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California
Totally Explained
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The State of California is the most populous state of the United States. Located on the Pacific coast of North America, it's bordered by Oregon, Nevada and Arizona in the United States, and Baja California in Mexico. Its capital is Sacramento. The state's four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco. California is known for its diverse climate and geography, and ethnically diverse population. The state has 58 counties.
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 is the third largest state by area in the U.S. The state's size gives it a diverse geography, which ranges from sandy and rocky beaches of the Pacific coast, to the rugged snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the east, to desert areas in the southeast and the forests of the northwest. 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 were it a separate country, it would be 34 th amongst the most populous countries behind Poland.
Name
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 to have 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 Ordóñez Rodríguez 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.
Geography and environment
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's the third largest state in the United States in size, after Alaska and Texas. If it were a country, California would be the 59th largest in the world, between Iraq and Paraguay.
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 larger, it's 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 the United States.
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 distance from the lowest point of Death Valley to 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 Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, 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
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.
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
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
Protected areas
National Park System
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 . 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 NPS also administers the Manzanar National Historic Site in Inyo County.
State parks
The California Department of Parks and Recreation maintains over 270 protected areas, which include almost one-third of California's scenic coastline, including coastal wetlands, estuaries, beaches, and dune systems. The state parks system covers 1.3 million acres (5,300 km²), with over 280 miles (450 km) of coastline, 625 miles (1,006 km) of lake and river frontage, nearly 18,000 campsites; and 3,000 miles (5,000 km) of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails.
National Marine Sanctuaries
California borders several U.S. National Marine Sancturaries:
California Marine Protected Areas
The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), through its seven regional divisions, manages 262 protected areas statewide. They are broadly categorized as:
Wildlife areas
Ecological reserves
Marine protected areas under the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act
National Landscape Conservation System
National Landscape Convervation System sites in California include:
National monuments
California Coastal
Carrizo Plain
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains
National conservation areas
California Desert
King Range
Wilderness areas
Bigelow Cholla Garden
Darwin Falls
El Paso Mountains
Fish Creek Mountains
Little Picacho
North Algodones Dunes
Old Woman Mountains
Owens Peak
Trinity Alps
National Forests
California contains all or portions of several U.S. National Forests:
Angeles National Forest
Cleveland National Forest
Eldorado National Forest
Inyo National Forest
Klamath National Forest
Lassen National Forest
Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit
Los Padres National Forest
Mendocino National Forest
Modoc National Forest
Plumas National Forest
San Bernardino National Forest
Sequoia National Forest
Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Sierra National Forest
Six Rivers National Forest
Stanislaus National Forest
Tahoe National Forest
History
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.
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, a red stripe, 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. On September 9, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 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 1835, when Mexican authorities abandoned California, leaving their missions and military forts behind. 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
Population
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, some people believe that this 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, Brazil. More than 12 percent of U.S. citizens live in California and its population is greater than that of all but 34 countries of the world.
Racial and ancestral makeup
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the largest ancestry groups in California are:
Mexican (25%)
German (9.8%)
Irish (7.7%)
English (7.4%)
Filipino (6%)
Italian (4.3%)
American (3.4%)
French (2.3%)
Scottish (1.6%)
Polish (1.5%)
There are 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.
According to the 2005 ACS Estimates, California's population is 60.9% White American, 6.1% Black or African American, 12.4% Asian American, 16.4% other races, 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.
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 Asian Americans. 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 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, 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 an 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.
California also has more Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints than any state except Utah.
Economy
As of 2005, The gross state product (GSP) is about $1.62 trillion, the largest in the United States. 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), the Silicon Valley and Tech Coast (computers and high tech), and wine producing regions, such as the Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley and Southern California's Santa Barbara and Paso Robles areas.
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 $38,956 as of 2006, ranking 11th 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 per year 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 per year. All real property is taxable annually, the tax based on the property's fair market value at the time of purchase. This tax doesn't increase based on a rise in real property values (see Proposition 13). California collects $33 billion in property taxes per year.
Energy
Resources and consumption
California’s crude oil and natural gas deposits are located in six geological basins in the Central Valley and along the coast. California has more than one dozen of the United State’s largest oil fields, including the Belridge South oil field, the second largest oil field in the contiguous United States. California’s hydroelectric power potential ranks second in the United States (behind Washington State), and substantial geothermal and wind power resources are found along the coastal mountain ranges and the eastern border with Nevada. High solar power potential is found in southeastern California’s deserts.
California is the most populous State in the Nation but its total energy demand is second to the state of Texas. Although California is a leader in some energy-intensive industries, the state has one of the lowest per capita energy consumption rates in the country. This is in spite of the fact that more motor vehicles are registered in California than any other state, and worker commute times are among the longest in the country.
Petroleum
California’s crude oil output accounts for more than one-tenth of total U.S. production. Drilling operations are concentrated primarily in Kern County and the Los Angeles basin. Although there's also substantial offshore oil and gas production, there's a permanent moratorium on new offshore oil and gas leasing in California waters and a deferral of leasing in Federal waters.
California ranks third in the United States in petroleum refining capacity and accounts for more than one-tenth of total U.S. capacity. In addition to oil from California, California’s refineries process crude oil from Alaska and foreign suppliers. The refineries are configured to produce cleaner fuels, including reformulated motor gasoline and low-sulfur diesel, to meet strict Federal and State environmental regulations.
