San Jose is the third-largest city in California and the tenth-largest in the United States. The county seat of Santa Clara County, it is located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region commonly referred to as Silicon Valley. Once a small farming city, San Jose became a magnet for suburban newcomers in new housing developments between the 1960s and 1990s, and is now the most populous city (by city limit) in Northern California and the Western United States of the US north of Los Angeles. Its estimated population by the US Census Bureau as of 2008 is 948,279. The greater metropolitan area contains approximately 7.4 million residents. It is one of the primary cities of the San Francisco Bay Area, and the largest in terms of population, land area, and industrial development.

San Jose was founded on November 29, 1777 as El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, the first town in the Spanish colony of Nueva California, which later became Alta California. The city served as a farming community to support Spanish military installations at San Francisco and Monterey. When California gained statehood in 1850, San Jose served as its first capital. After more than 150 years as an agricultural center, San Jose experienced increased demand for housing from soldiers and other veterans returning from World War II, as well as aggressive expansion during the 1950s and 1960s by annexing more land area. By the 1990s, San Jose’s location within the booming local technology industry earned the city the nickname Capital of Silicon Valley.

Sacramento became a city due to the efforts of John Sutter, a Swiss immigrant, and James W. Marshall. Sacramento grew faster due to the protection of Sutter’s Fort, which was established by Sutter in 1839. During the California Gold Rush, Sacramento was a major distribution point, a commercial and agricultural center, and a terminus for wagon trains, stagecoaches, riverboats, the telegraph, the Pony Express, and the First Transcontinental Railroad.

Sacramento has become a major influence in northern California culture. Sacramento has as much influence on citizens as the Bay Area and the Los Angeles area. Sacramento has been recognized as the number one diverse city in California. Racism is at an all time low, every part of the city is proudly mixed.

Despite a devolution of state government in recent years, the state government remains by far Sacramento’s largest employer. The City of Sacramento expends considerable effort to keep state agencies from moving outside the city limits. In addition, many federal agencies have offices in Sacramento. The California Supreme Court normally sits in San Francisco.

San Diego’s biggest industries are manufacturing, the military, and tourism.San Diego’s economy is largely composed of agriculture, biotechnology/biosciences, computer sciences, electronics manufacturing, defense-related manufacturing, financial and business services, ship-repair, ship-construction, software development, telecommunications, wireless research, and tourism. The presence of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) with the affiliated UCSD Medical Center promotes research in biotechnology.

Oakland is also the home of Rocky Road ice cream, and the Mai Tai cocktail. It has enjoyed a thriving West Coast blues scene, and can claim numerous prominent homegrown musicians representing genres such as rhythm and blues, funk, punk and hip hop. Recreational attractions include the Fox Theater, the Paramount Theater, Jack London Square, Lake Merritt, the Oakland Estuary, the Oakland Zoo, the Oakland Museum of California, the Chabot Space and Science Center, Oracle Arena, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, the East Bay Regional Park District ridge line parks and preserves, and Chinatown.

The California Condor is a North American species of bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae and the largest North American land bird. Currently, this condorGrand Canyon area, Zion National Park, and western coastal mountains of California and northern Baja California.

It is a large, black vulture with patches of white on the underside of the wings and a largely bald head with skin color ranging from yellowish to a bright red, depending on the bird’s mood. It has the largest wingspan of any bird found in North America and is one of the heaviest. The condor is a scavenger and eats large amounts of carrion. It is one of the world’s longest-living birds, with a lifespan of up to 50 years.

Condor numbers dramatically declined in the 19th century due to poaching, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction.

Los Angeles (Spanish for “the angels”) is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over 498.3 square miles (1,290.6 square km) in Southern California. Additionally, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area is home to nearly 12.9 million residents. Los Angeles is the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most diverse counties in the United States. Its inhabitants are known as “Angelenos”. In 2008, Los Angeles was named the world’s eighth most economically powerful city by Forbes.com.

Los Angeles is one of the world’s centers of business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, technology, and education. It is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. As the home base of Hollywood, it is known as the “Entertainment Capital of the World”, leading the world in the creation of motion pictures, television production and recorded music. The importance of the entertainment business to the city has led many celebrities to call Los Angeles and its surrounding suburbs home.

California is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. It is located on the West Coast of the United States, and is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the northeast, Arizona to the southeast, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Its four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. The state is home to the nation’s second and sixth largest metropolitan areas as well as eight of the nation’s fifty largest cities. It is known for its varied climate and geography, as well as its diverse population.

California is the third-largest U.S. state by land area, after Alaska and Texas. Its geography ranges from the Pacific coast to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, to Mojave desert areas in the southeast and the Redwood–Douglas fir forests of the northwest. The center of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. California is the most geographically diverse state in the nation, and contains the highest (Mount Whitney) and lowest (Death Valley) points in the contiguous United States.

San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is one of the most densely populated cities in the United States and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.4 million people. The city is located at the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, with the Pacific Ocean to the west and San Francisco Bay to the north and east, and Daly City and Brisbane to the south.

San Francisco is a popular international tourist destination renowned for its chilly summer fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture and its famous landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the cable cars, and Chinatown.