California (state, United States) :: Settlement patterns and demographic trends -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

Settlement patterns and demographic trends

Native-born Americans were the dominant factor in California’s phenomenal growth in the mid-20th century. Many workers who flooded the defense industries during World War II remained as residents, along with hundreds of thousands who first visited the state as military personnel. California’s population tripled from 1950 to 2000. Rapid growth, mainly from immigration, continued into the 21st century. About three-fifths of the population is concentrated south of the Tehachapi Mountains in about one-fourth of the state’s area, with the greatest concentration in the small coastal region.

The wide-scale transformation of California’s ethnic mix has led to profound demographic changes. In 2001 California became the first state in the United States in which Hispanics were the majority. It was also one of the few states to experience a significant out-migration of “whites” moving to less ethnically diverse states, notably Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Economic crises, overcrowding, and pollution in California’s major cities were some of the reasons for their movement eastward and northward.

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California - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11): More people live in California than in any other U.S. state. About one eighth of the country’s entire population lives in the state. California even has more residents than about half of the world’s nations. The state’s name is believed to have come from a Spanish novel of the 1500s that described a fabled place called California. The nickname of the Golden State comes from the golden poppies that grow in California and from the gold that was found there in the mid-1800s. Sacramento is the capital.
California - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up): Virtually every kind of climate, landform, vegetation, and animal life that can be found anywhere else in the United States can be found in the state of California, the Golden State. The third largest state stretches for more than 800 miles (1,290 kilometers) along the Pacific coast. It meets the sea with sandy beaches and rugged cliffs. Inland, past wooded coastal mountains, lie verdant valleys and arid deserts. Along the eastern border the towering Sierra Nevada thrusts jagged peaks far beyond the timberline. Among the mountains are the awesome forest habitats of some of the largest, the tallest, and the oldest living things on Earth.

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