[b]CALIFORNIA[/b]

California is the third largest state in the USA but has the largest population ( over 30 million people ) .It is also the most multicultural state in the US . This is not surprising when you know the history or California, which at various times, has attracted people form nearly every country in the world.

[b]NATIVE AMERICANS[/b]

Exactly when the first people arrived in what we now know as California, no one really knows . However , it is likely that Native Americans were living in California at least fifteen thousand years ago . Scientists believe that these first settlers crossed the Bering Strait from Asia to Alaska by means of a land bridge which existed in prehistoric times. In the 16th century, after the arrival of Europeans, the nation people suffered greatly . Thousands were killed or forced into slavery . In addition , many died from the diseases brought by Europeans . However, some survived these terrible times and today there are more Native American living in California than in any other state .

[b]THE SPANISH[/b]

In the 18th century , California was ruled by Spain . Spanish soldiers first arrived in South America in the early 16th century when they fought against the nation people and took their land . Two centuries later , the Spanish had settled in most parts of South America and along the northwest coast of what we now call the United States . Of the first Spanish to go to California , the majority were religious men who came to teach the Catholic religion to the natives . In 1821 , the people of Mexico gained their independence from Spain . California then became part of Mexico . However , in 1846 the United States declared war on Mexico and after it lost the war , Mexico had to give California to the United States . However there is still a strong Spanish influence in the state . This is why today over 40% of Californians speak Spanish as a first or second language .

[b]RUSSIANS[/b]

In the early 1800s , Russian fur trappers , who had originally gone to Alaska , began settling in California . Today where are about 25,000 Russian-Americans living in and around San Francisco .

[b]GOLD MINERS[/b]

In 1848 , not long after the American-Mexican war , gold was discovered in California . The dream of becoming rich quickly attracted people from all over the world . The nearest and therefore the first to arrive , were South Americans , and people from the United States . Adventurers from Europe , then later from Asia and even the Pacific Islands , soon followed . In fact , few achieved their dream of becoming rich . Many died or returned home , but most remained in California became the thirty-first states of the United States of America in 1850 , it was already a multicultural society .

[b]LATER ARRIVALS[/b]

Although Chinese immigrants began to arrive during the Gold Rush Period , it was the building of the railway from west to the east coast that brought even larger numbers to California in the 1860s . Today , Chinese-Americans live in all parts of California , although a large percentage have chosen to stay in the “Chinatowns” of Los Angeles and San Francisco .

Italians , mainly fishermen but also some wine maker , arrived in California in the late 19th century . In 1911 immigrants from Denmark established a town of their own , which today still keeps up its Danish culture . By the 1920s the film industry was well established in Hollywood , California . The industry attracted Europeans , including many Jewish people . Today , California has the second largest Jewish population in the United States . Japanese farmers began arriving in California at the beginning of the 20th century and since the 1980s a lot more have settled in California . People from Africa have been living in California since the 1800s , when they moved north from Mexico . However , even more arrived between 1942 and 1945 when they came to California to work in the ship and aircraft industries .

[b]MOST RECENT ARRIVALS[/b]

In more recent decades , California has become home to people from Asia , including Cambodians , Koreans , Vietnamese and Laotians . Since its beginning in the 1970s , the computer industry has attracted Indians and Pakistanis to California .

[b]THE FUTURE[/b]

People from different parts of the world , attracted by the climate and lifestyle , still immigrate to California . It is believed that before long the mix of nationalities will be so great that there will be no major racial or cultural groups , but simple a mixture of many races and cultures .

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