California is a U.S. state located on the west coast of North America, bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and Mexico to the south. It covers an area of 163,696 square miles, making it the third largest state in terms of size behind Alaska and Texas. Most of California's terrain is mountainous, much of which is part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The highest point in California is Mount Whitney at 14,494 feet above sea level, while the lowest point is Badwater Basin at 282 feet below sea level. The Basin, part of Death Valley, is remarkably the lowest point in North America as well.
California can be divided into nine geographical regions. These include:
The climate in California ranges from Mediterranean along its coasts to alpine in its mountains and deserts in its eastern regions. Its weather patterns are mainly driven by two large ocean currents: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The ENSO affects temperatures along California's coast, while PDO tends to influence precipitation amounts throughout much of Northern California and higher elevation areas.
California also has a diverse biodiversity with many different species found across its regions, such as wolves and grizzly bears in its forests; bobcats, coyotes, and foxes living near river systems; bald eagles along waterways; salmon inhabiting both fresh-water streams and Pacific coastal waters; and desert tortoises living amongst scrublands in southern parts of the state.
Regarding human geography, California's population reaches nearly 40 million people making it home to one out of every eight Americans. Since the 1950s, when manufacturing moved away from other states into California, it has become a major center for agricultural production, with most concentrated around Central Valley, where 80 percent of the produce consumed by Americans comes from that region alone. Additionally, several metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Area, are among some of the largest cities in the United States. At the same time, Silicon Valley has been long-established as a tech hub in the U.S.
The State of California is divided into 58 counties. In alphabetical order, these counties are: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba.
With an area of 423,970 sq. km, California is the 3rd largest and the most populous state in the USA. Located in the north-central part of the state in the Sacramento Valley is Sacramento – the capital and the 6th largest city of California. It serves as the administrative, political, financial, educational, health-care, and tourism center of the state. It is also the cultural, and economic hub of the larger Sacramento Metropolitan Area. Situated in Southern California is Los Angeles – the largest and the most populous city in California. It is also the 2nd most populous city in the United States. The city of Los Angeles has been designated as a global city and is considered to be a leader in the technology, science, entertainment, and medicine industry. Los Angeles County is also the most populous county in the United States.
The State of California is located in the western (Pacific) region of the United States. California is bordered by the state of Oregon in the north, by Nevada and Arizona in the east, and by the Mexican state of Baja California in the south. It is also bounded by the Pacific Ocean in the west.
Regional Maps: Map of North America
|Legal Name||State of California|
|ISO 3166 Code||US-CA|
This page was last updated on February 20, 2023