California
by Alison F.
California is a very fascinating state. It is located in the southwestern part of the United States. Oregon boards California on the north, by Nevada and Arizona on the east and Mexico on the south. The Pacific Ocean touches the western part of California.
California has cool to mild winters, except in the high mountains, and warm to hot summers. It has a wet and a dry season. Precipitation mostly falls during the period from October to April. Death Valley gets less than 2 inches of rain a year. The hottest temperature in Death Valley is 134º F.
California is the third largest state in the United States. It covers 158,869 square miles. It runs 800 miles along the Pacific Ocean. California is one of fastest growing state in the country. It has a population of 31,878,234. Sacramento is the capital of California. It is located near the center of the state. John Stutter who was from Switzerland in 1850 founded it.
Los Angeles is the states largest city and it is also the second largest city in the country. "City of Angles" is a Spanish name for Los Angeles. For short it is called LA. When people think of Los Angeles, they think of movies and movie stars, like Beverly Hills and Disneyland.
San Francisco is a very popular city in California. San Francisco is known as the "City by the Golden Gate" and the "City of Hills." San Francisco it is located in northern California. It is famous for the Golden Gate Bridge, trolley cars, fisherman’s wharf, and Alcatraz Prison. San Diego is located near Mexico, and it is right on the Pacific Ocean.
California has a variety of symbols. Like a state animal that is the grizzly bear and is also on the state flag. There is also a state bird that is the Valley Quail. It is known for its hardiness. The state’s colors are blue and gold.
There are many famous people who come from California. Some people are Sally Ride, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Robert Frost, and Herbert Hover. Sally Rides was the second female person to fly in space. She was born in Los Angels 1951. Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States in 1980. He was also a movie star and the governor of California. Richard Nixon was born in California also 37th president. Robert Frost, a famous poet was born in California. John Steinbeck is a famous writer. He was born in California. Herbert Hoover was the 31st president.
14,494 feet is the highest point in California. This is Mount Whitney. Death Valley has the lowest point in the United States. It is a dry desert. Along the coast of California is the San Andreas Fault. It is an area where there are weak points in the rock under the surface of the Earth. If the rocks move an earthquake happens. California has had bad earthquakes before. In 1906, San Francisco had a terrible earthquake. Most for the cities were ruined and over 450 people died.
California is named after a beautiful island in an Old Spanish story. In 1542, a Spanish explorer, Juan Cabrillo, discovered San Diego. Spain ruled California for 100’s of years. Mexico and Spain had a war and Mexico won.
In the 1800’s, settlers came with fur trappers and farmers, came by wagon trains, it was a hard trip for many people and people died. California became a territory.
In 1850, California became the 31st state. In 1869, railroads were built all over the country. California offered everything, gold, farms, forest, ocean and petroleum fields.
California’s weather is perfect for all kinds of recreational activities. You can swim, surf, boat, fish, and water-ski in the ocean and lakes. You can also hike, walk, roller-blade, bike along side the lakes and oceans in any season. If you like to watch baseball, basketball, football, and hockey, California has many professional teams.
California’s leading industry product is electronic and electrical equipment. They make radios, televisions, telephones, and semi-conductors. The second leading industry product is the manufacturing of machines. This includes mostly computers. Many computers companies are located in Silicon Valley. The third largest industry product is food processing. This includes drying, freezing and packaging of fruit, vegetables, fish, and live stock. The wine industry is an important part of California. Almost all of the wine made in the US is made in California.
Almost every crop grown in the US is grown in California. It produces more fruits and vegetables than any other state. It is second in the production of cotton, rice, citrus, pears and tomatoes. There are a lot of cattle and sheep raised in California.
California has a variety of natural resources. They have rivers that provide hydroelectric power. Many types of trees, like the redwood, sequoia, fir, and pine trees, are used in the lumber industry. California soil produces almost every type of crop that is grown in the US.
California is one of the top produces of petroleum and natural gas. It also produces platium, stone, gypsum, iodine, and mercury. You can still find gold in California, but just not as much as before.
I hope you decide to visit California and see all the beautiful and special cites I spoke about. It is an interesting state to learn about and to visit. Enjoy your time there!
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