SOUTHLAND CALIFORNIA SUMMARIZED HISTORY, FACTS,  AND DEMOGRAPHICS 

CALIFORNIA GEOGRAPHY 

California, the third largest state in the Union, has a total area of 411,469 sq km (158,869 sq mi), including 6,926 sq km (2,674 sq mi) of inland water and 575 sq km (222 sq mi) of coastal waters over which it has jurisdiction. The state is roughly rectangular in shape, although the southern two-thirds bends in a dogleg toward the east. It has a maximum distance north to south of 1,052 km (654 mi) and an east-to-west extent of 945 km (587 mi), although even locations along the state's eastern border are less than 350 km (220 mi) from the ocean. California's mean elevation is about 880 m (2,900 ft)

             
Much of California lies in a geologically unstable area, crisscrossed by fault, or fracture, lines in the Earth's crust. The great San Andreas Fault extends for 1,000 km (600 mi) northwestward from the Imperial Valley to Point Arena and out to sea. This fault line has caused several notable earthquakes in the recorded history of California. The most widely publicized was that of April 18, 1906, which resulted in the destruction of central San Francisco. Although major earthquakes are rare, landslides, mudflows, minor tremors, and cracks in the ground occur regularly.