Welcome to the Portal:California. Such a lovely place.
California
State of California
Map of the United States with California highlighted
California is a state in the Western United States , lying on the American Pacific Coast . It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With 39 million residents across an area of 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2 ), it is the most populous U.S. state, the third-largest by area, and most populated subnational entity in North America . The Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas are the nation's second- and fifth-most populous urban regions , with 19 million and 10 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is the state's most populous city and the nation's second-most , after New York . California's capital , Sacramento , is located in the Central Valley .
Prior to European colonization , California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America . European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization by the Spanish Empire . The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its successful war for independence , but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War . The California Gold Rush started in 1848 and led to social and demographic changes, including depopulation of indigenous peoples in the California genocide . The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state in 1850 , as a free state , following the Compromise of 1850 .
California's economy is the largest of any US state, with a $3.6 trillion gross state product . It is the largest sub-national economy in the world. California's agricultural industry has the highest output of any U.S. state, and is led by its dairy , almonds , and grapes . With the busiest port in the country (Los Angeles ), California plays a pivotal role in the global supply chain, hauling in about 40% of goods imported to the US. 84% of residents 25 or older hold a high school degree , the lowest high school education rate of all 50 states . Despite a continuing exodus of businesses from Downtown San Francisco and Downtown Los Angeles , California retains one of the largest number of Fortune 500 companies. (Full article... )
The 2020 United States presidential election in California was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. California voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party 's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump , and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden , and his running mate Kamala Harris , the junior senator from California. California had, in the 2020 election 55 electoral votes in the Electoral College, the most of any state. California was one of six states where Trump received more percentage of the two-party vote than he did in 2016. This election also marked the first time since 2004 that the Republican candidate won more than one million votes in Los Angeles County , due to increased turnout statewide.
California is considered a safe blue state in presidential elections, due to significant concentrations of Democratic voters in large urban regions such as the San Francisco Bay Area , Sacramento , Los Angeles , and San Diego . As predicted, Biden easily carried California on election day, earning 63.5% of the vote and a margin of 29.2% over Trump. Biden earned the highest percentage of the vote in the state for any candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 , although Biden's margin of victory was slightly smaller than Hillary Clinton 's 30.1% in 2016, making it one of just six states in which Trump improved on his 2016 margin. Biden became the first candidate in any race for any office in U.S. history to win more than 10 million votes in a single state, while Trump also received the most votes a Republican has ever received in any state in any race since the country's founding, even narrowly besting his vote total in Texas , a state that he won. Biden's vote margin was the largest vote margin for a presidential candidate in a singular state. (Full article... )
The following are images from various California-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 The 1562 map of the Americas, created by Spanish cartographer
Diego Gutiérrez , which applied
the name California for the first time. (from
History of California )
Image 2 The
Treaty of Cahuenga , signed at the
Campo de Cahuenga in 1847 by Californio general
Andrés Pico and American general
John C. Frémont , proclaimed a ceasefire under an American victory. The
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , signed a year later in 1848, officially ended the
Mexican–American War and formally ceded
Alta California to the United States. (from
History of California )
Image 6 Mission San Francisco Solano , founded in 1823 by order of Governor
Luis Antonio Argüello , was the last Californian mission established. (from
History of California )
Image 8 Angustias de la Guerra played a crucial role in defending
