California has 58 counties and 480 cities. The state is home to the largest county in the United States, San Bernardino. State law does not distinguish between the use of the terms "city" and "town", all cities have the same status, but 458 are used in the name "City of (Name)", and 22 - "Town of (Name)". According to the method of government, cities are divided into those governed in accordance with the laws of the state and those having their own charters. All of the top ten largest cities have charters.

Sacramento was the first city to receive status on February 27, 1850. The youngest city of Minifi received the status on October 1, 2008.

Most cities in California are organized into city statistical and budget areas. More than two-thirds of the state's population lives in the three largest metropolitan areas: Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Riverside-San Bernardino area.

Ten largest cities in California:

Los Angeles (Los Angeles). County of Los Angeles. Population - 3,831,868 people

The largest city in California, the second largest city in the United States. World cultural, technological, scientific and financial center. The county seat of Los Angeles. Center of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana agglomeration. Commonly known as the "City of Angels" (City of Angeles), the abbreviation L.A. is often used. Los Angeles is a world class city. The strongest economy is based on international trade, entertainment, manufacturing and tourism. In addition, an important role belongs to the financial and telecommunications sectors of the economy, medicine, transport and jurisprudence. The Port of Los Angeles is the 5th busiest in the world, and the economy is 3rd in the US (after New York and Chicago) and 8th worldwide.

San Diego County of San Diego. Population - 1,306,300 people

Located on the border with Mexico. The eighth most populous city in the United States. The county seat of San Diego County. From the west, the city is bounded by the Pacific Ocean, and from the south by Mexico. The city tram runs all the way to the border. It is the oldest city on the West Coast of the United States. The harbor was discovered in 1542 by the Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. And the date of foundation of San Diego is the opening of the Franciscan mission in 1769. The city has many attractions one way or another connected with history. For example, on the Coronado Peninsula, there is the oldest hotel on this coast with the same name.

San Jose, Santa Clara County. Population - 964,695 people

Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Tenth most populous city in the United States. Originally called El Pueblo de San Jose "de Guadalupe, San Jose was founded on November 29, 1777 as the first city in the Spanish colony of New California (Nueva California), after which it was renamed High (Northern) California (Alta California). The actual center of the "Silicon valley", a major high-tech center. Many information technology companies are headquartered here, including Cisco Systems, Adobe Systems, BEA Systems, eBay, KLA Tencor. The county seat of Santa Clara County.

San Francisco County of San Francisco. Population - 815 358 people

One of the most important cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. The second most densely populated city in the United States. San Francisco is a world tourist destination, known for its cold summer fogs, steep hills and mix of Victorian and modern architecture. City attractions include the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, the cable car system, Coit Tower and Chinatown. The county seat of San Francisco.

Fresno Fresno County. Population - 479,918 people

Fresno California's largest landlocked city. Located in the California Valley. Major agricultural center. The county seat of Fresno County. The city is the cultural and economic center of the second largest urban agglomeration in the California Valley.

Sacramento County of Sacramento. Population - 466,676

Sacramento The capital of the State of California and the County of Sacramento. Located in the California Valley. During the California Gold Rush of 1849, Sacramento became the center of the mining district. In 1863, it was from Sacramento that construction began on the first US railroad, the Central Pacific Railroad. And since the end of 1940, the rapid growth of the industry of the city and the growth of its population began. In the center of the capital is the California State Capitol - a government building that surrounds the park (Capitol Park), covering an area of ​​16 hectares. And initially, the city began to build up along the eastern bank of the Sacramento River. And during 1800 the first urban structure was founded here. Now this area of ​​old buildings and factories is called Old Sacramento (Old Sacramento).

Long Beach Los Angeles County. Population - 462,604 people

One of the largest seaports in the world, an important industrial center. Part of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area. The city has a very developed oil industry, oil is found both under the earth's surface and under the surface of the seabed. The city is home to various businesses, factories manufacturing aircraft, car parts, electronics and home furnishings. Long Beach is home to the headquarters of Epson's US division, Molina Healthcare. The development of high technologies and the aerospace industry contributed to the formation of the city.

