California
state, United States
- Capital:
- Sacramento
- Population:
- (2020) 39,538,223; (2023 est.) 38,965,193
- Governor:
- Gavin Newsom (Democrat)
- Date Of Admission:
- September 9, 1850
- U.S. Senators:
- Dianne Feinstein (Democrat)
- Alex Padilla (Democrat)
Recent News
May 23, 2024, 11:03 PM ET (AP)
General Sherman passes health check but world's largest trees face growing climate threats
May 23, 2024, 9:45 PM ET (AP)
Arizona doctors can come to California to perform abortions under new law signed by Gov. Newsom
May 23, 2024, 7:18 PM ET (AP)
Families of Marines killed in 2022 Osprey crash sue aircraft manufacturers Boeing, Bell, Rolls Royce
May 23, 2024, 9:58 AM ET (AP)
Charlie Colin, founding member of the band Train, dies at 58 after slipping in shower
May 22, 2024, 5:43 PM ET (AP)
Feds face trial over prison guards' abuse of incarcerated women at now-shuttered California facility
California, constituent state of the United States of America. It was admitted as the 31st state of the union on September 9, 1850, and by the early 1960s it was the most populous U.S. state. No version of the origin of California’s name has been fully accepted, but there is wide support for the contention that it derived from an early 16th-century Spanish novel, Las sergas de Esplandián (“The Adventures of Esplandián”), that described a paradisiacal island full of gold and precious stones called California. The influence of the Spanish settlers of the 18th and 19th centuries is evident in ...(100 of 10123 words)