women's property rights during the drafting of the Constitution of California. (from
History of California )
Image 9 Francis Drake 's 1579 landing in "
New Albion " (modern-day
Point Reyes ); engraving by
Theodor De Bry , 1590. (from
History of California )
Image 13 The American capture of
San Diego by the
USS Cyane in 1846 (from
History of California )
Image 14 Advertisement for sailing to California, c. 1850. (from
History of California )
Image 16 Junípero Serra conducting the first
mass in
Monterey Bay in 1770. (from
History of California )
Image 17 Between 1846 and 1873, U.S. government agents waged an extermination campaign against
Indigenous Californians , known as the
California genocide , resulting in as many as 100,000 deaths. (from
History of California )
Image 18 Map of the
Butterfield Overland Mail routes through California, c. 1858. (from
History of California )
Image 20 In-N-Out burgers (from
Culture of California )
Image 22 Forces raising the U.S. flag over the
Monterey Customhouse following their victory at the
Battle of Monterey (from
History of California )
Image 23 San Francisco harbor,
c. 1850 –51. (from
History of California )
Image 24 Founded by
Vicente Francisco de Sarría in 1817,
Mission San Rafael Arcángel , was the last mission founded during the Spanish period. (from
History of California )
Image 26 "Independent Gold Hunter on His Way to California", c. 1850 (from
History of California )
Image 27 Bilingual English-Spanish sign in the
Colorado Desert of
Southern California . (from
Culture of California )
Image 28 General
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo reviewing his troops in
Sonoma in 1846. (from
History of California )
Image 31 Map of Spain's
Manila galleon trade routes, showing routes between the
Spanish East Indies and
Acapulco passing along the
coast of California . (from
History of California )
Image 32 A Southern Pacific Train at
Arcade Depot , Los Angeles, 1891 (from
History of California )
Image 37 The 1835
Manifiesto a la República Mejicana , by
José Figueroa , was the first book published in California (from
Culture of California )
Image 38 Mission San Gabriel Arcángel , founded in 1771 by padres Pedro Benito Cambón and Ángel de la Somera. (from
History of California )
Image 40 Depiction of the
Donner Party heading west on the
California Trail . (from
History of California )
Image 41 Portrait of a
Californio in traditional
vaquero clothing. Californios benefitted immensely by the establishment of the
ranchos of California , following the
Mexican secularization act of 1833 . (from
History of California )
Image 43 The
University of California, Berkeley is the flagship school of the University of California system. (from
Culture of California )
Image 44 Portrait of an "
assimilated "
Maidu man in
Sacramento , 1867. (from
History of California )
Image 48 Joaquín Murrieta , called the "
Robin Hood of California", was a notorious
outlaw during the
California Gold Rush . He served as inspiration for
Zorro , the famed Californian bandit-hero. (from
History of California )
Image 49 The railway station in
Sacramento in 1874. (from
History of California )
Image 51 Map of the route taken by the
Anza Expedition of 1775–76, from the
Presidio of Tubac to
San Francisco Bay . (from
History of California )
Image 52 Mission Santa Barbara , founded in 1786, was the first mission to be established by
Fermín de Lasuén . (from
History of California )
Image 53 The Spanish founded
Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776, the third to be established of the
Californian missions . (from
History of California )
Image 54 California's first State Capitol building in
San Jose , which served as the capital of California 1850–51. (from
History of California )
Image 56 California was often depicted as an island , due to the
Baja California peninsula , from the 16th to the 18th centuries, such as in this 1650 map by cartographer
Johannes Vingboons . (from
History of California )
Image 57 Depiction of the revolt of the
Mission Indians against padre
Luis Jayme at
Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1775. (from
History of California )
Image 59 Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo , established in 1770, was the headquarters of the
Californian mission system from 1797 until 1833. (from
History of California )
I move between San Francisco and Paris [...] I have a wonderful beach house in California.
Image 3 Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (; born October 20, 1971), known professionally as
Snoop Dogg (previously
Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly
Snoop Lion ), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. His initial fame dates back to 1992 following his guest appearance on
Dr. Dre 's debut solo single, "
Deep Cover ", and later on Dre's debut album,
The Chronic that same year. Broadus has since sold over 23 million albums in the United States, and 35 million albums worldwide.
His accolades include an
American Music Award , a
Primetime Emmy Award , and 17
Grammy Award nominations.
