Printable map of California

Which map to print

California, its capital and the states around it draws the state with a star at Sacramento, its capital, and names the neighbouring states in grey. Outline only prints the shape alone, for colouring or a project. Counties, blank draws its 58 counties with nothing named, to colour or label from memory. Counties named writes each name inside it; where one is too small for its name it carries a number, and the numbers are listed beside the map or on a page after it. Counties to name, then the answer key prints the blank map and the named one after it.

The counties

California has 58 counties. By land area, the largest is San Bernardino County, 20,068 square miles (51,976 km²), and the smallest is San Francisco County, 47 square miles (121 km²).

Measuring distances

The two bars under the map show a round number of miles and of kilometres at the size the map prints on your paper. Print at actual size (100%), then mark a bar’s length on the edge of a sheet of paper and step it along the map to measure how far apart two places are. The map is in an equal-area projection centred on the state, so every county’s area is to scale and distances are close to true across the whole state.

Goes well with this sheet

Print and assemble

Use the same paper size in the PDF and printer settings. Choose Actual size or 100%. Print a sample before making copies.