California is a western state in the USA, with a population of over 40 million. It was first inhabited by Native Americans and later settled by Spanish explorers. California became a republic in 1846, leading to a war with Mexico and eventual statehood in 1850. Its state motto is “Eureka” and its nickname is the “Golden State”. The state is known for its diverse cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, as well as its state emblems such as the California poppy and the California Redwood tree.
California is one of the fifty states that make up the United States of America and one of the western states, along with Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west, Oregon to the north, Mexico to the south, and Nevada and Arizona to the east. Sacramento is the capital. Other major cities in this state are Los Angeles, San Diego, San José, San Francisco and Long Beach.
California is the third largest of the 3 states with an area of 50 square miles (155,959.34 sq km), but ranks first in population with 403,932.84 people in the 33,871,648 census. It is the thirteenth among the states by population density. The proper name for a resident of this state is a Californian.
California’s first inhabitants were prehistoric inhabitants who followed a variety of lifestyles to adapt to the local food and climate. Twenty-two language groups were once represented. There were an estimated 130,000 Native Americans in the area at the time of European discovery. The first explorations and settlements were Spanish. Although Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo visited the region in 1542, and Sebastián Vizcaino explored the southern California coast in 1602, settlement did not begin until Fra Junipero Serra established a mission in San Diego in 1769.
In 1821, when Mexico gained its independence from Spain, the missions were secularized and settlers from the United States took their wagon trains west, and on June 14, 1846, they declared California a republic, independent of Mexico. Someone quickly created a flag with a grizzly bear and five-pointed star and it was hoisted over the garrison that had been overrun. This gave rise to the name Bear Flag Revolt, and the flag is now the state flag. The bear is gold, the star is red, and the words “California Republic” appear underneath.
The United States declared war on Mexico to back up this claim, and a surrender occurred in January 1847. Gold was discovered in the territory a year later, causing both a gold rush with a huge influx of people and statehood. California joined the Union on September 9, 1850, the thirty-first of the fifty states to do so.
The state motto is Eureka, which means “I found it,” which probably refers to the discovery of gold. Different from many states, the state seal is strikingly different from the state flag, depicting Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom with a grizzly bear at her feet and a bunch of grapes. There is a miner working beside the Sacramento River, with the Sierra Nevada mountains in the background. The state motto also appears. Its nickname is, of course, the “Golden State”. Other state emblems include the following:
State flower: California poppy
State bird: California quail
State Tree: California Redwood
State Insect: California Dogface Butterfly
State animal: the California grizzly bear
State Marine Mammal: California Gray Whale
State mineral: gold
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