What is there to say about California that hasn’t already been said? It is the land of beautiful people, beautiful scenery and beautiful dreams – thanks to the dream factory that is Hollywood. Many thousands of people come to California each year, chasing their dreams of a better, more glamorous life. Some people achieve those dreams, and live out their sun-drenched, salt-sprayed fantasies. Most go on to live ordinary lives in the Golden Bear State.
Of course, even the most ordinary of lives can be interesting and exciting in California, the most populous state in the nation. There are over 37 million people in California, over 12% of the U.S. population, and experts predict there will be 50 million people in less than 20 years. Most of those 37 million people are white, but don’t let that statistic fool you. California is the most ethnically diverse state in the Union. Sixty percent of the population is white, 39% is Hispanic, 6% is African American, 12% is Asian, and 16% of California’s population reports being some other race.
California is a wealthy state, with a gross state product of about $1.6 trillion – larger than the gross domestic product of all but eight other countries and almost 13% of the U.S. gross domestic product. Average per capita income in California is about $34,000 per year, though it varies widely from location to location and industry to industry. The largest of the many, many industries in California are entertainment, aerospace, tourism, agriculture and technology.
California is renowned for its stunning and diverse geography, from sandy, ocean beaches to searing, barren deserts to snowcapped mountain peaks to fertile river valleys – California has it all. The state boasts the longest coastline in the continuous 48 states, measuring just over 800 miles. California’s Mt. Whitney, at 14,500 feet, is the highest peak in the contiguous 48 states, and Death Valley, California is the both the lowest and the hottest place in the contiguous 48 states. Death Valley is actually the lowest and hottest point in the entire western hemisphere, at 282 feet below sea level and an average high temperature of 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Interestingly, Mt. Whitney and Death Valley are less than 200 miles apart. California’s Redwood Forest is home to the tallest and oldest living things in the United States – the Redwood trees themselves. The Bristlecone Pines in California’s White Mountains are among the oldest living trees in the entire world.
Though California is a land of many natural wonders, it is also boasts many man-made marvels. San Francisco is home to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge; Anaheim is home to the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland. Further South, California boasts the largest inland sea in the Western Hemisphere – the Salton Sea –which was created by irrigation run-off when Southern California’s arid, inhospitable deserts were miraculously turned into one of the most fertile and productive agricultural regions in the world. The Queen Mary steamer, once the world’s longest luxury ship, is docked in Long Beach, California.
