Destinations / The Best Places to Visit in California, USA / Mystery Spot,Santa Cruz, California

California is a federal state of the United States of America .
It is a marvelous state which stretches along the southern half of the west coast of the continental United States.
With a population of over 36 million inhabitants and an area of 423,970 km 2 , California is the third largest state in area (after Alaska and Texas ) and the most populous state in the U.
S.
.
  About California   The area was inhabited by Native Americans since long before explorers from Europe to come and start sporadically in the 16th century .
Spain colonized California at the end of the 1700s , before the Mexican War of Independence ( 1810 - 1821 ) .
After that California was part of the independent state of Mexico .
During the Mexican-American War, colonists rebelled and created the California Republic , an independent state with short existence.
Following the end of the war between Mexico and the United States, the U.
S.
returned.
Gold Rush California since 1849 has brought a huge immigrant population, which allowed fast as the 1850 California to become the 31st U.
S.
state.
Despite its historical and unfounded "reputation" of having a "loose life" due to extremely mild climate, Californians actually have made California the seventh day of the world economy, contributing about 13% of U.
S.
gross domestic product.
The predominant industries in the state include agriculture , entertainment , manufacturing light industry, tourism and especially diversified industry both horizontally and vertically.
Specialized economic areas include Hollywood (for fun), California Central Valley (agriculture), Silicon Valley(for computers and high tech ) and the growing Wine Country .
  Climate   Summers are undeniably warm and delicious with cool evenings, while springs and autumns are mild with cold nights.
Winter "rainy season" is gentle and takes the year between January and March.
Much of the state has a Mediterranean climate , with warm, dry and mild, but rainy winters.
San Francisco is known for fog to feature spring and early summer.
The northern part of California and the high mountains, enjoy the snow in winter, while deserts are part of very hot and mild winters.
  Landscape   California is bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean ,by Oregon to the north, by Nevada and Arizona to the east , by Mexican Baja California state to the south .
With an area of 414,000 km ², it is the third U.
S.
state in area after Alaska and Texas .
If it were an independent country, California would be the 59th in the world in size.
The middle state is California's Central Valley , bordered to the west of the mountain ranges near the coast, east of Sierra Nevada , north of the Cascade Mountains and south of the Tehachapi Mountains .
The central Valley is California's main agricultural area, it produces almost one third of food for the country.
About 45% of the total area of the state is forested, the diversity of pine species in California are incomparably greater than of any other state.
California has more forests than any other U.
S.
state except Alaska.
Many of the trees in the White Mountains of California are among the oldest in the world, a Bristlecone pine is 4,700 years old.
In the South there is the Salt Lake, also a continental Salton Sea .
Central-southern desert is called Mojave , to the northeast of Mojave lies Death Valley , where is the lowest and the hottest place in North America , Badwater Basin located at -86 m.
The horizontal distance from the Death Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney is less than 140 km.
Indeed, almost all of southern California is a hot desert, extremely hot in summer.
California's southeastern border with Arizona is entirely formed by the Colorado River , which draws its waters.
  California's Finest Attractions: California Ski Resorts   High in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada is Lake Tahoe with 17 large and small resorts that together form the largest ski area in the U.
S.
.
Most of all, among them the famous resorts are Heavenly , Mammoth and Squaw Valley .
Tahoe ski-pass allows you to ride in the Heavenly, Sierra and Kirkwood on the southern shore of the lake, as well as in Squaw Valley, Northstar and Alpine on the north.
  California Beaches   500 California beaches offer tourists recreational activities for every taste.
The beaches stretch for a thousand miles along the west coast of America, the best among them are the San Diego Ougn Beach, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach, Carmel, Santa Cruz and San Francisco Ocean Beach.
  Entertainment, tours and attractions   California In Los Angeles : of course there is the Hollywood Alley of Fame, the Grauman Chinese Theater , the famous Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and many other beautiful places.
In San Francisco : "Golden Gate Bridge", Alcatraz, the colorful Chinatown, San Francesco Bay.
In San Diego : the Zoo, the world-famous Wild Animal Park, the marine theme park.
"Disneyland" in Anaheim and the famous Santa Barbara, known as the "American Riviera.
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