California
Contents
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State flag
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CALIFORNIA,
one of the Pacific Coast states of the U.S., bounded on the
N by Oregon, on the E by Nevada and Arizona, on the S by the Mexican
state of Baja California, and on the W by the Pacific Ocean. The
Colorado R. forms the S portion of its E border.
California entered the Union on Sept. 9, 1850, as the 31st
state. Agriculture and mining have always been important to the
economy of California. Industrial activity expanded rapidly
in the 20th century along with a booming population. As the 21st century began,
California had a larger population than any other state and was
the leading producer by value of both agricultural and manufactured
goods. The state also ranked among the national leaders in service
industries and was a popular tourist destination.
The name California was first given to the Baja California
Peninsula by the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés
in the early 16th century and was applied by other explorers to
more N areas. The word is derived from the name of an imaginary
island in a popular Spanish romance of the time. California is called
the Golden State.
| CALIFORNIA STATE FACTS |
| DATE OF STATEHOOD: |
September 9, 1850; 31st state |
| CAPITAL: |
Sacramento |
| MOTTO: |
Eureka (I have found it) |
| NICKNAME: |
Golden State |
| STATE SONG: |
“I Love You, California” (words by F. B. Silverwood; music by A. F. Frankenstein) |
| STATE TREE: |
California redwood |
| STATE FLOWER: |
Golden poppy |
| STATE BIRD: |
California valley quail |
| POPULATION (2000 census): |
33,871,648; 1st among the states |
| AREA: |
423,970 sq km (163,696 sq mi); 3d largest state; includes 20,036 sq km (7736 sq mi) of inland water |
| COASTLINE: |
1352 km (840 mi) |
| HIGHEST POINT: |
Mt. Whitney, 4418 m (14,494 ft) |
| LOWEST POINT: |
86 m (282 ft) below sea level, in Death Valley |
| ELECTORAL VOTES: |
55 |
| U.S. CONGRESS: |
2 senators; 53 representatives |
| GOVERNOR: |
Arnold Schwarzenegger (Rep.); Took office November 2003 |
California, with an area of 423,970 sq km (163,696 sq
mi), is the third largest state in the U.S.; 44.9% of the land area is
owned by the federal government. The state most resembles an arc; its
extreme dimensions are about 1240 km (about 770 mi) from N to S and
about 595 km (about 370 mi) from E to W. California has a great
complexity of relief, with elevations from 86 m (282 ft) below sea
level in Death Valley (the lowest point on the continent), to 4418 m
(14,494 ft), atop Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the conterminous
states. The state’s coastline extends 1352 km (840 mi); its tidal
shoreline is 5514 km (3427 mi) long.
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Photos.com
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Mojave Desert
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In the NE corner of California is a segment of the Great Basin. Part
of the Basin and Range Region, it includes the Warner Mts., Honey
Lake Plain, and the volcanic Modoc Plateau. Farther S, separated
by a spur of the Sierra Nevada, is another Basin and Range wedge.
The N half of this wedge is also part of the Great Basin and is
sometimes called the Trans-Sierra. The entire region contains worn
mountain ranges separated by numerous low-lying arid basins, the
most famous of which is Death Valley. The Mojave Desert alone occupies
approximately one-fifth of the state. In the Colorado Desert to
the S, the fertile soils of the Imperial Valley are irrigated and
productive.
In the N central part of the state is the Cascade Range, which
extends N into British Columbia. It is a volcanic tableland capped
by cones, the most prominent of which is the extinct Mt. Shasta
(4317 m/14,162 ft). The active volcano Lassen Peak (3187
m/10,457 ft) protrudes from the core of ancient Mt. Tehama.
South of the Cascades is the Sierra Nevada, a rugged granitic
mountain range. Its dramatic E escarpment rises sharply above the
deserts of the Great Basin. This region is of much importance to
California, as a source of numerous rivers and for its scenic beauty.
Six peaks, including Mt. Whitney, exceed about 4270 m (about 14,010
ft).
The Central Valley, wedged between the Sierra Nevada on the
E and the Coast Ranges on the W, is a downfolded basin with deep
fertile alluvial soils. This sizable lowland supports most of the
agriculture for which California is renowned.
Occupying much of NW California are the Klamath Mts. This
rugged mass has been cut by the Klamath R. and its tributaries. South of the
Klamath Mts. and W of the Central Valley are the California Coast Ranges.
This region consists basically of low parallel (N-S) ranges, interspersed
with structural depressions, the best known of which are the Salinas Valley
and the lowlands around San Francisco Bay.
