California Raisins

California (pronounced ) is the most populous state of the United States. Located on the Pacific coast of North America, it is bordered by Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and Baja California in Mexico. more...

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The state's four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco. California is known for its generally pleasant climate and ethnically diverse population. The state has 58 counties.

Inhabited by indigenous people for millennia, California was first colonized by the Spanish in 1769, and after Mexican independence in 1821, continued as part of Mexico. Following a brief period as the independent California Republic in 1846, California was annexed by the United States that same year, 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 to the rugged, snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the east. The central portion of the state is dominated by the California Central Valley, one of the most vital agricultural areas in the country. The Sierra Nevada contain 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, ancient Redwood trees, dot the Northern California coastline. California is also home to the lowest and hottest place in the Western Hemisphere, Death Valley. Bristlecone pines located in California's 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. The early part of the 20th century was marked by California's becoming the center of the entertainment industry, in addition to the growth of a large tourism sector. The Central Valley is home to California's important large agricultural industry. Other important industries have included the aerospace and oil industries. In recent decades, California has become a global leader in computers and information technology. If California were a country, its economy would rank among the ten largest in the world.

Name

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 Ordonez 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.

Read more at Wikipedia.org