Oakland Alameda County. Population - 409 189 people

The county seat of Alameda County. One of the cities of the San Francisco Bay Area, an important seaport. According to the US Census Bureau, the city covers an area of ​​202.4 km^(2) (of which 145.2 km^(2) is mainland and 57.2 km^(2) is water). Two thirds of the territory is occupied by a plain adjacent to the bay and one third is located on the hills. One of the attractions of Oakland is Lake Merritt, the largest salt lake in the United States, located within the city.

Santa Ana Orange County. Population - 340,338 people

Located at a distance of about 16 km east of the Pacific coast. The county seat of Orange County. Part of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area. The Santa Ana River flows through the city (depending on the season).

Anaheim, Orange County. Population - 337,896 people

Located 45 kilometers south of Los Angeles, it is the 10th largest in California and 56th in the US. Anaheim is the second most populated in Orange County after Santa Ana, but the largest in area. The city is known for its amusement parks, sports teams and convention centers. The city is home to Disneyland.

Official name: State of California (CA)

Capital of California: Sacramento

Largest city: Los Angeles

Other major cities: Anaheim, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Orange, Santa Ana, Santa Monica, Fresno, Beverly Hills, Sunnyvale, Riverside, Stockton, Fremont, San Bernardino, Glendale, Pasadena, Berkeley.

State nicknames: the golden state, the land of the sky, the state of the Sierra, the vine state.

State motto: Eureka

State Formation Date: 1850 (31st in order)

The name "California" comes from the name of the province of Las Californias of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, a Spanish colony in North America, part of which is the modern US state of California (as well as the states of Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming). And the name of the province Las Californias comes from a chivalric romance that was published in 1510.
It told about a paradise island located near India, where the beautiful Queen Califia ruled the country of beautiful black Amazons with a lot of pearls and gold. The people of Cortes in 1535 thought they had found this island because pearls had been found there. Later it turned out that the island was actually a peninsula.
There is also a version about the origin of the name of the state of California from the Catalan (one of the languages ​​of Spain) words (hot) and (furnace), that is, "a place where it is hot, like in an oven."
The state of California is located in the Western United States and belongs to the Pacific States of the United States. The territory of the state is 423,970 km 2, California ranks third in area among the US states (after Alaska and Texas). California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, Mexico to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
The natural conditions of California are extremely diverse, there are high mountains and vast valleys, dense forests and desert salt marshes, stormy rivers and dry lakes. Most of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with rainy winters and dry summers.
California is considered the richest state in the US, which is why it is also called the Golden State. California is like a separate country, sunny, warm, a little fabulous. Feelings of another world - the world of cinema. The streets, houses, and the atmosphere itself are reminiscent of films that were reviewed many times in childhood.

State population

California ranks first in terms of the number of inhabitants among the states of the United States, more than 37,250,000 people live here. If California were a separate state, it would rank thirty-fourth in the world in terms of population. More than 9,800,000 people live in Los Angeles County alone, the most populous of all US counties (there are forty-two states with smaller populations in the US).

The racial makeup of California

• Whites - 57.6%
• Asians - 13%
• Blacks (African Americans) - 6.2%
• Native Americans (Indians or Eskimos of Alaska) - about 1%
• Native Hawaiian or Oceanian 0.4%
• Other races - 17%
• Two or more races - 4.9%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) - 37.6%

The ethnic composition of California is extremely diverse, and although the population of the state is dominated by immigrants from Latin America (the Mexican community of Los Angeles is the largest in the United States) and northern European countries (as well as the general population of the United States), you can meet people of many other nationalities. More than a million descendants of immigrants from the Iberian Peninsula (Spanish and Portuguese), about six hundred thousand Armenians, more than half a million Iranians, many Arabs, Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Greeks, Koreans, immigrants from the Balkans and Scandinavian countries live in California.

The largest ethnic (national) groups in the population of the state of California

• Mexicans - about 25%
• Germans - about 9%
• Irish - about 8%
• English - about 7.5%

California state history

Before the advent of Europeans, more than seventy American Indian peoples lived in the territory of the modern state of California - the Modoc, Mojave, Oloni, Pomo, Chumash and many others. The Indians of California were mainly engaged in gathering, hunting and fishing, only a few tribes living in the Colorado River region were engaged in agriculture.