Produced entirely by Dr. Dre, Broadus' debut studio album,
Doggystyle (1993) was released by
Death Row Records and debuted atop the
Billboard 200. Selling 800,000 copies in its first week, the album received
quadruple platinum certification by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) the following year and spawned the
Billboard Hot 100-top ten singles "
What's My Name? " and "
Gin and Juice ". He was the lead performer on Death Row's
soundtrack album for the 1994 short film
Murder Was the Case , wherein Broadus made his acting debut. His second album,
Tha Doggfather (1996) likewise debuted atop the chart and received double platinum certification. In 1998, he parted ways with Death Row in favor of
Master P 's
No Limit Records , through which he saw largely continued success with his albums
Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told (1998),
No Limit Top Dogg (1999), and
Tha Last Meal (2000). He then signed with
Priority ,
Capitol , and
EMI Records to release his sixth album
Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss (2002), which was further commercially-oriented. This effectively continued upon him signing with
Geffen Records to release his next three albums:
R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (2004),
Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006), and
Ego Trippin' (2008); the former spawned the single "
Drop It Like It's Hot " (featuring
Pharrell ), which became his first to peak atop the
Billboard Hot 100. He then returned to Priority and Capitol—upon his hiring as chairman of the former label—to release his tenth and eleventh albums,
Malice 'n Wonderland (2009) and
Doggumentary (2011), both of which saw mild critical and commercial response. (
Full article... )
Image 4 Melvin Jerome Blanc (born
Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the
Golden Age of Radio , he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy radio programs, including those of
Jack Benny ,
Abbott and Costello ,
Burns and Allen ,
The Great Gildersleeve ,
Judy Canova , and his own
short-lived sitcom .
However, he became known worldwide for his work in the
Golden Age of American Animation as the voices of
Bugs Bunny ,
Daffy Duck ,
Tweety ,
Sylvester the Cat ,
Yosemite Sam ,
Foghorn Leghorn , the
Tasmanian Devil , and numerous other characters from the
Looney Tunes and
Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoons . Blanc also voiced the
Looney Tunes characters
Porky Pig and
Elmer Fudd after replacing their original performers
Joe Dougherty and
Arthur Q. Bryan , respectively, although he occasionally voiced Elmer during Bryan's lifetime as well. He later voiced characters for
Hanna-Barbera 's television cartoons, including
Barney Rubble and
Dino on
The Flintstones ,
Mr. Spacely on
The Jetsons ,
Secret Squirrel on
The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show , the title character of
Speed Buggy , and Captain Caveman on
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels and
The Flintstone Kids . (
Full article... )
Image 6 Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024) was an American
football player, actor, and media personality who played in the
National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the
Buffalo Bills . Simpson is regarded as one of the greatest
running backs of all time, but his professional success was overshadowed by
his trial and controversial acquittal for the murders of his former wife
Nicole Brown and her friend
Ron Goldman in 1994.
Simpson played
college football for the
USC Trojans , where he won the
Heisman Trophy as a senior, and was selected
first overall by the Bills in the
1969 NFL/AFL draft . During his nine seasons with the Bills, he received five consecutive
Pro Bowl and first-team
All-Pro selections from 1972 to 1976. He also led the league in
rushing yards four times, in rushing
touchdowns twice, and in points scored in 1975. Simpson became the first NFL player to rush for more than
2,000 yards in a season, earning him
NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP), and is the only NFL player to do so in a 14-game
regular season . He holds the record for the single-season yards-per-game average at 143.1. After retiring with the
San Francisco 49ers in 1979, he acted in film and television, became a
sportscaster , and was a spokesman for a wide variety of products and companies, notably
Hertz . He was inducted to the
College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the
Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. (
Full article... )
Image 7 William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator, voice actor, and occasional musician who is best known for co-creating
Tom and Jerry and providing the vocal effects for the series' title characters. Alongside
Joseph Barbera , he also founded the animation studio and production company
Hanna-Barbera .
Hanna joined the
Harman and Ising animation studio in 1930 and steadily gained skill and prominence while working on cartoons such as
Captain and the Kids . In 1937, while working at
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Hanna met
Joseph Barbera . In 1957, they co-founded
Hanna-Barbera , which became the most successful television animation studio in the business, creating or producing programs such as
The Flintstones ,
The Huckleberry Hound Show ,
The Jetsons ,
Scooby-Doo ,
The Smurfs , and
Yogi Bear . In 1967, Hanna-Barbera was sold to
Taft Broadcasting for $12 million, but Hanna and Barbera remained heads of the company until 1991. At that time, the studio was sold to
Turner Broadcasting System , which in turn was merged with
Time Warner in 1996; Hanna and Barbera stayed on as advisors. (
Full article... )
Image 8 Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, filmmaker, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder known for his roles in high-profile
action films . He
served as the
38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011.
