California is a state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is delimited by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexican state of Baja California. With an area of 414,000 km² it is the third largest state in the United States in size, after Alaska and Texas.
Divided in two by the Sacramento, and San Joaquin River, the northern portion, the Sacramento Valley and the southern portion, the San Joaquin Valley; both areas receive their names from the rivers that transit them.
In the middle of the state lies the California Central Valley, bounded by the coastal mountain ranges in the west, the Sierra Nevada to the east, the Cascade Range in the north and the Tehachapi Mountains in the south; California is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world.
The Sierra Nevada includes the highest peak in the contiguous forty-eight states, Mount Whitney, at 4,421 m, the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park (home of the giant sequoia trees, the largest living organisms on Earth), and the deep freshwater lake, Lake Tahoe, the largest lake in the state for its volume.
California also is the most populous U.S. state. Its four largest and major metropolitan areas are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. And these cities include some of the wealthiest per-capita areas in the U.S.
Also it is home of several significant economic regions, such as Hollywood (entertainment), Southern California (aerospace), the Central Valley (agriculture), Silicon Valley (computers and high tech), and wine producing regions, such as the Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, Southern California's Santa Barbara, and Paso Robles areas.
In terms of jobs, the five largest sectors in California are trade transportation and utilities, government, professional and business services; education and health services; and leisure and hospitality. In terms of output, the five largest sectors are financial services, trade, transportation and utilities; education and health services; government and manufacturing.
Although agriculture contributes the least toward employment and output, it remains a very important sector in California's economy. Factors contributing to the growth in sales per acre include more intensive use of active farmlands and technological improvements in crop production. Other industries include aerospace, petroleum, computer, and information technology. California contains more forestland than any other state except Alaska.
Lake Tahoe is a popular ski and snow board destination in the winter and a wilderness playground in the summer. San Francisco is a major tourist destination with the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Union Square, and Alcatraz, being some of the more well-known attractions. Santa Barbara combines beach sand and wine country.
San Diego is all about Mediterranean like weather, beach, sun, and a pretty good zoo. Los Angeles becoming the center of the entertainment industry, in addition to the growth of a large tourism sector in the state.
California is famous for earthquakes due to a number of faults, in particular the San Andreas Fault. It is vulnerable to tsunamis, floods, droughts, Santa Ana winds, wildfires, and landslides of steep terrain, and also has several inactive volcanoes.
California climate varies from region to region; there are many different elevations from mountains to deserts, it is according to where you are going. It climate varies from Mediterranean to sub arctic.
Much of regions of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with cool, rainy winters and dry summers. In the spring, among the countless rows of grapes, mustard and wildflowers bloom. The summer month sees long, hot days under the sun. Autumn is still warm and pleasant.