In the XVIII century, by the beginning of the European colonization of the region, about three hundred thousand Indians lived in California. The first Europeans to explore these shores were Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542 and Sir Francis Drake in 1579. Until the 1730s, California was considered an island.

Beginning in the late 1700s, Spanish missionaries built small settlements on vast tracts of land in the empty land north of Baja California. After the independence of Mexico, the entire chain of such settlements (missions) was declared the property of the Mexican government and they were abandoned.

In the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries, America was actively explored by Russian pioneers and merchants. In 1799, the Russian-American Company was created for the development of Alaska, in 1806, one of its founders, Nikolai Rezanov, organized an expedition to California on the ships Yunona and Avos.

Rezanov's goal was to reach agreements with the Spaniards on the supply of food to Russian settlements in Alaska. The Spaniards at that time were allies of Napoleon, and Rezanov's mission could have ended in failure if a romantic relationship had not arisen between the Russian diplomat and the daughter of the commandant of the Spanish fortress in San Francisco, Concepción (Conchita) Arguello. Nikolai and Conchita became engaged, and "Juno" and "Avos" went to Alaska, loaded with food.

Nikolai Rezanov died a year later, having failed to carry out his plans for the colonization of America. The love story of Rezanov and Conchita Arguello served as the basis for the creation of the ballad of the American writer Francis Bret Hart "Concepción de Argüello", Andrei Voznesensky's poem "Avos" and other literary and musical works.

Already in the twenties and thirties of the XIX century, Americans began to explore the territory of California. At first, these were mainly hunters and fur traders, including such famous pioneers of the US West as Joseph Walker, Jedediah Smith, Kit Carson and others. In May 1846, war broke out between the United States of America and Mexico.

On June 14 of the same year, several American settlers in the Californian city of Sonoma, who did not know about the outbreak of hostilities, captured the Mexican military garrison, arrested the commandant and announced the creation of a new state, independent of Mexico, the Republic of California.

On January 24, 1848, James Marshall, who was building a sawmill for John Sutter on the American River ("American River") in Coloma, California, discovered nuggets. After the discovery of gold, the so-called "Gold Rush" began. California's population is growing exponentially.

At the same time, the Republic of California is proclaimed, which quickly ended after US Navy Commander Sloat landed in the San Francisco Bay and declared the area to be US territory. In 1850, California was admitted to the Union of States.

Landmarks in California

The Sierra Nevada stretches in eastern California. It is here that the highest point among the continental states of the United States is located - Mount Whitney.

In the Sierra Nevada mountains, in the Yosemite Valley, is the world-famous and attracting many tourists Yosemite National Park. Here, in Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park, you can see the largest trees on Earth - giant sequoias.

Modoc National Forest, California

At an altitude of about 1,900 meters above sea level in the Sierra Nevada mountains, on the border between California and Nevada, is another of California's most famous tourist attractions - Lake Tahoe. This is the largest mountain lake in the United States.

Redwood National Park (redwood)

The southeast of California is occupied by the Mojave Desert. In the northeast of the Mojave is the Death Valley National Park, the largest in area in the continental United States. Here is a unique natural site, the dried-up lake Racetrack Playa. It is known for its "sailing stones" that move across the surface without human (or animal) assistance, leaving clearly visible footprints. It is believed that the stones are moved by the strongest (up to 150 km / h) winter winds, but no one has yet been able to photograph this phenomenon.

In Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, California

The prestigious city of Los Angeles, built up with luxurious houses, with alleys lined with palm trees, has long become a true symbol of the "American dream"

Hollywood is an area of ​​Los Angeles, California located northwest of downtown. Hollywood is traditionally associated with the American film industry, as the area is home to many film studios and is home to many famous film actors. But we should not forget that Hollywood is primarily a district in which life is in full swing.

