americans in the U.S., an estimated 2,163,530 residents. California's Asian population is estimated at 5 million, approximately one-third of the nation's 14.9 million. California's Native American population of 376,093 is the most of any state.

According to estimates from 2006, California has the largest minority population in the United States, making up 57% of the state population. Non-Hispanic whites slipped from 80% of the state's population in 1970 to 43% in 2006. While the population of minorities accounts for 100.7 million of 300 million U.S. residents, 21% of the national total live in California.

Languages

As of 2000, 60.52% of California residents age five and older spoke English as a first language at home, while 25.80% spoke Spanish. In addition to English and Spanish, 2.44% spoke Chinese (which included Cantonese [0.48%] and Mandarin [0.29%]), 1.99% spoke Wikang Filipino (most are native speakers of Ilokano, Cebuano, Tagalog, Pangasinan and Kapampangan), 1.29% spoke Vietnamese, and 0.94% spoke Korean as their mother tongue. In total, 39.47% of the population spoke languages other than English. Over 200 languages are known to be spoken and read in California. Including indigenous languages, California is viewed as one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world (the indigenous languages were derived from 64 root languages in 6 language families). About half of the indigenous languages are no longer spoken, and all of California's living indigenous languages are endangered, although there are now some efforts toward language revitalization.

The official language of California has been English since the passage of Proposition 63 in 1986. However, many state, city, and local government agencies still continue to print official public documents in numerous languages.

Religion

The state has the most Roman Catholics of any state, a large Protestant population, a large American Jewish community, and a large, rapidly-growing American Muslim population.

With a Jewish population estimated at more than 550,000, Los Angeles is the second-largest Jewish community in North America.

As the twentieth century came to a close, forty percent of all Buddhists in America resided in Southern California. The Los Angeles Metropolitan Area has become unique in the Buddhist world as the single place where representative organizations of every major school of Buddhism can be found in a single urban center." The Hsi Lai Temple in Southern California is the largest Buddhist temple in the Western Hemisphere. Some claim that City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is larger.

California also has more Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints than any state except Utah. Note that there are many people in California who do not commit themselves to an organized religion.

Economy

Main article: Economy of California

The Hollywood Sign is the best-known symbol of California's huge entertainment industry.

Silicon Valley is the center of the world's computer industry, just south of San Francisco.

File:Mendocinovineyard.jpg

Vineyards are popular in California as both status symbols and sources of fine wine

As of 2005, The gross state product (GSP) is about $1.62 trillion, the largest in the country. California is responsible for 13% of the United States gross domestic product (GDP). As of 2005, California's GDP is larger than all but seven countries in the world (and all but eight countries by Purchasing Power Parity).

California is also the home of several significant economic regions such as Hollywood (entertainment), the California Central Valley (agriculture), Tech Coast and Silicon Valley (computers and high tech), and wine producing regions such as the Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley and Southern California's Santa Barbara and Paso Robles area's.

The predominant industry, more than twice as large as the next, is agriculture, (including fruit, vegetables, dairy, and wine). This is followed by aerospace; entertainment, primarily television by dollar volume, although many movies are still made in California; music production and recording studios; light manufacturing, including computer hardware and software; and the mining of borax. Oil drilling has played a significant role in the development of the state.

Per capita personal income was $48,460 as of 2005, ranking 13^th in the nation. Per capita income varies widely by geographic region and profession. The Central Valley is the most impoverished, with migrant farm workers making less than minimum wage. Recently, the San Joaquin Valley was characterized as one of the most economically depressed regions in the U.S., on par with the region of Appalachia.

Many coastal cities include some of the wealthiest per-capita areas in the U.S. The high-technology sectors in Northern California, specifically Silicon Valley, in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, are currently emerging from economic downturn caused by the dot.com bust, which caused the loss of over 250,000 jobs in Northern California alone. As of spring 2005, economic growth has resumed in California at 4.3%.

