# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Our California Facts for Kids provide interesting and fun facts about the most populous state of the United States of America, its people, attractions and geographical superlatives and all other important facts about California you really should know.

California Facts for Kids

Top 30 California Facts | USA

1. California is the most populous state of the USA and the country's third largest. The state on the West Coast of the United States is about a quarter of the size of the country's largest state Alaska. California is roughly the same size as Germany or slightly larger than Japan.

2. California is located in the Western United States and borders neighbouring country Mexico.

3. California's capital is called Sacramento. The state capital is located about 145 km/ 90 miles to the northeast of San Francisco, the commercial center of the state. Sacramento is home to about half a million inhabitants.

4. The Pacific Ocean borders the state of California which has the third longest coastline of all US states with 1,350 km/ 840 miles.

5. California borders the US states of Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east and Arizona to the south east.

6. California has a population of about 40 million people. The majority of the people in California live in western California and coastal regions of the state.

7. Los Angeles is California's largest and most populous city with about ten million inhabitants.

8. California houses two of the most populous US cities: Los Angeles is the second most populous city of the USA - after New York City, which is located at the east coast of the USA. The other large city is San Francisco with a population of about 3.3 million people living in the metropolitan area.

California Facts | Geography

9. California has a varied topography. In California you can find rugged coastlines, sandy beaches, fertile valleys, snowy mountains and dry deserts with unique plants and wildlife such as in the Joshua Tree National Park.

The most important geographical features are the coast along the Pacific Ocean, the fertile Central Valley, the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Mojave Desert which is the smallest and driest desert of North America.

The Sierra Nevada mountain range dominates the eastern parts of the state. The name Sierra Nevada is Spanish and means snowy mountains.

10. The highest mountain of California is located in the Sierra Nevada mountains and is called Mount Whitney with a height of 4,421 m/ 14,505 ft. The Palisade Glacier in the Sierra Nevada is the southernmost glacier of the USA.

California is the state with the highest point of the contiguous United States which is Mount Whitney and the lowest point which is the Death Valley.

11. The Death Valley is a place in the Mojave desert in Southern California, where the hottest temperatures on earth were ever measured. 54ºC or 130ºF were measured here in June 2021.

12. California is located along the Pacific Ring of Fire which means earthquakes happen regularly in this state. Several fault lines also run through the state, of these the largest and most prominent is the San Andreas Fault.

The 1,200 km/ 750 miles long San Andreas fault is formed by the boundaries of the North American tectonic plate and the Pacific Plate. The fault moves about 5 - 7 cm/ per year and is one of the most active fault zones on our planet.

California Facts | Geography Superlatives

13. There are more than 100 rivers in California. The longest river flowing entirely in California is the Sacramento River with a length of 640 km/ 400 miles.

The river flows through the California's Central Valley and runs into the Pacific Ocean at the San Francisco Bay.

14. The largest lake that is entirely situated in the state of California is Clear Lake and said to be one of the oldest lakes in North America.

15. The largest lake in California is Lake Tahoe and shared with the state of Nevada. The largest alpine lake in North America, Lake Tahoe is also the second deepest lake in the USA.

16. California is known for the country's largest, tallest and oldest trees. In the Sierra Nevada, you will find all of these! In Sequoia National Park you can admire the world's largest and tallest trees, the Giant Sequoia trees.

California Facts | Name and State Symbols

17. The name California is derived from a Spanish novel written by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, that was popular with the Spanish explorers who first set foot on the Baja California peninsula.

18. The state has a nickname: "The Golden State". This name refers to the first discovery of gold in the state in 1848.

The motto of the state is: " Eureka" (meaning "I have found it") and relates to the discovery of a new method to determine the purity of gold during the goldrush of the 1840s and 1850s.

19. California is the 31th state of the USA and gained statehood in 1850 under President Millard Fillmore.

20. The California state colours are gold and blue. The yellow poppy (cup of gold) is the state flower. The grizzly bear is the official state animal of California. The bear ( urs us californicus) is shown also on the California state flag.

California Facts | Animals

21. Common animals in California are amongst others the sea otters, the California sea lions, blue whales and fin whales, alligator lizards, the unique California newts, garter snakes, squirrels, bobcats, racoons and black bears. Among the common birds are the robin, gold finch, the Californian quail (which is the official state bird) and the golden eagle.

The Californian condor, however, is a critical endangered species. This condor has the largest wingspan of any North American bird and is the largest land bird on the North American continent.

California Facts | Californian People

22. Indigenous people have moved about and settled in the region of today's state of California for almost 20,000 years. The California Natives belong to various groups and once spoke many different languages and up to 135 dialects. Today California counts the largest percentage of First Peoples in their population with a population of over 330,000 Native Americans.