The famous Walk of Fame is lined with over 2,000 polished marble slabs, each marked with a star and a name. Here you can "meet" the stars of cinema, radio, television, music, since 1960. Earning the status of a star worthy of your own plate on the Walk of Fame is not so easy. To do this, the candidate must be nominated for the appropriate title. His candidacy must be approved by the Chamber of Commerce, in addition, the installation of each slab in the Alley costs $ 7,500.

The legendary amusement park, the kingdom of Disney characters is located in the town of Anaheim. Today, the original Disneyland Park, created in 1955, is only part of a complex that includes the Disney California Adventure Park, Downtown Disney, and three large hotels.

The George C. Page Museum, featuring over a million ancient fossils found in the swamps near La Brea

The area of ​​Universal Studios Hollywood, the largest film and television studio in the world, together with the adjacent park, is 168 hectares.


The state capital of California is Sacramento.

In 1854, Sacramento paid the state government $1 million to become the state capital. A remarkable part of the capital is the old city. The pavement, old houses, currently occupied by shops and restaurants, have been preserved here. For a moderate fee, you can ride a horse-drawn cart.

Sacramento is the capital of California, with over a million people living in the metropolitan area. One of the main attractions of the city is the Capitol.

Curious facts

• This state is home to the famous Hollywood Studios and the headquarters of the largest corporations Google and Yahoo, which lie in Silicon Valley.
• Thanks to the sunny climate and the discovery of gold deposits, California has long been called the "Golden State".
• California, covering an area of ​​411,000 square kilometers, is the third largest US state.
• California is the most densely populated state in the United States and therefore ranks first in terms of population.
• The flag and coat of arms of California feature a bear.
• San Francisco is featured in over 380 Hollywood films.
• The four largest cities in California are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco.
• The state of California is divided into 58 counties. It unites 480 cities and towns.
• In 1910, the first film was shot in Hollywood. At the same time, California authorities banned herds of more than 200 cattle from the city streets.
• The California Central Plain, which is located in the center of the state, is its agricultural center, where one third of the country's production is produced.
• Sequoia National Park, located in California, is home to the famous giant sequoia trees, which are considered the tallest trees on the planet.
• The White Mountains, rising in east central California, are considered to be the home of the oldest trees in the world.
• With over 400,000 students, the California Public University System is the largest university system in the United States of America.
• The territory of California is prone to earthquakes due to the presence of a large number of geological faults.
• California has tsunamis, droughts, floods, fires, landslides, Santa Ana winds, and there are also several dormant volcanoes.
• California is home to the highest and lowest points in the United States of America: the highest point is Mount Whitney at 4,421 meters above sea level, and the lowest is Death Valley at 85 meters. below sea level.
• Alcatraz Island, located in the center of California's San Francisco Bay, is a popular historic site. It was previously a military fortification, and for some time also a military and federal prison.
• California is home to the Golden Gate Bridge, a suspension bridge across the Golden Gate Strait that connects San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.
• Anaheim, located in Orange County, California, is home to one of the Disneyland theme parks, which becomes a major attraction during the holiday season.

Ridiculous and Ridiculous California Laws

• It is illegal to stop a child jumping over puddles.
• People are guaranteed sunlight.
• Animals are prohibited from mating within 1,500 feet of a café, school, or place of worship.
• Women cannot drive in home clothes.
• No car without a driver can travel faster than 60 miles per hour.
• It is illegal to own a ferret or a hamster.
• The peacock has the right of way across the road, even the highway.
• You can not leave the car on the street at night without special permission.
• It is forbidden to ride a bicycle in the swimming pool.
• The city council's ordinance reads: "No dog should be in a public place without the owner on a leash."
• You are not allowed to wear cowboy boots unless you own at least 2 cows.
• It is illegal to spit (only allowed on the baseball field).
• Women are not allowed to wear high heels in the city.
• The explosion of a nuclear charge in the city is punishable by a fine of $ 500.
• It is illegal to wash your car on the street.
• It is illegal to drive more than 2,000 sheep through Hollywood Boulevard.
• You cannot spit on the ground if another person is within 5 feet of the spit.
• It is illegal to own or raise roosters. This is considered a breach of public order.
• The car is the only item that can be found in the garage.
• It is forbidden to swear on the mini-golf course.
• A husband has no right to beat his wife without her consent with a belt wider than 2 feet.
• You cannot bathe two children in the same tub at the same time.
• You can not try to kill midges at street lamps.
• You can't cry while being a witness in court.
• You can't lick toads (toads produce a poisonous substance that some have licked to achieve an effect similar to the effects of heroin use).
• Dogs are not allowed to mate within 500 yards of the church.
• Roosters can't crow in the city.
• For harassing butterflies, you can be fined $500.
• The secretary is not allowed to be in the room alone with the boss.
• You can not ride a motorcycle around the city. This is possible only if a person with a lamp walks in front of the motorcycle.
• You can't shoot rabbits from the back seat of a car.
• If you do not remove the New Year's illumination from the house after March, you can be fined $250.
• Elephants are not allowed to be led unleashed down the main street.
• Do not wipe the car with old underwear.
• A person who falls under the definition of "freak" cannot walk the streets.
• It is forbidden to have oral sex.
• It is forbidden to have more than two cats or dogs.