The Lower California Ranges of S California make up a region
that includes two major landform areas. Along its N portion are
the Transverse Ranges, which unlike other ranges in the state trend
along an E-W axis. The two major masses here are the San Gabriel
and San Bernardino mountains. A structural depression, the Los Angeles
Basin, separates the Transverse Ranges from the Peninsular Ranges
to the S. These are granitic ranges that differ from the Sierra
Nevada in their lower elevations and absence of glacial features.
Two island groups are found offshore, the rocky Farallon Islands
off the N coast and the larger Channel, or Santa Barbara, Islands
off the S coast. California’s coastline is geologically
unstable, with many faults, or fractures, the most prominent of
which is the San Andreas Fault.
The longest river in California, the Sacramento, rises near
Mt. Shasta and flows S into San Francisco Bay. The second longest
is the San Joaquin R., which rises in the Sierra Nevada and flows
into the Sacramento R. near its mouth. Both rivers lie mostly in
the Central Valley and with their numerous tributaries drain the
Sierra Nevada, the Cascades, and much of the NE. The Colorado R., situated
along the SE border, receives no additional volume within California.
NW rivers, principally the Klamath, Smith, and Eel, have small drainage
basins but heavy seasonal volume.
California has numerous small lakes; among the few
larger lakes are Lake Tahoe (shared with Nevada), Clear Lake, Honey Lake,
and Mono Lake. Sizable artificial bodies of water include Shasta Lake and
Oroville Reservoir. The Salton Sea, which lies below sea level, was
formed (1905–7) by floodwaters of the Colorado R. Extensive water
transfer projects have been built in California for both irrigation and supply.
Most water is taken from the well-watered N to the dry S, but also from
the Sierra in the E to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Climate in California varies widely, but is essentially subtropical;
in almost all areas precipitation is concentrated in the winter
months. Favored by maritime influences and summer fog, the Pacific
coast enjoys mild winters and relatively cool summers. NW California
receives some of the nation’s heaviest winter-season precipitation.
By contrast, the coast S of Los Angeles has less than 200 mm (less
than 8 in) of rain a year. Inland the climate becomes more continental;
the Central Valley gets desert hot on summer afternoons, but winters
are mild. The E California mountain ranges are dry and range from
mild summers and cold winters in the N to extremely hot summers
in the S. Death Valley’s highest recorded temperature of
56.7° C (134° F) in 1913 is near the world record.
Increasingly cooler climates are found at higher elevations in the
mountains. The state’s lowest recorded temperature was –42.8° C
(–45° F), recorded in 1937 N of Lake Tahoe.
| CALIFORNIA AVERAGE CLIMATE |
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Los Angeles |
San Francisco |
| Average January temperature range |
8.3° to 19.4° C |
47° to 67° F |
7.8° to 13.3° C |
46° to 56° F |
| Average July temperature range |
17.8° to 28.3° C |
64° to 83° F |
11.7° to 17.8° C |
53° to 64° F |
| Average annual temperature |
18.3° C |
65° F |
13.9° C |
57° F |
| Average annual precipitation |
356 mm |
14 in |
533 mm |
21 in |
| Average annual snowfall |
negligible |
negligible |
| Mean number of days per year with appreciable precipitation |
34 |
66 |
| Average daily relative humidity |
53% |
67% |
| Mean number of clear days per year |
185 |
162 |
Forest covers about 40% of California’s
total land area, somewhat less than half of which is commercially
valuable. Approximately 50% of the commercial-forest area
is part of the national forest system. No state approaches the plant
variety of California; approximately 40% of species found
naturally in the U.S. are indigenous to California.
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Photos.com
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Douglas Fir
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California’s richest forests are found in the N and
NW highlands. Forests of coast redwoods, the world’s tallest
trees, are found near the ocean. Inland in the Klamath Mts. Douglas
fir predominates. Farther E are pine forests, with the western yellow
pine especially widespread. Stands of sierra redwood, or giant sequoia,
are found in the Sierra Nevada; alpine meadows are found here above
the timberline. California is well known for its spring-blooming
wild flowers; California poppy and lupine are among the most common.
In the coastal areas S of San Francisco Bay, coast sage and
grasslands are typical, replaced inland by chaparral, consisting
of drought-tolerant evergreen shrubs. Over much of the Coast Ranges
at high elevations the typical vegetation consists of groves of
live oak amid grasslands. At elevations higher than about 1830 m (6000 ft),
forests include both conifers and oaks. Before the advent of agricultural
development much of the Central Valley was covered with grasses,
with a lusher prairie vegetation in the more humid Sacramento Valley.
