Purely from the standpoint of numbers, Californians are remarkable: there are now nearly 35 million of them, representing on in every eight US residents. That figure is expected to grow by another 18 million by the year 2025.

Ethnically, Californians comprise the nation’s most diverse population. While just over half still identify themselves as Caucasian, more than one in four now call themselves Hispanic, a reflection of the state’s geographic and historic intimacy with its neighbour to the south.

Geographically, Californians are still largely a coastal people. Yet great many of the newer arrivals, together with a large number of second and third negation Californians, have begun to move eastward.

And money drives Californians ever forward. In the past decade they have reinvented their state’s economy, weaning it from its onetime dependence on defence spending and redirecting it toward new consumer technologies.