California State Facts

California was the 31st state in the USA.

Origin of the Name California - The name California comes from a mythical Spanish island ruled by a queen called Califia that was featured in a Spanish romance ("Las Sergas de Esplandian") written by Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo in 1510. The Spanish explorers originally thought that California was an island.

State Nickname - The Golden State
State Abbreviation - CA
State Capital - Sacramento
Other Notable Cities - Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco
Area - 163,707 square miles [California is the 3rd biggest state in the USA - only Alaska and Texas are bigger]
Population - 33,871,648 (as of 2000) [California is the most populous state in the USA]
Major Industries - agriculture (many, many products), oil, mining, electronics, movie making/entertainment, and tourism
Main Rivers - Sacramento River, Colorado River, San Joaquin River
Highest Point - Mt. Whitney, 14,495 feet (4,418 m) above sea level
Lowest Point - Death Valley, 282 feet (86 m) below sea level [this is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere]
Presidential Birthplace - Richard Milhous Nixon was born in Yorba Linda on January 9, 1913 (he was the 37th US President, serving from 1969 to 1974).