California’s official nickname is the Golden State. Like the 49ers of the Gold Rush era, tourists of today find California alluring. Its numerous natural and man-made attractions, some made famous in the pop songs of the late 1960's and blockbuster movies of today, are tempting. From the surf of the southern beaches to the cuisine of San Francisco, from the celebrity spotting in Los Angeles to the skiing in Lake Tahoe, from the vast deserts to the towering ancient Redwood trees, everyone is bound to find something likeable about California.
By the Numbers:
"Silicon Valley" is a region in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. The area is now home to many of the world's largest high-tech corporations, including the headquarters of more than 30 businesses in the Fortune 1000 including ADOBE, Apple, Facebook, HP, CISCO, Lockheed Martin, Square, Twitter and many more.
Notable contributions to popular culture, for example in entertainment, and sports, have their origins in California. Hollywood and the rest of the Los Angeles area is a major global center for entertainment, with the U.S. film industry's "Big Five" major film studios (Columbia, Disney, Paramount, Universal, and Warner Bros.) being based in or around the area. Along with the four major American television broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) all have production facilities and offices in the state.
California has nineteen major professional sports league franchises, far more than any other state. The San Francisco Bay Area has six major league teams spread in its three major cities: San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland, while the Greater Los Angeles Area is home to ten major league franchises. The NFL Super Bowl has been hosted in California 11 times. California is home to the oldest college bowl game, the annual Rose Bowl, among others. California is the only U.S. state to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
