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Fast Facts
California
state, United States
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Also known as: Golden State
Seal of California
The state bird is the California valley quail.
The golden poppy is the state flower of California.
- Capital:
- Sacramento
- Population:
- (2020) 39,538,223; (2022 est.) 39,029,342
- Governor:
- Gavin Newsom (Democrat)
- Date Of Admission:
- September 9, 1850
- U.S. Senators:
- Dianne Feinstein (Democrat) Alex Padilla (Democrat)
Recent News
Jun. 8, 2023, 7:03 PM ET (AP)
California's Newsom pushes constitutional amendment to tighten gun access amid 2024 campaign
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution that would enshrine into law regulations on guns, including implementing universal background checks and raising the minimum age to buy a firearm to 21
Jun. 8, 2023, 6:04 PM ET (AP)
DeSantis recruiters eyed Catholic church for migrant flights that bishop calls 'reprehensible'
Mark Seitz, the Roman Catholic bishop of El Paso, Texas, tells The Associated Press that Florida Gov_ Ron DeSantis' flights of migrants from the Texas border to California are “reprehensible” and “not morally acceptable.”
Jun. 8, 2023, 2:20 PM ET (AP)
In unusual orca sighting, tour spots at least 20 killer whales off San Francisco
Roughly two dozen killer whales were spotted last month off the coast of San Francisco in an uncommonly large grouping of orcas for Northern California
Jun. 7, 2023, 6:18 PM ET (AP)
DeSantis defends flying migrants to California as he meets with sheriffs near border
Ron DeSantis is defending his state’s decision to fly migrants from the southern border to California
Jun. 7, 2023, 5:46 PM ET (AP)
Black workers at California Tesla factory allege rampant racism, seek class-action status
Tesla may face a class-action lawsuit after 240 Black factory workers in California described rampant racism and discrimination at the electric automaker’s San Francisco Bay Area plant, including frequent use of racial slurs and references to the manufacturing site as a plantation or slave ship
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)