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California is the most populous state of the United States. Located on the Pacific coast of North America, it is bordered by Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and Mexico. The state's four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco. California is known for its pleasant climate and ethnically diverse population. Inhabited by indigenous people for several millennia, California was first colonized by Spain in 1769, and gained independence becoming part of Mexico in 1821. Following a brief period as the independent California Republic in 1846, California was annexed by the United States that same year, but wasn't actually admitted to the Union until President Millard Fillmore officially made California the thirty-first state on September 9th, 1850. California's diverse geography ranges from the sandy beaches of the Pacific to the rugged, snow capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the east. The central portion of the state is dominated by the California Central Valley and the San Joaquin Valley, one of the most vital agricultural areas in the country. The Yosemite Valley, famous for its glacially-carved cliffs, is located near the California-Nevada border, and ancient redwood trees dot the Northern Californian coastline. California is also home to the lowest and hottest place in the Western Hemisphere: Death Valley, located in the Mojave Desert. The Gold Rush of 1849 dramatically changed California with an influx of population and an economic boom. The early part of the 20th Century was marked by California becoming the center of the entertainment industry in addition to the beginning of growth of a large tourism sector. The Central Valleys are home to California's important large agricultural industry. In recent decades, California has become a global leader in computers and information technology. Indeed, if California were a country, it would rank as the 8th largest economy of the world. Name California originally referred to the entire region composed of the Mexican peninsula now known as Baja California and land in the current U.S. state of California. The states of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Wyoming, were claimed by Spain and Mexico but were almost totally undeveloped, with about 100 settlers in Arizona. The name California is most commonly believed derived from a storied paradise peopled by black Amazons and ruled by Queen Califia. The myth of Califia is recorded in a 1510 work The Exploits of Esplandian, written as a sequel to Amadís de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer García Ordonez Rodriguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Califia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a remote land inhabited by griffons and other strange beasts and rich in gold. Know ye that at the right hand of the Indies there is an island named California, very close to that part of the terrestrial Paradise, which was inhabited by black women, without a single man among them, and that they lived in the manner of Amazons. They were robust of body, with strong and passionate hearts and great virtues. The island itself is one of the wildest in the world on account of the bold and craggy rocks. Their weapons were all made of gold. The island everywhere abounds with gold and precious stones, and upon it no other metal was found. It is thought that the myth of Califia later helped fuel Spanish exploration in the New World. Others suggest the word California may come from the early Spanish explorers who entered California via the hot southern regions and referred to California as being "hot as an oven" or a "lime oven" ("cali > hot", "fornus->forno > oven" + ending "ia" for a place; or with "cal > lime"). It may be derived from caliente fornalia, Spanish for hot furnace, or it may come from calida fornax, Latin for hot climate. Geography
Adjacent states Climate Different regions of California have very different climates, varying from subtropic to subarctic depending on their latitude, elevation, and proximity to the coast. Most of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with rainy winters and dry summers. The influence of the ocean generally moderates temperature extremes, creating warmer winters and substantially cooler summers. The cool California Current offshore, enhanced by upwelling of cold sub-surface waters, often creates summer fog near the coast. Further inland, the climate becomes more continental with colder winters and markedly hotter summers. The temperature gradient between immediate coast and low-lying inland valleys in the north is about 7 °F (4 °C) in winter (the coast being warmer) and in summer roughly 25 °F (14 °C) (the interior being warmer). In the south, the figures are approximately 4 °F and 23 °F (2 °C and 13 °C), respectively; however 4 °F and 35 °F (2 °C and 20 °C) between Santa Barbara and Death Valley. Westerly winds from the ocean also bring moisture, and the northern parts of the state generally receive higher annual rainfall amounts than the south. California's mountain ranges influence the climate as well: moisture-laden air from the west cools as it ascends the mountains, dropping moisture; some of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes. Northwestern California has a temperate climate with rainfall of 15–50 inches (400–1270 mm) per year. Some areas of Coast Redwood forest receive over 100 