California levies a 9.3% maximum variable rate income tax, with 6 tax brackets. It collects about $40 billion in income taxes. California's combined state, county and local sales tax rate is from 7.25 to 8.75%. The rate varies throughout the state at the local level. In all, it collects about $28 billion in sales taxes. All real property are taxable and are assessed at fair market value at the time of purchase, limiting property tax income. California collects $33 billion in property taxes.

See also: California unemployment statistics

Further information: [[:California locations by per capita income]]

Transportation

Main article: Transportation of California

California's most famous bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge

California's vast terrain is connected by an extensive system of freeways, expressways, and highways. California is known for its car culture, giving California's cities a reputation for severe traffic congestion. Construction and maintenance of state roads and statewide transportation planning are primarily the responsibility of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).

Caltrans builds tall "stack" interchanges with soaring ramps that offer stunning views.

One of the state's more visible landmarks, the Golden Gate Bridge was completed in 1937. With its orange paint and panoramic views of the bay, this highway bridge is a popular tourist attraction and also accommodates pedestrians and bicyclists. It is simultaneously designated as U.S. Route 101 which is part of the El Camino Real (Spanish for Royal Road or King's Highway), and California State Route 1 which is also known as the Pacific Coast Highway. Another of the seven bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area is the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, completed in 1936. This bridge transports approximately 280,000 vehicles per day on two-decks, with its two sections meeting at Yerba Buena Island.

Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport are major hubs for trans-Pacific and transcontinental traffic. There are about a dozen important commercial airports and many more general aviation airports throughout the state.

California also has several important seaports. The giant seaport complex formed by the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach in Southern California is the largest in the country and responsible for handling about a fourth of all container cargo traffic in the United States. The Port of Oakland, fourth largest in the nation, handles trade from the Pacific Rim and delivers most of the ocean containers passing through Northern California to the entire USA.

Intercity rail travel is provided by Amtrak. Los Angeles and San Francisco both have subway networks, in addition to light rail. Metrolink commuter rail and Metro Rail part of METRO serves much of Southern California, and BART and Caltrain commuter rail connect Bay Area suburbs to San Francisco. San Jose and Sacramento have light rail, and San Diego has Trolley light rail and Coaster commuter rail services. Nearly all counties operate bus lines, and many cities operate their own bus lines as well. Intercity bus travel is provided by Greyhound and Amtrak bus services.

The rapidly growing population of the state is straining all of its transportation networks. A regularly recurring issue in California politics is whether the state should continue to aggressively expand its freeway network or concentrate on improving mass transit networks in urban areas.

The California High Speed Rail Authority was created in 1996 by the state to implement an extensive 700 mile (1127 km) rail system. Construction is pending approval of the voters during the November 2008 general election, in which a $9 billion state bond would have to be approved.

State politics and government

Main article: Government of California

The State Capitol in Sacramento, which is the home of the California State Legislature

California is governed as a republic, with three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the Governor of California and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the Assembly and Senate; and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of California and lower courts. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall, and ratification. California follows a closed primary system. The state's capital is Sacramento.

The Governor of California and the other state constitutional officers serve four-year terms and may be re-elected only once. The California State Legislature consists of a 40 member Senate and 80 member Assembly. Senators serve four year terms and Assembly members two. Members of the Assembly are subject to term limits of 3 terms, and members of the Senate are subject to term limits of 2 terms.

For the 2007–2008 session, there are 48 Democrats and 32 Republicans in the Assembly. In the Senate, there are 25 Democrats and 15 Republicans. The current governor is Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was re-elected to a term that lasts through January 2011.

The Earl Warren Building and Courthouse in San Francisco, which is the home of the Supreme Court of California

California's judiciary is the largest in the United States (with a total of 1,600 judges, while the federal system has only about 840). It is supervised by the seven Justices of the Supreme Court of California. Justices of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal are appointed by the Governor, but are subject to retention by the electorate every 12 years.