Schwarzenegger began
lifting weights at age 15 and won the
Mr. Universe title aged 20, and subsequently the
Mr. Olympia title seven times. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest
bodybuilders of all time, and has written many books and articles about it. The
Arnold Sports Festival , considered the second-most important bodybuilding event after Mr. Olympia, is named after him. He appeared in the bodybuilding documentary
Pumping Iron (1977). After retiring from bodybuilding, he gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action star, with his breakthrough in the
sword and sorcery epic
Conan the Barbarian (1982), a box-office success with
a sequel in 1984. After playing the
title character in the science fiction film
The Terminator (1984), he starred in
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and three other sequels. His other successful action films included
Commando (1985),
The Running Man (1987),
Predator (1987),
Total Recall (1990), and
True Lies (1994), in addition to comedy films such as
Twins (1988),
Kindergarten Cop (1990) and
Jingle All the Way (1996). He is the founder of the film production company Oak Productions. (
Full article... )
Image 9 Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five
Primetime Emmy Awards and two
Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the
CBS sitcom
Murphy Brown (1988–1998, 2018). She is also known for her role as
Shirley Schmidt on the
ABC drama
Boston Legal (2005–2008). In films, Bergen was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for
Starting Over (1979) and for the
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for
Gandhi (1982).
Bergen began her career as a fashion model and appeared on the cover of
Vogue before she made her screen debut in the film
The Group (1966). She starred in
The Sand Pebbles (1966),
Soldier Blue (1970),
Carnal Knowledge (1971), and
The Wind and the Lion (1975). She made her
Broadway debut in the 1984 play
Hurlyburly and starred in the revivals of
The Best Man (2012) and
Love Letters (2014). From 2002 to 2004, she appeared in three episodes of the
HBO series
Sex and the City . Her other film roles include
Miss Congeniality (2000),
Sweet Home Alabama (2002),
The Women (2008),
Bride Wars (2009),
Book Club (2018) and
Let Them All Talk (2020). (
Full article... )
Image 10 Major Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the
British South Africa Company and to the
British Army in
colonial Africa , and for teaching
woodcraft to
Robert Baden-Powell in
Rhodesia . Burnham helped inspire the founding of the international
Scouting Movement .
Burnham was born on a
Dakota Sioux Indian reservation in Minnesota, in the small village of Tivoli near the city of Mankato; there he learned the ways of
American Indians as a boy. By the age of 14, he was supporting himself in California, while also learning scouting from some of the last of the cowboys and frontiersmen of the
American Southwest . Burnham had little formal education, never finishing high school. After moving to the
Arizona Territory in the early 1880s, he was drawn into the
Pleasant Valley War , a feud between families of ranchers and sheepherders. He escaped and later worked as a civilian tracker for the
United States Army in the
Apache Wars . Feeling the need for new adventures, Burnham took his family to southern Africa in 1893, seeing
Cecil Rhodes 's
Cape to Cairo Railway project as the next undeveloped frontier. (
Full article... )
Image 11 Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the
Western TV series
Rawhide , Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "
Man with No Name " in
Sergio Leone 's
Dollars Trilogy of
spaghetti Westerns during the mid-1960s and as
antihero cop
Harry Callahan in the five
Dirty Harry films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These roles, among others, have made Eastwood an enduring
cultural icon of
masculinity . Elected in 1986, Eastwood served for two years as the mayor of
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California .
