North America
USA

California

One of the most diverse states in the Union, California has a culture ranging from the easygoing surf spots on the beaches of to the glamor of Hollywood, and the counterculture and thriving businesses of the .
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Photo: Chmehl, CC BY 3.0.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The centerpiece of the Bay Area, is one of the most visited cities in the world, and with good reason. The cultural center of northern California, is renowned for its mixture of scenic beauty and unique culture that makes it one of the most vibrant and desirable cities in the nation, if not the world.

Photo: Mfield, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Frank Lloyd Wright is said to have quipped, "Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in ," a quote that has since been repeated both by those who love and hate L.A.

Photo: William Toti, CC BY 2.0.
From balmy beaches with a laid-back attitude to a gleaming modern image, offers much for the tourist to enjoy. Situated on the seacoast, is the second largest city in the state, with 1.4 million residents, and has long attracted travelers for its ideal climate, miles of beaches, and location on the Mexican border right across from .

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Southern California and Bay Area.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a megapolitan area in the southern region of the U.S. state of California. The large urban areas containing and stretch all along the coast from to the Southland and to .

Photo: Bgag, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The San Francisco , ringing the San Francisco Bay in northern California, is a geographically diverse and extensive metropolitan region that is home to nearly 8 million inhabitants in cities such as , , and .

Photo: Antandrus, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The of California is a region that remains calm and tranquil. Between the Bay Area's high-tech hassles, and the megalopolis of , the provides nice beaches, beautiful Spanish missions, and a more peaceful way of life.

Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
The of California stretches from the Tehachapi Mountains north of up to . Largely agricultural, the area is some of the most fertile and important farmland in the world.

Photo: Joe Parks, CC BY 2.0.
The region of California includes the northeast corner of the state, home to volcanoes, lush forests, high mountains, and clear lakes. California is the most populous state in the US, but you wouldn't suspect it from traveling through most of this region, which is generally wild and remote.

Photo: Patrick Nouhailler, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a region of California that includes foothills of the western Sierra Nevada mountains and many historic towns that date to the 1849 California Gold Rush.

Photo: Mike Baird, CC BY 2.0.
The region of California is its alpine region, covering a large portion of the state's inland territory. Rugged mountains and awe-inspiring canyons in the area's national parks and forests are truly part of the United States' national wilderness treasures.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.
The is the area of the of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the and is drained by the .

Photo: Joe Parks, CC BY 2.0.
The of California has beautiful redwoods and small coastal towns. It stretches along the Pacific from the Bay Area to the border. The inland valleys of are a significant wine-growing area, and the region is noted for organic produce and its art community.

Photo: Traveler100, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The California is composed of California's entire southeast corner and offers excellent opportunities for hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