The SE deserts contain indigo bushes, various species of cacti
and shrubs, creosote bushes, and the Joshua tree, a giant lily with
white flowers.
California’s diversity of vegetation furnishes habitats
for many different animals. In the SE deserts many animals are nocturnal;
found here are rabbits, foxes, rats, various reptiles, and insects.
In the chaparral regions are rabbits, ring-tailed cats, and many
species of birds. The state’s forestlands host a variety
of wildlife, including deer, skunk, fox, and rattlesnake, of which
the state has six species. Larger mammals, found principally in
the N and in mountain areas, are bear, elk, and pronghorn antelope.
In spite of depletion of reserves of gold, petroleum, natural
gas, and mercury, California remains an important storehouse of
minerals. In the E Sierra Nevada is found a major deposit of
tungsten. Borates are important in the Mojave Desert; salt is recovered
in San Francisco and San Diego bays. Petroleum and natural-gas deposits
are located in the Los Angeles Basin and the San Joaquin Valley.
Other minerals present in significant quantities include asbestos,
sand and gravel, iron ore, magnesium, silver, and gemstones.
According to the 2000 census, California had 33,871,648
inhabitants, an increase of 13.8% over 1990. It was the most populous
state in the U.S. in 2000, when its average population density was 83.9
per sq km (217.2 per sq mi) of land area. The state had a great
diversity of ethnic and racial groups. Whites made up 59.5% of the
population and blacks 6.7%; additional population groups included
333,346 American Indians and Alaska Natives, 3,697,513 Asians, and
116,961 Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. (These figures do
not include the 4.7% of the population who reported more than one
race.) A major component of California’s population, especially in the
S, were the 10,966,556 persons of Hispanic (mainly Mexican) background,
comprising 32.4% of the total population, or nearly one out of every
three persons in the state. The largest cities were Los Angeles; San
Diego; San Jose; San Francisco; Long Beach; Fresno; Sacramento, the
capital; and Oakland.
A 2000 survey showed that Roman Catholics made up 30% of
the population and 65% of all religious adherents in the state; other
leading religious groups included Jews (2.9% of the population), Mormons (1.6%),
and Southern Baptists (1.4%).
California ranks among the most urbanized states in the U.S.
In 2000, 94% of all Californians lived in areas broadly defined as urban, with
the rest living in areas defined as rural.
| POPULATION OF CALIFORNIA
SINCE 1850 |
| Year of Census |
Population |
Classified As Urban |
| 1850 |
93,000 |
8% |
| 1860 |
380,000 |
21% |
| 1880 |
865,000 |
43% |
| 1900 |
1,485,000 |
52% |
| 1910 |
2,378,000 |
62% |
| 1930 |
5,677,000 |
73% |
| 1950 |
10,586,000 |
81% |
| 1960 |
15,717,000 |
86% |
| 1980 |
23,669,000 |
91% |
| 1990 |
29,760,021 |
93% |
| 2000 |
33,871,648 |
94% |
| POPULATION OF TEN LARGEST CITIES IN CALIFORNIA |
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2000 Census |
1990 Census |
| Los Angeles |
3,694,820 |
3,485,398 |
| San Diego |
1,223,400 |
1,110,549 |
| San Jose |
894,943 |
782,248 |
| San Francisco |
776,733 |
723,959 |
| Long Beach |
461,522 |
429,433 |
| Fresno |
427,652 |
354,202 |
| Sacramento |
407,018 |
369,365 |
| Oakland |
399,484 |
372,242 |
| Santa Ana |
337,977 |
293,742 |
| Anaheim |
328,014 |
266,406 |
California is well known for its progressive attitude toward
education and its prestigious academic institutions. In addition,
its support of the arts has made it one of the major cultural centers
of the country.
Although the state constitution of 1849 provided for a
public school system, it was not until 1866, when the legislature
adopted the Revised School Law, that free state schools were actually
established in California. State support was extended in 1903 to
secondary schools and then in 1917 to junior colleges.
In the early 2000s California public schools had
some 4.5 million pupils enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade
and close to 2 million in grades 9-12. Average public school teachers’
salaries in 2006 were estimated at $58,876, the highest in the 50 states.
California has hundreds of degree-granting institutions of higher
education and boasts one of the largest and most respected systems of state colleges
and universities in the U.S. Combined enrollment in all California institutions of
higher education in the early 2000s totaled about 2.5 million. The ten campuses
of the University of California (the oldest, at Berkeley, dating back to 1868)
provide higher education for more than 200,000 students each year. The California
State University system has more than 20 campuses, and the California Community College
system over 100. Other notable institutions of higher education include Stanford
University (1885), in Stanford; the Claremont Colleges, in Claremont; Mills College (1852),
in Oakland; the University of Southern California (1879), in Los Angeles; California
Institute of Technology, commonly known as Caltech (1891), in Pasadena; Whittier
College (1887), in Whittier; and two of the state’s oldest institutions of
higher education, the Jesuit Santa Clara University (1851), in Santa Clara, and
the University of the Pacific (1851), in Stockton.
