Californians have a wide variety of political views. The Central Valley, Orange County, San Diego, a

California is located on the west coast of North America atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel . It is the largest US state by population, and the third largest by area. California offers something for everyone: Southern California is home to such popular attractions as Disneyland , Hollywood and the beaches in Malibu that inspired the television show Baywatch, while the northern part of California offers the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, the hills of San Francisco , the vineyards of Napa Valley , and the capital, Sacramento . Outside California's atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel major cities one finds some of North America's most rugged national parks, incredible skiing/snowboarding opportunities, and quiet and ancient northern forests including the highest atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel mountain peak in the contiguous USA, Mt. Whitney.
California varies greatly, ranging from the forested northern coastal atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel regions to the rugged interior mountains to the harsh southern desert. atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel Sandwiched in the center of California is the fertile Central Valley, home to a massive amount of agriculture.
Human occupation in California goes back 50000 years; California was home to thirty different tribal groups prior to the arrival of European explorers in the 1500s and now over 120 tribes are left. The first Europeans were the Spanish and Portuguese, atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel who built a settlement in California, establishing twenty-one missions in California by the late 1700s. Many of these missions survive today, including atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel that in Santa Barbara .
After the Mexican War for Independence in 1821, California became atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel a part of Mexico for 25 years until 1846 where it briefly became a sovereign nation, California atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel Republic, before it was annexed by the United States in 1846. In 1848 the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada mountains kicked off the California Gold Rush, and California's non-native population surged from 15,000 to over 300,000 within two years.
With over 160,000 square miles (411,000 km 2 ) the landscape of California is vast and varied. The state contains extremes in elevation, with Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) being the tallest mountain in the lower-48 states, while less than 200 miles away Death Valley , at 282 feet (-82 m) below sea level, atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel is North America's lowest point.
California's border to the west is made up of a rugged coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The coastal mountains atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel rise up from the ocean and are home to redwood trees in the northern half. The Central Valley bisects California from north-to-south before giving way to the Sierra Nevada mountains, home of Yosemite National Park , Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and other natural wonders. The southeastern part of California is dominated by desert, which covers 25% of California's total area. The Mojave is a high desert, with elevations ranging from 3,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level. This area receives less than six inches of rain each year.
The state's climate varies from temperate at the coast to the brutal winters of the mountains to one of the world's hottest regions in the deserts. Rainfall is more common in the northern part of the state than in the south, and snow is rare except in the mountains.
The hottest temperature ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere, 134 F (56.6 C) was at Death Valley in 1913, and temperatures regularly exceed 120 F (49 C) during the summer. In contrast, winter temperatures in the mountains can drop below 0 F.
California is a very diverse state with many ethnic groups. California has large populations of people of varied backgrounds such as Mexican, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Armenian, Iranian, Jewish, Chinese, Russian, Filipino, Eastern Indian, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, and Hmong. atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel California atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel also has large populations of African Americans and Native Americans.
Californians have a wide variety of political views. The Central Valley, atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel Orange County, atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel San Diego, and Palm Springs area tend to be more conservative, atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel while Los Angeles County and the San Francisco atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel Bay area tend to be more liberal.
All major road entrances (including entrances from other U.S. States) to California have agricultural inspection stations to ensure that some fruits and vegetables do not cross into a region where they may come into contact with the farms in the Central Valley . Often, travellers are subject atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel to border inspection (somewhat strict for domestic travel) and asked if they have been on a farm or are carrying organic matter with them.
In addition to interstates and US highways, California has one of the most expansive state highway systems in the United atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel States. As with all trips in the United States, a car is usually the best way to get around and see all destinations. However the trip from the top of California to the bottom can take well over ten hours. The coast route (State Route 1 and US 101) is much slower and windier than Interstate 5, and GPS travel estimate times may be inaccurate - especially on Highway 1.
Most California drivers are courteous and careful (although speeding is rampant), and the safety atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel and ease of driving in California is comparable to most First World industrialized countries. Exceptions may be found in the most congested areas of San Francisco and Los Angeles, where road rage, reckless driving and red-light running are commonplace.