Eastwood's greatest commercial successes are the adventure comedy
Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and its action comedy sequel
Any Which Way You Can (1980). Other popular Eastwood films include the Westerns
Hang 'Em High (1968),
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and
Pale Rider (1985), the action-war film
Where Eagles Dare (1968), the prison film
Escape from Alcatraz (1979), the war film
Heartbreak Ridge (1986), the action film
In the Line of Fire (1993), and the romantic drama
The Bridges of Madison County (1995). More recent works include
Gran Torino (2008),
The Mule (2018), and
Cry Macho (2021). Since 1967, Eastwood's company
Malpaso Productions has produced all but four of his American films. (
Full article... )
Image 12 Glenn Theodore Seaborg (
SEE -borg; April 19, 1912 – February 25, 1999) was an American chemist whose involvement in the
synthesis , discovery and investigation of ten
transuranium elements earned him a share of the 1951
Nobel Prize in Chemistry . His work in this area also led to his development of the
actinide concept and the arrangement of the
actinide series in the
periodic table of the elements .
Seaborg spent most of his career as an educator and research scientist at the
University of California, Berkeley , serving as a professor, and, between 1958 and 1961, as the university's second chancellor. He advised ten US presidents—from
Harry S. Truman to
Bill Clinton —on nuclear policy and was Chairman of the
United States Atomic Energy Commission from 1961 to 1971, where he pushed for commercial
nuclear energy and the peaceful applications of nuclear science. Throughout his career, Seaborg worked for arms control. He was a signatory to the
Franck Report and contributed to the
Limited Test Ban Treaty , the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty . He was a well-known advocate of science education and federal funding for pure research. Toward the end of the
Eisenhower administration , he was the principal author of the Seaborg Report on academic science, and, as a member of President
Ronald Reagan 's
National Commission on Excellence in Education , he was a key contributor to its 1983 report "
A Nation at Risk ". (
Full article... )
Image 13 Joshua Abraham Norton (February 4, 1818 – January 8, 1880) was a resident of San Francisco, California, who in 1859
proclaimed himself "Norton I., Emperor of the United States" , commonly known as
Emperor Norton . In 1863, after
Napoleon III invaded Mexico , he took the secondary title of "Protector of Mexico".
For the first few years after arriving in San Francisco in 1849, Norton made a successful living as a commodities trader and
real estate speculator . However, he was
financially ruined following a failed bid to corner the rice market during a shortage prompted by a famine in
China . He bought a shipload of
Peruvian rice at 12 cents per pound (26 ¢/kg), but more Peruvian ships arrived in port, causing the price to drop sharply to three cents per pound (6.6 ¢/kg). He then lost a protracted lawsuit in which he tried to void his rice contract, and his local prominence faded. (
Full article... )
Image 14 Walter Francis O'Malley (October 9, 1903 – August 9, 1979) was an American sports executive who owned the
Brooklyn /
Los Angeles Dodgers team in
Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he brought major league baseball to the
West Coast , moving the Dodgers from
Brooklyn to Los Angeles despite the Dodgers being the second most profitable team in baseball from 1946 to 1956, and coordinating the move of the
New York Giants to San Francisco at a time when there were no teams west of
Kansas City, Missouri . In 2008, O'Malley was elected to the
National Baseball Hall of Fame for his contributions to and influence on the game of baseball.
O'Malley's father,
Edwin Joseph O'Malley , was politically connected. Walter, a
University of Pennsylvania salutatorian , went on to obtain a
Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), and he used the combination of his family connections, his personal contacts, and both his educational and vocational skills to rise to prominence. First, he became an entrepreneur involved in
public works contracting, and then he became an executive with the Dodgers. He progressed from being a team lawyer to being both the Dodgers' owner and president, and he eventually made the business decision to relocate the Dodgers franchise. Although he moved the franchise, O'Malley is known as a businessman whose major philosophy was stability through loyalty to and from his employees. (
Full article... )
... that one of the founders of a public TV station in California gave 92 speeches in 90 days during a fundraising drive?
... that Richmond station includes a "rather disquieting" artwork by William Mitchell ?
... that when a state highway between Beegum and Peanut was vetoed, a newspaper accused their residents of lacking imagination?
... that in 1888, Edward P. Duplex became the first African American to be elected a mayor in California?
... that prior to his career in the CIA, Dick Linthicum played basketball at UCLA and became the university's first All-American in any sport?
... that when the U.S. government wanted to remove Chain Island , a group of "California capitalists" offered to do it for free, recouping expenses by mining it for gold?
... that a California TV station had a cartoon bee as its mascot?