California state map:

California is a US state located on the west coast of the country, on the Pacific Ocean. It borders the US states of Oregon (to the north), Nevada (to the east), and Arizona (to the southeast), as well as the Mexican state of Baja California (to the south). California is the 31st state of the United States and was formed on September 9, 1850. Prior to that, California at various times was under the rule of Spain and Mexico.

California is the most populous US state (both according to the census and 2008 estimates) and the third largest in area (after Alaska and Texas). The capital is Sacramento, the largest city is Los Angeles. Other major cities: San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose. The state is known for its diverse climate and diverse population. California also ranks first among US states in terms of gross domestic product. The most important branches of the state economy are agriculture, aerospace industry, oil production and processing, and information technology.

Year of formation: 1850 (31st in order)
State slogan: Eureka
Formal title: State of California
Largest city in the state: Los Angeles
State capital: Sacramento
Population: more than 34 million people (1st place in the country).
Area: 424 thousand sq. km. (3rd place in the country.)
Other big cities in the state: Anaheim, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Ana, Fresno

Before the arrival of Europeans, the Indian population of California was extremely diverse both in language (about 70 different peoples, many of which were separate language groups or even families) and in lifestyle - from fishermen to nomads. The Californian tribes of Chumash, Salinan (Salin), Maidu, Utians (Mivoki, Oloni), Modoki, Mojave, Pomo, Shasta, Tongva, Wintu, Esselens, Yokuts, Washo, Yana, Chimariko, Karuk, Hupa, Cahuilla are known.

The first Europeans to explore these shores were Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542 and Sir Francis Drake in 1579. Until the 1730s, California was considered an island. Beginning in the late 1700s, Spanish missionaries built small settlements on vast tracts of land on empty land north of Baja California (Spanish: California Baja). After the independence of Mexico, the entire chain of such settlements (missions) was declared the property of the Mexican government, and they were abandoned.

In the middle of the 18th - at the beginning of the 19th centuries, Russians began to penetrate into California. After the second voyage of Vitus Bering (1734-1743), the Russians established trading bases along the entire northwestern coast of America. As a result of two expeditions of Lieutenant Ivan Kuskov (1808-1809 and 1811), an employee of the Russian-American Company, a place was chosen for the founding of the settlement of Fort Ross, which functioned from 1812 to 1841, being the southernmost outpost of the Russian Empire in the North American lands occupied by it, then called Russian America. This settlement was located on the coast north of Bodega Bay and was sold to Swiss-born Mexican citizen John Sutter in 1841. A place of honor among the pioneers of the study and development of North America, up to Central California, rightfully belongs to Shelikhov, Baranov and other Russian researchers.

California was the name given to the northwestern part of the Spanish empire in North America. After the independence of the Spanish colonies, California became part of the Mexican Empire, then the Mexican Republic. After the Mexican-American War of 1847, the region was divided between Mexico and the United States. In 1848, the California Republic was proclaimed, which quickly came to an end after US Navy Commodore Sloat landed in San Francisco Bay and claimed the area as US territory. The American part, Upper California, became the 31st state of the United States in 1850.

