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California () is the most populous state in the United States, as well as the third largest by area. It is located on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean, and 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. Its four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. The state is home to eight of the nation's fifty largest cities. It is known for its varied climate and geography as well as its diverse population.

The area known as Alta California was colonized by the Spanish Empire beginning in the late 18th century. It and the rest of Mexico became an independent republic in 1821. In 1846, California broke away from Mexico, and, after the Mexican-American War, Mexico ceded California to the United States. It became the 31st state admitted to the United States on September 9, 1850.

California is the third-largest U.S. state by land area after Alaska and Texas. Its geography ranges from the Pacific coast to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, to Mojave desert areas in the southeast and the Redwood-Douglas fir forests of the northwest. The center of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world.

The California Gold Rush dramatically changed California with a large influx of people and an economic boom that caused San Francisco to grow from a tiny hamlet of tents to a world-renowned boomtown in the 19th century. The early 20th century was marked by the establishment of Los Angeles as the center of the American entertainment industry, in addition to the growth of a large tourism sector in the state as a whole. Along with California's prosperous agricultural industry, other industries include aerospace, petroleum, and computer and information technology. If California were a separate country, it would rank among the ten largest economies in the world, with a GDP similar to that of Italy, and it would be 35th among the most populous countries.