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Photos.com
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Indoor pool at the Hearst estate San Simeon
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California has a number of cultural attractions of the highest
quality. Among the most notable of these are the Los Angeles County Museum of
Art (1965) and the Museum of Contemporary Art (1979; opened 1986), both in Los Angeles.
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu (1953), with its extensive collection of antiquities,
was first located in Getty’s home there, and moved in 1974 to a Roman-style villa,
the replica of a villa destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. The museum’s
collections of later European art are now housed in the Getty Center in Los Angeles (1977),
an attractive hilltop open-air complex designed by architect Richard Meier. Another
important cultural attraction is the Hearst-San Simeon State Historical Monument (1951),
informally known as Hearst Castle, in San Simeon, a former estate of publisher William
Randolph Hearst, where his art collections and furnishings are on display in an opulent
setting of mansions and gardens. The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco consist of the
M. H. de Young Memorial Museum (1895), the oldest and largest municipal museum in the
West, and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor (1924), modeled after the museum
of the same name in Paris.
Also of note are the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
County (1910) and the Griffith Observatory and Planetarium (1935),
both in Los Angeles; the California Academy of Sciences (1853),
in San Francisco; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1935) and the
California Academy of Sciences (1853), both in San Francisco; the Tech
Museum of Innovation (1998), in San Jose; and Balboa Park, a cultural center
located in San Diego. The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace (1990) is
located in Yorba Linda, and the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library and
Museum (1991) is in Simi Valley. The state also has many public libraries,
including the California State Library (1850), in Sacramento. The libraries
at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley (1855)
are major research facilities.
Each of California’s largest cities—Los
Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco—has at
least one professional ballet company, opera company, or symphony
orchestra. The Music Center of Los Angeles County (1964) is a cultural
complex building devoted to music and theater; the Los Angeles Philharmonic
performs in the Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003), designed by the American
architect Frank Gehry.
Many of California’s historical sites commemorate
early Spanish settlements and the pioneering, gold-rush days. Located
in the state are Spanish missions, belonging to a system established
in the 18th century by Father Junípero Serra; one of the
most notable of these, Mission San Carlos Borromeo (1770), is located
in Carmel. Other sites of particular interest are Pioneer Village,
in Bakersfield; El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument, in Los Angeles;
the Custom House (1827), in Monterey; and Sutter’s Fort State Historic
Park (containing the restored adobe house built in 1839 by the first settlers
here), in Sacramento.
California’s diverse landscape and large urban centers
furnish opportunities for almost every type of indoor and outdoor
sport, and more than one-fourth of the total land area is in the
national and state park systems. Ideal conditions are furnished by the
coast and the mountains for swimming, boating, surfing, and fishing, as
well as hiking, skiing, and hunting. The state also has a number of
hot-spring health spas. It is the home of many major league sports
teams. In addition, southern California has some of the country’s most
outstanding entertainment attractions, including Disneyland, in
Anaheim; Universal Studios Hollywood, in Universal City; Knott’s Berry
Farm, in Buena Park; Six Flags Magic Mountain, in Valencia (near Los
Angeles); and SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo, both in San Diego.
California has one of the most comprehensive communications systems
in the country. The first radio station in
California, KQW in San Jose, initiated regular broadcasts in 1912.
The first commercial television station in California, KTLA in Los
Angeles, went into operation in 1947. The state’s first newspaper,
the Californian, began publication in Monterey in 1846. Hollywood
is world renowned as the center of the U.S. motion picture industry, and
the Los Angeles area is also an important hub for the production of television
programs and music recordings.
In 2004, California had 90 daily newspapers with a total daily
circulation of some 5.8 million. The state’s leading newspaper was the
Los Angeles Times, with an average daily circulation of more than million.
Other influential dailies included the Orange County Register (Santa
Ana), the Sacramento Bee, the San Diego Union-Tribune,
the Chronicle and Examiner of San Francisco, and the
San Jose Mercury News. California is also a major book-publishing center.
In 2003, an estimated 66% of California’s households had
computers and 60% had Internet access.