inches of precipitation per year (2540 mm). The Central Valley has a Mediterranean climate but with greater temperature extremes than the coastal areas: parts of the valley are often filled with thick fog, similar to that found in the coastal valleys. The high mountains, including the Sierra Nevada, have a mountain climate with snow in winter and mild to moderate heat in summer. On the east side of the mountains is a drier rain shadow. California's desert climate regions lie east of the high Sierra Nevada and Southern California's Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges. The low deserts east of the southern California mountains, including the Imperial and Coachella valleys and the lower Colorado River, are part of the Sonoran Desert, with hot summers and nearly frostless mild winters; the higher elevation deserts of eastern California, including the Mojave Desert, Owens Valley, and the Modoc Plateau, are part of the Great Basin region, with hot summers and cold winters. During the summer months, especially from July through early September, the region is affected by the Mexican Monsoon (also called the "southwest monsoon"), which drives moisture from the tropical Pacific, Gulf of California, and/or Gulf of Mexico into the deserts, setting off brief, but often torrential thunderstorms, particularly over mountainous terrain. In the northern portion of the Mojave Desert on the east side of the state is Death Valley, which is the hottest spot on the Western Hemisphere. It is common in the summer for temperatures in the valley to reach 120 °F (49 °C). The highest temperature in the Western Hemisphere, 134 °F (56.6 °C), was recorded in Death Valley on July 10, 1913. Temperatures of 130 °F (54 °C) or higher have been recorded as recently as 2005. The 24-hour average July temperature in Death Valley is 101 °F (38 °C) (1961—1990 standard). Despite its long coastline, California is not vulnerable to tropical cyclones. Because of the cold California Current from the North Pacific Ocean and the fact that the storms tend to "steer" West, California has only been hit with one tropical storm in recorded history, a storm which came ashore in 1939 and dumped heavy rainfall on the Los Angeles Area and interior deserts. Uncommonly, the remnants of a tropical system will affect California after becoming extratropical. Ecology Ecologically, California is one of the richest and most diverse parts of the world and includes some of the most endangered ecological communities. California's diverse geography, geology, soils and climate have generated a tremendous diversity of plant and animal life. The State of California is part of the Nearctic ecozone, and spans a number of terrestrial ecoregions, and is perhaps the most ecologically diverse state in the United States. California has a rather high percentage of endemic species. California endemics include relic species that have died out elsewhere, such as the Catalina Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus). Many other endemics originated through differentiation or adaptive radiation, whereby multiple species develop from a common ancestor to take advantage of diverse ecological conditions. California's great abundance of species of California lilac (Ceanothus) is an example of adaptive radiation. Many California endemics have become endangered, as urbanization, logging, overgrazing, and the introduction of exotic species have encroached on their habitat. California boasts several superlatives in its collection of flora; the largest trees, the tallest trees, and the oldest trees on earth are all found in California. California's native grasses were perennials, which stayed green year-round in most of the state's subclimates. After European contact, these were generally replaced by invasive species of European annual grasses; and, in modern times, California's hills turn a characteristic golden brown in summer. California's nickname The Golden State is in reference to the golden brown summer hillsides and not to the California Gold Rush, as is sometimes stated. National Parks and Monuments Main articles: List of areas in the National Park System of the United States, List of United States National Parks by state, and List of National Monuments of the United States. To protect and preserve the state's biological diversity, natural beauty, and historic heritage, the U.S. National Park System has acquired control over a huge number of places within California. Please see the lists above for more information. Some of the oldest and most popular national parks in the United States are located in California. The most prominent by far is Yosemite National Park (which protects Yosemite Valley), followed closely by the Kings Canyon-Sequoia National Park complex (which protects the most massive trees in the world) and Redwood National Park (which protects the tallest trees in the world). Half Dome, in Yosemite, figures prominently on the reverse side of the . Rivers California has several major rivers. Two very important rivers are the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River. They drain the basin of the San Joaquin Valley and eventually flow to the Pacific Ocean through the San Francisco Bay. Two other important rivers are the Klamath River, in the north, and the Colorado River which drains into the Gulf of California. There are many other rivers around the california are and all of them have their importance in filling the lakes