California is the largest state in the Union, measured by population. Let’s treat is as a country. In that case it would fit between Poland and Algeria. In the tabulation that follows, I show other comparative figures.
| | Population | GDP (in $ billions) | Per capita income ($) | Land Area (square miles) | Water as % of land area | Density (people per sq.m) |
| Poland | 38,092,000 | 468.539 | 12,300 | 120,696 | 3.07 | 320 |
| California | 37,253,956 | 1,500.279 | 42,578 | 163,696 | 4.70 | 234 |
| Algeria | 36,300,000 | 192.384 | 7,179 | 919,595 | negl. | 38 |
Brigitte was born in Poland—so we have a way of relating in this comparison too. Last month I showed Michigan. It was sandwiched between Hungary (my place of birth) and Somalia. This time, again, Europe and Africa. I must say, though. When the Bureau of Economic Analysis absolutely insisted that California’s state product was greater than a trillion dollars in 2010, I was somewhat taken aback. That’s a rich country, even if it isn’t, strictly speaking. Someday, someday, you’ll break away. And then I will be justified in my recurring typo. I always type Lost Angeles and must then backspace to correct it.
Next I will show Texas, honoring the large states first.
Another country-like feature of California is the huge diversity of climate, economy, and population. It has the hottest place on the planet (Death Valley) and the mountain range that receives more snow than any other (the Sierra-Nevada), as well as the most productive fruit & vegetable agriculture in the world (the Central Valley) and the one of the world's most desolate deserts (the Mojave.) It has one of the globe's largest megaplexes (Southern California) and remote forests containing the world's tallest trees (the coastal redwoods of Northern California.) It has a 21st century economy of software, entertainment, and finance right alongside a 19th century economy of fishing, forestry, mining, and agriculture. It's just an amazingly complicated place. (I'm going to miss it when it falls into the ocean.)
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