California is governed under a constitution adopted in 1879,
with subsequent revisions and amendments. An earlier constitution
had been adopted by the territorial government in 1849. An amendment
to the constitution may be proposed by the legislature, by voter initiative,
or by a constitutional convention. To become effective it must be approved
by a majority of the persons voting on the issue in an election.
The chief executive of California is a governor, who is
popularly elected to a 4-year term and may serve no more than two
consecutive terms. The same regulations apply to the lieutenant
governor, who succeeds the governor should the latter resign, die, or
be removed from office. Since 1911, state law has provided a mechanism
for voters to remove elected officials before their term of office has
expired; a recall election in October 2003 was the first successful
effort in 32 attempts to use this mechanism to remove a California
governor from office. Other state elected officials include the
secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, controller, insurance
commissioner, and superintendent of public instruction.
The bicameral California legislature comprises a senate and
an assembly. The 40 members of the senate are popularly elected
to 4-year terms; the 80 members of the assembly are popularly elected
to 2-year terms. Under a term-limits measure enacted in 1990, members of
the senate may serve no more than two terms, and members of the assembly
no more than three.
California’s citizens can pass laws directly,
through their power of initiative, or can prevent a law from going
into effect by calling for a referendum; from 1912 through 2002, 290 voter
initiatives qualified for the ballot, of which 99 won voter approval. The governor
may call for a special session of the legislature.
California has the nation’s largest judicial system.
The state’s highest court, the supreme court, is made up of a chief
justice and 6 associate judges. The intermediate appellate courts are
organized into 6 appellate districts comprising a
total of 105 judges. Judges of the supreme and intermediate appellate
courts are appointed by the governor, with the approval of the
commission on judicial appointments; each appointment must be confirmed
by the voters at the next general election and reconfirmed at the
expiration of a 12-year term. Under a constitutional amendment approved
by voters in 1998, the unified trial courts, known as superior courts,
comprise some 1500 authorized judges and more than 430 commissioners
and referees. Superior court judges are elected on nonpartisan ballots
to 6-year terms.
California has 58 counties, most of them governed by a five-member
board of supervisors. Other county officials include the district
attorney, treasurer, assessor, auditor, clerk, coroner, sheriff,
and superintendent of schools. A large proportion of cities operate
under the council-manager form of government.
California elects two senators and 53 representatives to the
U.S. Congress. The state has 55 electoral votes in presidential
elections.
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U.S. Congress
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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
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As the nation’s most populous state, California plays a
pivotal role in national politics. From the late 1960s through the
’80s, Californians supported the Republican ticket in presidential
voting, despite a Democratic edge in voter registration; Richard M. Nixon
and Ronald Reagan, two Republicans who rose to prominence in California,
won election to the U.S. presidency during this period. Republicans also
fared well in contests for the governorship and the U.S. Senate. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, who became governor in 2003, was another popular Republican
figure. But Schwarzenegger aside, the state has become a Democratic stronghold
in recent years.
Californians supported the Democratic presidential ticket by wide
margins in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004, and two Democratic women, Dianne Feinstein (1933– )
and Barbara Boxer (1940– ), have represented the state in the U.S. Senate since the
early 1990s. Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat who was first elected to the
U.S. House of Representatives in 1986, became the first-ever woman Speaker of the
House when Democrats took control of the House in January 2007. At the same time,
Henry Waxman (1939– ), a longtime California congressman, became chairman of
the powerful Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Since the earliest settlement of the region by the
Spanish in the 18th century, agriculture has been vital to the
California economy. The gold rush of the mid-19th century was followed
by the intensive exploitation of petroleum and other minerals. As the
population grew, fishing and forestry emerged, and by the late 19th
century light manufacturing industries had developed. Industrial
diversification proceeded apace in the early 20th century. The motion
picture industry, radio broadcasting, and, later, television added other
dimensions to the economy. World War II accelerated industrial
development and inaugurated the growth of the state’s large aerospace
industry. Government and educational services expanded rapidly after
the war, as did tourism and other service industries. In recent
decades, the state has become a world leader in the development of
computer hardware and software, along with other high-technology
industries.
