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- California Statehood: September 9, 1850
- Contact Information: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,
State Capitol Building, Sacramento, CA 95814, governor@governor.ca.gov
- State Animal: the California grizzly bear
- State Bird: the California quail (Lophortyx californica)
- State Color: combination of blue and gold
- State Fish: the golden trout (Salmo agua-bonita)
- State Flower: poppy, Eschsholtzia californica
- State Insect: the California dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice
- State Marine Mammal: California gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus
- State Motto: Eureka meaning, "I have found it"
- State of California Website: www.ca.gov
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In 1849, in the midst of the gold rush, the American scholar,
George Ticknor, found the name California in the Spanish
romance, "Las Sergas de Esplandian", by the Spanish writer,
Carci Ordonez de Montalvo, published sometime in the
early part of the Sixteenth Century. In 1862, another
American man of letters, Edward Everett Hale, claimed
that the name of our State is no more than a transfer
name, lifted bodily from the Spanish romance. In this
romance, the name stands for a fabulous country, full
of gold and pearls, inhabited by Amazons ruled by a queen,
Calafia. Becoming known, as it did, shortly after the
discovery of the new world, it may have been one of
those utopias for which explorers and navigators eagerly
searched. The hope of humanity for a paradise on earth
had been in the minds of the people ever since Adam
and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden, and the
discovery of a new continent gave impetus to this
wishful thinking. Hence, California might have been
in the minds of navigators, just like Quivira, El
Dorado, The Seven Cities of Cibola, and other
imaginary realms.
At any rate, California is the only state in the
Union whose name was transferred from the realm of
utopian fantasy to geographical reality, and after
several centuries it has more than fulfilled what
the creator of the name symbolically implied.
(from: Gudde, Erwin G. "The Name of Our State." California Blue Book. 1958 ed. Sacramento: State Printing Office. 651-652.)
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| Population - total, 2000 |
33,871,648 |
| Population - percent change, 1990 to 2000 |
13.8 |
| Population - percent American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut, 1996 |
1.0 |
| Population - percent Asian or Pacific Islander, 1996 |
11.6 |
| Population - percent Black, 1996 |
7.4 |
| Population - percent Hispanic (may be of any race), 1996 |
30.2 |
| Population - percent White, 1996 |
80.0 |
| Land area in square miles 1990 |
155973.2 |
| Money income - median household income (dollars), 1993 |
34,128 |
| Poverty - percent persons below poverty, 1993 |
17.4 |
| Civilian labor force (BLS) - number, 1996 |
15,596,139 |
| Civilian labor force (BLS) - unemployment rate, 1996 |
7.2 |
| Private nonfarm establishments - total, 1995 |
740,583 |
| Private nonfarm establishments - net change, 1990 to 1995 |
-5103 |
| New private housing units authorized by building permits - total, 1997 |
109,589 |
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| from: USA Counties and Census 2000 Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File [California].
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