California, the most populous and third largest state by land area, entered the Union on September 9, 1850, as the thirty-first state. Located on the West Coast, the Golden State is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, on the north by Oregon, on the east by Arizona (across the Colorado River) and Nevada, and on the south by Mexico. California was part of the Spanish empire from the 1530s until the 1840s, when Anglo-American settlers revolted and briefly established the independent... more

Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2023. 3p.