Over 110 Native American groups in California are recognised by the government. The Yurok form the largest group of Native Americans in California. Every fourth Friday in September is celebrated as California Native American Day.

23. The first non-native settlers were Spanish colonizers. Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo who led the first European expedition of the Californian coastline arrived at San Diego Bay in 1542. The first permanent mission was established in 1769.

24. Gold was discovered in California in 1848. The gold rush brought many more new settlers to the region during the 1850s.

25. About 63% Californians say they are Christians, 28% of these are Catholics. But California is home to people of all different ethnic groups and different religions.

26. The Sikh Gurdwara in San José is the largest gurdwara or Sikh temple outside of India! And the Yamahiro Pagoda is the oldest building in California. The Japanese pagoda is over 600 years old and was tranported from Japan to California in Hollywood.

The oldest building remaining from colonial times is the chapel of the San Juan Capistrano mission building from 1782.

Facts about California | Economy

27. California's economy is very strong and in general larger than that of Australia or even the economy of the whole African continent! The most important industry sectors of California are the film industry, the high tech industry and the agricultural sector with its almond, grapes and dairy production.

California's film industry is the oldest and largest in the world and the Silicon Valley is known as the global center for innovation and world leading high tech companies.

California is also known for the cotton and jeans industry. About 75% of all designer jeans in the world come from California!

28. California is the world's largest producer of almonds. Eight out of ten almonds eaten worldwide were grown in California. Besides almonds, other nuts such as pecans, walnuts and pistachios are also grown here.

99% of all walnuts grown in the USA come from California and constitute about ¾ of the world's walnuts!

More Facts about California

29. California Facts | Time Zones: Almost all regions of the large state apply one time zone. The Pacific Time Zone (UTC-8:00) is shared also with bordering states of Nevada and Oregon. California also adheres to daylight saving time during the warmer summer months from second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November.

30. California Facts | Famous Landmarks: Among the most visited tourist sites and landmarks in California are:

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco - California's most iconic attraction

Sequoia National Forest - highest and biggest redwood trees in the world - General Sherman tree

Yosemite National Park - granite cliffs and home to the Southern Sierra Miwok people

Pacific Coast Highway - cruising along the Pacific Ocean coast

Universal Studios Hollywood - Harry Potter's wizard world

Disneyland Adventure Park - Disney's original fantasy fun park

Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles - more than 2,700 stars

Popular Pages

Useful Resources for California Facts:

This page was last updated on 5 March 2024

California State Library. "State Symbols" Library.ca.gov.Last accessed 5 March 2024

Jennifer Leman. "The Hottest Place on Earth Popular Mechanics. 15 September 2021. Last accessed 5 March 2024

American Museum of Natural History. "The Power of Plate Tectonics." . Last accessed 5 March 2024

National Parks Service. "Yosemite - Junior Ranger Guide Book." . Last accessed 5 March 2024

SMBMI. "California Native American Day." nativeamericanday.org. Last accessed 5 March 2024

Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. "Walk of Fame - History". Walk of Fame. Last accessed 5 March 2024

Image Credits on California Facts page: Shutterstock.com and wikipedia commons; Hollywood Walk of Fame by Oninchpunch/ shutterstock.com; Native Americans image by Cassiohabib/shutterstock.com; Google headquarters image by Uladzik Kryhin
Return from California Facts to Kids-World-Travel-Guide Homepage

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
California Facts for Kids | California for Kids | Geography | Travel

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our 30 California facts for kids will provide useful and fascinating facts about the western US state.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
California Indians

Native Americans lived in California for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Together these tribes are called California Indians. They include the Shasta, Pomo, and Chumash tribes who lived along the Pacific coast. The Cahuilla and Mojave lived in the southeast and the Miwok, Maidu, and Yokuts in the Central Valley. The land of the California Indians provided what they needed to survive, which made California one of the most densely populated culture areas of the United States. They were more settled and less in conflict with one another than other Native American groups in North America.

Spanish Exploration

Spaniards were the first Europeans in California. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the land for Spain in 1542. More than 40 years later Pedro de Unamuno sailed from the Philippines to California. It is thought he anchored in Morro Bay (about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles) on October 18, 1587. He and some of his crew (many of them Filipino) went ashore and explored inland for a few days.

In the 1590s another Spanish pilot, Sebastian Rodríguez Cermeño, sailed across the Pacific from the Philippines. His ship was wrecked off the coast of northern California in 1595. He built a small boat to sail to Mexico. As the boat sailed south, Cermeño made surveys of the California coast until they arrived at a bay he called the Bay of Pescadores, which was either San Pedro or San Diego Bay. In 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno explored the coast and gave many places their present names. These include San Diego, Santa Catalina Island, Santa Barbara, and Monterey.

