Hispanics and Latinos in California - wikipedia Hispanics and Latinos in California This article is incomplete. Please help to improve it, or discuss the issue on the talk page. ( April 2014 ) Hispanics and Latinos in California Californios Total population 38.1 % ( 2010 ) Regions with significant populations Los Angeles metropolitan area 40 % San Francisco Bay Area 20 % Languages American Spanish, American English Religion Roman Catholicism in the United States Related ethnic groups Hispanic and Latino Americans Hispanic and Latino Californians are residents of the state of California who are of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 38.1 % of the state 's population. Californio ( historic and regional Spanish for `` Californian '' ) is a term used to identify a Spanish - speaking, mostly Roman Catholic people, or of Hispanic American descent, regardless of race, born in Alta California from the time of the first Spanish provinces established by the Portolá expedition ( 1769 ) up until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( 1848 ), in which Mexico ceded Alta California to the United States. Contents 1 History 2 Demographics 3 Spanish language in California 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links History Main article : History of California The Hispanic presence in California has existed since the earliest European exploration of the region, the first such explorer of the California coast being Portuguese explorer and adventurer João Rodrigues Cabrilho ( Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo ). Cabrillo was commissioned by the Viceroy of New Spain and in 1542 he sailed into what is now San Diego, California. He continued north as far as Pt. Reyes, California. California became part of the Spanish trading route, but was not well explored due to its remoteness from Europe and challenging terrain. In the 1700s, it was claimed by Spain which divided California into two parts, Baja California and Alta California, as provinces of New Spain ( Mexico ). Baja or lower California consisted of the Baja Peninsula and terminated roughly at San Diego, California where Alta California started. After the establishment of Missions in Alta California after 1769, the Spanish treated Baja California and Alta California as a single administrative unit, part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, with Monterey, California, as its capital. In 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain, and Alta California became one of the three interior provinces in the First Mexican Empire north of the Rio Grande, along with Texas and New Mexico. The Mexican government was unstable, leading to the annexation of California by the United States in 1846. During Mexican rule, California was sparsely populated, with only a few thousand Mexican residents, compared to tens of thousands of Native Americans, and a handful of Yankee entrepreneurs. At the time of the annexation, `` foreigners already outnumbered Californians of Spanish ancestry 9,000 to 7,500 ''. The advent of the California Gold Rush in 1848 led to a massive influx of settlers - including thousands of Mexican miners, but also tens of thousands of Americans from the East. Other substantial immigrant groups included Chileans, and Chinese people. Demographics This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( April 2015 ) See also : List of California communities with Hispanic majority populations in the 2010 census Spanish is the state 's second most spoken language. Areas with especially large Spanish speaking populations include the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the California - Mexico border counties of San Diego and Imperial, and the San Joaquin Valley. By ethnicity, 38.1 % of the total population is Hispanic ( of any race ). New Mexico and Texas have higher percentages of Hispanics, but California has the highest total number of Hispanics of any U.S. state. As of July 1, 2013, it is estimated that California 's Hispanic population has equaled the population of non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics, mainly Mexican Americans, form major portions of the population of Southern California, especially in Los Angeles, as well as the San Joaquin Valley. The city of Los Angeles is often said to be the largest Mexican community in the United States. Census records kept track of the growth since 1850, but Mexican and Mexican Americans have lived in California since the Spanish period. However, the number and percentage population of Hispanics living in California increased rapidly in the late 20th century. The result is that, today, Hispanics are the largest ethnic group in Los Angeles County, at over 40 percent of the county 's population. Hispanics are predominantly concentrated in the older eastern and southern suburbs surrounding downtown Los Angeles and northern Long Beach, the southern / eastern San Fernando Valley, and the San Gabriel / Pomona Valleys. They also comprise sizable communities in Bakersfield, El Monte, Fresno, La Puente, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San José, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Stockton and Vallejo. In Santa Ana in Orange County, Hispanics comprise 75 percent of the population. Nearby Anaheim is over half Hispanic, and Orange County 's population is 30 - 35 percent Hispanic. The Imperial Valley on the U.S. - Mexican border is about 70 -- 75 % Hispanic ; communities with many Hispanics can also be found in Riverside County, especially at its eastern end, and the Coachella Valley. The Central Valley has many Mexican American migrant farm workers. Hispanics are the majority in Colusa, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Tulare and Yolo counties. Hispanics make up at least 20 % of the San Francisco Bay Area. Many live in San Mateo, Alameda and Santa Clara counties, as well in San Francisco. The Napa Valley and Salinas Valley have predominantly Hispanic communities established by migrant farm workers. San Jose is about 30 - 35 percent Hispanic, the largest Hispanic community in northern California, while the Mission District, San Francisco and Lower / West Oakland has barrios established by Mexican and Hispanic American immigrants. The Mexican American communities of East Los Angeles and Logan Heights, San Diego, as well the San Joaquin Valley are centers of historic Chicano and Hispanic cultures. Most of the state 's Hispanics have Mexican ancestry, but there are many Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, Guatemalan Americans, Honduran Americans, Salvadoran Americans, and Nicaraguan Americans, Chilean Americans, Colombian Americans, and Peruvian Americans. Los Angeles has the United