Presidential elections results

Year	Republican	Democratic
2004	44.36% 5,509,826	54.31% 6,745,485
2000	41.65% 4,567,429	53.45% 5,861,203
1996	38.21% 3,828,380	51.10% 5,119,835
1992	32.61% 3,630,574	46.01% 5,121,325
1988	51.13% 5,054,917	47.56% 4,702,233
1984	57.51% 5,467,009	41.27% 3,922,519
1980	52.69% 4,524,858	35.91% 3,083,661
1976	49.35% 3,882,244	47.57% 3,742,284
1972	55.00% 4,602,096	41.54% 3,475,847
1968	47.82% 3,467,664	44.74% 3,244,318
1964	40.79% 2,879,108	59.11% 4,171,877
1960	50.10% 3,259,722	49.55% 3,224,099

Political culture

Main articles: Politics of California to 1899 and Politics of California

California has an idiosyncratic political culture. It was the second state to legalize abortion and one of the first states to legalize domestic partnerships for gay couples, and was also the first where voters decided that only marriage between a man and a woman would be recognized (legalized domestic partnerships were not approved by voters, but were made law by the state legislature). California was the first state in which voters approved a measure to deny social services to illegal immigrants and was also the first state in which voters passed a law ending affirmative action.

The state's African American vote remains mostly loyal to the Democrats, while Latinos and Asians tend to vote Democratic to a lesser degree. Conservative Caucasians in the suburbs and rural areas are typically reliable Republican voters. Partisan demographics have shifted in past twenty years with the once-Republican inner suburbans moving to the Democrats; Republicans count on the votes in the fast-growing Inland Empire and Central Valley to make up the difference. Some Democratic activists are pushing for the party to make a stronger effort to be competitive in these areas, and parts of these areas have become more Democratic while others remain strongly Republican.

Democratic strength is centered in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County. Democrats are also the majority in Sacramento and San Diego, but those majorities are often offset by Republican strength in their suburbs, making the county highly competitive. (Sacramento County leans Democratic, whereas San Diego County leans Republican). Republican strength is greatest in the San Joaquin Valley, which includes the rapidly-growing cities of Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, and Bakersfield, the suburban counties surrounding Los Angeles (especially Orange County), and suburban San Diego.

Since 1990, California has generally elected Democratic candidates. However, the state has had little hesitance in electing Republican Governors. Of California's past four Governors, three of them were Republicans. The Democrat, Gray Davis, was removed from office via recall election.

See also: List of California Governors, U.S. Congressional Delegations from California, and List of California ballot propositions

California state law

California's legal system is explicitly based on English common law (as is the case with all other states except Louisiana) but carries a few features from Spanish civil law, such as community property. Capital punishment is a legal form of punishment and the state has the largest "Death Row" population in the country (though Texas is far more active in carrying out executions). Currently Capital punishment is on hold in the courts in California.

Cities, towns and counties

For lists of cities, towns, and counties in California, see List of cities in California (by population), List of cities in California, List of urbanized areas in California (by population), List of counties in California, and California locations by per capita income.

• 
  Sacramento
• 
  Los Angeles
• 
  San Diego
• 
  San Francisco
• 
  San Jose
• 
  Long Beach
• 
  Oakland
• 
  Anaheim

The state of California has 478 incorporated cities and towns, of which 456 are cities and 22 are towns. The majority of these cities and towns are within one of four metropolitan areas. Sixty-eight percent of California's population lives in its two largest metropolitan areas, Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. Although smaller, the other two large population centers are the San Diego and the Sacramento metro areas.

The state recognizes two kinds of cities--charter and general law. General law cities owe their existence to state law and consequentially governed by it; charter cities are governed by their own city charters. Cities incorporated in the 19th century tend to be charter cities. All of the state's ten most populous cities are charter cities.