... that Jack Mitchell and his heiress wife Lolita transformed El Mirador into "one of the most fabulous estates in Montecito ", complete with a dairy, a zoo, and a floating tea pavilion on a lake?
The ghost town of Bodie, California
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories
Extended content
This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs ) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{ WikiProject California }} ) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.
Featured articles
Featured lists
A-Class articles
Featured portals
Featured pictures
File:1967 Mantra-Rock Dance Avalon poster.jpg
File:2010 mavericks competition.jpg
File:20070616 Chris Young visits Wrigley (4)-edit3.jpg
File:Acorn woodpecker holding a nut in its beak-0225.jpg
File:Agassiz statue Mwc00715.jpg
File:Albert Bierstadt - Among the Sierra Nevada, California - Google Art Project.jpg
File:Albino Alligator 2008.jpg
File:Alcatraz03182006.jpg
File:Alice Park - Records of the National Woman's Party.jpg
File:Amboy (California, USA), Hist. Route 66 -- 2012 -- 1.jpg
File:Ansel Adams and camera.jpg
File:Beulah Ream Allen receiving the Medal of Freedom (1945).jpg
File:Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), Corte Madera.jpg
File:Boats on Lake Oroville during the 2021 drought.jpg
File:Bodie ghost town.jpg
File:Border USA Mexico.jpg
File:Brown pelican in flight (Bodega Bay).jpg
File:Burned mobile home neighborhood in California edit.jpg
File:Buteo jamaicensis in flight at Llano Seco-1520.jpg
File:CA-84 Woodside April 2023 002.jpg
File:CA Ground Squirrel on rock.jpg
File:CID Array.jpg
File:Cable Car No. 1 and Alcatraz Island.jpg
File:California island Vinckeboons5.jpg
File:California sea lion in La Jolla (70568).jpg
File:California state coat of arms (illustrated, 1876).jpg
File:CampanileMtTamalpiasSunset-original.jpg
File:Cervus canadensis nannodes at Tomales Point.jpg
File:Chemerinsky during Hyatt III sketch.jpg
File:Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889.jpg
File:Crystal Mountains CA02.jpg
File:Cynthia Woodhead 1980 - Restoration.jpg
File:Deathvalleysky nps big.jpg
File:Devastation in San Bruno.jpg
File:Donner Lake as seen from Donner Pass.jpg
File:Double-crested cormorant at Sutro Baths-6460.jpg
File:Dungeness crab face closeup.jpg
File:EdwardTeller1958 fewer smudges.jpg
File:Egretta thula at Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds.jpg
File:Elephant seals fighting.jpg
File:Eureka Inn, Entrance Hall.jpg
File:European starling at Bodega Head-1209.jpg
File:Fort Baker and Angel Island.jpg
File:Fort Mason Center and Downtown San Francisco.jpg
File:GGB reflection in raindrops.jpg
File:GREIDER Carol 2014 - Less vignetting.jpg
File:Gateway Generating Station rectified.jpg
File:Giant Marbles in Joshua Tree National Park.jpg
File:GoldenGateBridge BakerBeach MC.jpg
File:Grauman's Chinese Theatre, by Carol Highsmith fixed & straightened.jpg
File:Greater Yellowlegs2.jpg
File:Greater white-fronted goose in flight-1045.jpg
File:Gull ca usa.jpg
File:Hawk eating prey.jpg
File:Heinrich Berann NPS Panorama of Yosemite without labels.jpg
File:Hotel Del c1900b.jpg
File:Igor Stravinsky LOC 32392u.jpg
File:Jane Russell in The Outlaw.jpg
File:JetBlue292Landing.jpg
File:Jfader dryden.jpg
File:JohnShea.jpg
File:Joshua tree keys view pano more vertical.jpg
File:Juvenile pelecanus occidentalis in flight.jpg
File:Kobe Bryant 7144 adjusted.jpg
File:LAPD Bell 206 Jetranger.jpg
File:LagunaBeachCA photo D Ramey Logan.JPG
File:Lange-MigrantMother02.jpg
File:Langechildren2.jpg
File:Lansdowne Herakles Getty Museum.jpg