California

  • Type: State with 39,400,000 residents
  • Description: state of the United States of America
  • Also known as: “Albion”, “CA”, “Cal.”, “Cali.”, “Calif.”, “California Del Norte”, “California Republic”, “California Septentrional”, “California Superior”, “California, United States”, “Golden State”, “New Albion”, “Noua Albion”, “Nueva California”, “State of California”, “The Golden State”, and “US-CA”
  • Neighbors: , , and
  • Categories: U.S. state and locality
  • Location: ,
  • View on Open­Street­Map
Latitude of center
37.1253° or 37° 7′ 31″ north
Longitude of center
-119.8389° or 119° 50′ 20″ west
Population
39,400,000
Elevation
1,539 feet (469 metres)
Abbreviation
“Calif”
Abbreviation
“CA”
IATA airport code
WCC
Open­Street­Map ID
node 671022
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­state
Geo­Names ID
5332921
Wiki­data ID
Q99
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover California from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Afrikaans to Zulu—“California” goes by many names.
  • Afrikaans: “Kalifornië”
  • Afrikaans: “Staat Kalifornië”
  • Albanian: “Kaliforni”
  • Albanian: “Kalifornia”
  • Amharic: “ካሊፎርኒያ”
  • Arabic: “كالي”
  • Arabic: “كاليفورنيا”
  • Arabic: “ولاية كاليفورنيا”
  • Aragonese: “California”
  • Armenian: “Կալիֆոռնիա”
  • Arpitan: “California”
  • Asturian: “California”
  • Aymara: “California suyu”
  • Azerbaijani: “Kaliforniya”
  • Balinese: “California”
  • Bambara: “California”
  • Bashkir: “Калифорния”
  • Basque: “Kalifornia”
  • Bavarian: “CA”
  • Bavarian: “Kalifornien”
  • Belarusian: “Каліфорнія”
  • Bengali: “ক্যালিফোর্নিয়া”
  • Betawi: “Kaliporni”
  • Bhojpuri: “कैलिफोर्निया”
  • Bhojpuri: “कैलीफोर्निया”
  • Bishnupriya: “ক্যালিফোর্নিয়া”
  • Bislama: “Kalifornia”
  • Bosnian: “Kalifornija”
  • Breton: “Kalifornia”
  • Bulgarian: “Калифорния”
  • Burmese: “ကယ်လီဖိုးနီးယားပြည်နယ်”
  • Catalan: “California”
  • Catalan: “Califòrnia”
  • Catalan: “Estat de Califòrnia”
  • Cebuano: “California”
  • Central Bikol: “California”
  • Central Kanuri: “California”
  • Central Kurdish: “کالیفۆرنیا”
  • Central Kurdish: “کالیفۆڕنیا”
  • Chavacano: “California”
  • Chechen: “Калифорни”
  • Cherokee: “ᎠᏕᎳ ᏧᏢᎢ”
  • Cherokee: “ᎠᏕᎳᏧᏢᎢ”
  • Cheyenne: “California”
  • Chinese: “California”
  • Chinese: “加利福尼亚”
  • Chinese: “加利福尼亚州”
  • Chinese: “加利福尼亞”
  • Chinese: “加利福尼亞州”
  • Chinese: “加州”
  • Chinese: “加裏福尼亞”
  • Chinese: “加裏福尼亞州”
  • Chinese: “加里福尼亚”
  • Chinese: “加里福尼亚州”
  • Chuvash: “Калифорни”
  • Cornish: “Kaliforni”
  • Corsican: “California”
  • Corsican: “Statu di a California”
  • Corsican: “US-CA”
  • Crimean Tatar: “Kaliforniya”
  • Croatian: “CA”
  • Croatian: “California”
  • Croatian: “Kalifornija”
  • Croatian: “The Golden State”
  • Czech: “California”
  • Czech: “Kalifornie”
  • Czech: “State of California”
  • Dagbani: “California”
  • Danish: “Californien”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Kaliforniya”
  • Dutch: “CA”
  • Dutch: “California”
  • Dutch: “Californie”
  • Dutch: “Californië”
  • Eastern Mari: “Калифорний”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “كاليفورنيا”
  • Esperanto: “CA”
  • Esperanto: “Kalifornio”
  • Esperanto: “La Ora Ŝtato”
  • Estonian: “California”
  • Estonian: “Kalifornia”
  • Ewe: “California”
  • Extremaduran: “California”
  • Faroese: “Kalifornia”
  • Fiji Hindi: “California”
  • Fijian: “California”
  • Finnish: “California”
  • Finnish: “Kalifornia”
  • French: “CA”
  • French: “Californie”
  • French: “État doré”
  • French: “l’État doré”
  • Fulah: “Çalifonia”
  • Gagauz: “Kaliforniya”
  • Galician: “California”
  • Gan Chinese: “加利福尼亞州”
  • Georgian: “კალიფორნია”
  • German: “CA”
  • German: “California”
  • German: “Kalifornien”
  • German: “State of California”