Education

Main articles: Education in California and List of colleges and universities in California

• 
  UC Berkeley
• 
  UCLA
• USC
  USC
• 
  Stanford

California offers a unique three-tier system of public postsecondary education:

The preeminent research university system in the state is the University of California (UC) which employs more Nobel Prize laureates than any other institution in the world, and is considered one of the world's finest public university systems. There are ten general UC campuses, and a number of specialized campuses in the UC system.

The California State University (CSU) system has over 400,000 students, making it the largest university system in the United States. It is intended to accept the top one-third (1/3) of high school students. The CSU schools are primarily intended for undergraduate education.

The California Community Colleges system provides lower division courses. It is composed of 109 colleges, serving a student population of over 2.9 million.

California is also home to such notable private universities as Stanford University, the University of Southern California (USC), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and the Claremont Colleges. California has hundreds of other private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions.

Public secondary education consists of high schools that teach elective courses in trades, languages, and liberal arts with tracks for gifted, college-bound and industrial arts students. California's public educational system is supported by a unique constitutional amendment that requires 40% of state revenues to be spent on education.

Newspapers

The first newspaper published by Americans in California was the Californian, printed in Monterey in 1846 announcing the Mexican American war, written half in English and half Spanish. The press was moved to San Francisco and printing started up again on May 22, 1847 in competition with the weekly California Star published by a Mormon pioneer, Sam Brannan, beginning that January. Both efforts suspended publication in the face of the California Gold Rush. By August, the Californian had resumed publication, but by November 1848, both papers were bought and merged then renamed the Alta California. The press that once printed the Californian was moved to the Sacramento area to be used on the Placer Times. The press was again moved and began publishing the Motherlode's first paper, the Sonora Herald, the taken to Columbia to print the Columbia Star. Within a few years of gold discovery, motherlode towns all had multiple competing journals.

Los Angeles's first paper, La Estrella de Los Angeles, began publishing oin May, 1851, also half in Spanish. The Southern Californian began in July, 1854, and an all Spanish paper, El Clamor Publico, began competing for Spanish-speaking readers in June 1855. San Diego's first paper was the Herald, established in May 1851. Before 1860, California had 57 newspapers and periodicals serving an average readership of 290,000.

James King of William began publishing the Daily Evening Bulletin in San Francisco in October, 1855 and built it into the highest circulation paper in San Francisco. He criticised a city supervisor named James P. Casey, who on the afternoon of the story about him ran in the paper, shot and mortally wounded King. Casey was lynched by the early vigilante committee. The Morning Call was established and began publishing in Decembewr 1856, and later merged with the Bulletin to become the long running Call-Bulletin.

The Sacramento Bee hit the streets in February, 1857 under the editorship of James McClatchy who began agitating on behalf of farmers against destructive practices of cattle ranching and hydraulic mining interests.

The San Francisco Chronicle debuted in June, 1865 as the Dramatic Chronicle, founded by Charles and M.H. de Young aged 19 and 17. Colonel (later General) Harrison Gray Otis took over management of two Los Angeles papers and established the Los Angeles Times.

In 1887, young William Randolph Hearst took over his father's Daily Examiner which became the flagship of his national chain.

Fremont Older became editor of the San Francisco Bulletin in 1895 and took up the struggle against the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad and along with a fellow Californian Lincoln Steffens, became a well known muckraker and the first objective observer to accuse District Attorney Charles Fickert for the framing of labor radical Thomas Mooney.

Other cities have had their own long surviving papers, including the Fresno Republican, the Bee and the Oakland Tribune.

On October 1, 1910, a bomb exploded at the L.A. Times building, killing 21 workers. Labor activists were blamed for the bombing, but the San Francisco Daily News, a four-penny paper started in 1903, defended them. the Daily News joined the Scripps-Howard in 1921. The People's World began publishing in 1938, the first leftist daily published in the West.

The oldest "Negro" newspaper, still active in the 1930s, was the California Eagle. It appeared first in Los Angeles in 1879. The first French journals, the Californien and the Gazette Republicane both began in 1850, and were followed by the Courrier du Pacifique in 1852. Both the first German and first Italian papers, the California Demokrat (1852) and the Voce del Popolo (1859) were founded in San Francisco and had long runs. Chinese in California have published many newspapers, the first was the Gold Hills News in 1854.

