”’California”’ is the third largest state in the USA. It is located in the west of the USA.
California’s capital is Sacramento city. It is the most intense growing big town in the state. The people know the capital of California as the financial hub placed on the West Coast.
California’s nicknames
The Golden State
Area
California area
Total 163,696 sq mi (423,970 km2)
Width 250 miles (400 km)
Length 770 miles (1,240 km)
History
The earliest European, visited the California territories in 1542, was Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. He claimed the lands as the property of Spanish. The region received its name California because of the famous Spanish novel, published in 1510, which told about the fictional paradise island of California.
At the very beginning of the XVII century, navigator Sebastián Vizcaíno, a researcher of the California coast and creator of San Diego, Santa Catalina, Santa Barbara, and Monterey names, reaffirmed the Spain rights to this land. However, the persistent growth of California began only at the end of the XVII century, when Spain, trying to gain a foothold on the North American continent and to oppose American expansion, started sending colonists from Mexico to California.
In the XVIII century, the Spanish occupation began in the way of military campaign combined with a religious mission. The Spaniards under the command of Gaspar de Portola and the leadership of the Franciscan monk Junipero Serra carried out the colonization of California. In 1769 they organized the San Diego de Alcala mission (the current city of San Diego), and later another 20 missions that were one day away from each other. The youngest Spanish mission was San Francisco de Solano, founded in 1823.
When Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, California became its province. However, these lands attracted the northern neighbors of Mexico. The annexation of California was the result of the Mexican-American War (1846–48). The bitterness of defeat for the Mexican people aggravated the discovery of deposits of gold ore near the city of Sacramento. In 1849 the famous “gold rush” began there. Many Mexicans have not yet accepted the loss of California. They dream of returning this territory, and it does not even matter for them that tectonic forces are raging in its depths, causing frequent and intense earthquakes.
However, the danger that waits for the people of California every day does not reduce the number of its population. It is still the most populated state in the United States.
Demographics
Presently, California is the global leader in the modern technologies industry. Space flights, computer science, microelectronics, biotechnology are the basis of the development of the state.
Silicon Valley is a chain of cities that has the shape of an arc. It starts north of San Francisco and comes to San Jose. This area is known worldwide as the area of information technologies.
California is the most populated state in the United States (12% of the whole population).
There is no absolute ethnic majority in California. Majority of the population is still white, they followed by Latin Americans (almost a third), Asians, African-Americans, and American Indians. Experts predict that Hispanics will constitute an absolute majority of California’s population by 2040. The reasons for this are the massive flow of immigration from Mexico and the high birth rate among them.
TOP 5 Universities
Best California Universities
* Stanford University
* University of California, Berkeley
* University of California, Los Angeles
* University of Southern California
* University of California, Irvine
News
L.A. homeless were paid $1 to forge signatures on California ballot measure petition, cops say