California is the most populous, richest (if it were a separate country, it would be the 5th economy in the world), and the third largest (after Alaska and Texas) US state. Its territory stretches between the Pacific coast in the west and the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east, the Mojave Desert in the southeast, and forests (predominantly redwood and Douglas fir) in the northeast. The three largest metropolises in California are Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. Eight of the fifty largest cities in the United States are located there.