The economy suffered during the recession of the early
1990s, as cutbacks in aerospace and other military-related industries,
coupled with a slowdown in housing construction, shrank state budget
revenues. The rise and fall of Internet-related ventures led to an
economic boom in the mid- and late `90s but a sharp drop-off at the end
of the decade. Even so, California had a gross state product valued at
more than $1.35 trillion by 2000 and reaching $1.6 trillion by 2005. At
that level of output, if California were an independent country, it would
rank among the world’s five largest economies, ahead of France and China.
| CALIFORNIA STATE ECONOMY |
| STATE BUDGET(in thousands) |
| General revenue |
$229,289,356 |
| General expenditure |
$203,814,714 |
| Accumulated debt |
$102,812,905 |
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| STATE TAXES PER CAPITA |
$2,392 |
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| PERSONAL INCOME, PER CAPITA |
$37,076 |
|
| POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LEVEL |
13.4% |
|
| EMPLOYMENT DISTRIBUTION |
| Management, business, finance |
2,407,000 |
| Professional and related |
3,424,000 |
| Services |
170,000 |
| Sales and related |
2,579,000 |
| Office and administrative support |
2,375,000 |
| Farming, fishing, forestry |
231,000 |
| Construction and extraction |
879,000 |
| Installation, maintenance, repair |
536,000 |
| Production |
1,103,000 |
| Transportation and moving |
873,000 |
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| GROSS STATE PRODUCT |
$1.6 trillion |
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| NET FARM INCOME |
$8,475,000 |
| Principal products |
dairy products, greenhouse/nursery, grapes |
California produces a larger volume of agricultural
products than any other state in the U.S. Farming accounts for about 2%
of the total annual gross state product. In 2004, farms in the state numbered
about 77,000 and averaged 151 ha (374 acres) in size; many holdings are, however,
considerably larger. With about 4% of the total farms in the U.S., California
accounts for approximately 13% of national farm income. Livestock and livestock
products account for some 25% of the state’s farm income; most important
are dairy products (in which California leads the U.S.), beef cattle, and
chicken eggs. Crops account for about 75% of farm income. California produces
more than 200 commercial crops, and in many of these—including grapes, lettuce,
tomatoes, and strawberries„it leads the nation. Other important crops, ranked by
value, are cotton, almonds, oranges, broccoli, hay, avocados, carrots, celery,
walnuts, onions, peaches, lemons, pistachios, plums and prunes, rice, cauliflower,
and cantaloupes. California’s farm exports were valued at more than $9 billion in 2005
The state’s agricultural strength is based to a significant
degree on irrigation and the long growing season; California has
more land under irrigation than any other state. The chief agricultural
areas are the Central Valley, the Imperial Valley, and to a lesser
extent smaller valleys and coastal lowlands.
California is one of the largest producers of sawtimber
in the U.S. The annual timber harvest in the early 2000s was estimated
at 3.8 million cu m (1.6 billion bd ft), valued at more than $570
million. Nearly all trees harvested are softwoods, with the Douglas fir
and other firs responsible for more than half the yearly take; redwood
and pine are also important. Production is heaviest in the coastal
ranges and Sierra Nevada of N California.
Although the fishing industry accounts for less than 1% of
the annual gross state product in California, the state is a major
national producer of fish, supplying about 4% of the value
of the national catch. Principal species caught are anchovy, swordfish,
salmon, tuna, and herring; others include crab and other shellfish,
sole, rockfish, mackerel, squid, bonito, and sablefish. Essentially
all the commercial catch is taken from salt water. In 2004 commercial
fishing earned some $139 million.
The mining industry accounts for less than 1% of the
gross state product each year in California. Petroleum output accounts
for over half of the total value of all minerals extracted and for
about 13% of the nation’s annual production of petroleum. Leading
fields are in the San Joaquin R. valley and in SW California, which has
some offshore oil deposits. Natural gas, occurring mainly with
petroleum, is second in annual value among California’s minerals. Other
mineral commodities of note include sand and gravel, cement, boron,
crushed stone, and gold, as well as smaller amounts of asbestos,
rare-earth metal concentrates, clays, silver, and gemstones.
In 2005, California had some 47,000 manufacturing firms, accounting
for 10% of the annual gross state product The number of workers employed in
manufacturing sector has declined, from about 1.9 million in 2000 to about
1.5 million workers in 2006. The production of computers and electronic
equipment is by far the largest manufacturing sector, accounting for about
30% of the value of all shipments. Other principal manufactures, ranked by value of shipments,
include food, aerospace and other transportation equipment, fabricated
metals, chemicals, petroleum and coal products, and machinery.
Regionally, manufacturing is clustered mainly within the Los Angeles
metropolitan area (which contains about half the state’s manufacturing
employment), the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose metropolitan area,
containing the so-called Silicon Valley, named for its concentration of
computer hardware and software industries, and the San Diego area. California’s
manufactured goods accounted for close to 90% of the state’s total goods exported in 2005.