around the state. Some of the smaller river located in the San Bernardino mountain range provides fresh crystal clear water to nearby lakes within the mountain range such the Santa Ana River running through 7 Oaks, Forest Falls, Angelus Oaks and jenks lake. For other rivers see: List of California rivers History The area was inhabited by more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans before European contact. On September 28, 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo landed in what is now San Diego Bay claiming it for Spain. Spanish traders made sporadic visits with the Manila Galleons as early as 1565. The British explorer Sir Francis Drake made contact in 1579. Sebastián Vizcaíno explored and mapped the coast of California in 1602. Spain colonized the territory with the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolà in conjunction with the creation of the system of Military Districts and Spanish Missions in California between 1769 and 1823. California ceded from Spain and became part of Mexico resultant to the Mexican War of Independence (1810-21). During the outset of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), in the town of Sonoma forty U.S. settlers revolted and established the California Republic, an independent republic, June 14, 1846. This short lived independent republic was annexed by the United States on July 9, 1846. The Mexican officials fled without a fight. The California Gold Rush of 1849 brought a huge population of immigrants into the area, and California became the 31st state of the United States in 1850. The entire region originally known as California was composed of the Mexican peninsula now known as Baja California and much of the land in the current states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Wyoming, known as Alta California. In these early times, the boundaries of the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific coast were only partially explored and California was shown on early maps as an island. The name comes from Las sergas de Esplandián (Adventures of Splandian), a 16th century novel, by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, where there is an island paradise called California. (For further discussion, see: Origin of the name California.) Pre-European California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in Native northern America. Large, settled populations lived on the West Coast and hunted sea mammals, fished for salmon, and gathered shellfish, while more mobile hunters and gathering groups in the California interior hunted terrestrial game and gathered nuts, acorns, and berries. California groups also were diverse in their political organization with bands, tribes, tribelets, and on the resource-rich coasts large chiefdoms, such as the Chumash, Pomo and Salinan. Trade, intermarriage, and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups. Except for the Mojave Indians living along the Colorado River no California Indians grew any domesticated crops. The first European to explore parts of the coast was the Portuguese João Rodrigues Cabrilho in 1542 working for the Spanish Hernan Cortes. The first to explore the entire coast and claim possession of it was the English man Francis Drake in 1579. Beginning in 1769, Spanish missionaries set up California Missions along the California coast. In addition four small towns or presidos were set up. Upon Mexican independence from Spain, the chain of missions became the property of the Mexican government, and were quickly dissolved and abandoned in 1832. Friends of the Mexican government officials got most of the livestock and property. The total Spanish speaking population in California in 1846, when the U.S. took over, was about 4000. Many of California's major cities were settled by non-Spanish immigrants around these missions and presidios. They preserved only their religious names (Los Angeles for the Virgin Mary. San Francisco for St. Francis of Assisi, San Jose for St. Joseph of Nazareth and San Diego for St. Didacus). In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence ended, giving California its independence from Spain. For the following quarter century, California was a remote northern province of the nation of Mexico. Cattle ranches, or ranchos, emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California, and cattle and horses introduced into California in the 1770's doubled in population with minimal care about every five years. Beginning in the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United States and Canada began to arrive, harbingers of the great changes that would sweep California. These new arrivals used the Siskiyou Trail, California Trail, and Old Spanish Trail to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts surrounding California. In this period, some nobles of Imperial Russia made brief attempts to explore and claim parts of California, particularly at Fort Ross, but these were limited by a lack of Imperial interest. California was poorly settled until modern public health eliminated the endemic outbreaks of yellow fever, malaria and plague, caused from the area’s lack of frosts, which kills mosquitoes and fleas. In 1846, at the outset of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), the California Republic was founded and the Bear Flag was flown, which featured a golden bear and a star. The Republic came to a sudden end, however, when Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into