California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is the most populous U.S. state, and the third most extensive (after Alaska and Texas). It is home to eight of the nation's fifty most populated cities (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Santa Monica, Long Beach, and Oakland). The capital is Sacramento. It is also southwest of Mexico (Baja California and the Gulf of Mexico to the south).