II.

Land and Resources

With an area of 411,471 sq km (158,869 sq mi) California is the third-largest state in the United States (after Alaska and Texas). The state most resembles an arc; its extreme dimensions are about 1,052 km (654 mi) from north to south and about 945 km (587 mi) from east to west. California has a great complexity of relief, with elevations from 86 m (282 ft) below sea level in Death Valley (the lowest point on the continent), to 4,418 m (14,494 ft), at the top of Mount Whitney, one of the highest peaks in the United States.

A.

Physical Geography

The topography of California is extremely varied. There are four main regions: Central Valley and its surrounding mountain ranges; the Lower Californian ranges; the eastern basins, valleys, and deserts; and the coastline.

The great Central Valley is a downfolded basin with deep, fertile, alluvial soils, bordered on the east by the Sierra Nevada (a rugged granitic mountain range important both as a source of numerous rivers and for its scenic beauty); on the north by the Cascade Range (a volcanic tableland capped by cones) and the Klamath Mountains; and on the west by the Coast Ranges (low parallel ranges running north to south and interspersed with structural depressions, the best known of which are the Salinas Valley and the lowlands around San Francisco Bay). Major peaks include, in the Sierra Nevada, Mount Whitney (4,418 m/14,494 ft), and in the Cascade Range, the extinct volcano Mount Shasta at 4,317 m (14,162 ft) and the active volcano Lassen Peak (3,187 m/10,457 ft), which protrudes from the core of the ancient Mount Tehama.

The Lower California Ranges, to the south-west, comprise the Transverse Ranges in the north and the Peninsular Ranges to the south—both granitic ranges that differ from the Sierra Nevada in their lower elevations and absence of glacial features.

East of California’s mountain ranges are several arid basins and valleys, the most famous of which are the Great Basin in the north, which includes Death Valley, and the Mojave Desert in the south—which alone occupies approximately one fifth of the state.

The coastline is geologically unstable, with many faults, or fractures, the most prominent of which is the San Andreas Fault.

The longest river in California, the Sacramento, rises near Mount Shasta and flows south into San Francisco Bay. The second-longest is the San Joaquin River, which rises in the Sierra Nevada and flows into the Sacramento River near its mouth. Both rivers lie mostly in the Central Valley and with their numerous tributaries drain the Sierra Nevada, the Cascades, and much of the north-east. The principal lakes and other bodies of water include Lake Tahoe (shared with Nevada), Clear Lake, Honey Lake, Mono Lake, Shasta Lake, and Oroville Reservoir.

B.

Climate

The climate in California varies widely, but is essentially subtropical. Maritime influences and summer fog mean that the Pacific coast has mild winters and relatively cool summers. Inland the climate becomes more continental. The highest recorded temperature of 56.7° C (134° F) in Death Valley in 1913 is near the world record. Increasingly cooler climates are found at higher elevations in the mountains. The state’s lowest recorded temperature was -42.8° C (-45° F), recorded in 1937 north of Lake Tahoe.

C.

Plants and Animals

No state approaches the plant variety of California: approximately 40 per cent of species found naturally in the United States are indigenous to California.

Trees include redwoods, the world’s tallest trees, Douglas fir, and ponderosa pine. The world’s oldest known living tree, a Great Basin bristlecone pine, which is more than 4,000 years old, is found in eastern California. Stands of sierra redwood, or giant sequoia—many up to 2,000 years old—are found in the Sierra Nevada. California is also well known for its spring-blooming wildflowers; California poppy and lupine are among the most common. In the coastal areas south of San Francisco Bay, coast sage and grasslands are typical, replaced inland by chaparral, consisting of drought-tolerant evergreen shrubs. Indigo bushes, various species of cacti and shrubs, creosote bushes, and the Joshua tree—a giant lily with white flowers—are found in the south-eastern deserts.

California’s diversity of vegetation provides habitats for many different animals, including coyotes, deer, rattlesnakes, skunks, and foxes. Larger mammals, found principally in the north and in mountainous areas, are bear, elk, and pronghorn antelope.

D.

Resources, Products, and Industries

Despite depletion of reserves of gold, oil, natural gas, and mercury, California remains an important storehouse of minerals. Tungsten, borates, salt, oil, and natural gas are all present in significant quantities.

In 2000 California led all other states in agricultural output with farm sales of US$27.2 billion. Leading crops are grapes, hay, cotton, sugar beet, potatoes, and rice. Livestock and livestock products such as dairy products, beef cattle, eggs, and chickens are also significant. California accounts for about one tenth of the nation’s total production of timber. The state is also a major national producer of fish, supplying about 4 per cent of the value of the national catch.

Goods manufactured in the state include aircraft and other transport equipment, electronics, industrial machinery, scientific instruments, printed items, food, and manufactured metal goods. Several leading software and computer components manufacturing corporations, including Borland International, Inc., Hewlett-Packard Company, Intel Corporation, Netscape Communications, Oracle Corporation, and Sun Microsystems, Inc., have their headquarters in the state. Tourism and the film industry are also significant sources of income; major film studios and production companies based in California include 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Paramount, and Universal. The economy suffered a recession in the early 1990s, fuelled by cutbacks in aerospace and other military-related industries, coupled with a slowdown in housing construction.