  • German: “The Golden State”
  • Ghanaian Pidgin English: “California”
  • Gilaki: “کاليفؤرنيا”
  • Gothic: “𐌺𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌾𐌰”
  • Greek: “Καλιφόρνια”
  • Guarani: “California”
  • Guarani: “Califórnia”
  • Guarani: “Kalifórnia”
  • Gujarati: “કેલિફોર્નિયા”
  • Haitian: “Kalifòni”
  • Hakka Chinese: “California”
  • Hausa: “California”
  • Hausa: “Kalifoniya”
  • Hawaiian: “Kaleponi”
  • Hebrew: “קליפורניה”
  • Hindi: “कैलिफ़ोर्निया”
  • Hungarian: “Kalifornia”
  • Iban: “California”
  • Icelandic: “California”
  • Icelandic: “Kalifornía”
  • Ido: “Kalifornia”
  • Igbo: “California”
  • Iloko: “California”
  • Inari Sami: “Kalifornia”
  • Indonesian: “California”
  • Ingush: “Калифорни”
  • Interlingua: “California”
  • Interlingue: “California”
  • Inuktitut: “ᑳᓖᐴᕐᓃᐊ”
  • Inupiaq: “California”
  • Irish: “Calafoirnia”
  • Irish: “California”
  • Italian: “California”
  • Italian: “Stato della California”
  • Jamaican Creole English: “California”
  • Japanese: “カリフォルニア”
  • Japanese: “カリフォルニア州”
  • Javanese: “California”
  • Kabiyè: “Kalɩfɔrnii”
  • Kabyle: “California”
  • Kabyle: “Kalifurnya”
  • Kadazan Dusun: “California”
  • Kalmyk: “Калифорни”
  • Kannada: “ಕ್ಯಾಲಿಫೊರ್ನಿಯ”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Kaliforniya shtati”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Kaliforniya shtatı”
  • Karachay-Balkar: “Калифорния”
  • Kashmiri: “کیلیفورنیا”
  • Kazakh: “Калифорния”
  • Khmer: “កាលីហ្វញ៉ា”
  • Khmer: “កាលីហ្វ័រញ៉ា”
  • Kirghiz: “Калифорния”
  • Komering: “California”
  • Korean: “가주”
  • Korean: “캘리포니아 주”
  • Korean: “캘리포니아”
  • Korean: “캘리포니아주”
  • Kurdish: “California”
  • Kurdish: “Kalîforniya”
  • Ladin: “California”
  • Ladino: “California”
  • Ladino: “Kalifornia”
  • Lao: “ຄາລິຟໍເນຍ”
  • Latin: “California”
  • Latvian: “Kalifornija”
  • Ligurian: “California”
  • Limburgan: “Californië”
  • Lingua Franca Nova: “California”
  • Literary Chinese: “加利福尼亞州”
  • Lithuanian: “Kalifornija”
  • Lojban: “kalifornias”
  • Lojban: “la .kaliforniias.”
  • Lombard: “California”
  • Low German: “Kalifornië”
  • Low German: “Kalifornien”
  • Lower Sorbian: “Kaliforniska”
  • Luxembourgish: “Kalifornien”
  • Macedo-Romanian: “California”
  • Macedonian: “Калифорнија”
  • Maithili: “क्यालिफोर्निया”
  • Malagasy: “Kalifornia”
  • Malay: “California”
  • Malayalam: “കാലിഫോർണിയ”
  • Manipuri: “ꯀꯥꯂꯤꯐꯣꯔꯅꯤꯌꯥ”
  • Manipuri: “ꯀꯦꯂꯤꯐꯣꯔꯅꯤꯌꯥ”
  • Manx: “CA”
  • Manx: “California”
  • Manx: “US-CA”
  • Maori: “Karapōnia”
  • Marathi: “कॅलिफोर्निया”
  • Mazanderani: “کالیفرنیا”
  • Mazanderani: “کالیفورنیا”
  • Min Dong Chinese: “California”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “California”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Ka-chiu”
  • Minangkabau: “California”
  • Mingrelian: “კალიფორნია”
  • Moksha: “Калифорния”
  • Mongolian: “Калифорни”
  • Moroccan Arabic: “كاليفورنيا”
  • Nauru: “California”
  • Navajo: “Ahééháshį́į́h Hahoodzo”
  • Nepali: “क्यालिफोर्निया”
  • Newari: “क्यालिफोर्निया”
  • Northern Frisian: “California”
  • Northern Frisian: “Californien”
  • Northern Frisian: “Kalifornien”
  • Northern Luri: “کالیفرنیا”
  • Northern Sami: “Kalifornia”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “CA”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Cal.”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Calif.”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “California”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “California”
  • Norwegian: “California”
  • Nupe-Nupe-Tako: “California”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “CA”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Califòrnia”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Estat de Califòrnia”
  • Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE): “ܟܐܠܦܘܪܢܝܐ”