San Francisco Bay and claimed California for the United States. Following the war, the region was divided between Mexico and the United States. The Mexican portion, Baja (lower) California was later divided into the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur. The western part of the U.S. portion, Alta (upper) California, was to become the U.S. state of California. In 1848, the Spanish-speaking population of distant upper California numbered around 4,000. But after gold was discovered, the population burgeoned with U.S. citizens, Europeans, and other immigrants during the great California Gold Rush. In 1850, the state was admitted to the union USA as a free state (one in which slavery was prohibited). At first, travel between the far Pacific West to the eastern population centers was time consuming and dangerous, requiring either long ocean voyages or difficult transcontinental passages by stagecoach and on foot. A more direct connection came in 1869 with the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. After this rail link was established, hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens came west, where new Californians were discovering that land in the state, if irrigated during the dry summer months, was extremely well suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general. Citrus was widely grown (especially in the form of oranges), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production of today. During the early 20th century, migration to California accelerated with the completion of major transcontinental highways like the Lincoln Highway and Route 66. In the period from 1900 to 1965 the population grew from fewer than one million to become the most populous state in the Union. From 1965 to the present, the population demographic changed radically and became one of the most diverse in the world. The state is generally liberal-leaning, technologically and culturally savvy, and a world center of engineering businesses, the film and television industry, music industry, and as mentioned above, U.S. agricultural production. Demographics Population
Racial and ancestral makeup California lacks a majority ethnic group. It is one of four majority-minority states. In the 2000 Census, less than half of Californians were White American or non-Hispanic white, the first recorded statistic (except for Hawaii) of a "white minority" in any US state. More than a third were Hispanic or Latino of all races or at 9.9 million, followed by 12 percent Asian American and Pacific Islander, 7 percent African American or "black", and another 5 percent claimed biracial or multiracial origins. Only New Mexico and Texas have higher percentages of Latinos, but California has the highest number of any U.S. state, and Hawaii has a higher Asian American percentage than California. The largest named ancestries in California are Mexican (25%), German (9%), Irish (7.7%), English (7.4%) and Filipino (6%), but includes 65 other ethnicities from to Hawaiian to Somali, a demographic profile to a high diverse state. Mexican Americans and Chicanos predominate in Southern California such as the Imperial Valley, the Central Valley, Salinas, and parts of the San Francisco Bay Area as well the largest ethnic group in Los Angeles County, California. Spanish and German ancestries are dominant in the eastern Sierra Nevada, the far north, and the North Coast. San Francisco has the greatest concentration of Asian Americans in the continental United States, with Chinese Americans numerous in San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. The San Francisco Bay Area has a greater concentration of Cantonese-speaking Chinese. Southern California has perhaps the largest Taiwanese American community in the United States particularly in San Gabriel Valley, and communities such as Cerritos, Irvine (in Orange County), and some in the South Bay, Los Angeles Area. Filipino Americans are particularly numerous in San Mateo and Solano counties, and in communities such as Artesia, Baldwin Park, Cerritos, Covina, West Covina, and the community of Eagle Rock in Los Angeles. There are large Korean American communities in Koreatown of Los Angeles as well as East San Gabriel Valley, Cerritos, South Bay, Los Angeles, and in North Orange County. South Bay, Los Angeles also has a large Japanese American community too. The City of Long Beach has one of the largest Cambodian American communities in the United States. The neighboring cities of Westminster and Garden Grove have the largest Vietnamese American community outside of Vietnam and is often dubbed "Little Saigon". The community of Artesia and nearby Cerritos, as well as Fremont in the Bay Area have a large Asian Indian/South Asian American community. In 2000, California also had the largest number of Bulgarian Americans than any other U.S. state, according to the 2000 Census, and also the most Hungarian Americans of any US state. California also has one of the largest numbers of Armenian Americans at 600,000 alone, and Persian Americans, with estimates of up to 500,000 persons in Southern California, and 20% of Beverly Hills being of Persian descent.