Origin of Name:Named by Spanish explorers after California, the mythical island paradise in Garci Ordonez de Montalvo's sixteenth century book, Las Sergas de Esplandian
State Capital: Sacramento
State Nickname: Golden State - from the great quantities of gold discovered there in 1840's
State Motto: Eureka or "I have found it!"
State Flag: 
The state flag, adopted in 1911, was first
raised in
California during the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846 by settlers rebelling
against Mexican rule. The flag shows a white field with a grizzly bear
standing on a patch of green grass above the words "California
Republic"; There is a red star in the upper left-hand corner and a red
stripe across the bottom.
.
State Bird: California valley quail
State Marine Mammal:California gray whale
State Animal:California grizzly bear
State Fish: Golden Trout
State Flower: Golden Poppy
State Tree: California redwood
State Fish: Golden trout
State Insect: California dog-face butterfly
State Mineral: Native gold
State Rock: Serpentine
State Fossil: Saber-toothed cat
Population Density: 149 people per sq. km
Population Distribution: 91 percent of California's people live incities or town. Los Angeles, California's most populated city, ranked second in population size in the United States. Nearly one-third of the state's population (7,377,503) lives in the Los Angeles-Long Beach metropolitan area, which is Californi's largest metropolitan area. Twenty-five other California cities have populations over 100,00, including San Diego, eighth largest city in the nation; San Francisco, tenth in the nation; and San Jose, seventeenth in the nation.
Los Angeles .............2,966,850 San Diego..................875,538 San Francisco..............678,974 San Jose...................629,546 Long Beach.................361,334 Oakland....................339,337 Sacramento.................275,741 Anaheim....................219,494 Fresno.....................217,289
Highest Point: Mount Whitney, 14,494 ft., also the highest point
in the contiguous United States.
Lowest Point: Death Valley, 282 ft. below sea level, also the
lowest point in the continental United States.
Greatest Distances:
Area: 158,693 sq. mi.
Rank in Area Among the States: Third