Virtually every kind of climate, land form, vegetation, and animal life that can be found anywhere else in the United States can be found in California, the Golden State. The third largest state stretches for more than 800 miles (1,290 kilometers) along the Pacific coast. It meets the sea with sandy beaches and rugged cliffs. Inland, past wooded coastal mountains, lie verdant valleys and arid deserts. Along the eastern border the towering Sierra Nevada thrusts jagged peaks far beyond the timberline. Among the mountains are the awesome forest habitats of the largest, the tallest, and the oldest living things on Earth. Above the varied surface of the land, climates range from mountain to marine, and below the surface lie mineral resources in seldom-rivaled wealth.
Early settlers were drawn by its minerals--most notably the gold discovered in the mid-1800s--and by the wealth of its forests, farmlands, and petroleum fields. With the development of natural resources came a huge expansion in many kinds of manufacturing. This remarkable diversity of industry provides the bulk of the state's income. California gained worldwide fame as the center of American filmmaking, and by the 1960s it had become the heart of the television industry as well. California's Silicon Valley is the hub of innovations in the nation's computer and consumer electronics industries.
First colonized by Spain, California became a state in 1850. Since then, the appeal of its varied riches has made it the most populous state in the Union. With the people have come the ills of urbanization. California's cities were scarred by the violence of the 1960s--ghetto rioting and student demonstrations and civil rights protests. Pollutants of increasing toxicity continue to threaten the quality of life as they contaminate the air and water. Population centers gnaw steadily at the state's natural beauty and strain the financial resources of its government.
The name California was used officially in Spanish documents as early as 1542. It is believed to come from the description of a fabled island called California in a 16th-century Spanish novel, 'The Exploits of Esplandian', by Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo. This origin of the name was determined by the historian Edward Everett Hale. The nickname Golden State comes from its golden poppies, the state flower, as well as the gold discovered there in 1848.
California lies in the Pacific coast region of the United States. To the north is Oregon, with a border of 215 miles (346 kilometers). The longest part of its eastern border, 610 miles (982 kilometers), is shared with Nevada. To the southeast the Colorado River separates California from Arizona. In the south the international boundary between California and Mexico stretches for 140 miles (225 kilometers). On the west California borders the Pacific Ocean for 840 miles (1,351 kilometers). The state's greatest length is the 780 miles (1,255 kilometers) down its center. The greatest width is 365 miles (587 kilometers)--from the coast of Santa Barbara County east to the Colorado River. The narrowest east-west distance is 150 miles (241 kilometers), near the Mexican border.
