California
The Golden States capital is located in Sacramento, and the state has a land area of 155,959 square miles. California's highest point is Mt. Whitney at 14,494 feet and its lowest point is Death Valley (282 feet). The name California was first given to the Baja California Peninsula by the Spanish explorer Hernandez Cortes in the early 16th century and was applied by other explorers to more N areas. The word is derived from the name of an imaginary island in a popular Spanish romance of the time. California's diverse landscape and large urban centers furnish opportunities for almost every type of indoor and outdoor sport, and more than one-fourth of the total land area is in the national and state park systems. Ideal conditions are furnished by the coast and the mountains for swimming, boating, surfing, and fishing, as well as hiking, skiing, and hunting. The state also has a number of hot-spring health spas.