California uses the MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices) lane marking system standard throughout the United atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel States, in which dashed white lines divide lanes of through traffic and yellow divides opposing traffic (with single dashed indicating passing and double solid indicating no passing). In many urban areas the lane markings are replaced by Botts dots for additional tactile feedback when crossing lanes.
The network of freeways atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel in major population centers is often confusing and intimidating to those unfamiliar with the area ,so having a good map is very helpful. Almost all exits from freeways are on the right. At interchanges between freeways, in most cases, the flow of traffic continues through the left lanes with the transition atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel to the other freeway being in the right lanes.
Note that at certain freeway interchanges, Caltrans is notorious for posting advance direction signs that do not correctly explain which lanes correspond to which ramps. Additionally, atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel Caltrans does not always consistently post signs warning of upcoming lane drops or merges.
For example, where a freeway has three through lanes and the central lane splits into two lanes, thus resulting in two ramps with two lanes each, the advance signage may incorrectly imply that only the right lane will break off for the upcoming right-side ramp, thus causing visitors driving in the middle lane to merge unnecessarily into the right lane. And the two lanes on the right-side ramp may suddenly merge into each other without any warning.
These issues frequently result atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel in tourists making wild last-minute lane merges. The 2009 national MUTCD is intended to remediate this problem atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel (as seen in California and several other states) by mandating the use of detailed arrows on direction signs that clearly show which lanes split into new lanes at upcoming interchanges, but only a handful of California interchanges rebuilt after 2009 have implemented atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel the new MUTCD standard. Thus, one should always approach major freeway interchanges in California with caution.
Mile-based exit numbering atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel is currently in progress but is still very erratic in areas; an exit number may not be marked at all, may be marked on the last directional sign before the exit, or may be marked on the final "EXIT" sign itself where the exit ramp separates.
Most highways are freely accessible, although there are a handful atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel of toll roads in Orange County, Riverside County, and San Diego. All major bridges in the San Francisco atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel Bay Area have toll plazas on traffic in only one direction. All California toll plazas have cash lanes, with the exception of those at the Golden Gate Bridge, which no longer accepts cash tolls.
Cash toll lanes are usually manned by human toll collectors, but some of the Orange atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel County toll roads use only vending machines in the cash lanes which accept bills and coins. California atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel toll plazas do not have "exact change" lanes where drivers may toss change in a basket. atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel All California toll plazas also have lanes for FasTrak electronic toll collection transponders which can be used throughout the state. FasTrak is not compatible with any other state or country's ETC system. Driving through a FasTrak-only lane without atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel a transponder or an active FasTrak account will result in a very expensive ticket. All toll bridges and toll roads have signage for a "last exit before toll," which you should take if you do not have a FasTrak transponder or enough atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel cash to pay the toll.
In major metropolitan areas, the access ramps to a freeway atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel may have two lanes, one marked with a diamond and the other with a traffic signal. The diamond lane (called the "carpool lane") atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel is for vehicles with two or more persons atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel and motorcycles. Vehicles with a single person atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel must use the lane with the traffic light. During high-traffic times, the traffic light spaces atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel out the vehicles attempting to merge onto the freeway. Be sure to read the sign below the light as some ramps allow two or three vehicles per green. A few interchanges between freeways atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel are now using controlled access lights to lighten the gridlock atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel at interchanges.
Some freeways have a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane located along the center divider. This lane, also called the carpool lane, is marked by signage on the wall separating the two sides of the freeway, and in Southern California is additionally marked by a double-yellow line (or in a few places, a double-white line in accordance with the newest version of the MUTCD).
In most cases, this lane is for two or more persons per vehicle. Some carpool lanes in Northern California are in effect during rush hour only, and a few selected areas, notably in the Bay Area, require three or more per vehicle, so check the signage before entering atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel a carpool atlantic city new jersey borgata hotel lane. Motorcycles ma