After the discovery of gold in 1848, the so-called "Gold Rush" began here. During this time, California's population grew exponentially.

During the American Civil War, California officially supported the North. But the population was divided in their preferences, and units of Californian volunteers fought on both sides.

The completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the 1870s led to an explosive population growth. The settlers liked the climate, perfect for living and farming. By 1950, California had become the most populous state in the US, which it is today.

In Dixon's textbook, in the section "The Origin of the Names of the States," an option is given: "Spanish explorers who came to these places found the climate so hot that they gave it the name "heat of ovens" (Spanish calor de hornos, English heat of ovens)."

Origin of California state name

It is believed that the name California (this toponym refers to the whole region, which also includes the California Peninsula, the modern American states of Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Wyoming) comes from the legendary island inhabited by black Amazons, headed by Queen Califia. The island is described in the chivalric novel The Acts of Esplandian (Spanish: Las sergas de Esplandián) by the Spanish author Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo. The work is a continuation of the famous medieval novel "Amadis of Gaul" (Spanish: Amadis of Gaul), which was processed by Rodriguez de Montalvo earlier. On an island called California, black female warriors live in the novel; none of them are male. All their weapons are made of gold, since this is the only metal that is found on the island, it is found there in huge quantities. Griffins and other fantastic creatures also live in California from Rodriguez de Montalvo's novel.

According to another version, the name comes from the Latin phrase calida fornax (hot oven), which the Spanish colonists used to describe the hot climate of the region.

Geography of California

California stretches along the Pacific coast between 32 and 42 degrees north latitude and 114 and 124 west longitudes. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east; the state's southern border is also part of the state border with Mexico. On the Mexican side it adjoins the state of Baja California Northern. The length of California from north to south is about 1,240 km, and the width from west to east is about 400 km.

California is the largest Pacific state. It is also the third largest US state (423,970 km²), behind only Alaska and Texas and ahead of Montana.

Useful information for tourists about California in the USA - geographical location, tourist infrastructure, map, architectural features and attractions.

California is a state located in the western part of the United States, on the Pacific coast. California became part of the United States in the middle of the 19th century, and before that it belonged to either Spain or Mexico.

Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Fort Ross - perhaps California remains the most desirable state for travelers. Los Angeles, the "city of angels" is the largest city in the state. The population of this metropolis aspires to four million people. The capital is Sacramento. The state of California ranks among the top three states in terms of population (1st) and area (3rd), and in terms of joining the United States - 31st. The closest "neighbors" of the state are Oregon in the north, Mexican Baja California in the south, Nevada and Arizona in the east.

The ski resorts of California are located in the Sierra Nevada mountains, in the Lake Tahoe region. On its southern coast are the resorts of Heavenly, Sierra, Kirkwood, on the north - North Star, Squaw Valley, Alpine.

The first Europeans to set foot on the coast of California were the Spaniards in the first half of the 16th century. In the 18th century, Russian travelers landed here for the first time. At the beginning of the 19th century, they founded the fortress of Fort Ross, which was the southernmost fortress of Russian America. The settlement was Russian until 1841, when it was sold to a Swiss-American. Currently, Fort Ross is a museum of the Russian colony and a state historical park. Commandant Rotchev's house is the only surviving building from the early 19th century, the rest of the buildings have been restored. Fort Ross is about an hour from San Francisco.

Silicon Valley (also called Silicon Valley) is an agglomeration near San Francisco, literally "stuffed" with companies engaged in research, development and production in the field of high technologies. The capital of the valley is the city of San Jose. Silicon Valley is the largest technology park in the United States, among its residents are Apple, Adobe, eBay, Google, Facebook and others.

Hollywood, which is the center of the American film industry, is the area of ​​Los Angeles. Film company offices, studios and star mansions are all located in Hollywood. Its most famous street is Hollywood Boulevard with the Walk of Fame, in the pavement of which five-pointed stars with the names of prominent actors and actresses are embedded. Surprisingly, Hollywood only recently celebrated its centenary: the birth date of the Hollywood film industry is considered to be 1910, when the first shootings were carried out in a small village called Hollywood.