Tourism is a major industry in California, which is the most
visited U.S. state. In the early 2000s, nearly 300 million domestic and
international travelers visited the state each year; expenditures on travel and
tourism exceeded $75 billion annually, generating some $5 billion in tax revenues
and providing jobs for more than 1 million Californians. Major attractions include
the S California beaches, Disneyland, Hollywood, Palm Springs, Lake Tahoe and vicinity,
the scenic central California coastal region of Big Sur, the San Francisco Bay area,
and the wine country of the Napa and Sonoma valleys. Yosemite and Sequoia national
parks are leading attractions among a group of national parks and
numerous other areas that are managed by the National Park Service. The
state maintains a system of more than 250 parks, reserves, historic
parks, and recreation areas.
San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego are the
principal hubs of California’s highly developed road network. About
270,000 km (168,000 mi) of federal, state, and local roads serve all sections
of the state. Some 12,000 km (about 7600 mi) of national highway system roads
link the three major metropolitan areas with one another and with the cities
of the Central Valley as well as with points N and E of the state boundaries.
California is served by some 10,000 km (about 6400 mi)
of operated railroad track. The major railway pattern is oriented N-S
along the main axis of the state, with lines extending E from the major
metropolitan areas. The Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) carries
tens of thousands of daily commuters in the San Francisco-Oakland
metropolitan area. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San
Diego also have urban (light) rail systems.
Of the approximately 60 water ports in the state the
foremost cargo ports are Long Beach and Los Angeles, in southern
California, and Richmond, in the San Francisco Bay area. An important
U.S. Navy base is located at San Diego. Sacramento, Stockton, and other
cities have inland ports on the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and
are linked by deepwater channel to San Francisco Bay.
A major crude oil pipeline system connects the San
Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, through fields in the S
San Joaquin Valley and extending to the marine terminal at San Luis
Obispo. It also connects to the national crude pipeline system via a
line to producing fields in Texas. Natural-gas lines reach not only
between the two major cities but also to fields in Alberta, Canada, and
the Rocky Mt. states.
The airports at Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego,
San Jose, and Oakland are among the busiest in the nation.
The electrical generating plants of California had a total
summer capacity in the early 2000s of more than 60 million kw and produced
some 200 billion kwh of electricity a year. Some 47% of all electrical energy
is produced from natural gas, 19% from hydroelectric power, 18% in nuclear
plants, and the rest mostly from geothermal, solar, and wind-powered sources.
Some power is transferred to the state from electrical systems outside
California’s borders. Major hydroelectric projects include the Hoover,
Glen Canyon, and Davis dams on the Colorado R. The Geysers Power Plant,
N of San Francisco, harnesses geothermal steam.
The indigenous peoples of California comprised 105 tribes
and spoke the dialects of six linguistic families. Half of these Native
Americans resided in central California grasslands, where acorns, game,
and fish were abundant. The Yuma and the Mojave of the Colorado River
area were the only tribes to practice farming. Basketry was the most
developed art of the peaceful California Indians, who occupied the land for
several thousand years before the arrival of the Spaniards.
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Photos.com
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Hernán Cortés
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Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conqueror of Mexico,
initiated Spanish efforts to colonize California, sending expeditions
northward along the coast; one of these, led by Fortún
Jiménez, reached Baja California in 1533 before being wiped
out by local Indians. Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza (c. 1490–1552)
of New Spain in 1542 ordered Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to explore
farther north, and he became the first European to explore what
is now the state of California. Spain’s opulent Pacific
trade attracted English and Dutch pirates to the area; the English
navigator Francis Drake landed north of present-day San Francisco
in 1579, claiming the region as New Albion.
Sebastián Vizcaíno surveyed (1602–03)
the entire California coast, but it was not until 1769 that an expedition
led by Gaspar de Portolá (1723?–84?) and Father
Junípero Serra settled San Diego. Portolá then settled
Monterey. In 1776 Juan Bautista de Anza (1735–88) brought
colonists overland from Sonora to found San Francisco. To convert
the Indians, Franciscan padres built a chain of 21 missions. The
Spaniards also established 4 presidios (forts) and 3 pueblos (towns),
maintaining a precarious control over California until 1822, when
it became a part of independent Mexico.
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Library of Congress LC-DIG-pga-00384
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John C. Fremont
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The Mexican era (1822–46) was a transition from Spanish
to U.S. rule. During this time more foreign commerce and immigration
were allowed, and incoming foreigners engaged in the sea otter,
hide and tallow, and fur trades. The Mexican government’s
neglect of California, however, caused much political unrest among
the settlers. Governmental institutions were then democratized,
and between 1835 and 1840 the Franciscans were expelled, and mission
land was distributed for private use.
