What is the meaning of the word California?
The word California originally referred to the entire region composed of the current U.S. state of California, plus all or parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Wyoming, and the Mexican peninsula now known as Baja California. The name California is most commonly believed to have derived from a storied paradise peopled by black Amazons and ruled by Queen Califia. The myth of Califia is recorded in a 1510 work The Exploits of Esplandian, written as a sequel to Amadís de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer García Ordóñez Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Califia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a remote land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts and rich in gold.