Another famous city in Los Angeles County is Beverly Hills. Rodeo Drive, Wilshire Boulevards and Santa Monica Boulevards form the Golden Triangle, which is home to boutiques, expensive restaurants and film studios. The Getty Museum is dedicated to art, while the Pietersen Museum is dedicated to luxury cars.

There are several hundred beaches located on the Pacific coast in California. The most-most include Ocean Beach in San Francisco, the beaches of Santa Barbara, San Diego and Santa Cruz. One of the famous resorts is Palm Springs in the Coachella Desert. American presidents and movie and show business stars spend their holidays here.

The famous Californian wines are produced in the Napa Valley, along which the Wine Train route is laid - very convenient, you do not need to worry about how to get from one valley winery to another.

California has a huge number of well-known tourist routes and destinations, but in the third largest state of the USA there are many little-known small but very interesting towns that are worth visiting.

The list of such was compiled by The Crazy Tourist.

1. Arcata

It seems that this city is a reduced copy of the whole of California. It has a multinational population, part of the city is urban, and part resembles the countryside, in addition, it is located at the junction of different climatic zones.

Visitors love to relax on the spectacular local beaches, walk through the redwood forests and admire the city streets and squares.

2 Avalon

It is the southernmost city in Los Angeles County and was once part of the Gabrielino/Tongva tribe.

Houses on the hills, lush vegetation and beautiful beaches attract visitors to the city. It's hard to believe, but this town of 4,000 people is visited annually by about a million tourists to take part in the outdoor recreational activities that often take place on the territory of Avalon.

3. Carmel-by-the-Sea

This European-style city is known for its libraries and museums. All visitors to the city fall in love with its cottages, which look like the homes of Disney cartoon characters.

4 Dunsmoor

Tourists describe this city as a calm and secluded mountain paradise. One gets the impression that time has stopped in this city - everything here resembles California at the beginning of the 20th century.

It will be a real find for lovers of outdoor recreation: here you can go rock climbing, go mountain hiking, mountain biking or skiing.

5. Ferndale

With only 1.5 thousand inhabitants, this town resembles a cozy Victorian village.

Main Street is listed on the US Historic Register and boasts dozens of Victorian houses.

This beauty is surrounded on all sides by redwood forests.

6. Grover Beach

It is warm and sunny all year round, with very little rainfall, so you can enjoy the beach at any time of the year. And the proximity of the mountains and low prices make this place just a paradise for tourists. When visiting this city, you should definitely look into Monarch Grove, where you can admire the royal butterflies.

7. Julian

This town was founded by gold seekers. Now tourists visit it to feel the history, as well as admire the oak and coniferous forests around the town.

There are many museums, galleries and cafes here, in some of them visitors will even be given a master class on making cider.

8. Sonoma

It is a historic place, a paradise for food lovers and a dream for nature lovers.

There is a lot of Mexican colonial architecture here, and even the layout of the streets has remained intact from those historical times.

9. Nevada City

Once this place was the center of the gold rush, now it can be called a symbol of natural idyll.

Set against a charming natural backdrop, this city is home to many Victorian-style buildings.

10. El Segundo

This is a very cozy beach, where there are usually few tourists due to rather strong waves, which makes this city an ideal place for those who want to escape from the hustle and bustle of megacities.

11. Ojai

The quiet location with charming views is also great for those who want to take a break from the big city.

In addition to Spanish-style architecture, this city is known for its quality organic produce and the oranges grown here.

12. Montagu

The town, located between the mountains, has a huge number of vineyards and wine shops. In addition, this place is famous for its treats for every taste. Here you can often meet writers and other creative people who come here for inspiration.

14. Los Alamitos

This city is known for sugar beets and water polo, no matter how strange this combination may look at first glance.

Los Alamitos developed from a sugar beet ranch that was founded in the 19th century.

A little later, the main water polo competitions began to be hosted here, since the US National Water Polo Center is located in the city.

15. Healdsburg

This city is famous for its wineries and old-fashioned enchanters. In addition, there is the Russian River, where you can swim, fish or go canoeing.