Nickname: The Golden State Date Ratified: September 9, 1850 (31st) Capital: Sacramento [caption id="attachment_1979" align="aligncenter" width="210" caption="Map of California"] [/caption]

• California is the most populous state in the United States, and has been since the 1960s. With a population of 36 million, it has 12 million more residents than the number 2 state, Texas.
• California has the unique distinction of being the site of the highest and lowest points in the continental U.S.; Mt. Whitney and Death Valley.
• The California State Railroad Museum, in Sacramento, is the largest museum of its kind in North America.
• At 3 million acres, San Bernandino County, in southern California, is the largest county in the U.S.
• The Hollywood Bowl is the world's largest outdoor amphitheater.
• The first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was awarded to Jane Woodward in 1960.
• San Francisco Bay is the world's largest landlocked harbor.
• California was the first state whose Gross State Product reached a trillion dollars, and has the largest economy of any state. In fact, California has the 7th largest economy in the world, when compared to independent countries.
• California is 1 of 4 states, the others being Vermont, Hawaii, and Texas, that was a sovereign nation prior to statehood. The short-lived California Republic was declared during the Mexican-American War, and was claimed as land seceded by Mexico following the war.
• The state flag of California was adopted in 1911, and is based on the flag flown during the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt. It depicts a California Grizzly Bear, a subspecies of grizzly bear that is now extinct.

[caption id="attachment_1980" align="aligncenter" width="210" caption="Flag of California"] [/caption] Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed, or follow EiH on Twitter or you could miss out on your chance to win a USA License Plate Map Fine Art Poster or a $50 gift card to Amazon.com!