Most California motorists are required to use a special motor gasoline blend called California Clean Burning Gasoline (CA CBG). By 2004, California completed a transition from methyl tertiary butyl-ether (MTBE) to ethanol as a gasoline oxygenate additive, making California the largest ethanol fuel market in the United States. There are four ethanol production plants in central and southern California, but most of California’s ethanol supply is transported from other states or abroad.
Natural gas
California natural gas production typically is less than 2 percent of total annual U.S. production and satisfies less than one-fifth of state demand. California receives most of its natural gas by pipeline from production regions in the Rocky Mountains, the Southwest, and western Canada.
Electricity
Natural gas-fired power plants typically account for more than one-half of State electricity generation. California is one of the largest hydroelectric power producers in the United States, and with adequate rainfall, hydroelectric power typically accounts for close to one-fifth of State electricity generation. Due to strict emission laws, only a few small coal-fired power plants operate in California. California’s two nuclear power plants account for almost one-fifth of total generation, these are:
Diablo Canyon Power Plant: 2 reactors. Operted and owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station : 2 reactors . Operated by Southern California Edison with various owners (SCE; San Diego Gas and Electric; City of Anaheim and the City of Riverside).
California leads the United States in electricity generation from nonhydroelectric renewable energy sources, such as wind, geothermal, solar, fuel wood, and municipal solid waste/landfill gas resources. A facility known as “The Geysers,” located in the Mayacamas Mountains north of San Francisco, is the largest complex of geothermal power plants in the world, with more than 750 megawatts of installed capacity.
Due to high electricity demand, California imports more electricity than any other state, primarily hydroelectric power from states in the Pacific Northwest and coal- and natural gas-fired production from the desert Southwest.
Transportation
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).
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
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.
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
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 (Proposition 187 in 1994) and was also the first state in which voters passed a law ending affirmative action (Proposition 209 in 1996).
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 suburbs 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 also hold a slight majority in Sacramento. Republican strength is greatest in the San Joaquin Valley, which includes the rapidly-growing cities of Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, and Merced, the suburban areas surrounding Los Angeles (especially Orange County), San Diego County, Ventura County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and San Luis Obispo County.
Since 1990, California has generally elected Democratic candidates. However, the state has had little hesitance in electing Republican Governors, though many of its Republican Governors, such as the current Governor Schwarzenegger, tend to be considered "moderate Republicans" and tend to be more socially liberal than the party itself. Of California's past four Governors, three were Republicans. The Democrat, Gray Davis, was removed from office via recall election in October of 2003.
Overall, the trend in California politics since 1994 has been towards the Democratic Party and away from the Republican Party. This trend is most obvious in presidential elections. From 1952-1988 the Republicans lost California only once in a presidential election, when Lyndon Johnson won a massive landslide over Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964. Much of the Republican success in California can be traced to the fact that two California Republicans, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, were part of the Republican ticket in 1952, 1956, 1960, 1968, 1972, 1980, and 1984. However, in 1992 Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton carried the state, and California has voted Democratic in every presidential election since then. Additionally, the Democrats have easily won every U.S. Senate race since 1994 and have maintained consistent majorities in both houses of the state legislature. In the U.S. House the Democrats hold a 33-20 edge as of the 2006 congressional elections. The only area in which the Republicans have been competitive recently is in the governorship, which is currently held by Arnold Schwarzenegger, a moderate Republican. Much of the resurgence in Democratic strength, and decline in Republican strength, has been traced to the growing perception that the Republican Party is linked to the religious right and social conservatives; neither of these groups have been able to attract widespread support in California, a state which is known for its social liberalism.
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.
Image:Sacramento from Riverwalk.jpg|Sacramento
Image:DowntownLosAngeles.jpg|Los Angeles
Image:Sandiego_1_bg_071302.jpg|San Diego
Image:Lightmatter sanfrancisco.jpg|San Francisco
Image:Colton_hall.jpg|Monterey
Image:SanJoseDowntownIMG016elf wb.jpg|San Jose
Image:Long Beach, CA at night.jpg|Long Beach
Image:Oakland_California_skyline.jpg|Oakland
Image:Sleepingbeautycastle50.jpg|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
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. California is also home to some prominent public institutions such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, San Jose State University, San Diego State University, among others.
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, mother lode towns all had multiple competing journals.
San Jose, California's first city, has one of the oldest newspapers in the state. The San Jose Mercury was founded in 1851 as the San Jose Weekly Visitor, while the San Jose News was founded in 1883. In 1942 the Mercury purchased the News and continued publishing both newspapers, with the Mercury as the morning paper and the News as the evening paper. In 1983 the papers were merged into the San Jose Mercury News, with morning and afternoon editions. Eventually the less-popular afternoon edition was dropped, so at present the newspaper publishes only as a morning paper. The newspaper has earned several awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes, one in 1986 for reporting regarding political corruption in the Ferdinand Marcos administration in the Philippines, and one in 1989 for their comprehensive coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. The Mercury News was also named one of the five best-designed newspapers in the world by the Society for News Design for work done in 2001.
Los Angeles's first paper, La Estrella de Los Angeles, began publishing in 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 criticized 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 December 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 African-American 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
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's 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:
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