Sports

Main articles: Sports in California and List of professional sports teams in California

California hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, as well as the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Los Angeles was competing to host the 2016 Summer Olympics but lost out to Chicago, Illinois to represent the United States Olympics bid.

California has nineteen major professional sports league franchises, far more than any other state. The San Francisco Bay Area has seven major league teams spread in three cities, San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. While the Greater Los Angeles Area is home to ten major league franchises, it is also the largest metropolitan area not to have a team from the National Football League. San Diego has two major league teams, and Sacramento also has two.

Below is a list of major sports teams in California:

Club	Sport	League
San Francisco 49ers	Football	National Football League
Oakland Raiders	Football	National Football League
San Diego Chargers	Football	National Football League
Los Angeles Dodgers	Baseball	Major League Baseball
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Baseball	Major League Baseball
San Francisco Giants	Baseball	Major League Baseball
San Diego Padres	Baseball	Major League Baseball
Oakland Athletics	Baseball	Major League Baseball
Los Angeles Lakers	Basketball	National Basketball Association
Los Angeles Clippers	Basketball	National Basketball Association
Sacramento Kings	Basketball	National Basketball Association
Golden State Warriors	Basketball	National Basketball Association
Anaheim Ducks	Ice Hockey	National Hockey League
Los Angeles Kings	Ice Hockey	National Hockey League
San Jose Sharks	Ice Hockey	National Hockey League
Los Angeles Avengers	Football	Arena Football League
San Jose SaberCats	Football	Arena Football League
Chivas USA	Soccer	Major League Soccer
Los Angeles Galaxy	Soccer	Major League Soccer
Los Angeles Sparks	Basketball	Women's National Basketball Association
Sacramento Monarchs	Basketball	Women's National Basketball Association
Los Angeles Riptide	Lacrosse	Major League Lacrosse
San Francisco Dragons	Lacrosse	Major League Lacrosse
California Cougars	Soccer	Major Indoor Soccer League
San Jose Stealth	Lacrosse	National Lacrosse League
San Jose Earthquakes (moved to Houston, Texas and renamed the Houston Dynamo)	Soccer	Major League Soccer
Los Angeles Rams (moved to St. Louis, Missouri and are now the St. Louis Rams)	Football	National Football League
California Golden Seals (moved to Cleveland, Ohio and became the Cleveland Barons (NHL), later would merge with the Minnesota North Stars, and would move again to Dallas, Texas and become the Dallas Stars)	Ice Hockey	National Hockey League
Sacramento Gold Miners (moved to San Antonio, Texas and would become the San Antonio Texans for the rest of the team's existence)	Football	Canadian Football League

Home to some of most prominent universities in the United States, California has long had many respected collegiate sports programs. In particular, the athletic programs of USC, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Stanford are often nationally ranked in the various collegiate sports. California is also home to the oldest college bowl game, the annual Rose Bowl, and the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, among others.

See also

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Further reading

• Chartkoff, Joseph L. (1984). The archaeology of California. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804711577. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Fagan, Brian (2003). Before California: An archaeologist looks at our earliest inhabitants. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 0742527948.
• Moratto, Michael J. (1984). California archaeology. Orlando: Academic Press. ISBN 012506182X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

Government

• State of California Official Web site
• 2007 California Vehicle Code

Tourism & recreation

• VISIT CALIFORNIA .com California's Official Vacation Guide
• Template:Wikitravel

Other

• U.S. Census Bureau
• Native Tribes, Groups, Language Families and Dialects of California
• Counting California
• California Historical Society cultural sites index
• Economic Research Service, USDA - California State
• List of official California State Insignia (symbols) from the California State Library
• USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of California
• Map of California watersheds.

United States

37°N 120°W