• California has the largest population of African Americans in the western U.S. Large African American communities are in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Sacramento, and San Bernardino. San Diego and San Francisco also have sizeable black populations. African Americans are approximately 7 percent of the state population with many of them living in suburban communities. . California has the most Native American tribes either indigenous to the state and other U.S. regions, notably Cherokees are the highest number, and its' Native American population at 350,000 is the most of any state. Languages As of 2000, 60.5% of California residents age 5 and older speak English at home and 25.8% speak Spanish. Chinese is the third most spoken language at 2.6%, followed by Tagalog at 2.5% and Vietnamese at 1.3%. Over 200 languages are known to be spoken and read in California, with Spanish used as the state's "alternative" language. The number more than one hundred and show great diversity making California one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world. All of California's indigenous languages are endangered, although there are now efforts toward language revitalization. Since 1986, the California Constitution has specified that English is the common and official language of the state. The politics of language is a major political issue in the state, especially in regard to language policy controlling the teaching and official use of immigrant languages. In actual practice, however, California's official-English law is not strictly enforced; many state, city, and local government agencies continue to print official public documents in numerous languages.• Religion The state has the most Roman Catholics, a large American Jewish community and rapid-growing Islamic population. There's a thriving number of new age, cult movements, and eastern religions that symbolized California as a progressive place for theological innovation since the 1960s. The religious affiliations of the people of California: The majority of California's Roman Catholic membership are of Filipino, Irish, Italian, and Hispanic ancestry, includes Latin American immigrants. As with many other western states, the percentage of California's population identifying themselves as "non-religious" is comparatively high in relation to the rest of the U.S. Economy
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Ballot qualified political parties Important cities and towns Image:Sacramento from Riverwalk.jpg|Sacramento Image:DowntownLosAngeles.jpg|Los Angeles Image:Sandiego_1_bg_071302.jpg|San Diego Image:Lightmatter sanfrancisco.jpg|San Francisco Image:SanJoseDowntownIMG016elf wb.jpg|San Jose Image:Long Beach, CA at night.jpg|Long Beach Image:Oakland_California_skyline.jpg|Oakland Image:Anaheimdland.jpg|Anaheim The state of California has 478 cities, the majority of which are within one of the large metropolitan areas. Sixty-eight percent of California's population lives in its two largest metropolitan areas, Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. | |- |valign=top| Note: table was compiled using California State estimates from 2006 for population and Census 2000 for area and density For a list of important suburbs within the above areas, see List of urbanized areas in California (by population). 25 wealthiest places in California Thanks to the state's powerful economy, certain California cities are among the wealthiest on the planet. Please note that this statistical measure can be misleading. The following list is ranked by per capita income: Note: Marin County ranks as the wealthiest county in the United States based on per capita personal income. 30 poorest places in California Many California communities rank among the poorest in the western world according to the measure of per capita income. The following list is ranked by increasing per capita income, first number is state ranking: 1076 Tobin, California - Plumas County - $2,584 1075 Belden, California - Plumas County - $3,141 1074 East Orosi, California - Tulare County - $4,984 1073 London, California - Tulare County - $5,632 1072 Cantua Creek, California - Fresno County - $5,693 1071 Indian Falls, California - Plumas County - $5,936 1070 Westley, California - Stanislaus County - $6,137 1069 Cutler, California - Tulare County - $6,254 1068 Mecca, California - Riverside County - $6,389 1067 Richgrove, California - Tulare County - $6,415 1066 San Joaquin, California - Fresno County - $6,607 1065 Woodville, California - Tulare County - $6,824 1064 Kennedy, California - San Joaquin County $6,876 1063 Mettler, California - Kern County - $6,919 1062 Mendota, California - Fresno County - $6,967 1061 Terra Bella, California - Tulare County - $7,034 1060 Parlier, California - Fresno County -$7,078 1059 Orange Cove, California - Fresno County - $7,126 1058 Parksdale, California - Madera County - $7,129 1057 Earlimart, California - Tulare County - $7,169 1056 South Dos Palos, California - Merced County - $7,170 1055 Winterhaven, California - Imperial County - $7,220 1054 Shackelford, California - Stanislaus County - $7,250 1053 Palo Verde, California - Imperial County - $7,275 1052 Biola, California - Fresno County - $7,375 1051 Kettleman City, California - Kings County - $7,389 1050 Arvin, California - Kern County - $7,408 1049 Coachella, California - Riverside County - $7,416 1048 Bret Harte, California - Stanislaus County - $7,481 1047 Traver, California - Tulare County - $7,642 Education Image:Berkeley glade afternoon.jpg|UC Berkeley Image:RHall.JPG|UCLA Image:USC Bovard Auditorium enh.jpg|USC Image:Stanford University campus from above.jpg|Stanford California's public educational system is supported by a unique