States ' largest Central American community, as well as the largest Mexican American community since the 1910s and 1920s. In Mariposa County, there is a very small community of Californios or Spanish American people as they identify themselves, that dates back before the U.S. annexation of California. Hornitos is home to an estimated 1,000 people and many are `` Californio ''. The community 's `` Spanish '' Californio culture is closely linked with Mexico and other Hispanic American nations. Spanish language in California Spanish language in California by county. As of 2010, 28.46 % ( 9,696,638 ) of California residents age 5 and older spoke Spanish at home as a primary language. California has the second highest concentration of Spanish speakers in the United States. California 's first constitution recognized Spanish language rights : All laws, decrees, regulations, and provisions emanating from any of the three supreme powers of this State, which from their nature require publication, shall be published in English and Spanish. -- California Constitution, 1849, Art. XI Sec. 21. By 1870, English - speaking Americans were a majority in California ; in 1879, the state promulgated a new constitution under which all official proceedings were to be conducted exclusively in English, a clause that remained in effect until 1966. In 1986, California voters added a new constitutional clause, by referendum, stating that : English is the official language of the State of California. -- California Constitution, Art. 3, Sec. 6 Spanish remains widely spoken throughout the state, and many government forms, documents, and services are bilingual, in English and Spanish. And although all official proceedings are to be conducted in English : A person unable to understand English who is charged with a crime has a right to an interpreter throughout the proceedings. -- California Constitution, Art. 1. Sec. 14 See also Californio History of the Mexican Americans in Los Angeles References Jump up ^ `` California QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau ''. Quickfacts.census.gov. 2011. Archived from the original on November 9, 2000. Retrieved October 6, 2013. Jump up ^ Bankston, John ; `` Juan Rodgriquesz Cabrillo '' ; Mitchell Lane Publishers ; 2004 ; ISBN 1 - 58415 - 199 - 4 Jump up ^ Larry Gerston, Terry Christensen, California Politics and Government : A Practical Approach ( 2013 ), p. 2. Jump up ^ `` California QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau ''. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on November 9, 2000. Retrieved July 25, 2012. Jump up ^ http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/latino-population-now-equals-whites-california/story?id=19555998 Further reading Tomás F. Summers Sandoval, Jr., Latinos at the Golden Gate : Creating Community and Identity in San Francisco. Chapel Hill, NC : University of North Carolina Press, 2013. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hispanics and Latinos in California. Hispanics : California 's Next Majority, The New York Times Demographics of the United States Demographic history By economic and social Affluence Educational attainment Emigration Home - ownership Household income Immigration Income inequality Language LGBT Middle classes Personal income Poverty Social class Unemployment by state Wealth By religion Buddhists Christians Catholics Coptics Protestants Hindus Jains Jews Muslims Ahmadiyyas Neopagans Non-religious Rastafaris Scientologists Sikhs By continent and ethnicity Africa African diaspora in the Americas Afro - Caribbean / West Indian Americans Belizean Americans Guyanese Americans Haitian Americans Jamaican Americans Trinidadian and Tobagonian Americans Black Hispanic and Latino Americans African immigrants to the United States Central Africans in the United States Horn Africans in the United States North Africans in the United States Southeast Africans in the United States Southern Africans in the United States West Africans in the United States Asia Asian Hispanic and Latino Americans East Asia Chinese Americans Hong Kong Americans Tibetan Americans Japanese Americans Korean Americans Mongolian Americans Taiwanese Americans South Asia Bangladeshi Americans Bhutanese Americans Indian Americans Nepalese Americans Pakistani Americans Romani Americans Sri Lankan Americans Southeast Asia Burmese Americans Cambodian Americans Filipino Americans Hmong Americans Indonesian Americans Laotian Americans Malaysian Americans Singaporean Americans Thai Americans Vietnamese Americans West Asia Arab Americans Assyrian Americans Iranian Americans Israeli Americans Jewish Americans Europe White Americans English Americans French Americans German Americans Irish Americans Italian Americans Spanish Americans Non-Hispanic whites White Hispanic and Latino Americans Oceania Pacific Islands Americans Chamorro Americans Native Hawaiians Samoan Americans Tongan Americans Euro Oceanic Americans Australian Americans New Zealand Americans North America Native Americans and Alaska Natives Canadian Americans Cuban Americans Mexican Americans Puerto Ricans ( Stateside ) South America Hispanic and Latino Americans Colombian Americans Multiethnic Melungeon People of the United States / Americans American ancestry Maps of American ancestries 2010 Census Race and ethnicity in the Census Race and ethnicity in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Racism Ethnic groups in California Groups African Americans Asians Basques Hispanics and Latinos Californios White Americans Indigenous peoples List Mission Indians San Francisco Chinese Japanese Los Angeles African Americans Taiwanese Armenians Bangladeshis Central Americans Salvadorans Chinese Taiwanese Ethiopians Filipinos Iranians Japanese Jews Koreans Mexicans Palestinians Ukrainians Hispanic and Latino Americans by location Arizona California ( San Francisco ) Colorado Florida Georgia ( Atlanta ) Maryland ( Baltimore ) Massachusetts Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York Puerto Rico Texas Houston Washington, D.C. / Va. / Md. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hispanics_and_Latinos_in_California&oldid=802518505 '' Categories : Hispanic and Latino American culture in California Hidden categories : Articles to be expanded from April 2014 `` Related ethnic groups '' needing confirmation Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters Articles needing additional references from April 2015 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Languages Add links This page was last edited on 26 September 2017, at 17 : 36. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when did california become home to a substantial minority of english-speaking settlers
Answer: 1848