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California Vital Statistics & Facts

General Information

State Capital: Sacramento
Date California Admitted as a State: September 9, 1850
State Motto: "Eureka" (Greek for "I have found it")
Population: 36,961,664*
Number of Registered Voters: 17,334,275**
Population Density: 237 people/sq. mi.***

Land Area

Including 2,674 sq. mi. of inland water: 158,648 sq. mi.
Coastal Water Area (Pacific water): 222 sq. mi.

Highest Elevation

Feet above sea level: Mount Whitney 14,496 ft.

Lowest Elevation

Feet below sea level: Death Valley 282 ft.

Total Number of Counties

58 counties

Governmental/Political Information

State Executive Officers:
12, including Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Controller, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Board of Equalization (4 positions), and Insurance Commissioner.

State Judiciary:
7 Justices on the State Supreme Court.

State Legislature:
Assembly Members: 80
State Senators: 40
Length of Assembly Term: 2 years
Length of Senate Term: 4 years
Term Limits - Assembly Members: 3 two-year terms
Term Limits - Senate Members: 2 four-year terms

Legislative Voting Requirements:
Votes Required to Pass Statutes: Assembly - 41
Votes Required to Pass Statutes: Senate - 21
Vote Requirements to Pass Appropriation, Budget, Constitutional Amendments, and Urgency Bills: Assembly 54, Senate 27.
Veto Override Vote Requirement: Two-thirds in each House:
Assembly 54, Senate 27
Ratification of Amendments to the U.S. Constitution:
Majority Vote of each House (by Joint Resolution)

Miscellaneous Legislative Information:
Impeachment Power:
Assembly indicts, drafts "articles of impeachment," and elects "managers" to prosecute; Senate tries and votes on impeachment.
Legislative Publications:
Daily Journal
Daily File
Weekly History

Non-Member Officers of the Legislature:
Chief Clerk of the Assembly
Secretary of the Senate
Sergeant-at-Arms (in each House)
Chaplain (in each House)

Motto of the State Assembly:
Legislatorum Est Justas Leges Condere
(Latin: "It is the duty of Legislators to make just laws.")

Motto of the State Senate:
Senatoris Est Civitatis Libertatem Tueri
(Latin: "It is the duty of a Senator to guard the liberty of the Commonwealth.")

*As of July, 2009
**As of February, 2009
***As of 2009

California, geography, government, laws, people, statistics

Websites

• Office of the California Secretary of State
  Gives voter registration statistics
• Demographic Research Unit of the California Department of Finance
  Gives population statistics

Books

• The 50 States
  2nd Edition. Edited by Charles F. Bahmueller. Salem Press, 2007.

Websites

• California State Assembly, Office of the Chief Clerk
• Rand California
  Gives population density information
• U. S. Census Bureau
  Population statistics based on the U. S. Census, by demographic characteristics (age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin) for the nation, states, and counties.

Last updated by teeterj on Oct. 26, 2010

Disclaimer...

While the Library has verified the information presented in these files in what it considers to be reliable and authoritative sources, it cannot take responsibility for nor guarantee the accuracy of the information presented.