In 1769 the Spanish founded a religious settlement called a mission near what is now San Diego. The mission was called San Diego de Alcalá. During the next 50 years 20 more missions were established along the coast. The Spanish government did this to protect its territory from other foreign powers. The Spanish thought the best way to protect California was to make Native Americans become loyal Spanish citizens. The Spanish also wanted to convert the Indigenous people to Roman Catholicism (a branch of Christianity). The missionaries forced the Indigenous people who lived near each mission to live and work there. Even though the people came from different tribes, the Spanish grouped them together and named them according to the mission, such as Luiseño ( San Luis Rey de Francia), Diegueño (San Diego de Alcalá), and Juaneño ( San Juan Capistrano). The Indigenous people received little education, and many died from European diseases and forced labor. Some groups revolted.

Four of the missions in California had presidios. Presidios were military forts. Soldiers lived there. They protected the missions from invaders or from Native groups who did not like the missions.

In many cases, towns, which were called pueblos, and large ranches grew around the missions. The Spanish settlers who owned and lived on the ranches around the missions were called Californios. The Californios had a lot of power in the region.

Mexican Rule

In 1821, Mexico won independence from Spain. The Mexican government soon began to take the mission lands away from the church and to divide the lands (called ranchos) among the Californios. Each rancho produced large herds of cattle. The Native population was forced to work on the ranchos.

United States

Between the 1820s and the 1840s, Mexico and the United States competed for California. Mexico owned the territory and refused to sell it to the United States. In 1846, Californians around Sonoma rebelled against Mexican rule and joined the United States in fighting the Mexican War. The peace treaty that ended the war in 1848 gave California and other land to the United States. Soon after the war ended, the California legislature made it legal to enslave the Native population. Another law gave settlers the right to kill Native Americans, which led to the deaths of 9,000-16,000 Indigenous people.

Gold was discovered near Coloma, in northern California, in 1848. This find started a gold rush. The arrival of tens of thousands of gold hunters called forty-niners (because many of them arrived in 1849) changed California. The population surge helped lead California to statehood in 1850.

Many more people came to California after railroad service from the eastern United States began in 1869. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, thousands of homeless farm families moved to the state hoping to earn a living. California's industry greatly expanded during World War II as aircraft plants and shipyards hired thousands of new employees.

In the early 21st century, California continued to attract new residents, including many from Mexico. The state had to deal with such issues as creating affordable housing and educating people from many different backgrounds.

California was one of the states hit hardest during the coronavirus pandemic that started in 2020. Two years later California had recorded nearly 9 million cases of the disease, and more than 85,000 residents had died.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
More people live in California than in any other U.S. state. About one-eighth of the country's entire population lives in the state. California even has more residents than...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
California - Feat. Rapper MC Val the Valley Quail | 50 Birds, 50 States

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
More than 10,000 years ago, the first people arrived in what is now California. They walked from Asia, crossing on a strip of land that’s now submerged under a body of water between Russia and the United States called the Bering Strait.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
California Basics in 2 min for Kids | Simple Facts about California

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
California for Kids | US States Learning Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Initial Conquest | California History [ep.1]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Mission System | California History [ep.2]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Mexican Era | California History [ep.3]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Bear Flag Revolt | California History [ep.4]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Gold Rush | California History [ep.5]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
California Gold Rush For Kids | Bedtime History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Travel for Kids| Children's Books Read Aloud: CALIFORNIA | G is for Golden|

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kids Books about California: REDWOODS | Kids Books Read Aloud | Redwood National Park

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
If You Were a Kid During the California Gold Rush-Read Aloud for Kids!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The California Gold Rush - U.S. History for Kids!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Best Places to Visit in California - Travel Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Welcome to Walk Through California ™! This presentation is designed to allow fourth grade students to actively participate in a lively retelling of California's rich history. Through the use of games, music, and storytelling, history will come alive!

Walk Through California is California Weekly's first Walk Through presentation and continues to be presented to thousands of classrooms each year. The program focuses on major events that shaped our great state of California. Drama, dance, games, and music support students' listening skills, vocabulary development, history and geography standards. A large topographical map of California is built for students to experience California's geography hands-on.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to Walk Through California ™! This presentation is designed to allow fourth grade students to actively participate in a lively retelling of California's rich history. Through the use of games, music, and storytelling, history will come alive! Walk Through California is California Weekly's first Walk Through presentation and continues to be presented to thousands of classrooms each year.