constitutional amendment that requires 40% of state revenues to be spent on education. The elementary schools are of varying effectiveness. The quality of the local schools depends strongly on the local tax base, and the size of the local administration. In some regions, administrative costs divert a significant amount of educational monies from instructional purposes. In poor regions, literacy rates may fall below 70%. One thing they all have in common is a state mandate to teach fourth grade students about the history of California, including the role of the early missions; most schools implement this by requiring students to complete a multiple medium project. Public secondary education consists of high schools that teach elective courses in trades, languages and liberal arts with tracks for gifted, college-bound and industrial arts students. They accept students from roughly age 14 to 18, with mandatory education ceasing at age 16. In many districts, junior high schools or middle schools teach electives with a strong skills-based curriculum, for ages from 11 to 13. Elementary schools teach pure skills, history and social studies, with optional half-day kindergartens beginning at age 5. Mandatory full-time instruction begins at age 6. The preeminent state research university is the University of California (UC), which employs more Nobel Prize winners than any other institution in the world and is considered the world's finest public university system. The nine general UC campuses are in Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego, Davis, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Riverside, and Merced. The University of California, San Francisco, teaches only graduate health-sciences students, and the Hastings College of Law, also in San Francisco, is one of UC's four law schools. The UC system is intended to accept students from the top 12.5% of college-bound students, and provide most graduate studies and research. The University of California also administers federal laboratories for the Federal Department of Energy: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. The California State University (CSU) system is also considered one of the better educational systems in the world. With over 400,000 students, the CSU system is the largest university system in the United States. It is intended to accept the top one-third (1/3) of high school students. The universities within CSU are primarily intended for undergraduate education, although many of the larger campuses, such as CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, CSU Fresno, San Diego State, and San José State, are becoming more research oriented, especially in applied sciences. A marked change and a shift from the Kerr Master Plan of 1960 is to begin in 2007 as the CSU will now begin granting doctoral level degrees (Ed.D.) in education. Kevin Starr (the State Librarian) and others have argued that this small change is the beginning of a larger reorganization of higher education in California. The California Community Colleges system provides lower division "General Education" courses, whose credit units are transferable to the CSU and UC systems, as well as vocational education, remedial education, and continuing education programs. It awards certificates and associate degrees. It is composed of 109 colleges organized into 72 districts, serving a student population of over 2.9 million. Notable private universities and colleges include Stanford University, the University of Southern California (USC), the University of San Francisco (USF), Santa Clara University, the University of the Pacific, the Claremont Colleges, Occidental College and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) (which administers the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA). California has hundreds more private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions. This leads to many unique entertainment and educational opportunities for residents. For example, Southern California, with one of the highest densities of post-secondary institutions in the world, has a very large base of classically trained vocalists that compete in large choir festivals. Near Los Angeles, there are numerous art and film institutes, including the CalArts Institute. Professional sports teams California's large population has helped to make it home to many professional sports teams, including fifteen major professional sports league franchises, far more than any other state. Since the re-location of the Los Angeles Raiders and Los Angeles Rams in the 1990s, Greater Los Angeles Area is the largest metropolitan area not to have at least one team in each of the four major sports league. The San Francisco Bay Area has their four major league teams spread in three cities, San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. California hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, as well as the 1994 FIFA World Cup and several Super Bowls. Each year, the California State Games take place here. Major league teams Major League Baseball National Basketball Association National Football League National Hockey League Major League Soccer New MLS team in San Jose, California for 2007. National Lacrosse League Major League Lacrosse Arena Football League arenafootball2 American Basketball Association Women's National Basketball Association Minor leagues See also | |||||||||||||||||
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