Monday, 26 July 2010
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Monday, 17 May 2010
Spanish Empire
California
California is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by land area, after Alaska and Texas; it is also the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil. California is located on the West Coast of the United States, bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the northeast, Arizona to the southeast, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Its four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. The state is home to the nation's second and sixth largest census statistical areas as well as eight of the nation's fifty most populous cities. California has a varied climate and geography, and a diverse population.
California's geography ranges from the Pacific coast to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, to Mojave desert areas in the southeast and the Redwood–Douglas fir forests of the northwest. The center of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. California is the most geographically diverse state in the nation, and contains the highest (Mount Whitney) and lowest (Death Valley) points in the contiguous United States. Almost 40% of California is forested a high amount for a relatively arid state.
San Gabriel
San Gabriel is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 39,804 at the 2000 census. It is named after the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, one of the original Spanish missions in California.
Prior to the arrival of the Spanish to Alta California, the area that now comprises San Gabriel was inhabited by the Tongva ethnic group, which came to be called the Gabrieleno by the Spanish.
Spanish colonial history of the City of San Gabriel dates back to 1771 with the founding of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, a California State historical landmark. The founding of the mission establishes San Gabriel as the birthplace of the modern Los Angeles region. The Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, "Pride of the California Missions," founded by Father Junipero Serra, is the fourth of twenty-one California Missions, and has long been a center for culture and art.
The Mission San Gabriel Arcángel served a central role in Spanish colonial society, with many of the area's first Mexican settlers being baptized at the mission, including Pio Pico, who was baptised at the mission in 1801 and became governor of California in 1845.
By 1852, after American occupation, San Gabriel became one of the first townships in the County of Los Angeles. When the 1860 census was taken, there were only 586 persons listed. The city was incorporated as a general law city on April 24, 1913. At the time, the city's population was 1,500.
The city is bordered on the north by San Marino, on the east by Temple City and Rosemead, to the south by Rosemead and to the west by Alhambra.