 California is located in the Southwest part of the United States.  California is ranked the 3 rd largest state, with a total area of 163,696 square miles.  Out of the 163,696 square miles only 7,916 square miles is water, which means California is 4.8% water.

 Mt. Whitney is the highest point - 14,494 feet, which is the highest mountain in the contiguous 48 states.  Death Valley is the lowest point feet below sea level, which is the lowest point in the United States.  San Bernardino County is the largest county not only in the California, but in the United States with a total area of 20,105 square miles.

 In 1850 California became the 31 st state of the United States.  In 1848 the population of California from 14,000 to 250,00 in just four years, due to the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma.  Between 150 and 1859 miners extracted 28,280,711 fine ounces of gold.

 There 280 state parks in California.  One of the best state parks is the Anza- Borrego Desert State Park, which is the largest state park, and the 2 nd largest state park in the Nation.  Another state park that is considered one of the best is the Big Basin Redwoods State Park, which is also one of the oldest state parks.

 There are four major lakes in California; › Lake Tahoe › Salton Sea › Owens Lake › Searles Lake

 There are three major rivers in California; › Sacramento River › Colorado River › San Joaquin River

 California has the largest economy in the United States and, in 1997, was the first state to reach the trillion-dollar benchmark in gross state product.  California grows more than 3.3 million tons of wine grapes on over 540,000 acres each year and produces roughly 90 percent of all U.S. wine.  Southern California has about 10,000 earthquakes each year, although only 15 to 20 of them have a magnitude greater than 4.0.