The U.S. conquest of northern California began (1846) without
any serious resistance, when the U.S. Navy occupied Monterey, San
Francisco, and Sonoma. John C. Frémont’s California
Battalion, Stephen Kearny’s Army of the West, and the Regiment
of New York Volunteers, led by Jonathan D. Stevenson (1800–94),
then defeated Mexican forces in southern California. In 1848 Mexico
ceded California to the U.S. by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
The discovery of gold by James W. Marshall (1810–85)
at Coloma, in January 1848, resulted in a local rush to the mines.
The gold rush of 1849, international in scope, prepared California
for immediate statehood. Delegates to a convention meeting at Monterey
in 1849 adopted a free-state constitution. The people approved the
document and elected Peter H. Burnett (1807–95) as governor;
the first legislature met at San José to organize the machinery
of government. The sectional conflict between the northern and southern
states, however, delayed the official admission of California to
the Union as the 31st state until Sept. 9, 1850. The state capital
was located in several places before it was moved to Sacramento
in 1854. During the American Civil War, the state sided with the
Union, most Californians being of northern origin. The completion
of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 ended the state’s
isolation and expanded the market for its growing agricultural wealth.
From 1850 to 1870 California profited from its mining and
agriculture, and some advances were made in industry. For several
decades, however, the lack of capital, raw materials, and adequate
markets slowed industrial growth. During the 1870s the state suffered
from unemployment and business failures; some people sought to blame the
depression on Chinese immigrants, who had helped build the California railroads.
Agrarian interests and a Workingmen’s party, led by the
labor leader Denis Kearney (1847–1907), then drafted the new constitution of
1879, with provisions for regulating the railroads and monopolies
and for discouraging Chinese employment and immigration.
The distress of the 1870s was followed by a real estate boom,
particularly in southern California, that was stimulated by improved
railroad facilities. Moreover, an increase in wheat and citrus production
furthered the return of prosperity. By 1890 San Francisco was the
largest city on the Pacific Coast and a commercial center on a world
scale, trading in the agricultural and mineral products of the area.
In Los Angeles the boom peaked in 1887, and by 1889 the city’s
economy began to decline; in 1892 that of San Francisco followed
suit. The so-called Panic of 1893 led to a serious depression in
California, characterized by bank and business failures and labor violence.
Many farmers and a few laborers joined the Populist party in a futile
attempt to implement economic reforms. Railroad interests dominated
the state’s politics, and corruption existed at all levels
of government. The Lincoln-Roosevelt League, organized in 1907 by
liberal Republicans, became the spearhead of the Progressives, who
elected Hiram W. Johnson (1866–1945) as governor in 1910,
ushering in an era of significant economic and political reforms.
World War I stimulated an expansion of agriculture and industry
in California. Farmers doubled their acreage, and Oakland’s
shipyards produced 10 percent of the nation’s emergency
shipping. Thousands of soldiers were trained at Camp Frémont
and Camp Kearny, and the state’s naval installations were
fully mobilized.
Although demobilization initially caused a decline in jobs, California
quickly boomed again. In the 1920s, 2 million newcomers poured into
the state. By 1924 the population of Los Angeles reached 1 million.
With the advent of the automobile, petroleum became a major industry,
and in 1925 more than one-fifth of the world’s oil was
produced in California. The motion picture industry, centering in
Hollywood, prospered, and the citrus groves of southern California
increased in number.
The Great Depression of the 1930s hit California hard as farm
income dropped and unemployment spread. In 1932 those on relief
totaled about 25 percent of the population. Many Californians embraced unorthodox
schemes to restore the economy. Almost 1 million voters supported
the socialistic EPIC (End Poverty in California) program of the
novelist Upton Sinclair, the unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial candidate
of 1934.
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Library of Congress LC-USW36-787
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Eight women standing in front of a Tule Lake Relocation Center, Newell, California, a Japanese-American camp.
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During World War II prosperity returned to the state as the aircraft
plants of southern California and the shipyards of the San Francisco
Bay area suddenly multiplied to meet the production demands of a
global war. The steel, oil, machinery, rubber, and electrical equipment industries
also advanced, and farm income more than doubled. An influx of war
workers increased the state’s population by almost 2 million
from 1940 to 1945. Some 100,000 residents of Japanese descent, however, were
forcibly relocated to internment camps— during the war.
When peace came, many war workers and returning veterans remained
in the state. The population explosion continued, resulting in temporary
shortages in housing and schools. The aerospace and electronics industries
provided jobs. Earl Warren, governor from 1943 to 1953, used a “rainy
day” fund created from surplus state revenue during the
war to pay for a massive expansion of freeways and public colleges.
By 1950 California had become the sec