  • Old English (ca. 450-1100): “California”
  • Oriya: “କାଲିଫର୍ଣ୍ଣିଆ”
  • Ossetian: “Калифорни”
  • Pali: “क्यालिफोर्निया”
  • Pampanga: “California”
  • Pangasinan: “California”
  • Panjabi: “ਕੈਲੀਫ਼ੋਰਨੀਆ”
  • Papiamento: “California”
  • Pennsylvania German: “Kalifornie”
  • Persian: “کالیفرنیا”
  • Pfaelzisch: “Kalifornien”
  • Picard: “Californie”
  • Piemontese: “Califòrnia”
  • Pitcairn-Norfolk: “Kaeliforniya”
  • Polish: “Kalifornia”
  • Portuguese: “Califórnia”
  • Pushto: “کالیفرنیا”
  • Pushto: “کالېفورنیا”
  • Quechua: “California suyu”
  • Romanian: “CA”
  • Romanian: “California”
  • Romanian: “Калифорния”
  • Romansh: “California”
  • Russia Buriat: “Калифорни”
  • Russian: “Калифорния”
  • Rusyn: “Калифорния”
  • Samoan: “Kalefonia”
  • Samogitian: “Kalėfuornėjė”
  • Sanskrit: “कालिफोर्निया”
  • Sanskrit: “कालिफ़ोर्निया”
  • Santali: “ᱠᱮᱞᱤᱯᱷᱳᱨᱱᱤᱭᱟ”
  • Sardinian: “Califòrnia”
  • Sardinian: “Istadu de sa Califòrnia”
  • Saterfriesisch: “Kalifornien”
  • Scots: “Californie”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Calafòrnia”
  • Serbian: “Калифорнија”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Kalifornija”
  • Sicilian: “California”
  • Silesian: “Kaliforńijo”
  • Sindhi: “ڪيليفورنيا”
  • Sinhala: “කැලිෆෝනියා”
  • Sinhala: “කැලිෆෝනියාව”
  • Skolt Sami: “Kalifornia”
  • Slovak: “Kalifornia”
  • Slovenian: “Kalifornija”
  • Somali: “Kalifornia”
  • South Azerbaijani: “کالیفورنیا ایالتی”
  • South Azerbaijani: “کالیفورنیا”
  • Spanish: “Alta California”
  • Spanish: “CA”
  • Spanish: “Calif.”
  • Spanish: “California (Estados Unidos)”
  • Spanish: “California”
  • Spanish: “El Estado Dorado”
  • Spanish: “Estado de California”
  • Sundanese: “California”
  • Sundanese: “Kalifornia”
  • Swahili: “California”
  • Swedish: “California”
  • Swedish: “Californien”
  • Swedish: “Kalifornien”
  • Swiss German: “Kalifornie”
  • Tagalog: “California”
  • Tajik: “Калифорния”
  • Talysh: “Kalifornijə”
  • Talysh: “Kaliforniya”
  • Tamil: “கலிபோர்னியா”
  • Tatar: “Калифорния”
  • Telugu: “కాలిఫోర్నియా”
  • Tetum: “California”
  • Thai: “รัฐแคลิฟอร์เนีย”
  • Tibetan: “ཁྰ་ལེ་ཧྥོར་ནི་ཡ།”
  • Tonga (Tonga Islands): “Kalefōnia”
  • Tosk Albanian: “Kalifornien”
  • Turkish: “CA”
  • Turkish: “Cal.”
  • Turkish: “Calif.”
  • Turkish: “Kaliforniya eyaleti”
  • Turkish: “Kaliforniya, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri”
  • Turkish: “Kaliforniya”
  • Turkish: “State of California”
  • Turkish: “US-CA”
  • Uighur: “Kaliforniye Shitati”
  • Uighur: “كالىفورنىيە شىتاتى”
  • Ukrainian: “Каліфорнія”
  • Upper Sorbian: “Kaliforniska”
  • Urdu: “کیلی فورنیا”
  • Urdu: “کیلیفورنیا”
  • Uzbek: “Kaliforniya”
  • Venetian: “Całifornia”
  • Veps: “Kalifornii”
  • Vietnamese: “Ca Li”
  • Vietnamese: “Ca-li-pho-ni-a”
  • Vietnamese: “Ca-li-phoóc-ni-a”
  • Vietnamese: “California”
  • Vlaams: “Californië”
  • Vlax Romani: “California”
  • Volapük: “Kalifornän”
  • Walloon: “Californeye”
  • Waray (Philippines): “California”
  • Welsh: “Califfornia”
  • Western Armenian: “Քալիֆորնիա”
  • Western Frisian: “Kalifornje”
  • Western Mari: “Калифорни”
  • Western Panjabi: “کیلیفورنیا”
  • Wu Chinese: “加利福尼亚”
  • Wu Chinese: “加利福尼亚州”
  • Xhosa: “IKhalifoniya”
  • Yakut: “Калифорния”
  • Yiddish: “קאליפארניע”
  • Yiddish: “קאַליפֿאָרניע”
  • Yoruba: “California”
  • Yue Chinese: “加利福尼亞州”
  • Zeeuws: “California”
  • Zeeuws: “Californië”
  • Zhuang: “California”
  • Zulu: “California”
  • “CA”
  • “Califòrgna”
  • “California”
  • “Kalėfuornėjė”
  • “ma Kaliponija”
  • “ma Kaliponja”
  • “US-CA”
  • “Калифорния”
  • “कैलिफोर्निया”

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About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “California”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.