Featured California Cities and Counties

Agoura Hills Agoura Alameda County Alameda Albany American Canyon Anaheim Hills Antioch Aptos Ben Lomond Benicia Berkeley Big Sky Bonny Doon Boulder Creek Brea Brookdale Calabasas Camarillo Capistrano Beach Capitola Castro Valley Conejo Valley Contra Costa County Corralitos Cupertino Daly City Dana Point Discovery Bay Dos Vientos Dublin El Cerrito El Sobrante Emeryville Fairfield Felton Fremont Fullerton Garden Grove Hayward Hercules Hermosa Beach Hollywood Riviera La Selva Beach Lafayette Laguna Niguel Lake Sherwood Larkin Valley Live Oak Livermore Malibu Manhattan Beach Milpitas Mission Viejo Monarch Beach Moorpark Moraga Mountain View Napa County Newbury Park Newport Beach Oak Park Oakland Oceanside Orange Palo Alto Palos Verdes Estates Palos Verdes Pasatiempo Placentia Pleasanton Rancho Palos Verdes Redondo Beach Richmond Rio Del Mar Rodeo San Clemente San Francisco County San Francisco San Juan Capistrano San Leandro San Marcos San Mateo County San Pedro San Ramon Santa Clara County Scotts Valley Simi Valley Soquel Suisun Talega Thousand Oaks Topanga Torrance Union City Vallejo Ventura County Vista Walnut Creek Watsonville Westlake Village Wood Ranch Woodland Hills Yorba Linda

California Quick Facts

Stretching down the west coast along the Pacific Ocean, the state of California is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. It is the most populous state in the country, with a population of about 36 million and growing. The state is home to eight of the country's 50 largest cities in terms of population; the four largest are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco. The state is also the third-largest by land area, about 160,000 square miles. The state's geography ranges from the beaches of the Pacific coast to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east, from the Mojave desert areas in the southeast and the Redwood firs of the northwest. The state has a huge economy, one of the 10 largest in the world, and accounts for about 13% of the U.S.'s gross-domestic product.

Economic regions range from the entertainment industry of Hollywood, the aerospace of southern California, the agriculture in the Central Valley, the high-tech hub that is Silicon Valley and the wine regions of Northern California, like Napa and Sonoma Valley. The state is home to a number of airports, with major ones in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and San Diego. The state is known for its massive college system, in three tiers. The University of California system has 10 general campuses, the California State University system has 23 campuses and the California Community Colleges system includes 109 colleges. There are a number of small and large private universities here as well, like Stanford University, the University of Southern California and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Professional sports thrive here, with the state hosting three NFL football teams, five major-league baseball teams, and four NBA basketball teams.