California . . . State 31
The current California State Flag was first used in was first used on June 14, 1846, but was not officially adopted until 1911. It is based on the original Bear Flag raised by pioneering Americans over Sonoma in 1846. The flag pictures a grizzly bear and a star. The star was taken from the lone star of Texas. The Bear was representative of the numerous Grizzly Bears in the state and the words "California Republic" testify to the fiesty American pioneers who settled in the territory.
California became the 31st state on September 9, 1850. The state capital of California is Sacramento and the largest city is Los Angeles. California is the 3rd biggest state in the USA with only Alaska and Texas being bigger. It's the most populated U.S. state and a land which includes rugged high mountain ranges , fertile valleys, the Pacific Ocean beaches, many miles of coastline, redwood forests, deserts, and national parks.
California has the largest economy in the states of the union. California's major industries are agriculture as it thrives in California because of its favorable climate, fertile soil, long growing season, and diverse land resources. Approximately 90 percent of California’s water supply is used for agriculture. The best agricultural county in the nation is Fresno County. California is ranked #1 in the growing of many fruits and vegetables such as artichokes, garlic and also avocados. More turkeys are raised in California than in any other state in the country. More than 300,000 tons of grapes are grown in California annually which makes California known for wine.
California has beautiful scenery with thousands of miles of rivers and streams including many wild and scenic rivers. It also has has a wide variety of sea life, nearly every type of vegetation and also much wildlife, There are many huge forest with redwood trees, which are the tallest trees in the world.
California climate varies dramatically throughout the state and ranging from one extreme to the other. Central valleys are hot in summer and somewhat cold in winter. Southern California is protected from extreme temperature because of the surrounding mountain ranges and has the nicest temperate climate. San Francisco's weather can vary greatly from day to day and the weather could be cloudy, cool and foggy one day and the next day can be sunny with temperatures in the mid 70s. Coastal cities to the north and even some in the south are cooler in summer and warmer in winter and relative humidities are moderate to high along the coast throughout the year. Death Valley is recognized as the hottest, driest place in the United States. It isn't uncommon for the summer temperatures to reach more than 115 degrees. The Sierra Nevada area, Yosemite and Lake Tahoe all get heavy winter snow and conditions can be cold and windy.
California has 58 Counties:
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
- Yuba
