Member State of the United States of America, it is located to the southwest. It is bordered by the states of Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, and Arizona to the southeast; it borders Mexico in the south and is bathed by the Pacific Ocean in the west. It covers an area of 411 049 km 2 and has a population of 36 162 800 residents (2004). It is one of the most prosperous states, with a huge development in the high-tech industrial sectors, in the film industry and in intensive agriculture. The capital is the city of Sacramento.
The “Golden State” California has everything you could wish for: snow-capped mountains, extensive deserts, green forests and long golden yellow sandy beaches. From Los Angeles to San Francisco, the famous and Big Sur Freeway, one of the most beautiful in the USA, winds along the rocky coast. The city of Cable Cars and the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, watches over the San Francisco Bay Area.
California’s best-known wine regions, Napa and Sonoma Valley, are north of San Francisco, but there are also excellent wineries to the south, near Santa Barbara and San Diego. The north of the state is home to the giant sequoia and redwood trees, waterfalls, white water rivers, forests, ice-cold lakes, and majestic mountains. Los Angeles is the second largest metropolis in the United States and is rightly called Entertainment Capital of the World.
Orange County has a world famous tourist attraction – Disneyland – as well as 67 km of sandy beaches and the pretty little towns of the Santa Ana Mountains. The desert region of California with its infinite blue sky, various recreation areas and an interesting history lies in the southeast. From Death Valley, which is 86 m below sea level and the lowest point in North America, you can drive on the same day to Mount Whitney, the 4,418 m highest mountain in the US mainland.
According to acronymmonster, the nickname of California is The Golden State.
Important facts
Land area: 403,971 sq km.
Population: 39,512,223 (2019 estimate)
Population density: 91 per sq. Km.
Capital: Sacramento.
Customs and traditions
Smoking: Smoking is prohibited in public buildings and transportation. Smoking is also prohibited on most California beaches (including San Diego, Solana Beach, Malibu, Santa Monica and Long Beach), as well as in all restaurants, parks, and other public places.
Geography
California is also known as the “Golden State” because of its sunny climate and the California gold rush and is particularly valued for its diversity of landscapes: beautiful beaches, mountains, rugged coastlines, deserts, forests and orchards alternate. The biggest tourist destinations in the most popular state in the USA are Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego as well as the holiday resorts of Santa Barbara, Palm Springs and the artist colonies Laguna Beach and Mendocino.
The state – the most populous in the United States – can be divided into 12 tourist regions: the Central Coast, Los Angeles County, Orange County, the North Coast, San Diego County, the San Francisco Bay Area, Shasta Cascade, Gold Country, Central Valley, High Sierra, the deserts and the Inland Empire. The central coast extends from the San Francisco Bay Area along the Pacific coast to Los Angeles County and the vineyards around Santa Barbara. The Monterey Peninsula and Big Sur are pristine areas of outstanding natural beauty, with some of the most scenic routes in the country.
No trip to California is complete without a visit to the second largest city in the United States, Los Angeles, the “City of Angels”. The city lives up to its reputation as an entertainment metropolis and offers world-class theater, concerts and ballet performances. If you are lucky, you will also see one of the prominent film stars in Hollywood. In addition to museums, sporting events and some of the best restaurants in the country, Los Angeles County has miles of sunny coastline, as well as numerous national parks and recreational areas.
Orange County is home to the world famous Disneyland tourist attraction. In addition to amusement parks, resorts and excellent shopping, the region offers a total of 67 km of beaches and the charming rural mountain communities of the Santa Ana Mountains. The landscape of the north coast consists of rugged rocky coastline, redwood forests and vineyards. The region, which stretches from San Francisco to the Oregon state border, includes the world-famous Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma wine regions and is an attractive mix of rugged wilderness and cultivated farmland.
Mild climate and beautiful beaches make San Diego County to a popular travel destination. The city’s Spanish heritage is reflected in countless buildings and museums. City attractions include the famous San Diego Zoo, Sea World and the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most popular destinations worldwide. San Francisco, with its distinctive landmarks of cable cars and the Golden Gate Bridge, is a cosmopolitan port city. The Bay Area offers world-class museums, restaurants, wineries, shopping centers and historic sites. Nature lovers come to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the holiday area of Santa Cruz on the coast at your own expense. Northeastern California is one of the country’s most beautiful and pristine regions, the Shasta Cascade. Waterfalls, raging wild water rivers, forests, ice-cold lakes and steep mountains, including the California Cascade mountain range, offer breathtaking views.
In the Gold Country, the California gold rush began in 1849, which captivated the entire state for decades. There are numerous historic gold mining towns and museums on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada and Sacramento, California’s capital reminds a lot of the beginnings in the pioneering days. The Central Valley, the heart of California’s agriculture, runs between the Sierra Nevada and the mountain foothills on the coast. This huge valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world, is crossed by thousands of kilometers of waterways and is covered by lush green pastures, orchards and vineyards. Fresno and Bakersfield are interesting regional centers.
The wild beauty of the High Sierra, immortalized in the photographs by Ansel Adams, is a first-class natural paradise. With the world famous Yosemite National Park and the popular vacation centers Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes offers the region a variety of leisure activities and spectacular landscapes. The desert region in the south-east captivates with extensive landscapes, bright blue skies, historical traces from the pioneering era and glittering entertainment venues. The numerous natural treasures include the Death Valley Monument and the huge Joshua Tree National Monument. In spring, the desert explodes in a veritable firework display of wild flowers. Most visitors to this region explore some of the many ghost towns or drive along the legendary Route 66. The Inland Empire around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside is the fastest growing urban area in the United States. Just an hour away from Los Angeles, the region is an ideal location for Hollywood films thanks to its varied landscape with snow-capped mountains, sand dunes and idyllic farmland.
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