California

California is a state spanning the southern half of the west coast of the contiguous United States. With a population of 36 million and an area of 158,402 square miles (410,000 km2), California is the largest U.S. state in population and the third largest in area.

The area was inhabited by Native Americans before European explorers started to make sporadic visitations during the 16th Century. Spain colonized the coastal areas of the territory starting in 1769 before it temporarily became part of Mexico after the Mexican War of Independence (1810-21). Mexico essentially ignored California for the next 25 years. At the outset of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), the state was captured by 500 American soldiers and sailors. Following the war, the area was bought by the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The California Gold Rush of 1848-49 brought about 90,000 additional American immigrants into the state, and California became the 31st state of the United States in 1850.

Although the state's sunny climate has given it a historic reputation for being laid back compared to the East Coast of the United States, California's economy is larger than all but the top 5 national economies in the world, $1.55 trillion (as of 2004), and is responsible for 13% of the United States' 13 trillion dollar gross domestic product (GDP). The state's major predominant industries include agriculture, entertainment, light manufacturing, and tourism. California is also the home of several significant economic regions such as Hollywood (entertainment), the California Central Valley (agriculture), Silicon Valley (computers and high tech), and the Wine Country (wine).

California originally referred to the entire region composed of the Mexican peninsula now known as Baja California and land in the current U.S. state of California. The states of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Wyoming, were claimed by Spain and Mexico but were almost totally undeveloped--about 100 settlers in Arizona.

The name is thought to have derived from the mythical paradise of Calafia portrayed in Amadís de Gaula, a 16th century Spanish romance by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, which in the book was a difficult to reach land with gold in plenty, free-loving Amazons living in caves, and strange beasts.

Check out the following recipes that are tagged "California":
California Goat Cheese Crepes With Sweet Oni, California Beef and Black Bean Chili, Mrs. Claus' Cookies, Puppy's Breath Chili, Romana's Spanish-American Cookery Chili (1929), Chili Bean Soup, Pretty Party Mousse, Fresh California Tomato Summer Soup, Neptune Gazpacho, Black Beauty Pie, Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Bread, Fresh Fig Cookies, Fig Quick Bread, Cream Cheese Butter Cookies, Walnut Bread, Easy Fig Pie, Sweet & Savory Appetizer Puffs, Golden State Chutney, California Fig Oatmeal Cookies, Fig Stuffed Baked Apples, Fig Chess Tarts, Fig Pastries, Fig Bars, Cheese And Spinach Borag, Coffee-Fig Delight, Yam Bake a la Orange, Falafel Golden Domes With Tahini Sauce, Tasty Fig Layer Bars, Brown Nugget Dessert, Honey Fig Acorn Squash, Fruit Basket Salad Dressing, Aloha Cookies, Blintzes with Fresh Peach Sauce, Baklava ( Papadakis Taverna), California Fig Coconut Balls, Spiced Fig Drop Cookies, California Confection, Baked Alaska In Candied Orange Shells, Fig& Cherry Cobbler, Stuffed Grape Leaves- Yalanchi Sarma, Easy Carrots Au Gratin, Artichokes With Vinaigrette, Chicken Crunch Sandwich Spread, Company Cheese Spread, Bleu Cheese Spread with Figs, Bleu Cheese Spread With Figs, Karithopita Spiced Walnut Cake, Fig Gems, Chocolate California Figs, French Chocolate Layer Cake