California State Overview
Capital: Sacramento
Estimated 2004 population: 35,893,799
Change from 2000: +2,022,151
2004 housing units: 12,804,702
Housing units change from 2000 - 2004: +559,626
| Top California Cities | |
| Carlsbad Castro Valley Corona Coronado Costa Mesa Dana Point El Cajon Freemont Glendale Hayward Hermosa Beach Irvine La Mesa Laguna Beach Lake Arrowhead Livermore Los Gatos Manhattan Beach Milpitas Mission Viejo Montecito Murieta Napa Newport Beach |
Oakland Palm Desert Palm Springs Palo Alto Sacramento San Bernardino San Clemente San Diego San Dimas San Jose San Juan Capistrano San Mateo San Ramon Santa Barbara Santa Clarita Santa Cruz San Francisco Walnut Creek Yorba Linda Palos Verdes Estates Pasadena Paso Robles Roseville |
California Economy
California leads the 50 states in economic output and total personal income. In the 1960s, when it became the nation's most populous state, California also surpassed Iowa in agricultural production and New York in value added by manufacturing.
California has an enormously productive economy, which for a nation would be one of the ten largest in the world.
Although agriculture is gradually yielding to industry as the core of the state's economy, California leads the nation in the production of fruits and vegetables, including carrots, lettuce, onions, broccoli, tomatoes, strawberries, and almonds.
The state's most valuable crops are grapes, cotton, flowers, and oranges; dairy products, however, contribute the single largest share of farm income, and California is again the national leader in this sector.
The state also produces the major share of U.S. domestic wine.
California's farms are highly productive as a result of good soil, a long growing season, and the use of modern agricultural methods. Irrigation is critical, especially in the San Joaquin Valley and Imperial Valley. The gathering and packing of crops is done largely by seasonal migrant labor, primarily Mexicans. Fishing is another important industry.
Much of the state's industrial production depends on the processing of farm produce and upon such local resources as petroleum, natural gas, lumber, cement, and sand and gravel. Since World War II, however, manufacturing, notably of electronic equipment, computers, machinery, transportation equipment, and metal products, has increased enormously.
Defense industries, a base of the economy especially in S California, have declined following the end of the cold war, a serious blow to the state. But many high-tech companies and small low-tech, often low-wage, companies remain in S California, in what is said to be the largest manufacturing belt in the United States. Farther north, “Silicon Valley,” between Palo Alto and San Jose, so called because it is the nation's leading producer of semiconductors, is also a focus of software development.
California continues to be a major U.S. center for motion-picture, television film, and related entertainment industries, especially in Hollywood and Burbank.
Top California Attractions
Tourism also is an important source of income. Disneyland, Sea World, and other theme parks draw millions of visitors each year, as do San Francisco with its numerous attractions and several entertainment-dominated Los Angeles–area communities. California also abounds in natural beauty, seen especially in its many national parks and forests—home to such attractions as Yosemite Falls and giant sequoia trees—and along miles of Pacific beaches.
