California has overtaken France as the world’s sixth-largest economy, fueled by strong growth and the U.S. dollar’s gains against foreign currencies. The most-populous U.S. state, with a gross domestic product of $2.5 trillion, has also eclipsed recession-plagued Brazil.

Governor Jerry Brown, 78, is running the state during an economic turnaround driven by technology companies including Facebook Inc. and Apple Inc., along with agricultural and manufacturing industries that lead the U.S. Since taking office in 2011, Brown steered the state away from fiscal turmoil and persistent deficits to budget surpluses.

Last year, California created the most jobs of any state, more than the second- and third-most-populous states Florida and Texas combined. Four of the world’s 10 largest companies are based in California, including Alphabet Inc. and Facebook.

Did You Know?

• California has been the birthplace of the film industry, the hippie counterculture, the Internet, and the personal computer.
• California’s official state animal, the California grizzly bear, is extinct.
• California was the first U.S. state that banned Marijuana a century ago.
• The five worst cities in the U.S. for air pollution are all in California.
• California is the first state to ever reach a trillion dollar economy in gross state product.
• Fallbrook is known as the Avocado Capital of the World and hosts an annual Avocado Festival. More avocados are grown in the region than any other county in the nation.