California: The Golden State

California is located on the west coast of United States. It is the most populous and third largest state in the United States. In the 1700’s, much of California was colonized by Spain. In 1821, the First Mexican Empire was established, which contained California. American settlers in Sonoma declared independence of a California Republic in 1846. A consequence of the Mexican-American War was that Mexico ceded land, including modern-day California, to the United States. California was admitted to the union on September 9, 1850, as the thirty-first state. From the gold rush in the mid 1800’s in northern California, to the emergence of Los Angeles as a major entertainment center in the early 1900’s, to the technology boom of Silicon Valley more recently, California has not only changed the times but changed with them.

Californiconomy

California is an economic power house. By itself, California’s economy ranks eighth in the world. From its heritage as an agricultural state, the California economy has diversified into finance, aerospace, entertainment, government, real estate, high technology, manufacturing, professional services, real estate, health care, education, tourism, transportation, and trade. Agriculture remains a strong contributor as well. Silicon Valley is the famed region on the San Francisco Peninsula that is home to such world renowned high technology companies as EBay, Intel, Google, and Oracle.

Education: Build It and They Will Come

Educational attainment among the California populace roughly mirrors that of the U.S. as a whole. As of 2000, roughly 77% of its residents aged 25 and older had completed high school and roughly 27% had completed college. There are 399 institutions of higher education in California. The state has a “three-tier” system of higher learning. The California State University system, focused on undergraduates, has over 433,000 students and 23 campuses. The University of California system, oriented towards research, has over 191,000 students at ten campuses. California’s third educational tier, the California Community Colleges system, has more than 2.9 million students at 112 campuses. Among California’s elite private institutions of higher learning are the Claremont Colleges, Occidental College, and Stanford University.

The Crime Scene in California: Most Crimes on a Long Decline

California has seen a generally decreasing trend in crime from earlier this decade. Indeed, most major forms of crime in California, including violent crime, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery have seen prolonged steady declines over the past several decades. In 2006, California ranked 14th among U.S. states for violent crimes with 533 per 100,000 population.

The California Population – Mixed Politically

California has a population of roughly 37 million people. Its population has been growing slowly, at a rate of just 1% per year in the past decade. In the early 1900’s, California was decidedly Republican in its politics. More recently, however, California has elected both Democrats and Republicans to state and federal office. Among more than 13.3 million votes cast in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, California voters chose Democratic candidate Barack Obama over Republican candidate John McCain by a ratio of over three to two. From the state that gave to the U.S. the Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, this is a noteworthy shift.