File:Line scan photo of nine car BART C1 train in 2017.jpg
File:Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.jpg
File:Los Angeles Pollution.jpg
File:Los angeles from getty panorama.jpg
File:LutraCanadensis fullres.jpg
File:Male northern pintail at Llano Seco.jpg
File:Male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) strutting.jpg
File:Map of Cathedral Peak Granodiorite.svg
File:Marilyn Monroe photo pose Seven Year Itch.jpg
File:Mary Pickford cph.3c17995u.jpg
File:McClure Tunnel west.jpg
File:Mission Santa Clara.jpg
File:Mono lake tufa.JPG
File:Mudpot at Lassen Volcanic National Park in August 2019.webm
File:NPG 2010 112 Lucia Chamberlain by Zaida Ben-Yusuf.jpg
File:Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981.jpg
File:Oppenheimer (cropped).jpg
File:Palace of Fine Arts (16794p).jpg
File:Parlos Verdes Light House Aug 2012.JPG
File:Pelecanus erythrorhynchos at Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds.jpg
File:Photograph of Members of the Mochida Family Awaiting Evacuation - NARA - 537505 - Restoration.jpg
File:Pigeon Point Lighthouse (2016).jpg
File:Pioneertown california saloon and bath house.jpg
File:Point Arena Lighthouse, Mendocino County.jpg
File:Point Reyes Lighthouse (April 2012).jpg
File:Post-and-Grant-Avenue-Look.jpg
File:Pyrosoma atlanticum (12256).jpg
File:Randy's donuts1 edit1.jpg
File:RiP2013 GreenDay Mike Dirnt 0002.JPG
File:Ronald Reagan with cowboy hat 12-0071M edit.jpg
File:Rosalind Goodrich Bates (1931).jpg
File:Russian chapel at Fort Ross (2016).jpg
File:Sacramento,-California---State-Capitol.jpg
File:Saint Teresa of Avila Church, Bodega (2023)-L1003432.jpg
File:Sally Ride (1984).jpg
File:San Francisco City Hall as seen from 100 Van Ness at dusk (wide).jpg
File:San Francisco International Airport at night.jpg
File:San Francisco in ruin edit2.jpg
File:San gorgonio pass wind farm california pano.jpg
File:SanFrancisco1851a.jpg
File:SanFranciscoharbor1851c sharp.jpg
File:Sea otter nursing02.jpg
File:Seaborg in lab - restoration.jpg
File:Sfearthquake3b.jpg
File:Sharon Tate Valley of the Dolls 1967 - Restoration.jpg
File:Shasta dam under construction new edit.jpg
File:Sonoma chipmunk at Samuel P. Taylor State Park.jpg
File:Spanish shawl.JPG
File:Steve Jobs and Macintosh computer, January 1984, by Bernard Gotfryd - edited.jpg
File:Strip photo of San Francisco Cable Car 10.jpg
File:Surfer in california 2.JPG
File:Tower Bridge Sacramento edit.jpg
File:Tracy Caldwell Dyson in Cupola ISS.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-Oakland-2248-1870-10-388-B.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-Petaluma-2193-1870-100-209-A.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-San Francisco-1741-1870-5-6758-B.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-San Francisco-1741-1870-20-2772-C.jpg
File:US-NBN-CA-San Francisco-1741-1870-50-1616-A.jpg
File:USA Lassen NP Kings Creek CA edit3.jpg
File:Vernal Falls Rainbow.jpg
File:Victor Adam after Louis Choris - Vue du Presidio san Francisco, 1822.jpg
File:Vineyards of Napa Valley panorama.jpg
File:Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA, CA, jjron 22.03.2012.jpg
File:Waxman during Hyatt III sketch.jpg
File:World War II woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, California 1942.jpg
Nicknames: The Golden State
Capital: Sacramento
Total area: 163,696 mi2
Land: 156,002 mi2
Water: 7,694 mi2
Highest elevation: 14,505 ft (Mount Whitney )
Population 39,250,017 (2016 est)
Admission to the Union: September 9, 1850 (31st )
State symbols:
Things you can do