LOGIN | NEU REGISTRIEREN

Schule > Englisch > Landeskunde > California

California

California, the golden state, is the third biggest and has with possibly 35,000,000 inhabitants the most density of population of the states of the USA. He lies at the Pacific and on the border to Mexico. The name California has a mythical origin. 1510 published Spaniard Montalvo a novel in which an island full of gold called California tooks place. On this island lived the wonderful ama zones which were controlled by the queen Califia. When Cortes' soldiers 1535 came to Baja California, they believed, it is an island, and named them to Montalvos book.
The capital of the state is Sacramento. However, another two important areas of concentration, San Francisco and Los Angeles, exist. Since 2003 the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is the governor of the federal state. A big problem are the illegal immigrants from Mexico, those try over and over again to come over the border to build up a new existents in the USA. California lies with the seam of two tectonic records. Also, it often comes to earthquakes there, among the rest, in the San Andreas ditch. There a huge earthquake is expected in uncertain future that could destroy California completely.
California is also known as the fruit garden of America. The climate is ideal for the cultivation of grapes, oranges, lemons and avocados. But also for the cultivation of cotton, barley, wheat, maize, rice, oat, and sugar beets. California has a lot of natural resources too. For example, oil, natural gas and gold. The first gold that was found in Coloma in 1848 changed California. Hundred thousand of people came to the west of America. The main gold vein runs in the western edge of the Sierra Nevada and with it in the heart of gold Country. If you follows the highway 49, from the grass valley to Oakhurst, you can find many closed gold mines. The whole pride of these small towns and villages are the old buildings from the 19-th century. A strong connection of the high-tech area exists to the Stanford University in Palo Alto. Seat of the film industry is Hollywood.
Attractions for the tourists are beside the film town: Disneyland, San Francisco, the national parks and the endlessly long beaches.
The Yosemite National Park belongs to the nicest places of the USA. Steep slopes, thundering waterfalls and rare animals makes him to one of the nicest national parks generally. In the near of the Yosemite park is the Mammoth Mountain. There you can look at hot springs and Geysire.
The highest mountain of the USA beyond Alaska, the Mt. Whitney, lies in California.
Not far away from Mt. Whitney there are some salty lakes, for example the Mono lake.
Nearly 25 percent of the surface of California exists of desert. In about 170 kilometers of distance there is the wild area Death Valley (or valley of the death). It got his name in the time of the first settlers. The colonists had to find out not seldom pains of the heat and the thirst if they crossed the " valley of the death ". A lot of them died.
However, there are also another side of the deserts: Great landscapes of salt levels, sand dunes and mountains. To that comes the silence, the lonelyness and the endless distance which makes the desert so fascinating.

Download: PDF, DOC